Its been a while! It’s a little bit absurd how busy I have been….and how much genuine FUN I have been having. Allow me to give you a little peek into what my last 5 weeks have consisted of.
BARCELONA: I honestly don’t know if I have ever had so much consistent FUN in my entire life. I went to Barcelona for 4 days with my 4 closest friends here in Spain…all of whom happen to be guys. I don’t know what I was thinking to travel with four guys…nevertheless four guys that are DUCKS (eww u of Oregon…sorry mom!) but it worked out beautifully. Ryan, Nick, Tom, David and I took off from Oviedo on a Thursday afternoon and arrived in the coolest city on planet earth (aka Barcelona) in time for our first night of tom-foolery. First off, Barcelona. Barcelona is in my opinion, a mixture of everything perfect. City, beach, sun, business, shopping, party scene, multi cultural, artsy, creative, original….i could go on for days.
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| THE CREW: david. me. ryan. tom. nick |
We stayed in an amazing hostel on paseig de gracias (a main street) a block from the metro and right in the smack dab middle of everything- The building looked like something out of The Real World, with multi colored doors, huge couches in the common rooms and a sick outdoor patio. By day we hit the beach,( floating in the Mediterranean, cruising the beach, and getting massages from Asian woman who swarm the beaching offering “masssag-ys” at incredibly cheap prices) and exploring everything touristy (sagrada familia, park guell, gaudi buildings, the markets, old town….). And by night…we took Barcelona by storm.
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| Cool statues you can swim out to- |
Onenight, I even got to meet up with some fellow Seatt-lites! A friend of a friend, named Jorge happens to LIVE in Barcelona, so the crew and I got to go over to an AMAZING 8th story flat in the city….oh, and should I mention we were picked up and transported there via Spaniards on Vespas (I know, hard life I live). Another highlight, BARCELONA FUTBOL. The boys and I were lucky enough to get to go see a Barcelona vs. Sevilla Futbol game! The stadium was PACKED, everyone was screaming their lungs off, and we WON 6-0! Please note I am an official barce fan now….:) to prove my new found love I even bought a flag and wore it as a cape to the game. The flag is now hanging in my room- !VIVA BARCE!
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| VIVA BARCE! |
Other random tidbits about the wonder which is Barcelona: because we were on a budget, the dudes and I decided to make the most of our food money by ONLY eating in buffets. Yes. That’s right, Buffets. Everyday, we had one monster meal- that put all of us into a coma every time. Extremely nasty, but extremely effective….I ran into a girl from my UW Spanish class last year in front of the Segrada familia- SMALL WORLD….overall, the trip was amazing. We did not have one even slightly rough moment. All fun, all the time, no stress (which I might add NEVER would have happened with a group of 5 girls!) haha. Ah Barcelona. I will be back soon. (flights from London are significantly less expensive…..so when I say soon, I mean it.)
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| Post Buffet. |
JESSIE: My best friend Jessie whom I have known since the first grade came to visit me in Oviedo! It was SO wonderful to have a little piece of home here with me. J I loved getting to show someone else my world in spain! My roommates cooked us an amazing Paella, we dined out like kings, and we partied like rock-stars. OH, also, learned something new about my roommate, Ales….HE SPEAKS ENGLISH….PERFECTLY. I was absolutely shocked when Jessie walked into the apartment and he busted out in perfect English…hmm, that would have been nice to know a little earlier when I was looking up every 10th word I said to him in the dictionary. Haha. J
MOM: ALSO I got the recent treat of having my mom come and visit me! It was SO amazing to see her and speak Spanish and all of that with her- We spent a wonderful 2.5ish days in Oviedo- filled with wonderful food, wonderful chats and sightseeing . Afterwards, we bussed off to San Sebastian and Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. San Sebastian was incredible is every sense of the word. San Seb. Is on the northern coast of Spain, about 30 minutes driving from the boarder of France- The mixture of the two very different styles of architecture, music, basic way of life and most importantly FOOD is a foolproof combo. Mom and I pretty much ate and drank our way through the city. Having Zuritos (little beers) and Pinxos (tapas) every few hours and walking around. The streets are all lined with little bars that are PACKED with people and filled with the most delicious food you have ever seen.
Little pieces of fresh fish on a still-warm croissant, mushrooms in different little sauces, thinly sliced ham and goat cheese on a little piece of baguette….my mouth is watering just thinking about it. The bars all work on the honor system…you literally pick up whatever you want to eat off the bar and tell the cashier what you got and pay before you leave to go to ANOTHER little bar. Too good to be true. After two days of solid eating, we popped back on the bus and headed to Bilbao for the sole purpose of seeing the Guggenheim Museum. We spent a solid 7 hours in the museum (with a one hour lunch break) and didn’t even get close to seeing everything. The museum was phenomenal- and I felt extremely lucky to have my own personal tour guide to explain everything to me (thanks mom!). 
CONVERSATION PARTNERS: To practice my Spanish more, I signed up for a speaking program called Tandem where a native speaker from the US and a native speaker from Spain meet up to talk and practice the language. I hit the jackpot. My speaking partners are the kindest and most generous couple in the whole world. They have 2 kids (in there 20s/30s) and live 15 minutes out of the city in a amazing house in a tremendous green valley. They have become so much more then speaking partners, they are my Spanish family. They have taken me to their house, introduced me to their whole family, driven me around the small towns of Asturias, and always offer to take me with them if they go anywhere- (I might even get to go skiing with them this weekend!) I am currently getting ready to go over there for lunch! J I feel so lucky to have met them, they have added another incredible element to my life here in Spain-
Beyond that, life in general here in Spain is incredibly good. I feel happier then I have felt in a long time. I have amazing friends, an amazing place to live, and really feel like I am living like a Spaniard. I come and go as I please, I walk the dogs, I cook, I clean….Its not vacation at all- its real life- and I love it.
As a mentioned before, I hit the jackpot when it comes to conversation partners. When I signed up for the “Tandem” conversation program, I figured I would be assigned a Spanish student around my age to chat with and grab a café with from time to time- purely to practice my Spanish and teach a little English. Boy oh boy, that is not what I got at all. Encarna and Galo Blano are an adult couple who have literally adopted me into their lives. They are without a doubt the most caring and generous people I have ever met. 
It started off with meeting for coffee, and changed quickly into meals at their beautiful home in the country side- A few times a week, they came and picked me up and took me somewhere magnificent. Sometimes, we would just go to their home, cook and eat, and sit around, chatting and playing with their few week old boxer puppy (named Frida). Encarna is an artist, (hence “Frida”) so we also spent a good amount of time in her insanely large and creative art studio looking at art and chit chatting. Other times, they would cart me around to do whatever they were doing for the day. We grocery shopped, bought snow tires, looked for baby gifts, went to an Austurian sidra festival…to further explain there generosity and overall wonderful-ness, allow me to give you a scenario of a really special day: 
Two weeks ago, Galo invited me over to go for a bke ride. When I arrive, Galo, Encarna, and there 2 thirtyish year old kids were packed around the TV watching a news report about epic amounts of snow in the mountains near by. I say, to make conversation, “ah! Me encanta la neive! Antes de marcho, me encantaría ver la neive de Espana!” (translation: i love the snow! Before i leave, i would love to see the snow in Spain!) Ten minutes later, the entire family and I are packed in the car, wearing snow boots and ski jackets bound for their cabin in the mountains. 
I will miss my Spanish family like crazy and already cannot wait to come back and visit them. Man, did I get lucky. J 
