So I haven't updated in two weeks because I had to take my Mac in to the Apple Store to get repaired - twice! I am now extremely acquainted with La Maquinista, a rather large shopping mall four stops from the El Fondo end of the Red Line on the metro, the home of the only Apple Store in Barcelona.
Coming back to Barcelona after spring break was a rather surreal experience. For one, I had to go "back to school," but not really, because I discovered some of Spain's holidays thrown in to the month of April and May, as well as the impact of University strikes protesting tuition increases that resulted in cancelled or disrupted classes. Día de San Jordi was on April 23, and is like a second Valentine's Day. There is a tradition where gentlemen buy ladies roses and ladies buy gentlemen books. A couple days ago (May 1) was a bank holiday, so everything was closed - shops, markets, and schools included. This entire week, classes have been interrupted by protestors/strikers making announcements and blasting sirens, urging teachers and students alike to leave the classroom and join la huelga.
I came back to find the fruit and veggie stand I've been going to is closed...it's all taped off! And the Blogger editing layout is revamped. How can so much change in two weeks?!
Returning to Barcelona was also a wake-up call to the fact that I don't have that much time left here! I've been simultaneously adding to my Barcelona bucket list and trying to cross things off. A couple of weekends ago, I went to Tibidabo, a tall mountain overlooking Barcelona that supports both a Catholic church as well as an amusement park. On the way to both, we encountered a boar who showed her vicious side as she grabbed the lunch bag of some family and tore it to shreds to get the food inside. After seeing that, we decided it was best to leave her cute little baby pigs (hiding behind some grass) alone.
Coming back to Barcelona after spring break was a rather surreal experience. For one, I had to go "back to school," but not really, because I discovered some of Spain's holidays thrown in to the month of April and May, as well as the impact of University strikes protesting tuition increases that resulted in cancelled or disrupted classes. Día de San Jordi was on April 23, and is like a second Valentine's Day. There is a tradition where gentlemen buy ladies roses and ladies buy gentlemen books. A couple days ago (May 1) was a bank holiday, so everything was closed - shops, markets, and schools included. This entire week, classes have been interrupted by protestors/strikers making announcements and blasting sirens, urging teachers and students alike to leave the classroom and join la huelga.
I came back to find the fruit and veggie stand I've been going to is closed...it's all taped off! And the Blogger editing layout is revamped. How can so much change in two weeks?!
Returning to Barcelona was also a wake-up call to the fact that I don't have that much time left here! I've been simultaneously adding to my Barcelona bucket list and trying to cross things off. A couple of weekends ago, I went to Tibidabo, a tall mountain overlooking Barcelona that supports both a Catholic church as well as an amusement park. On the way to both, we encountered a boar who showed her vicious side as she grabbed the lunch bag of some family and tore it to shreds to get the food inside. After seeing that, we decided it was best to leave her cute little baby pigs (hiding behind some grass) alone.
We first explored the church and then headed to the amusement park, which surprised all of us and had a decently large selection of fun rides/attractions, which included a log-jammer, a roller-coaster whose speed was almost comparable to that of Space Mountain at Disneyland, and a really, really creepy haunted house that Shirin and Heidy dragged me into. Dwellers in there included the possessed girl from "The Exorcist," Hannibal Lecter from "Silence of the Lambs," Chuckie, and Freddy Krueger.
The next day, we went to an outdoor fair set up around the Arc de Triomf and Parc de la Ciutadella that featured a huge variety of food as well as artisanal clothing and jewelry shops. There were people on the grass doing what looked like acrobatic yoga, there was a man leading a bhangra dance workshop, and there were tons of earthy-looking people with dreadlocks with their dogs. It reminded me of Berkeley.
My friends showing off their bhangra moves:
What else...
These past two weeks, Heidy, Jackie, Danisha and I have been working on filming our final project for our cine class. The script is Viaje a la Luna, a surrealist story by Federico García Lorca that was never made in to a movie.
Went bar hopping in Gótico, Borne, and Gracia with Shirin and Caroline. We found some pretty interesting places, including a very small, red-lit bar with legs coming out of the wall and pictures of naked women everywhere. That same week, we went to a plaza in Gracia and participated in the Spanish practice of botellón, a term we learned during of first week here in ILP. According to Wikipedia, it means, "a mass meeting of young people between 13 and 24 years, mainly in open areas of free access, to consume drinks previously purchased in shops, listen to music, and talk." We befriended a 19-year old Argentinian guy who accompanied us to a bar. He had been sitting by himself in the plaza and looked lonely.
Tried out some new eateries: salad at Venus, a place with a hippie-vibe in Gótico, sushi and noodles at a Japanese place in Gracia, breakfast burrito at "Timeline" in Gracia.
Akansha's mom (who is visiting) cooked us a delicious Indian dinner...it was so good.
Found out my parents are coming to visit me soon!
Plans for this weekend: Montserrat tomorrow, beach on Saturday, and working on our film.
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