Mercé Means..

First of all, I just want to say, I know this is going to be ridiculously long, but really stick with it because this was like.. FIVE DAYS of AMAZING that I am trying to squeeze into one blog entry.  Anyways... 

La Mercé means... the best time you have ever had, EVER.  No seriously, I am not at all exaggerating!  I wish every week were Mercé, although I am positive that I would not be able to handle all the fun and lack of sleep. 

The first I heard of Mercé was when I was half asleep and Cristina (woman from London who works for BCA) was giving us a tour of the campus said, “Yeah, here is where the giants for Mercé start out.”  Which peaked my interest, but not enough to actually do much about it.  Then I started seeing signs everywhere about it.  Then I noticed a random Thursday off of school.  So I was like, “okay WHAT is going on...”

Mercé is Spain's patron Saint week, the actual day is Thursday, but the festivities last from Wednesday to Sunday.  It is a big deal here.  Fina was like, "you will go out every night.. right?"  She thinks I am kind of... dull because I don't have the ability to stay out late and really party like a Spaniard.  And I really don’t go out too often.  Anyways!  

Caitlin did some awesome research and looked into bands playing and other really neat things happening.  To our delight, Billie the Vision and the Dancers would be playing, along with the Hives and other bands. 

Check them out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9-dakz2R_o

WEDNESDAY

We saw the giants in a parade and jumped around insanely!  Our goal was to get confettied as much as possible.  I think the most successful technique was the skip-clap dance.  Seriously a blast!  There was a concert at that plaza so Caitlin, Miguelito and I checked that out.  I have no idea who it was, but Caitlin and I danced and were living it up.  Miguelito left us and we proceeded to attempt a relationship with this woman who was really feeling the music.  I soon realized that her armpits had not been shaved… ever.  

Oh yeah, that was the night Caitlin began haggling with the street venders selling street beer.  She was naturally skilled at this, but as the week went on, harnessed her rare talent. 

We were home and in bed by 2am, which is SO not Spanish, but we had a big week ahead of us and couldn't get worn out on the first night of la Mercé!  Oh right! I was wearing some.. mildy saggy crotch pants that I had bought for like 5 euro.  They are not THE pair, but they are a good starter pair I guess.  And Caitlin rocked a cute little jean dress (totally in style in España right now, go Caitlin).  This was definitely a successful first day of Mercé.

THURSDAY

We went to see the stacking of people*****!  Caitlin and I arrived approximately two and a half hours early and watched about 2.5 hours too many of giants dancing while squeezing into the smallest plaza ever.  No, it was okay… just crowded and I was hurting from the night before.  We spotted some children sitting on some metal gates on the outskirts of the plaza and made our way over there.  Some nice man helped Caitlin and I climb up.  It honestly was the best sitting/standing area in the whole place.  I got a call from Miguelito who said "Look to your left", so I scanned the crowd of THOUSANDS to find him not far off from us.  He, Aly, and Marie joined us in the best spot ever.

The CABALLEROS.. (or something like that?) started!  Teams came out one by one and would make a human tower, first a man, then a smaller man, than a woman, then a mere child.  Yes, a child, at the top of a tower of people.  So these human towers supported by about 20 people at the base would walk through the crowd to the middle of the plaza.  Then they began to construct a tower shaped like a circle with four people on each level, and with several small children at the top.  The last two small children would have to go up and over this arch made by the two small children before then.  The goal is to construct and deconstruct the tower without anyone falling and the fastest possible.  It really was insane!  I saw like two or three small children fall from ridiculously high!  I think no one got hurt though…

A couple of teams went (the teams were from each neighborhood of Barcelona).  The police came and told us to get down, so we were then crammed into the crowd.  It was SO CROWDED and kind of on the stinky side.  One of the human towers was made my five feet away from me!  It was amazing!  

I left there and saw some really neat little stands of people selling jewelry and clothing.  I took my time going back and randomly, like an hour after parting ways, I bumped into Caitlin!  In such a big city with so many people this is not a all likely.  It was really convenient because she had left her keys in my purse!  When she realized that I had her house keys, she sprinted through the metro station to catch me before I got on my metro headed the other direction.

The rest of the day, I just had a siesta, a Fina fight, and began to study for a ridiculously hard final that I would have the next day.. who makes a final during Mercé!?  Side note: I am learning that fights with Fina are just part of life and not to take them personal.

FRIDAY

I walked to Caitlin's house (the entire opposite side of Barcelona) because I got tired of studying and wanted to waste some time.  I saw all of these cute little shops that I hope to venture to again at some point in the near future!  Caitlin and I studied outside of a little tapas place and had some Coke Lite.  After was had done all we could to learn everything there is to know about Spanish (essentially, our test was "be able to use every one of 15 tenses in Spanish perfectly”) I headed home for lunch.  Fina greeted me and started yelling at me in Spanish and I was like.. oh no! What is going on?  So, I was all upset but it turned out to just be a misunderstanding.  She did, however, tell me that I need to be more of a "señorita", which I took a little offense to, but no biggie.

