Week 8.0: From Girona to Paris

Something I've been meaning to write about for a while... classes over here are not easy (or at least not a walk in the park)! I'm not sure if IES Barcelona is the exception to the rule, but in my opinion it is a misconception that study abroad classes are a joke because I have found exactly the opposite to be true. This past week I had midterms and yes, I survived, but boy was I tired when the weekend circled back around. Lucky me, I had no travel plans set in stone so for a second weekend in a row I was able to explore my own city!

On Friday morning, I met friends from IU in Barceloneta along the beach for brunch. To our dismay, the brunch place we had picked did not open for another hour and so we wandered down the street to find somewhere else. At that point, it became the morning of wandering and eating (basically nothing new for the study abroad experience). Before deciding upon FOC, a Latin place known for their drinks, we stopped at a french fry stand and another café for coffees. After maybe 3-4 hours of eating and chatting, we hopped on the subway to explore the Gracia neighborhood where I was told I could find stores other than Zara. In Gracia, we stumbled upon a strip of boutiques advertising for rebajas (month-long Spanish sales) and wandered up and down the street window shopping for the remainder of the afternoon. I was good and only bought one thing... you're welcome mom and dad :) That night I met up with a local friend I've made and finally got to see some bars that were not infested with study abroad students like me. One of my favorite parts of the night was visiting a bar that I'm now told is called a "speak easy"? Basically, the place was up two flights of stairs in a building I could have sworn housed apartments, totally hidden from the street. There we found live music, pool tables, and great drinks! Overall, a fun Friday.

The next day, I ventured outside of Barcelona by train with my same friends from the day before. We now joke that I'm an honorary hoosier because I could tell you all the ins and outs of Greek life and the business school at Indiana, but that's beside the point. Allow me, for just a moment, to rant about the train lines in Spain. Nothing is easy!! After my terrible misfortune with planes and trains on my way to Seville a couple weekends back, I had zero patience at Sants Estacio in Barcelona when some of our tickets got messed up and we were turned away from our train. We had to lighten the mood and kill time somehow so us girls found some cava and orange juice, the fixings for mimosas, and enjoyed our drinks over a shared platter of cheese (so Spanish, we know). Luckily, the next train to Girona ended up being a quick and pleasant experience so, while I was annoyed, Saturday was nowhere near as unlucky as Friday the 13th.

What to tell about Girona? Well, a ten minute walk in the direction of the cathedral led us straight into the old part of the city. There we crossed over the Girona canal what felt like a million times (literally weaving back and forth) in search of lunch. It's laughable that we ended up at the lone sushi bar in the city because we were well aware the move was tapas, but it was hard to trust the tapas menus we found with extremely average looking pictures of paella. Do you blame us? After lunch, we crossed the canal once again to find the Jewish quarter talked about on trip advisor and one or two hours later, I felt like I had seen it all in Girona. We topped off the day with nutella crepes and found a cool look out point from the city wall as the church bells rang all over town. We made it back to Barcelona in time for dinner, I worked on some internship apps from home, and the group headed back out to see what new bars we could find. Jamboree was the final destination, a bar known for its concerts and jazz nights and although my corona was 6 euro, I'd definitely go back! It was fun to try a new place.

Today has been a lazy day and I'm thankful for that! Since Barcelona shuts down on Sundays, I'm camped out at a Starbucks (the only place open for coffee) writing a paper for school. Laundry and getting myself organized for this week are high up on the list of to-do but karaoke night may be calling my name. I'm sooo excited for this coming week because Thursday I get to see Sarah and Annie again when they come to visit Barcelona. Stay tuned for tales of the TCU crew being reunited once again!

OH AND... this week ribbons traveled not only to Girona, but to Paris too! A huge thank you to Tori for snapping a pic in front of the Eiffel tower. Extra best friend points for her this week. #BeBrave

My weekend through my camera roll:

FOC tacos and drinks.

Fighting Renfe Railway for a refund.

The canal in Girona.

"Las Ramblas" in Girona.

The cathedral.

Panoramic view from the city wall.

¡Adios, Girona!

Week 7.0: Mojitos and Midterms

While having a conversation with a friend earlier this week, I realized I'm halfway through my semester abroad. Someone please explain to me how this is possible. I suppose having midterms this week, I should have put two and two together a little bit earlier but nope, I'm still shocked. Halfway through is a scary thought simply because I am nowhere near ready to leave.

In place of me writing about another ribbon this week, I'm here to tell you that Katie Stallard, my beautiful mom and constant inspiration, is done with chemotherapy. Although this is not the end of her treatment, it is the closing of a very difficult chapter in the greater breast cancer story. Any breast cancer patient or survivor can tell you just how draining it is to sit in a chair, week-to-week, for hours at a time and receive chemotherapy, a powerful medicine that goes after not only the bad cells but some of the good ones too. Over the past couple of months my mom has struggled with losing her hair, her energy, and her satisfaction in some of the simple things we do day-to-day but tend not to really think about... eating, for example. The next step will be a series of radiation treatments which we expect to be nothing compared to chemo. A quick shout out to the friends and family who have showered my mom with love, support, presents, and even home-cooked meatballs, y'all seriously rock. And lastly, shout out to you mom... congrats! I am so thrilled to see you pass by another milestone in the journey with your unwavering bravery and high spirits. How you do it all with such grace, I wish I knew.

