The Roller Coaster of Barcelona

It's been a crazy few weeks here in Europe!

I met my friends Nathan and Chen, this time in Barcelona, Spain, for another great weekend. But first, I'll talk about school so that I can prove to you nay-sayers that I do, occasionally, attend class! 

Last week was one of the scariest academic weeks for me outside of the week where I had to turn in my 30 page history paper... or maybe when I had three 10 page papers due on the same day? Anyways this was way worse because, as I am in France, all this crap is in French! Bah! In my history of France in the 19th century class I had to do what they call a "fiche de travail"- sort of a 2-page essay/report on a topic- as well as a 25 minute oral presentation on a really boring document, which I think I mentioned in the previous post. For those of you who are unaware, the professor-student relationship in France is quite different from America. When you give a presentation, it is extremely common for the professor to simply stop you in the middle of it and tell you that you should have done more research, said something stupid, etc. At the end of the presentation, the prof proceeds to ask you a ton of questions that are difficult to answer or are worded in a really condescending way. Well my roommate and I worked tirelessly reading and organizing our presentation, finding relevant maps, and making notecards. We went to class that day and the prof kind of put our group on the spot and made us talk about our fiche. Much to my amazement, he didn't insult the information we gave him! Nice. But then it was our turn for the presentation...

Marley and I had been getting really, really nervous throughout the entire class. Of course we had to give the presentation at the end of class, which meant we were super antsy the entire time and staring at the clock. When it was our turn, we walked up to the front of the class and put our stuff on the table. We both took a deep breath and began. During the presentation, whenever Marley was talking, I looked at the prof and I swear every face he made was of disdain or absolute confusion. Despite this, we kept going and then wait for the worst part- the questions! He was brutal!! He asked us so many questions (and I was so terrified) that I can barely remember what he asked. I do know that either myself or Marley had a plausible answer for all but one question. Then he hit us with another question. We tried desperately to answer, guess after guess. Even the French students looked confused. So what was up? The prof decided that a trick question was necessary. Cruel and unusual punishment. After he finally admitted there was no real answer, we got to go sit down and finally breathe again. Everyone told us we did well, but after that torture, Marley and I were less sure. 

The French grading scale goes from 1-20. You will never get a 20. Actually 17-20 are sort of off-limits to anyone. 15-16 are considered exception, 14 really good, etc etc. IU curves the French grades so that a 14 is an A. Thank god, because today we found out that despite the attacks and questions at the end, we got a 14!!!! !!!!!  !!!!!! 

Alright that's super boring on to the next thing. BARCELONA! 

Chen got to Aix on Tuesday evening and stayed with me to rest up and do internship applications, laundry etc. Thursday night I took her to the bus stop and she rode to Barcelona to meet Nathan. I took the very same bus the next day, except my experience was totally different!!! When I dropped Chen off there were several other students from Aix getting on the bus. She also boarded promptly on time and headed to Spain. When I got to the stop the next day, there was not a single other person there! Then, the bus was 45 minutes late. Considering that I got to the stop 30 minutes ahead of time like the ticket says, I had been outside waiting for quite some time. I was freaking out and freezing. By the time the bus came I was so exhausted from trying to think of how in the world this was happening to me that I was content to just sit and relax on the bus. I was in and out the entire way and got to Barca at 5 am. I hopped off the bus and onto the metro and made it to the hostel around 5:30. They finally let me check-in at 6:30am and I went to bed... for 2 hours. 

When I got up to see if Chen was in the lobby, I actually found Nathan checking in! Luckily his room was in the same dorm as Chen's so we went in and woke her up. After Chen was finally ready to go, we headed out for our first day on the town! Our first stop was La Rambla where we ducked into the markets. They were so amazing. It was kind of a labyrinth of stands and people shouting in Catalan. We were all drawn straight to the beautiful fruit stands. Nathan bought this big thing of freshly cut strawberries for a euro, and the rest of us bought these amazing fruit juices. Mine was pineapple/cocunut. It was sooo good. After that we walked around for a while trying to find this sculpture garden or something like that, and when it ended up being a fail we just decided to eat! Yay! We went to a tapas restaurant.. Tapas, in Spain? How original :) But they were pretty yummy. Chen and I had some delicious sangria too! I was adventurous and tried the eel. Sick. Chen likes eel and she said that particular kind was bad so maybe there is hope for eel in my future? Or not.

Anyways feast your eyes:

Our next stop was this history museum that I wanted to see, and it ended up being pretty cool. It was kind of a massive museum and the guys were getting really sleepy, so we decided to leave after a while. Then we decided to take a walk towards the beach. On the way we stopped and got the BEST gelato I have ever had. So so so so good. I think I had dark chocolate and dulce de leche? Not sure, but it was a good choice! After a brief stop at the beach we decided to head back to the hostel for some rest and to figure out our evening plans. We decided on a general location to get food and then, more importantly, which night-life to attend! 

On the way to the restaurant we saw a protest! Well, we heard it first because there were these really loud explosions going off. Apparently the firefighters were protesting at city hall or something. All of the Barcelona riot police were out. It was a good time :) We had a nice dinner- I had lamb!! Yummy!- and then decided to find the famous, or infamous, Chupitos shots bar! Though we doubted Chen at first, she finally got us there and it was such a great experience.