Okay! exam and then back home!  One my way home, I spotted a... well I guess it was like a goodwill.  In this "goodwill" place I saw a really cute dress!  Really cute and only three euros! Wonderful!  It is a little black floral dress.  I was pretty sure that it was some old lady dress, but it had potential to be trendy if I accessorized correctly.  So I bought it!  I had a siesta at home, and then put my sassy little grandma dress on and started getting ready.  Okay, unfortunately, I did not have the right trendy accessories for the dress!  I ended up wearing my pearls, black spandex and cute little flats.  I was afraid I might be cold, so I threw on a little white sweater on my way out the door.  As I was walking to meet Caitlin, I realized I looked straight up grandma and not trendy at all.  Oh well, I embraced the role of Barb fully.

We met up and danced some salsa at a plaza where a band was playing.  Caitlin was purchasing a street beer in the dark and made the mistake of paying with a 50 cent euro coin instead of 1 euro.  She was quite pleased with the new price and managed to rip off a couple more street people.  After salsa, we went to see the Go Team, a pop group from London.  Okay, SERIOUSLY a good time!  We managed to get extremely close to the stage.  The lead singer, a cute chick with a London accent and an afro yelled "BARCELONA!  HOW IS YOUR ENGLISH!?"  and Caitlin replied "MY ENGLISH IS BANGING!"  This man in front of us turned and asked her where she was from.  She said California.  He was from Missouri or somewhere (I will have to ask Caitlin, the details are all blurring).  I was just minding my business, you know, getting my groove on when all of a sudden... this chick behind back-bends me!  We were back to back and she just unexpectedly was bent over me and I was pretty much on the ground.  I cannot explain it except to say that it was extremely awkward, shocking and euphoric all at the same time.  I think I said "I just got back-bended" and "what was that!?" about ten times.  The hippie girl gave me a hug from behind and said thanks!  A combiaygh-kind of song came on and the Spanish hippie and her friends behind us were hugging and swaying.  All of a sudden, they started saying "join us!" and grabbing Caitlin and I!  I was embraced from behind, pet, and caressed on my face for the remainder of the song!  The hippie man pulled Caitlin into the swaying group.  Truly, unforgettable!  As we were leaving, ANOTHER person stroked my hair!  I have no idea what the deal was, but it was very peculiar!  We called it a night, and were in bed by 2:30ish.  

SATURDAY

This is the BIG night for Caitlin and me.  We had planned for Correfoc, Billie the Vision and the Dancers (seriously look him up on Youtube this moment and listen to Summercat), and The Hives.  I joined Caitlin at her house for dinner and then we headed out.  First thing to do: find Pepe, Miguelito, Tomás and the gang at some random metro.  The trouble is that there are like ten metro areas for every stop.  Anyways, we kind of miraculously found them without the use of a cellphone.  From there, we went to Correfoc, which I had thought was like, Spanish fireworks, but learned that it is people with dragons and metal sticks that are like HUGE sparklers that throw fire at the crowd.  We had been warned to wear long sleeves, so we did, but honestly, nothing could have prepared us for this!  The parade of fire goes through the streets and you are supposed to jump in with the fire people and dance in the fiery sparks!  SO AMAZING.  Tomás was like "Hannah, there were so many sparks in your hair" so I tied my sweater around my head!

After our fill our fire dancing, we headed off the find BILLIE THE VISION AND THE DANCERS.  I was more excited for this than anything of Mercé.  This was THE event that I knew I wanted to check out.  So we get lost.  And miss Billie.  But in the process we run into a tiny plaza with a grand piano suspended 20 feet in the air.. sideways.. with some man playing it.  I mean, he was no Billie, and it was disappointing, but he was pretty cool.

We finally figure out where we are going and manage to get see the end of the Hives concert.  It was ridiculously packed and slightly uncomfortable, but amazing nonetheless.

After the concert, I headed out to Frankfurt's with Miguelito and Tomás and had an amazing burger!  My first burger in Spain!  We agreed it was an acceptable place.  I was in bed by 3am, still not 6am, but baby steps!  One day I will be able to do the nightlife like the Spanish do!

SUNDAY

Unfortunately, this is kind of anti-climatic.  I spent Sunday adventuring.  I managed to hit every corner of Barcelona in one day and saw a ton of really cool places!  I had planned to meet up with Caitlin for the fireworks, but she has no cellphone and there were 800,000 or something like that crammed into the plaza and I could NOT find her.  Oh, her host mom, Pilar, called me and tried to give me some message, but I just kept saying "Lo siento, pero Kaitlin está en los Estados Unidos.  Ella está a su Universidad en Tennessee, cuando yo vine a España, ella me dio su mobil".  Yeah I thought she was KAITI JONES'S host mom, not Caitlin Bigelow.  Whoops!  I decided to leave the fireworks before they began and on my way out, I get absolutely DESTROYED by this man on rollerblades.  I am surprised we both survived.  Literally, he was going full speed and knocked me down to the ground.  I was like "HEY!" and he was very apologetic.  I am just glad he was a small little Spaniard.  Yeah, Sunday night was not great.

 

So that completes my first ever Mercé.  I am still recovering from the lack of sleep and endless dancing in the streets....

  

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.