So... what's new with me in Barcelona? In the breast cancer awareness spirit and a nice little follow up to my blog post entitled "Coats: A Way of Life", I bought a coat!! And it's pink. Every day I feel that I come closer and closer to being mistaken as a Spanish woman. I am now the proud owner of platform booties and a cool coat. Also, this week I did some additional credit card damage by booking flights back to London and to Lisbon, Portugal. Lisbon will be a nice little getaway before finals in April (praying it's warm enough to enjoy the beach) and London was a must because three days was not enough time to experience it all. There's still so much to see! And who could turn down another opportunity to hang out with your best friends? Certainly not me.

Quick peak of the coat.

What else? What else? I suppose it's worth sharing that earlier this week I paid an overdue visit to the doctor in Barcelona. Since my recent trip to London, or maybe even before then, I have been suffering from terrible congestion. As someone who seems to be constantly sick, I figured time would heal me or maybe cheap decongestant medicine from the local farmacía. Well, no, this was not the case for this time so my program helped me set up an appointment with the English-speaking Dr. Saval. Let me tell you, friends, what I would do to get my hands on an American Visa for Dr. Saval because this guy rocked. Not only did he prescribe me the Z-Pack that saved my life this week amidst papers and group projects, we also made great conversation concerning Spanish politics and his collection of 100+ Don Quixote novels. Leaving his office I had one thought: would it be wrong to adopt Dr. Saval as my second honorary Spanish grandfather? I mean I wouldn't want to offend Father Miguel from the soup kitchen...

Other miscellaneous tidbits from this week:
-Saw the beach in Barcelona for the FIRST TIME this semester (not a joke but I wish it was)
-Drank beachside mojitos with breakfast tacos
-Explored Arc de Triomf-area and pondered going to the zoo
-Showed up to a movie theater that claimed to show movies in English, found out they did not, went back home, will probably not attempt to see another movie while abroad
-Ruined a "burrito bowl" dinner with store-bought fajita seasoning
-Knocked out some midterms work with cupcakes and coffee
-Binge watched Scandal on Netflix (which by Season 3 is completely unrealistic)

Well, that's about all for this week. Wish me lots of midterm luck and I'll see you back here soon.

Week 5.0: London, England

So I'm back home in Barcelona after spending the weekend visiting with my best friends in London and all I have to say is when can I move to the U.K.? Seriously, mom and dad, I know you've always adored London so if you ever consider moving there, count me in.

A couple thoughts I have about London and my trip. First and foremost, I love English. I love it so much. I love hearing it on the metro, I love hearing it in restaurants, I love that when I ask for directions I don't have to completely fumble over all of my words. Don't get me wrong - studying in Barcelona is a dream come true and oh how I adore Spain but London truly was the perfect amount of familiar and foreign and I miss it already. In fact, I had a crazy thought as I was participating in a bar crawl Saturday night that I should totally apply to internships in London this summer and extend my stay overseas. If only I didn't have to apply for a working visa, buy business clothes, and figure out temporary housing. Sometimes I have these crazy ideas but hey, sometimes they actually work out.

Another thought: holy hell London has good food. I feel like I ate my way through the entire weekend with everything from Turkish doner wraps to Indian food and some of the best neapolitan pizza I've ever had. Friday afternoon, our friends also took us to Borough Market where I did a good five laps around the premises before I could commit to my lunch. Basically, London is a town for foodies and Barcelona... well, if you are visiting Barcelona I sure hope you like ham. Ham and potatoes. That's more or less the diet.

To conclude my random thoughts about London, how adorable is it that London actually uses double decker buses as public transportation? You see the bright red, two-story buses in movies but never once did I think the locals were the ones hopping on and off. I could have sworn that was a sightseeing thing but hey London, respect.

So beyond eating and catching up with friends, I did in fact make some time for the famous sights. Friday morning, our friend Sarah (we call her Snewt) showed Tori and I the area around the London Eye and of course, Big Ben. Slightly sad that we never made it to Buckingham Palace but I had made a special request to see Big Ben and Tori's one thing was Harrod's so somehow we missed the palace. 

We also got the opportunity this weekend to celebrate a birthday and not just any birthday... Annie's 21st birthday! Annie, although you've been London-legal for over two years, I still have to say congrats. Hope you had an awesome night and I hope you have an even better time this Tuesday when the London crew helps you ring in the actual birthday.

Finally, you may be wondering where ribbon number two ended up. Well, ribbon number two was planted in the trendy neighborhood of Shoreditch, London (aka the British Brooklyn) where our friends are currently living. However, it wouldn't be a trip to London without a #BeBrave from Big Ben. So enjoy! 

#BeBrave x Big Ben

Harrod's reminding me I need a valentine.

Because I really don't eat enough food over here.