When you can't sleep, blog.

As goes my life, I cannot sleep. Weird. Anyways, I thought I would take this moment of insomnia to catch up on my blog. These past two weeks have been ....umm....bittersweet, for lack of a more interesting word. My time here in Barcelona is coming to end and while there are so many things I love about this city there are many things I am ready to leave behind:

1. Paying for water

2. Paying absurd amounts of money for tiny amounts of product

3. Grumpy people

4. Grumpy people shoving me around on the metro

5. Grumpy people being grumpy simply because I am an American and like to speak English on occasion

6. Enduring 5 classes of pointless work where I am not trusted with my own grade and have to abide by an attendance policy

7. Having one type of food to chose from

8. Did I say paying for water?

9. Having to concentrate extremely hard just to understand where the bathroom is.

10. Not being home.

Except honestly for each of those ten things there 20 reasons why I love it here. Europe is like nothing I thought it would be. Every time I go anywhere I am blown away by its beauty. I wish I could go everywhere and see everything but I think I got a pretty good grasp of Europe and that is embodied in the word I have used over and over again throughout my past 4 months here... AMAZING. And of course Sevilla, Spain was no exception. As far as traveling goes I have not taken the opportunity to go to many places within Spain. So when Nickie's parents wanted to take a weekend trip with us when they came to visit we chose Sevilla. I am not sure what everone's historical knowledge of Spain is but Barcelona is located in the Catalonian region which is completely different from the rest of the country, they even speak another language, it has to do with the Romans and blah blah blah snooze fest. Anyways, Sevilla is the "real" Spain, that developed under Castillian rule and was really something to see. All of the architecture is Moorish (since thats who ruled that part of Spain forever..and Portugal too) and is extremely detailed and very "African" feeling with a ton of European influence. It was all extremely unique and really unparalleled to anything I have seen thus far. The cathedral was of course incredible with tons and tons of detail and was quite enormous. We also came across this insanely huge palace that the city changed into the government building. It had a moat and two spires on either side of it, it was really something to see. Also, Sevilla is built on either side of a river, we didn't cross to the other side often but the river was so picturesque. There were rowers and bikers and runners. Kind of the perfect honeymoon spot. It was all so quaint, the people were over the top friendly, if you looked lost they helped you and when you sat down to eat at a restaurant the service was prompt and the servers really wanted to get to know you. It was loverly and I would go back in a heart beat, especially for the weather. It was November 20th and it was 80 degrees outside, that didn't suck. Anyways, Sevilla definitely won me over, this weekend for Thanksgiving its off to probably the complete opposite of Sevilla and that is Salzburg, Austria where about 10 of my closest friends are waiting to share a nice big and hearty turkey feast in a castle on a hill with me. Its going to be very cold with lots of snow but its worth the trouble to spend a cozy weekend with the people you love. I am so excited to see them again. I leave Wednesday so this is probably my last update for the week. I can't believe I only have 25 more days left here. Its been such a blur. Congratulations to the active Deltas, I can not wait to see you again as sisters!! Love you all! and to Abbie, Holly, Lauren and LJ...get ready!!!

Prague Blog

Sorry I couldn't help the title...it rhymes. Anyways, what a great weekend. Although it was a little chilly Prague was incredible. I have never been anywhere that old. Gina, Jill (and her boyfriend, Zach) and I all flew in on Friday and got to our hostel at around 4 p.m. Our hostel was adorable. It was in a quiet part of town in the coolest old building. Gina and I were sharing a room with 10 other people who were all our age and all really cool. Most of them were studying abroad but a few of them were just visiting from other countries around the world. Even though hostels can be inconvenient and not the best situation you do get to meet a lot of people from all over the world.

Anyways, after we got settled we were starving so we headed to the nearest restaurant which happend to be Mexican, I know its stupid that we got Mexican in Prague but we were seriously dying. It wasn't bad but not the best Mexican food ever. The ambience was nice though. So we had an enormous meal there for pretty cheap and then headed into old town to check out the sites and meet up with other girls from our program. I thought it was cold in the day, I didn't know cold until the sun went down. Compared to Barcelona it feels like the Arctic. So, we shivered our way around the Prague castle and the St. Vitus Cathedral and across the Charles Bridge. My new favorite thing is to go site-seeing at night. Everything is so much quieter and beautiful at night. We were one of the very few groups there and got to soak it all up in quiet. When we wrapped up taking pictures we went into Old town square and in the square they have tons of little stands with really cheap, authentic food. I followed this amazingly sweet smell and came across a stand selling these twisty, cinnamon roll kind of deals. I can't describe it, but both Gina and I inhaled them in about 10 seconds they were that good. I'm guessing it is similar to heaven what those little boogers tasted like. After, gorging ourselves on the best item of food I've ever eaten we met up with the other girls and decided to try the infamous Czech beer.

We went to a karaoke bar and had a few brews. Weirdly, the beer was cheaper then water and that can be dangerous. But we were all exhausted and the karaoke was terrible so we headed back on the trolley to the Czech Inn, where one of our new friends decided to snore the entire night, that was fun.

Gina and I woke up early the next day and headed to Starbucks, again I know its stupid to have Starbucks in Prague but they just came out with the Christmas drinks there and I was really craving a toffee nut latte. After a delicious morning of warmth and coffee we headed off to see the cathedral and castle in the day time. When we climbed the bagillion stairs to the top we were just in time to see the changing of the guard and it was so funny. They were all decked out in uniform and marching together, I was giggling the entire time. Then we continued our way into the cathedral. I have seen the inside of I don't know how many cathedrals while I have been here but this one was insane. It was huge and seriously tall, there was stained glass everywhere and was just gorgeous. It was worth the whole trip, apparently it took 600 years to make and was finally finished in 1929. I think it paid off. I was amazed. After gawking at the cathedral for two hours we headed back down into the city and wandered around. We grabbed some lunch at a local bagel shop and shopped around. After escaping the cold and drinking a quick pint we were hungry yet again and had the weirdest experience ever.

