Vámonos para Un excursión! Vale?

Fina has being planning this little day trip for us for a LONG time. All I knew was that she needed 20 euros and that she was pretty stoked about the whole situation. I had no idea where we were going, with whom, or anything. All I knew was that an autocarre was picking us up and we need to wake up around 5am. And she was packing some bocadillitos (little sandwiches) for us.

I woke up at 5am. Had my coffee and cereal. And let for the autocarre with Fina. I was the only one under the age of 65 there. Que bueno! No really, I like older people. However, the smells on the bus where a little much… but it is all good. So next thing I know, I am in France! I was like alright, alright this is good. We stopped at the cute antique city with a big open market and did some sight-seeing and tried about a million free samples. We left there and drove along the coast through these crazy mountains. It was like… cliffs into the ocean and beautiful, but our bus driver was hauling and there were no guardrails (not that they would do much, but there wasn’t even an illusion of safety). At one point I just kind of accepted that if it came down to it, it would not be a bad way to go.

After surviving two hours of this craziness, we were at the restaurant in the middle of nowhere, but I guess in Spain. So about 75 senior citizens and I walked into this sweet little place and sat down. We had our first course. The big debate at the table was who was saying my name correctly. It was great. One would say “Nan-nah” and the other would say, “No, se llama Nah-han”. I kept just saying “No me importa” (it is not important to me). Anyways. A guy with a keyboard shows up and started playing music and some crazy dancing broke out. I thought, “ah if only I knew some Spanish dances because they are having so much fun.” Some time passed and I just sat there watching all of the fun.

Let me tell you, these senior citizens know how to get down. Spanish women only get spicier with age, of this I am certain. Next thing I know, I am being dragged onto the dance floor. I have no idea how it happened, but my feet did what they were supposed to. And I danced and danced with old men! Then Achy-Breaky heart came on and I was like YES. So we are tearing up that dance floor and I am having the time of my life. Well the keyboardist/singer man called me up to help him with the song when he realized that I knew the words and that he was absolutely slaughtering the song. So I went up and sang a duet with him! Ha ha so embarrassing, but I totally embraced it.

The ride home was really long and curvy. The woman in the row across ended up vomiting in a plastic bag. I pretended like nothing was happening because I could hardly handle it. At the end of the excursion, vomit face came up and said bye and gave me a kiss on each cheek while holding her plastic bag of vomit. Gross!

I would have to consider this excursion a success. Two thumbs way up.

Peanut Butter Lovin’ (Spain’s First Peanut Butter Party)

Peanut butter is a passion of mine. It is right up there with salmon and ice cream (those three together sound really gross, but individually are heavenly). In Spain there is no such thing as peanut butter, so Holl (the best mom ever) packed me a little tub-o-PB in my suitcase. I decided that I would wait for the right moment to come before breaking into my stash. I thought either tears or something catastrophic would have to occur and then I would indulge in a little PB therapy. I got through three whole weeks without a morsel of the stuff. Well, today was the day. I had just.. ugh.. one of those days. A lot of it I cannot really explain.. but Caitlin can attest, I had my share of turmoil this morning.

Well I guess I will try to explain the situation a little. I was innocently walking to school when I needed to go to the bathroom. So I walked into a little café where I was told I needed to buy something when I realized I had not a eurocent in my possession. Thus began my hunt. I did circles and circles around block after block getting turned down my cafés, bars, and fruit stores alike. WHAT THE HECK! I was a little girl in need and almost in tears. I cannot even express the gravity of the situation. Okay, fine, it is that time of the month. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a “Dino Pan” came to my rescue (the Dunkin’ Donuts of Spain). There were other things that I just won’t go into, but fue muy, muy mal.

After that whole episode, I realized that I was MISERABLY lost. I got out my map and found that my excursion took me half an hour in the wrong direction. I began to weave my way in and out of streets and parks to get to school. I arrive late to my first class, which is a university class and I was nervous to meet all of the Spanish students. My commute took me 70 minutes instead of 30. It turned out to be fine, but still, not the picturesque morning I usually enjoy. I had three classes right in a row, the first two are university classes. Guerra civil was a nice break, but still class.

