Walking Around Town...

Mercat de Sant Antoni
I've walked past this market several times and always wondered why it was closed up, turns out they are doing some major renovations to it - hopefully they are done before I leave because this looks like the best one in town. It's a huge market in a really old building (1882) so I stuck my camera inside the gates to get a picture of what was going on. Until the La Boqueria will have to suffice I guess!

http://www.way2barcelona.com/travel-guide/what-to-do-in-barcelona/markets-in-barcelona/mercat-sant-antoni/traditional-catalan-market/

I also stumbled across the music hall in BCN, which it turns out was VERY close to the hostel where I stayed. I'd say one of the most disapointing things about all of these amazing buildings, is that you can never get quite far enough away to take a great photo, the streets are narrow and force these sort of awkward photos. Anyhow - that's the photo of the building with lots of ornamentation on it. Maybe I will get to see a concert there before I am done here!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palau_de_la_M%C3%BAsica_Catalana

What else? There's always a bunch of churches, which in certain lighting look totally different and you're not totally sure where you are. I'm always amazed at the sizes - how this could possibly have been achieved before modern building techniques....

Anyways, that's it for today. Tomorrow is supposed to be very rainy, I may actually attempt the 8 hour work day for once again! Have a great night, love to all!

It's Wednesday....

Incase you forgot! Because I thought it was Thursday all day today. That's okay though, I just got an extra day of vacation time!

So, today I went to try and get my NIE card (visa) application in. O.M.G. I got to the police station where I have to go and I see a very long line going from one end of the block to the other.... okay i start walking. I walk. I turn the corner. I see the line continues from THAT end of the block to the end of the NEXT block.. I don't bother going around the next corner, I know what I will see. So I walk back to talk to the security gaurd at the gate. I ask him in my terrible spanish if this is where I need to be to get my student card. He says yes. I say, and this is the line? he says yes. I just laugh and walk away. It was EASILY a 4 hour wait, and the office is only open for 5 hours a day! I also didn't have a book, an IPOD, a lunch... nothing. This is a serious campout effort. Infact... when I try again on Monday, I will be tehre at 8:30 am before they even open and I will have a giant purse stocked with EVERYTHING I could ever possibly want - except water because I do NOT want to have to get out of that line to go to the bathroom.

Today I went exploring around China town... that was interesting! Found some really cool things, and a lot of supermarkets that I will probably go back to for various things - but it's sort like actually being in China, where as soon as I step foot in the door they just stare lol! I had planned on going to the beach but time just did not allow it! Tomorrow. Fingers crossed for another beautiful day!

Other than that the Euro keeps climbing and I keep reading very boring articles about currency predictions and global economic crisis' etc to try to decide if I need to do a quick massive conversion or not.... I'm going to wait, now that Portugal has asked for a bailout it may start to fall. Fingers crossedXX

Alright, enough of this boring stuff. Tomorrow I'll have something better to say!

<3

PS- If I EVER tell anyone that I have CHOSEN to write a research paper about HEDGES.... just shoot me.

Things are back in action!

Well, I hope everyone had a nice Easter! I heard about some of the dinners - sounds pretty good. Today the 2nd of 3 roomates arrived back here (although I wasn't expecting him until tomorrow for some reason) and he brought a cake which his mom made in Italy. It's called Casatiello - I have no idea what's in it but it's pretty good! Tastes kind of like sourdough bread with some chunks of something mixed in - maybe sausage? Anyways - quite nice!

I've been getting a bit more work done this week, or atleast being more productive. I am officially the person in the apartment who cleans and fixes stuff. Changes lightbulbs, glues crap back together, cleans up the floods etc.... ah well... all is good! It's kind of nice to have some other noise in here - so far, maybe give me a few weeks before I decide if I like living with 4 people in a flat hahah... no, I think they are all really great.

Anyhow! The countdown is on until school starts - one more Week - AHHHH! I'm so nervous because it's such a small class that you can't just sort of blend in the middle and float (not that I want that) but that means that it's much easier to become the worst and very noticably the worst in the class very quickly. The pressure is terrible, but I think I will just have to get there and see how it all works out!

The weather forecast was calling for a crappy week - and once again they have reversed it! Tomorrow is supposed to be 22 degrees (YAY) which means that I'm going to put in an extra 2 hours of work tonight if I can so that tomorrow morning I can go to the beach and be guilt free about it! I won't go until after I try and get my student card in the morning though.