On the square theres a bunch of little restaurants where you can sit outside and eat under heat lamps. After choosing a restaurant we were a little too cold under the heat lamps so we headed inside and sat at a table next to what we think was a family of three ( who knew we couldn't understand czech?). There was a man of about 65, a woman who we think was his wife and then a man who think was his son (this is all speculation). So the oldest man was extremely drunk and already making somewhat of a scene when we got there, but as the dinner continued he progressed into a belligerent mess. He was slamming on the table screaming things at the woman and being completely obnoxious. The manager came over and told him to calm down and he did for about 30 seconds until he grabbed his son to hug him and they both knocked over the entire table, with all of their food and dishes and beers and everything which all fell to the floor shattering everywhere. At this point it was just ridiculous but we couldn't look away, it was like a bad car crash. So instead of leaving they stayed and the manager called the police where they all talked it out. I can't exaggerate this story enough to tell you how dramatic it all was...probably because we couldn't understand a single thing that was happening. But the food was amazing and despite the unhelpful rude service we got a great show.

After that dramatic display of drunkeness the girls from our program and us decided we would go on a pub crawl. I know what your thinking, and no I did not end up like that guy in the restaurant but we watched other people get to that point. It was a good time and a really good way to meet people. I ended up seeing some girls I had met in Florence and meeting some guys who are studying in Barcelona also. After seeing two girls get in a physical fight and hitting 2 of the 4 bars, Gina and I were exhausted by 1:30 so we caught the trolley back to the hostel. We got a great night's rest, checked out and headed back to the airport to come back to Barcelona. It was quite an eventful weekend but the city was awesome. I wish I could have spent a few more days but I'm glad I went no matter how short of a time we spent because Prague is somewhere I am not sure I would have ever visited when I got older and I am so glad I got to experience how beautiful it is. This weekend is the last one I have to spend in Barcelona aside from when my Mom comes. Its crazy how fast this is all going. Its such a bittersweet feeling because I miss home so much but at the same time I don't want to leave Europe. But I have some exciting things coming up and I can't wait to see my mom! Anyways I have to go do some tarea (homework). Update soon!

Whew

After one crazy weekend wrapping up all the visitors we have coming to see us its nice to just relax. I can only do the Barcelona night scene so many nights in a row before I can no longer function in the daylight. I did not go to sleep before 4:30 this entire weekend and needless to say that can really screw up your sleep..which everyone knows I need a lot of to be a nice person. But it was sooo fun to have everyone from Salzburg come and see Barcelona. I know that it is very different from what they are experiencing in Austria so it was fun to show them a different kind of European city. We went out Thursday, Friday and Saturday going to all the big that were happening for Halloween. It honestly felt like everyone in the world was in Barcelona this weekend because Spain is one of the only countries in Europe that celebrates some form of Halloween. So on Thursday we went out to one of our favorite bars called Ryan's bar and then cabbed it down the beach to Opium, only we never got into Opium. There were sooo many people there and since Europeans don't believe in lines it quickly turned in a pit of pushing and shoving. So Mookie, Kevin, Gina, Jo and I ditched that idea and wandered around through the bars on the beach and called it a night at around 4am. On Friday I got about 10 hours of sleep, which was greatly needed due to the lack of sleep I had gotten the week before and then took some Hilary time and went shopping for a good 4 hours. Best 4 hours of my week thats for sure. That night was probably one of the most fun nights I have had in Barcelona. We all went out to Oveja Negra and got some Sangria and then headed to Catwalk and Shoko for the night. It was amazing. Shoko was a blast, dancing to techno and drinking some champagne with some of your closest friends...what could be better? At around 3 we headed to Catwalk and danced the night away to the usual 90's rap that we all love so much and finally wrapped the night up at around 6am. Probably one of my latest nights in Barca so far. Spent the whole next day cuddling in bed and snoozing but got up to grab some nachos at George Payne and headed to Chupitos and Broadbar for Halloween night. I was being a party pooper and didnt dress up but everyone else did. They take Halloween very literally in Spain. People were dressed up as zombies and looked all ugly and scary. Where in the states I feel like its just an excuse for girls to show some skin. Anyways Chupitos was packed as usual so Nickie, Gina and I headed off to find a different bar and we stumbled upon the cutest little place all decked out for the holiday. The bar tenders were awesome and they were playing the best spanish music. We hung out there for a bit, found the group and made our way to Broadbar which yet again was completely packed. We watched a Michael Jackson impersonator do Thriller and by 3:00 am and 50 similar techno songs later we were exhausted and hit the metro to go home. I hope all the Salzy people had a great time, I know barca can be a little overwhelming! But it was so great to have them all here.

I am definitely excited for whats to come for me! I have Prague this weekend which I can not wait for, then a weekend in Barca, then Sevilla, Salzburg for Thanksgiving, Mom visits, one more weekend and then I am homeward bound. Its gonna all happen so quickly. Its already November ahh!! Anyways I'm gonna attempt to go to bed at a normal time tonight..I'll update after Prague and I am finally done with all of my stupid midterms. Hope you like the remodel of my layout.

Buenas noches guapos!