(Field trip 3) El Raval

Today we went on a trip to El Raval which is off La Rambla on the opposite side of the Gothic Quarter. I had ventured down this way a few times but got super lost and managed to find my way back to La Ramblas without finding a lot of the hidden treasures along the way. Below is a picture of another University of Barcelona campus building. This building is for the philosophy, history, and geography majors. 

Next to the University building there is the Museu d'Art Comtemporani de Barcelona (MACBA). This is a famous art museum in Barcelona and was built with an open court yard square in front of it. This is where the young kids and skaters of Barcelona come to hangout and skate. Since kids are outside playing and having fun there is a very low crime rate around this area and has turned into a social area still in the center of the city. 

 Along our walk we ran into a bunch of really interesting street art pieces including the one below. This states that "All together we can stop AIDS" and displays a bunch of people dancing, and holding hands. I really liked this piece out of all the works of art we passed by on that field trip. 

 On our walk we passed by a beautiful public library and on the opposite side of the library stood the old hospital. The famous Antoni Gaudi died here without even being recognized for a few days. A lot of the old architecture still stands and there are new shops and restaurants put in them. I liked how the old architecture was incorporated into the new shops because it leaves the history of it all still there and the city looks even more beautiful that way.  

 As we were coming to the end of our field trip Xavi brought us to La Rambla de Raval. This small replica of the huge touristy area we all know was quite different considering it was much quieter and less busy then the true La Rambla. 

I really liked exploring this part of the city because I hadn't really explored it yet. It was beautiful and had a laid back friendly environment. 

(Field Trip 2) Medieval Barcelona - El Born

Today we went to the Medieval part of Barcelona where we entered the El Born District and took a trip to El Born Market. Here we saw the ruins of the old Catalunya from the 1700's. Originally the ruins were undiscovered, but in the 19th century when doing renovations to the market, the ruins were uncovered. 

From the outside you would never know that a huge chunk of Catalunya's history lies within the massive steel frame of the Market. The all glass frame allows for the sun to shine in and naturally light the ruins which adds to its beauty.

 The view from the top of the walk way displays all of the ruins, showing the streets, houses, and buildings that were once standing tall. Now the outlines are all that remains, but there's more to it then just a bunch of rocks.

 The tour guide took us down into the actual ruins and we were able to walk on the same streets that the Catalans from the 1700's walked on. That's over 300 years ago! It was an amazing experience to go down there and learn about the history of it all. For example, the picture above shows a typical entry way to a house. Even though I couldn't get a close enough picture, there is a typical game carved into one of the rocks making up the floor work. Our guide said it was very common for houses to have floor stones with the game (similar to Tic Tac Toe) carved into them. 

From this view you can see the street cutting across the picture and it separating the part of the town that housed the smelly fish to the other cleaner part of town. They separated the fish side from the other part since it got very smelly and even worse with hotter weather. 

 The picture above shows a typical room in a house. The houses were very small width wise but our guide said they could be up to 3 stories in height!

(Life in Catalunya 3) BARCA BARCA BARCA

April 8, 2015

Barcelona vs. Almeria

Prediction: 3-0       Final Score: 4-0 

This was a perfect to spend a Wednesday night in Barcelona. With only a few more weeks to go I was happy that I could go watch one of the best teams in the world with the world's best player as well, Messi. Even though our seats were far away I still could see everything going on and it was a great time. 

The atmosphere in the stadium went crazy when Barcelona would do anything at all. Not to mention that the stadium went crazy when Barcelona scored. Chants were being cheered and I'm almost positive that the . The games back in the USA get wild but definitely not that wild.

 Growing up playing soccer and watching it with my family and friends made it a lot easier to appreciate the game. 

It was really easy to make friends at the game as well. Everyone is so friendly and were all there cheering for one team. We sat next to a couple from Barcelona with their 3 little kids and had a conversation with them about Real Madrid and Barcelona. There were two guys sitting in front of us from Germany as well and they were all about cheering and having a good time. Also, the girls sitting behind us that we were talking to that had never seen a soccer game...ever! 

Overall the experience was amazing and if I was staying longer I would go to another game for sure!

(Local News 1) Protests Around Eurpoa (March 15)

Never have a seen more protests in my entire life then since I have been studying abroad. In Barcelona I have seen two and every single other place I have visited on the weekends (I have traveled every weekend besides one) has had some type of protest besides for the lovely and quaint city of Interlaken, Switzerland.

The most recent protest I was able to witness was February 29th right in the heart of Plaza Catalunya and outside of the University of Barcelona. I was riding the bus with Kadre when we were realized we were stuck in an insane amount of traffic during the middle of the day. When we looked around we saw the huge protest taking up the entire street outside of the university. Cab drivers and other people were getting out of their cars looking around since traffic was literally going no where anytime soon. 

It was really interesting to see all of the young people fighting for what they think it right. I have to admit that that protest was the first of all that I have witnessed that was solely made of younger people. All the other ones were mainly made up of older people.