Anyways! That's really it from me, I guess I'm kind of boring. However, I would like to just clarify one thing that my roomate Martina told me when she got home. St. Georges Day is actually Valentines Day in Spain hahah! The girls buy the boys books, and the boys buy the girls the roses..... sounds nice enough - but what if I'd rather have a book?

Alright, love you all and talk to you soon!

PS- I really miss having power tools standing by at all times for any little job that we may need. Richard, maybe you could mail me some of your gadgets? Hahah! ;)

Sant Jordi - Dia Del Libro

Or... St. George's Day - wikipedia it! There are lots of traditions going on today that I had noooo idea were happening! Everyone selling roses with wheat wrapped in ribbon. Apparently this is a tradition...

"The rose is accompanied by a landmark and an ear of wheat . The red rose symbolizes passion , the flagship the patron saint of Catalonia and the ear of corn represents fertility ."

So not only are they selling roses everywhere they are selling books! It's like the biggest book fair you've ever seen and they've shut down most of the streets in the West side of Via Laetana in Ciutat Vella (center) to vehicles so it is one giant pedestrian town. It's a crazy town out there! But it was a beautiful day and so I walked around looking for the things I needed, and then escaped to some of the quieter streets (since everyone was in the main tourist areas) to just walk around where it was just a regular quiet Saturday. I was walking around Del Born area- which is a really really nice neighbourhood, I just haven't gone to that side very much (not that it's far!). I found some interesting shops, got everything I needed, stopped to look in an old church which has had little restoration but has beautiful stained glass windows (the originals I assume) and then I headed home. To change into a summer dress, get my camera and head out to look like a tourist with the rest of the mob.


(sorry about the blurry pictures, not only do you get pushed and shoved around a lot but I chose a "slow lens" ;) and I'm still getting used to it. Ya win some ya lose some. This is how Las Ramblas was for the ENTIRE length of the street, usually it's about 1/2 this crowded.

I also walked past the school to see what was going on around there. Not much - it's closed (obviously). But if you look at this picture, this is part of my campus. See the high part up there where it starts to jut out? That's where my classrooms are. Down below, on the left just inside the archway is where my studio is (not a typical studio like I'm used to - very 21st century and where they house all of the past Thesis projects etc.) Anyhow. This is my building. You'd never know that's what was behind the plaster walls you see at the street. I was up there though when Germa took me on a tour. The view of the city skyline is amazing.


Anyways, tomorrow is Easter, I'll be thinking about you all. Hope everyone is having yummy dinners and lots of candy!

<3

Blog Blog Blog

So! Today after a whole lot of cleaning (seriously cleaning, like scrubbing between tiles) and then a nice siesta I got up and started getting ready with full intention of going to Mass at a church very nearby, very famous for Easter Celebrations in Barcelona at Placa Sant Agusti. It's only about 3 blocks so I showed up casually 10 minutes late thinking that I could just stand in the back, not understand a word they were saying but enjoy the music etc. Well!!! The first photo is what I saw when I got to the church. The streets were already lined up for MILES and MILES of people waiting for the "procession" which is basically a religous parade. I mean, it was like Macy's Thanksgiving Parade (not that I've ever been, but I imagine). And considering that I just read that nearly 950,000 people typically leave BCN for other places at Easter, there were ALOT of people there, apparently everyone who was left. Nonetheless I got a great little spot to take some lovely blurry photos for you all :) The hoods/capes are religous and were before the KKK stole them. Apparently the KKK liked the attention they drew so they adopted them as their costumes.

So here are some photos of the parade, it was a bit dark out, and I'm surprised they even had the parade because it rained on and off today and apparently when that happens they typically call it all off because the floats are too fragile. There was a a drum roll, some bagpipes and a lot of people yelling at floats, kissing and touching them as well. Different. I'll post the videos on FB because I think my space is limited on here.







In other less exciting news - I'm fairly sure my toe is broken. Or maybe just a serious sprain? It's just annoying, and I keep thinking that it will go away. If not - health insurance kicks in on May 2.

Everyone go and eat a Cadbury Cream Egg for me - I swear I'd of had one a day by now if I could!

Love to all!

Carrefour hoy esta loco!

For anyone who has ever lived near the East Coast and tried to go stock up on supplies before a hurricane rolls into town - you will understand a bit what the shops are like in Barcelona today. Most of them will be closed until next Tuesday and people are acting as though it is the end of the world haha! Me? I have enough curry and rice to last me the next year - so I'll be fine but I wanted to go shopping anyways. Why not? I've got all the time in the world! So what did I feel were necessary supplies before Easter Sunday comes?