Also, I have a final tomorrow and I spent way too much time in the library. I was walking home and stressing about my test and not really paying attention when I notice that I had gone about eight blocks past my apartment building, which is absolutely absurd because I was ON MY STREET. Yo soy un tocho (I’m as dumb as a brick).

I finally got home and suddenly remembered my peanut butter. So I got out my ghetto little yellow baby spoon and got a spoonful of peanut butter. The sheer beauty of this moment is beyond words. I was taking it all in, and in my happy place, ah sweet euphoria, when all of a sudden…

… Fina opened my door and asked what is going on. And I told her I was having a little peanut butter, extremely embarrassed that she saw me during this intimate moment. She was curious and we headed into the kitchen with my prized possession. Keep in mind, this is the only peanut butter I have until February. We started to spread it on some bread, then apple slices. This was Spain’s first ever Fiesta de mantequilla de cacahuetes. Que fantástico! Fina was fully embracing peanut butter… but maybe too much. I mean I was really happy that she really liked it, but she went to town on that jar of peanut butter. I had only rationed a single spoon for today. It is a very bittersweet moment… mostly bitter… as in I am harboring bitter feelings over having to share my peanut butter. One-third of the jar gone in one day. Que triste. It just occurred to my now how lucky I am that I am not allergic to nuts.


P.S. If anyone wants to send me peanut butter…

My First Attempt at Saggy Crotch Pants

Not gonna lie, it left much to be desired. First of all, I could not figure out the sizes. The numbers on the tags seemed entirely arbitrary. So I eyeballed it, grabbed a pair of purple saggy crotch pants and made my way to the dressing room. The worker there was really hovering and I wanted to be like.. “Lady, back off, I am trying to make a connection here”. I should have known it would be like this because I am a bad friend and tried them on without Caitlin. Anyways. So I put the glorious pants on and I just know that something is not right. I think I may have put them on backwards. So I turn them around, but there is still something just not right... so I turned them around again. I still really wasn’t feeling it. So I cut my losses and went home. It just wasn’t meant to be... for now.

Other happenings:
-it was my first day of class
-guerra civil was great
-spanish history was not
-I met Caitlin between her classes bearing gifts of fruit and water
-Fina and I had a really good talk

The Name of the Game is Progress

I know I am always writing about walking to school, but this seriously is a big part of my life. Today I learned the magic of progress. I got to the main campus in half an hour (which originally took me closer to 50 minute). How did I do this you may ask? Well, I refused to stop moving. If there was a ¨don´t walk¨sign, I would take which ever crosswalk would let me. I live diagonal from the University of Barcelona, so instead of taking main roads, I zig-zagged through the city.

This new concept of progress and not waiting at a corner for a light to change made me think beyond just my walk to school. There are so many times that I stay stuck at one corner and think that the red light controls me. It does not have to. I can overcome these obstacles simply by having a broader view. My friend Caitlin love photography and can take these wonderful panoramic photos. By having a broader scope, you get the real context of what the whole scene is. Tangent. I, Hannah Groom, hereby proclaim to stop starring at the red lights and run like heck to make progress in every aspect of my life.

El Locutorio

Okay, so I don't have wifi (wee-fee) at my house.  And it is really unfortunate, but I am surviving by going to the Locutorio which is run by a family from India.  I get one hour of wifi for one euro (roughly $1.50).  It is an expense I am willing to pay though.  Anyways.  The locutorio is the only unsafe place I really go in Spain.  Last time I was here, the worker tried to bully me into paying 3 euros when I had only been there for an hour.  It was really scary.

The computers here have pictures of Indian women as their background and whenever I am skyping friends and family I notice the weird men around me looking at me or listening to my conversations.  Muy mal.  The other weird thing is that there are always these really poor girls here who video chat and sing in 

English to Americans.  

I am very suspect of all of this.  I am hoping to figure out a better place to go and use some internet, 

hopefully one that is cheaper and doesn't have pictures of Indian women, creepers and cheapskates.  Time will tell.  I will let you all know what I end up doing!

