For you, Pop.

You're always with me, pop pop. I can feel it.

It has been a little more than a month since you left us yet I walk the streets of Barcelona, sit by the mediterranean, hike to the highest peak in the city and I can still sense your presence everywhere.

You are as infinite as the sky and the mediterranean sea seem to be.

Always wearing your birth stone around my neck.

Love you forever.

"One Green Salad with Ham and Cheese"

What an eventful weekend it has been here in Barcelona.

Friday ended just as any other friday would in this chaotic city. Lunch, late dinner, parties until the morning.

After my last class on Friday, I went with a few friends to a small cafe across the road from campus. It is here where I order my new favorite post-class lunch: A big green salad with rolled up ham and cheese. One of my friends/classmates is much more fluent than I am in Spanish and therefore had made friends with the two waitresses before introducing me to the cafe. As they enhance his spanish, he attempts to teach them common and relative phrases in English. "Hi, how are you doing?" and "Thank you" are two that I had heard him teach one of the waitresses at first. It baffled me how difficult it was for this woman to process, in my opinion, such simple sentences.

I then realized how difficult it has been, for me, to remember simple phrases such as asking the meaning of menu items, asking for the check, etc. I remembered how rewarding it was to be able to communicate in another language successfully. Such simple english phrases, to me, were very difficult for this woman to retain.

After placing our order in the kitchen, the waitress walked back into the dining area and yelled

"One green salad with Ham and Cheese", simultaneously wearing a large smile and giving us the thumbs up sign. She had successfully placed an order to the kitchen in English.

As simple and easy as it may have primarily seemed to me, I grew a significant amount of respect for this waitress who was, for once, putting in a solid effort to learn OUR language. So often an American will have to conform to the norms of Spanish society in a restaurant while having to deal with rolled eyes and bitter attitudes from waiters/waitresses who remain impatience with our scrappy use of spanish. This particular waitress is one of the few exceptions who is extremely happy to hear us trying to learn her language while in return making an effort to learn a minority language in her city.

It felt extremely relieving to experience such an occurrence that may seem miniscule to any outside party. It's comforting to know that there are locals who genuinely enjoy cultural immersion with American inhabitants.

On to my third week of class. It is unbelievable how fast the six weeks are moving.

buenas noches!

Antonio Gaudi's Park Guell, Barcelona

La Noche de San Juan

"From early morning on June 23 until the sun rises on June 24, many towns in Spain celebrate the longest day of the year and shortest night. Tradition, originating in the pagan rituals of the summer solstice, dictates that great bonfires be built representing the power of the sun and to help it revitalize its energy. People dance and jump around the fires to purify themselves and to protect themselves from the demons'(the night) influence."

This past Thursday was the day of St. John the Baptist, one of the largest celebrations in Spain. Wednesday night consisted of a massive party that occupied the entire strip of beach at the Barcelonete stop on the metro, with an atmosphere full of people, fire, fireworks, liquor, and the like. Although previously warned by our AIFS advisors to stray away from the madness, my classmates and I couldn't bare to miss out on such a festive opportunity.

Cava, the traditional sparkling white wine so prevalent in Spain, is the most consumed beverage on this night. Naturally, my roommate and I jumped on the Cava bandwagon and bought a bottle pre-celebration. After celebrating a bit with our fellow American classmates, we took the adventure down to the beach.

It was just as described by all of my professors. Madness indeed. Fireworks were being blasted off by the minute and restaurants framing the shore turned into mini clubs, the alternative hot spot from the beach. The only disappointment I had was missing out on seeing the correfoc, where groups of Spainards dress as devils and light a parade of fireworks for others to run, dance, or do whatever they please under, while evidently using extreme caution.

So why is this celebration so important? Why is it more significant than just one huge party? And what does John the Baptist represent on such an occasion, you may wonder.... Well, to paraphrase the Universidad Autonoma De Barcelona Newsletter:

"St John the Baptist is known as the Precursor of Christ, rebirth and the light to the world, which explains the link to the solstice. Bonfires were lit to symbolize the light of the World.....

Water also has a special significance in the night of St. John--the Baptist. It represents prosperity, abundance and fertility."

This may explain the importance of a celebration close to the water and the abundance of fire. Although it has a reputation for a night of chaos, everything remains very symbolic.

The most similar celebration I could tie this to in the U.S is our Independence Day. My professors agreed on the similarity. This celebration was a bit different though. It was much more out of control. We were advised to bring nothing else but our metro pass and any amount of euros sufficient enough to get through the night. The amount of theft at this celebration is even worse than it is on a normal day on Las Ramblas,which is still a pretty large amount. Two girls in my group had some of their belongings stolen right out of their lap on this night. This reminded me to be extremely careful with my valuables. For a while, when I began to get comfortable in the Barcelona atmosphere, I became a bit more relaxed about clutching onto my wallet and phone wherever I went. The thefts that happened to my classmates were a huge wake up call for me.

All in all, it was an extremely fascinating night. Although I cut the night a little before sunrise, I still had a fantastic time immersing myself in this country's largest celebration.