1. A really big bottle of Orange fanta.
2. A really big box of orange juice.
3. A 3.3E bottle of vino blanco
4. 3 Napolitans (chocolate croissants)
5. A bottle of Nutella - people go crazy over this stuff here
6. Some hairspray
7. Some Ritz crackers
8. Canadian Maple Syrup

And all of this? 18E :) I love Spain.

Tomorrow is Good Friday and I'm going to get out and see some of the parades! Yay!

Miss you all, eat some chocolate eggs for me.

Easter is Coming!!

Well, after getting in and a bit more settled yesterday after a fun shopping trip to IKEA (or eekaya if you are from here hahah!) things are slowing down a bit! I'm developing a nice cold and have come to find that Vitamin D is pretty well not available here, and if it is it's about 10E/bottle. AH! Needless to say that will be need to be mailed!

As of tomorrow I'm here all alone until I think Tuesday because everyone is returning home for Easter. I told Steph that I'll have to have an Easter Egg hunt with myself on Sunday, but first I will get drunk to hide them so that when I sober up I really won't know where they are! HA! I'm only kidding Grandpa, don't worry! But I really have been stocking up on food like a little pack rat because I imagine the stores will be closed for pretty well 5 days straight.

So I have a few little cleaning projects to keep me busy during this time, also I think I will go check out what exactly Easter is like in BCN. So far I have noticed people carrying around these sort of straw decoration things - so I assume they are maybe going to be offered to the church? I just did a google and see nothing about it, but I did see lots of strange hooded religious outfits. It's going to be interesting for sure! I'm also hoping for some nice weather so I can have a few more beach days!

So now I will tell you a bit more about my roomates so that you can know. Ciro (say cheero) is around 26ish, he is from a city in Italy just outside of Naples. He works at a hotel doing financial something or other just on Las Ramblas. Nima is 24, from somewhere in England (London I think) and so far he has not been here since I moved in, but he works at an American Bank near by so apparently he hasn't really learned much Spanish in the last year. Maybe we can learn together since we will both suck! And then there is Martina, who is the original person in the flat. I think she is around 28, she is from Austria and seems to be out quite a bit, working and a car dealership far from where we live and then with friends in the evening. So that is it, it's an interesting group, last night I got to hear a VERY passionate italian conversation between Ciro and who I can only assume was his mother hahah.

So it is already 8pm and I haven't been all that productive today, but there is still plenty of time because nothing will close until around 10.

Hope everyone else is doing well and that those who have managed to escape the weather are having fun!

Moving Day!

Hi! So today was moving day! It was quite easy once I got my giant suitcase down the stairs at the hostel! I got here this afternoon and went out in search of food - only to realize that EVERYTHING is closed today, not only because it is Sunday, but it is Palm Sunday. What I would have given for some good ol homemade pancakes today, but it will have to wait til tomorrow!

So anyways, the flat is great, the photos actually make it look kind of dark and don't really do it justice, but I've put some here for you anyways! Also you can google "c/ doctor dou barcelona" and that will show you my street! You will see how super close to my school I am (the Cultura Contempor......"

The other photos are taken yesterday at Park Montjuic which is about a 10 min walk from where I live and gives an amazing view of the city!

Tomorrow is an IKEA and supermarket day so that I can get all set up and spend the rest of the week at the beach and getting my visa process done! I also just learned that ALL of my roomates are headed home for their Easter holidays, so as of Wednesday I'll actually be living alone for a while which is a bit exciting! It feels wierd to have so much space again.

Anyways, sorry about the snow. I'm living the dream, you are all free to join ;)

Lots of Love!

YAAAAAY!

So I just want to let you all know that I AM NO LONGER HOMELESS! HOORAH! And I'm super excited about it! It's the perfect little flat which is really really close to my school (less than 2 blocks) and the room is nice and large, there is 1.5 bathrooms, lovely and quiet balcony. Ugh, it is just so great! I will send photos very soon! So I am moving in on Sunday! I will be living with an Austrian girl, italian guy and an english guy. It's going to be quite the lovely mix.

Anyhow, just a short post for today because I'm really too excited to sit still. Picture is from the beach the other day with a random Australian guy also staying at the hostel. This is Barceloneta beach - quite busy for 7pm!

Love to all! Try to stay warm and hopefully no more airplanes slide off the runway!

Student Visas and Such

The week has started on a good note. Some of you may know that I have been having room mate issues. There's quite a bit of turnover here so I've had some interesting ones, but yesterday was by far the most painful. 3 of the smelliest boys you have ever come across in your entire life. I do not exagerate. I have been around people who work in barns all day, and I would have preferred that smell. Anyways, they got moved to the boys room this morning and I can now breathe inside my room. So yes, we're off to a great start!