Travels in the North

This week our study abroad program took a

n excursion to Northern Spain to look at architecture.  It was actually really amazing.  We stopped in really neat little ancient cities.  Caitlin and I worked on spending as little money as possible.  The Director of BCA informed us on the bus that 

we would be buying our own food for five whole days when most of us were under the impression that it would be paid for.  Never fear, our thriftiness and sheer brilliance shown through.  We managed to get by on very little on the trip.

It was amazing to see the architecture.  I was just blown away time after time by these beautiful palaces, cathedrals, and cities.  It was great to see how cultures beliefs shaped the art and architecture.  My favorite building was the cathedral of León.  It was very lavish.  My second favorite was Gaudi's palace in Astorga.  Caitlin and I joked that it was our house and picked out bedrooms and dance floors, breakfast nooks, etc etc.  Caitlin and I only got lost twice in the five days we were traveling.  We really need to either pay more attention, or become friends with someone who can navigate.  My personal favorite was the time when I was motion sick/poisoned from the bus ride and we were lost at 10pm, with a map, without any knowledge of the city we were in, and without knowing the name of our hotel.  Luckily Caitlin noticed a door and led us home.  She is my hero.

It was nice to be in the North.  It felt like Fall which made me think of home.  I wish the trees were changing or something.. that would be fun.  Overall, I was very impressed by Northern Spain.  The trip was fun, the buildings were gorgeous, and I learned a lot.  Oh, my fellow BCAers were great too.  One night we went out for traditional tapas.  It was really a fun time!

Oh, also there is this thing called the Camino de Santiago.  It is this sweet pilgrimage from France to "the edge of the Earth" aka the coast of Spain.  Many people were trekking along with their packs and I felt a wave of envy and a hunger for adventure (or an adwenchture).  I guess I have my adventure planned for now, but one day (maybe with a certain wench).

One another note entirely, I have picked out my classes! I will have three BCA (american students being taught in Spanish) classes and two University of Barcelona classes.  My BCA classes are: Spanish Civil War (so excited!), Spanish Pragmatics, and Spanish History.  My UB classes are: Spanish Narratives of the 19th Century (which I am equally drawn to and frightened of) and Spanish in America.  Every day I get out of class at 2pm so I am pumped to have my afternoons free!  Hopefully I find some Spanish friends and can fill my days with wonderful things.

Walking

I walked to school today and cut it down to approximately 38 minutes at a good pace.  Music has kind of been lacking in my life because my iPod is in Maine but last night when I couldn’t sleep I was listening t so music in my room.  It was like I suddenly remembered that music exists and that I love it.  In that very spirit I walked to school singing my little heart out because the streets did not have too many people on them and I really thought nothing of it.  School was good.  I had coffee with my conversation professor and got this sweet picture taken with Tony!! 

After class we went to the Placa Reial with Caitlin and Allan.  We decided this was a decent park to have lunch.  We had adventures in Auala 9B where I rubbed my essence all over the classroom so that Caitlin would have a good semester in that classroom.  I am feeling pretty good atm, which means at the moment.. in case you didn’t know (sorry I had to throw that in there..). 

Oh right, this post is about walking.  After those happenings I walked home and you know, I was feeling the singing on the way to school so I started right up again.  Trouble was that it was pretty much rush hour on the streets of Barcelona which means there were a ton of people walking.  I had not noticed that this was the case until I was stopped at a crosswalk and this girl was looking at me.  Not only was like wearing a ridiculous outfit (purple headband and Nikes), but I was also singing, in public, in English, in Spain.  I abruptly stopped and think I will save my song for the early morning when it is just me and streets.

 

Other happenings:

1.     No luck finding saggy crotch pants for myself. I actually haven’t tried, I have been really tired

2.     I never sleep and it is bothering me. I go to bed around 10 or 11 and cannot fall asleep. At about 2am I usually give up and listen to music or write.

3.     I am leaving for León tomorrow for five days and just cannot wait!

4.     This was the last day of conversation and grammar classes. Que triste!

5.     In between classes Caitlin and I found a cool CD stores and a thrift store as well… which are essentials

6.     There is a man at the door at this very moment who has rang the doorbell 3 times but I have no idea what to do because I don’t know him and Fina said not to let anyone in if she is not home.. uh.

7.     And if you are in your room singing and the window is open everyone can hear you so maybe keep it down a little.. especially if you don’t want the man at the door to know you are home..