The first week came like the morning sun and is now gone with the wind. It surprised me how fast the week went because they live significantly longer days here. A typical day in Barcelona starts around 10 and ends after dinner around 9:30 or 10 p.m... or for the party animals, it can go all night into the early morning. It was difficult for me to become accustomed to the time change. Dozing off in class was a daily routine last week. It wasn't because of boredom for I'm extremely satisfied with both of my professors. I like to blame it on the lingering jet lag that I still can't rid. I haven't done much to help it, though. The first week of excitement being in a marvelous city makes for late nights of exploration. My first week of explorations consisted of the use of the metro in order to travel to places such as the beach and school during the day and spanish restaurants and clubs at night. Yesterday a few friends and I rented bikes for four hours of the day and explored almost the entire city of Barcelona. It's more interesting going on excursions independently from the AIFS program because it is not as scheduled and you are able to fit in everything you would like to see. Not that AIFS excursions are at all negative. They are extremely helpful and convenient, although I have only been on one so far.

Having to wake up for class at 7 am, our days become even longer than most of those living here. When walking to the open air market at 8:00 for breakfast there is not a peep on the street beside my fellow classmates and the exception of road workers and those opening the markets.

Something I have continued to notice is that small sense of irritation that Barcelona inhabitants take with Americans, especially us students trying to communicate in our extremely broken up Spanish. I became a bit annoyed at the fact that some of the cafe baristas and waiters would speak back to us in English instead of enhancing our Barcelona experience by helping us learn the language. The lack of patience is evident in some people which is frustrating because I feel that my money is wasted by speaking english when coming to study spanish. The point of living in another country is to become accustomed to their language so being shut down from using it isn't the best feeling. Albeit there are others (specifically at the university) that refuse to speak to us in English so that we will practice our spanish. And as difficult as I first thought it was to communicate this way, I am so glad some people push me to take the less convenient route. At the end of the day I feel more rewarded having used my AIFS spanish education.

Tonight is a great opportunity to immerse in the culture of Barcelona. It is the world cup game. Spain vs. Honduras. What a lively night it will be. Classmates and I have gone and bought Spain jerseys and are extremely excited to go out to bars and cheer on our temporary home country. It will be interesting to see how the locals react to such a plan.

Wish us luck!

From the London Bridge to Ramblas

I am finally settled in my flat in the Ramblas of Barcelona. It has been an extremely long four days but exciting nonetheless.

Starting off in London, I was somehow brought back to the familiarity of an online virtual environment that I had studied in my Media Theory class last semester named SecondLife. Through this virtual environment, one can create human avatars and transport themselves into different worlds with the click of a button.

I was humored when first arriving in London because similar to Second Life, I had transported (not as easily) from one world to another within six hours. I spent almost a full day at my home in the United States, unconsciously immersing myself in a culture I am so accustomed to by everyday activities such as eating, interacting, and shopping. What makes it such an unconscious act is being set in such a routine that I don't think twice about the little details of the culture surrounding me.

At 7:30 pm, I boarded a plane at the JFK airport and flew off to London. After six hours, I entered a world five hours ahead of my home city and full of people who act, speak, dress, and live in, literally, extremely foreign ways.

It's extremely easy to sense the intense patriotism that exists in these countries. As Americans, us students stick out like sore thumbs when traveling in large groups of people, all speaking loud in excitement about our first few nights in a foreign country. Glare after glare, I realized that the inhabitants of London and Barcelona take offense to such "obnoxious" ways.

Regardless of the negatives, there are a significant amount of residents that are extremely willing to help us when in need and are excited and respectful of the fact that American students are so interested in immersing in their culture.

The food in Barcelona has been wonderful so far. London had very similar pub-like food that is so prevalent in America so I was not able to sense much of difference. Although some restaurant menus in Barcelona at first had seemed seem a bit Americanized, groups of us make sure to seek out the authentic hole-in-the wall restaurants that surround Las Ramblas. For example, tonight we ate at a small restaurant residing on the mediterranean where "futbol" fans got loud and rowdy while watching the Italy vs. Paraguay game. I sat there and took in the full atmosphere and excitment while eating tapas and drinking sangria, the typical hispanic food and drink.

I find it extremely interesting to eat at the restaurants that force you to speak the language and try different types of food than what you may be used to. Settling for the places that are the most convenient negates the purpose of the study abroad experience. I'm not going to lie and say its an easy task to take the challenge, but once you stray further from your comfort zone it becomes a lot more exciting to involve yourself in a culture extremely unfamiliar to your own.

Frightful Nightmares

It was as hazy of a day as it was a dream and I was driving with my mother, sister and brother in the car to a little coffee shop before heading off to the airport. We find a parking spot and hop out of the car when I notice that my full suitcase was missing along with my most vital medication. We're thirty minutes from my house and have only two hours to drive to JFK airport in New York (which from my home is an hour away) and check in before my flight. My mother, so angry at my irresponsibility, refuses to turn back around and pick up my belongings. Consequently my life that has been packed away for Barcelona will not be coming along for the plane ride. As I sit at the coffee table while my mother stands in line, I decide to make a quick ride back to my house before she notices I'm gone. As I spark the ignition and head back to my home, my dream diminishes into something unremembered.

It goes to show that I'm still a bit more nervous than I previously thought. My excitement for this trip has skyrocketed significantly in the last two days mostly because I have become much more physically prepared for my trip so I have not paid any mind to any lingering apprehension. Having all of my stuff packed up already, the last thing I must remember is to not leave anything behind. My subconscious made that clear through my horrific dream last night. I begin to write down a check list of everything vital that I must have not only packed but also not left behind after the car is filled and ready to head southbound to New York.

"Two more days"... I have found my mind repeating the phrase over and over this morning.