So the student visa process.... it is certainly not quite as simple as I expected. You basically have to go through the process twice. Once in your own country and then again when you get here. There are a lot of requirements to apply for them which are kind of difficult to get - especially because they put it in pretty tight time limits. Basically, I need to find a place to live and get that all sorted out so that I can get my "NIE card" - which is a 1 yr visa. It's a bit stressful, especially because a lot of the documents and such are in Catalan. So I'm working on that this week - it requires I have an address. I've started searching out some other ways to find places as well, so I think this may be the week!

So here's a few photos for your enjoyment - although they aren't amazing photography by any means, it'll show you a bit of life around here!

So this is on the very busy street Las Ramblas - kind of like the main tourist/shopping area in the city. It's located straight through "The Center" which is the are of crazy mixed up teeny streets - or Ciutat Vella. This woman was being a bag because she wanted me to pay her before I took the photo, so she was hiding her face. (click to enlarge photo). So these people dress up all crazy like all the way down the street.



This is the Gaudi Cathedral which is right across from my hostel, I haven't been inside yet but I peeked and there's a whole forest inside!



This is the Arc de Triomp - in BCN. Not quite as humongo as the one in Paris, but still a really nice area (this is 2 blocks from the apartment that I want to live in).



This is at Placa de Espanya - this is the old Bullfighting Arena. I guess they have been working on this project for about 6 years to convert it into a shopping mall and so it has just opened in the last few weeks. I was inside quickly and it's really nice, but all that remains of the arena are the exterior walls!



Well, I guess that's all for today! I should get some work done - they're not going to pay me otherwise. Hope everyone had a good weekend!

One Year Ago...

Hard to believe how fast time flies. A year ago I was here and now I'm in another far off land. The people of Thailand are so wonderful and kind. I hope I get to go back one day :)

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Thousands+Thai+shirts+commemorate+Bangkok+unrest/4591033/story.html

Tidbits About Spain

Here are some more random information that you may care to know!

Every country has their own "thing". A type of store or something that you see absolutely everywhere which you quickly learn that you should never use as a landmarker to find your way around. In Barcelona it is the "Farmacia". They are EVERYWHERE, typically just little tiny hole in the wall pharmacies where you don't really get prescriptions, but other over the counter items, first aid etc.

It is less expensive to buy healthy food here than the crap, which is so opposite to what we are used to. 1/4 of a watermelon, or a good medium sized container of strawberries is about 1E (1.38 canadian).

Anyhow, it was another absolutely gorgeous day here - around 25 degrees! I've been taking it kind of easy but getting things done. I saw 2 more flats today. One was quite nice, so I may make an offer tomorrow. It's the perfect roomate scenario and the flat even has a "dressing room" which is very similar to a girls dream closet filled with wardrobes/mirrors/shelves etc.... only this one is shared with 3 people hahaha.

I shall keep you posted, but for now I am still at my little hostel, enjoying some good old american tv on this fine saturday evening!

Miss you all alot, it's almost been a week now, hard to believe.

<3

Nice Sunglasses, Ugly Purse

Fashion here is very interesting. They are into some very good ideas and some very bad. Currently - because I am looking- I have come to realize every purse is hideous. They are very "mom" style, you know the kind, like wierd colored leathery saddle bag type. Gross. The search continues.

The search also continues for an apartment! It appears I did not get it, it was relisted today on the internet so I think I am not what they are looking for :( Too bad so sad, I'm going to see a few more tomorrow.

It's a beautiful beautiful day but I have been doing some work and trying not to get heat stroke!

I went to my school this morning, met one of the people who have been helping me throughout the application process (Germa) and he is VERY nice, I got a little tour and everything! So he told me that my program would only have 15 people this year - WOW! so small! but a nice school, good facilities. I'm really getting excited.... now if only I wasn't homeless!

Talk to you soon! Thanks for all the emails, I love getting them!

B

Buenos Dias!

So I was told to put up some pictures, but I've decided that I'm only going to take photos of photo worthy things. And that's really difficult because when you first arrive here EVERYTHING is photo worthy and you want to walk around snapping photos every .2 seconds.

Anyways, I've accepted an apartment but so far they haven't accepted me (boo!). We'll hear back today. It's a nice place, 10 mins walk from school with a "Real" bathroom, big kitchen and 3 lovely roommates. More to come if I actually get the place!

A few things you may not know about Barcelona!

