Last night I got mistaken for a local! A woman was lost and asked me how to use the metro to get back to where she was going, which of course I knew, looking like a local and all. In hindsight I really hope I told her the right way... But yesterday we had our placement exam to see which level of spanish classes we will be in and got to see the campus of Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) for the first time. Here it is, my school for this semester.
(click here -->) War Damn UPF
Definitely picked the right school. It is super close to the beach, which will probably be dangerous for my studying habits, but it is really cool and I'm excited to start classes and get on a schedule. Starting Monday we will have 2 weeks of just intensive spanish classes every day and then after that we will start our other classes as well. I finally found out what I'm taking! Monday through Thursday I'll have my Spanish class every morning and then on Tuesdays and Thursdays I will have Comunicación y Sociedad en España y Europa from 3-5 and then Imagenes de España en el Cine Contemporáneo from 5-7. Not too shabby. I'm really excited to start meeting locals too, so hopefully that will be easier to do going to the same school.
Ok a few observations and such.
1. They walk everywhere. EVERYWHERE. No wonder they have shoe stores on every corner because they wear them out every other day. By the end of this semester I'll have calf muscles of steel baby.
2. The city of Barcelona was built as a labyrinth. COOL. It was a defensive strategy so that if intruders attacked then they wouldn't be able to find their way out of the city. Well done then, Barce because you have sufficiently confused me more than once, leading to my growing calf muscle, worn out sandals, and desire to soak my feet every night and do it all over again the next day. Ahhhh Barcelona
3. The married women will wear a simple gold band or something on their finger, or a lot of times nothing at all, rather than some big bling like in the states. (This reminded me of you Kadie when you said get me a string and a plane ticket! haha)
4. Barcelona isn't too big on air conditioning, lamps, or drinking water. So the windows are always open, I've run in to many a table or wall at night, and I'm eating watermelon like it's my job. Ana leaves a candle on the floor in the middle of her room every night for us so we have some sort of light when we come in. Sweet abuelita.
5. In every store or restaurant I've been to, if they are playing music it is always American music. From my window alone I've heard pretty much everything from Taylor Swift to Kid Cudi to a guy playing classical music on his guitar.
6. Ana said we might burn the apartment down so we're not allowed to touch the hot water heater if we want to take a shower. Early mornings and she's still asleep? In the middle of the day and she isn't here? Helloooo cold showers. But then again I wouldn't want some American hooligans coming and burning down my apartment either. Touche Ana.
7. My spanish is getting so much better already!! And most people here are multi-lengual. Everyone knows Spanish, most everyone knows Catalan, then English, and a lot of people know French or Italian or Portuguese. It is incredible. They say it is a lot easier to pick up another romantic language once you know one, so that's my new goal. Get Spanish down and then maybe Portuguese? Italian? Piece of cake.
Hasta luego!
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