A few of the other protests I have witnessed:

Madrid, Spain - Podemos Protest

Dublin, Ireland - A protest against the charge of water

Prague, Czech Republic - "Russia - Hands off Ukraine" protesting for Ukraine 

Nice, France - "Jes Suis Charlie" protesting terrorism 

(Field Trip 1) Vamos a ir al Museu d'Història de Barcelona

Today we ventured into the Gothic Barrio of Barcelona to explore the Roman Remains in the Roman Barcino Museum. There the guide took us underneath the busy city streets to show us the remains of the community that once made up Barcelona. 

 The community of Barcelona at that time lived in a barricaded city so that they were protected at all times. Barbarians and Germanic tribes were known to try to invade the Roman city of Barcino, but the huge walls stopped them for the most part from entering. 

Typical houses were small and geometric. The "houses" tended to have a common area, a fire place/oven area, and a laundry area. Other parts of the remains showed the remains of large rooms where they would salt fish to preserve it and rooms for dying clothing. They were advanced in the way that each house had a water system for sewage and dirty water from the laundry. 

For fun, people living during this time period played the game commonly known in the United States as Tic-Tac-Toe. The game was made in the tiles of the flooring - how convenient!

Vino vino vino! These vats were designed to hold copious quantities of wine until the wine was fully distilled and ready to be drank. Wine was a huge part of culture back then, and the tradition has stuck with Spain. Wine is a common drink during lunch, dinner, and when you're out at night. Typically wine is cheaper then water in restaurants as well so why not get a glass and fit in with the locals?

(Traditional Food 1) Traditional Food Courtesy of Tarragona

Tarragona was full of surprises and one of the biggest surprises was the scrumptious food. I tried a bunch of different food that I would've never thought to try if it wasn't for IES. On the second day we were in Tarragona, we all went to a restaurant where we tried a traditional Spanish dish: charred onions known as calcots. THEY WERE AMAZING!!!!! 

Not to mention that the onions were only the first course to the meal. They were merely the starter. On top of that we feasted on homemade bread, fresh tomatoes with olive oil, potatoes, lamb chops, sausage, chicken, and flan for dessert. After I finished everything on my plate, since the waitress wouldn't let us leave without finishing every single thing on our table, I thought I was going to burst. I was stuffed to brim with amazing food. And to top it all off, they had these really cool wine vases. People were just pouring the wine straight into their mouths from it too!

Whether it's the food I have had from my host mom, restaurants around the city, or traveling I have always been satisfied with the food I've tried. I have yet to try pallela (which I am super sad about), but I am determined to try it before I leave!

My host mom makes this amazing dish with baked eggplant, meat, and cheese and I fell in love with it. My host mom also makes this lightly breaded fish which is to die for - it's breaded fish with a light lemon sauce to top it off and it's usually served over rice. I cant complain about the food just yet. 

(Life in Catalunya 2) Well, That Was Unfortunate

Saturday Feb 18th. 4:47 am. Calle de Caspe. Sienna Glavin and Shaena Singer walk home from Opium to save money. Man comes out of no where and asks where his girlfriend is.

Obviously we have no idea so we say we don't know and attempt to start walking again. Before either one of us can react the man is grabbing at my purse. HELL NO! I pull back until the strap is broken. He sprints off, but I wasn't having any of that so instinctively I chased after him. Before I knew it he had unzipped my purse mid sprint, stolen my phone, 3 month metro pass, and 30 euros and threw my purse to the side. Thankfully my house keys flew out along with the purse so I didn't have to worry my host mom.

After I realized there was no way in hell I was going to catch this guy I stopped running. I grabbed my broken purse and started walking to the main road which was only one street up. Shaena was freaking out and immediately called the emergency number. As we were talking to the police, these three older men came up and asked what was wrong. We explained the story and they got us a cab and gave us money to take the cab to the police station.

Still Saturday. 5:26 am. Arrive at the Police Station.

I thank whatever God there is for letting me have Shaena accompany me because the police spoke no English at all, and my Spanish happens to be sub par. Anyways, Shaena tells them the details while I reenact what happened with charades so they can understand the story to the fullest. Looking back at it now, I can only laugh because I can only imagine how silly we looked: Shaena speaking broken Spanish and then there's me who was trying to act out the mugging.

After an hour and a half with the police, we finally were ready to go home. Now back in the U.S. if this was to occur the police would drive us back to our houses; here that is not the case. They directed us to the closet metro and after getting everything taken I had to take the metro home...comical.

Still Saturday. 7:11 am. Alright now fast forward to me getting off my metro station. Background info: I have approximately a 7 minute walk according to Google to get home from the metro. So I start walking home and about 3 blocks from home I realize that someone's following me. Obviously I start walking fast and rush to my apartment. I put the key in, get in, and shut the door behind me quickly. As soon as I start walking to the elevator I hear the guy banging on the door. Are you kidding me?!?! So now he's trying to explain that his girlfriend lives upstairs and he doesn't want to wake her so I should let him in. HAHA not a chance. I've heard the girlfriend line and I wasn't falling for it again. I ignore him, get in the elevator, get to my bed, and pass out. Goodnight.