1. Apparently, for the olympics they imported the sand from Egypt and rented the palm trees from Hawaii. This means that at some point they are going to have to return hundreds of palm trees to Hawaii! Hahah... I found this quite amusing. But I guess this region is not actually supposed to have sand beaches.

2. There is a bike share system here called bicing (say beesing). There are little charger stations every few blocks around the city and for 25E /yr you can take these bikes from one station and leave them at any other one. They all have lights on them and are kept in good shape! So that's very exciting!

3. The world does not really get up and get going until around 9. So if you want to go for a quiet walk, 7 am is a great time! The photo I've posted is from Port Vella on a morning walk today. There is a german woman in the bunk above me who is on the crazier side of normal I'd say and she tosses and turns violently, snores and talks in her sleep. Needless to say, I have started taking sleeping pills so that I atleast get 6 hrs of sleep!


Alright team, that's all I've got at this moment! I'll let you know if I've got a home as soon as I find out :)

Day 1 - Success!

Well, after waking up at 3:00 am last night because of the time change I managed to keep myself busy and only take a 3 hour nap all day! What did I do? Well! First I decided that my sense of direction would be good enough that I could wander around without the map for a while and just check out the immediate area. Right - so that ended up being an hour and a half of wandering trying to figure out just exactly where I was and how I was supposed to get back!

If you haven't looked at a map of Barcelona, you should. Just do a google maps for "21 ripoli barcelona" - that's where I started. You'll notice that there's a really large blob of crazy misaligned streets that make East Coast Canada look like kids play! VERY easy to lose yourself in little narrow streets which look remarkably similar. So this all leads to the point that I didn't really take any photos today - I was too busy trying not to get lost, or pickpocketed.

So the apartment hunt continues!

Apartment #1 - Good sized apartment, the room has nice exterior light, huge balconies and the one roomate I met was very nice. The downside? It's really not that close to school. It's not a distance which I would walk on any kind of regular basis.

Apartment #2 - Better location, great infact - I'm looking at another one a block over in the morning. Didn't get to meet any of the roomates and it's quite dark throughout - but I think that is quite common here. It's just bound to happen when everything is crammed in that tight. Not bad though. I may call back after the 3 tomorrow.

Apartment #3 - Everyone has been telling me that El Raval (say Rabal) is not a good area to live, but I went to go look anyway tonight. I was there just as the sun was setting and it wasn't nearly as sketchy as they all made it out to be (at least where I was, which borders on the not sketchy area) but it would be very very noisy ALL the time to live there. And the girl who I was supposed to meet either didn't show up or couldn't find me.

So there are a few ways to pick out a foreigner in Europe. Most noticably- their shoes. No one wears proper runners or flip flops, they wear cute little ballet flats or what I'm going to call "City Sneakers". Evan is shaking his head right now. But my shiny white adidas definitely stick out. Time for some new shoes - the good news is that they are quite cheap here!

Anyhow, it's been a good day! By the end of all my adventures I can happily say that I no longer get lost the moment I step foot out the front door! Did I also mention that Gaudi's cathedral is 4 steps to the left of my front door? It's STILL under construction but it's quite magnificent.

Hope everyone is doing well, thinking about you lots!

<3

I'm Alive!

I made it in to my hostel! It is one of the cleanest, nicest ones I've stayed at and I've been unpacking/repacking to try and make things work for the next few weeks here while I look for a place to live. The gal at the front desk is already giving me tips on where I should and shouldn't live! I'm exhausted but going to keep going until this is done and then I'll be on the same time zone.

This city looks absolutely amazing and I can't wait to explore tomorrow! Photos to come!

<3

Today is the day!

Well, we are down to only about 12 hours before take off now! I'm getting fairly nervous, but really excited. I finished packing last night and don't have a lot left to do today which is nice. After a quick stopover in London I should arrive in BCN tomorrow around 11am Calgary time.

After lugging my 80 lb suitcase and my carry on bags to the hostel I'll try to send a quick message letting you all know I'm alive :) I'm going to stay here for the first 2 weeks until I find somewhere to live, but I'm optimistic that it won't take that long. Just this morning, someone responded to me about a little apartment near by, available the 15th so I will go look on Tuesday.

For those who haven't take a look yet, this is the link to my school where it tells a bit about what I learn and who the prof's are going to be.

It's a like an emotional washing machine today because while I'm really excited to start this new adventure, there are a lot of people I'm leaving behind who I'm going to miss a lot. I just wanted to say thank you so so much to all of my friends and family who have done nothing but support me. I don't know if I could have done it without all your help along the way.

Goodbye Snow! Haha!

Love to all <3