The place was packed. It is basically the size of a big galley kitchen, with basically no sitting space, only squeezing through crowd space. All of the shots have some sort of dazzling effect to them- anywhere from setting the bar on fire to just really cool color combinations. We started off the the "Harry Potter" and there was no stopping us from there! I took some pictures of the particularly cool or tasty ones!

***Please keep in mind that I am over 21 and all beverages were enjoyed as responsibly as possible*** 

This shot was called the "Boy Scout". It was recommended to us by a fellow IU Hoosier that we met at the bar. He is studying abroad in Barcelona and apparently frequents Chupitos!

Roast mallow on the fire on the bar, drunk mallow into the shot, drink the shot, eat the mallow, enjoy responsibly!! 

Ahh the "Harry Potter". This was our first Chupitos experience! First they put the orange slice on top of... whatever was in the shot... and cover the slice in sugar. Then they light it all on fire and throw more sugar into the flames! Quite the spectacle!! :)

The "Bob Marley". I think this shot is really pretty! It was also quite delicious! I think it was strawberry, banana, and lime? Not really sure but I enjoyed it (responsibly).










As I mentioned, we happened to meet a guy who goes to IU and is studying abroad in Barcelona. He and his friend invited us to join them at a really swanky club in Barcelona called Sutton. The guys were no match for us girls at the bar, so they went home before we departed for the club! We walked and talked with our new friends on the way. They told us that we had to tell the bouncers that we were on "Chaz's list"... no idea who Chaz is, but that is no matter! We got to the club and there was a massive line all the way around the building. My first thought was that there was absolutely no way we were getting in. Then the group we were with told us to just start cutting the line! Cutting???? How rude! But we did it anyways and when we the group got to the front, Chen and I were sort of huddling in the back. The bouncers turned them all away and somehow Chen and I did not get included in that group. We were randomly in the front of the line and a girl we came with whispered "Chaz's List" to us, so when they asked that it is what I said. They let us in! We couldn't believe it- especially when we got inside and it was so unbelievably chic! We checked our coats and then went out on to the already-packed dance floor!

Until about 3:30am, it was a great night. That's when things turned around. Chen and I decided to head back to the hostel because we were tired and had a lot to do the next day. She started looking in her bag for our coat check receipts and discovered that her wallet was missing!!! We were both pretty frantic right away. Barcelona is notorious for thefts. We retraced her steps to find the wallet and there was no sign. I got back in line to get our coats and ask the coat check people if anyone had turned it in. No one had. Chen didn't find the wallet. All she found were little receipts and things on the floor that had been in zipper pockets of her wallet. Eek! We had one of our new friends help us talk to the club employees (neither Chen nor I know Spanish) and she left her Barcelona address and number with them in case the wallet turned up. Chen and I headed home to call her parents to have them cancel her cards.

The end? Ha. We were really, really far north in Barcelona. We had absolutely no idea where we were and it was nearly 4:30 at this point. We asked for directions to the nearest metro and didn't really find it. We found a bus stop and then when the bus came we just decided to hop on and see if we went the right way. We asked the driver (in English) and he responded (in Spanish). Surely whatever he said had to have meant, "Sure, hop on! Next stop- metro station!!!" Thankfully, it kind of did! We made it to the same metro stop that was next to our dinner location. We went down into the metro and all was well!

Until we got to the actual platform. We heard a lot of commotion going on and figured it was just some people coming home from the clubs. It ended up being one of the scariest/most intense things I had ever seen. Someone was being beaten up, kicked, and harassed by a group of 5 or 6 guys. We looked closer and it was a girl! She was screaming madly at some of the guys and then attacking them. They would throw her to the ground and then start stomping on her. We were TERRIFIED. Chen and I backed away next to this French girl and didn't know what to do. Other people on the platform were on their cell phones calling the police. Men on the platform across the tracks were screaming at and threatening the guys on our side. It was completely insane. It seemed like it took days for the police and the train to arrive. When they did everyone scattered, but I'll never forget what I saw.

We did finally make it back to the hostel safe and sound, but certainly freaking out! We both called the US really quickly to make ourselves feel better and cancel Chen's cards. Then we went to bed... for 3 hours.

The next day we ventured to this crazy cathedral by Gaudi and a few other architects. Chen did the tour of the inside while Nathan, Bob, and I went across town to see the park that he created. Both were incredible and ornate.

This is the cathedral from the front! Notice the Christmas tree on it. It is supposed to tell the story of Christ's life on the outside. 

The star of the show! The back is very different from the front, as you can see! It's a really great cathedral, and is still under construction.

We met back up with Chen and then headed down to the beach for more Vioko! Woo! That place was great. I think I had cheesecake and chocolate that time. We ate our gelato while we walked to this cable car lift that would take us up to Mont juic, the mountain! The ride was really great and the view was spectacular! The mountain also had great views and we sat there for quite some time just taking it all in. Enjoy :) 

All in all the trip was a lot of fun. We saw some really neat things, ate wonderful food, and definitely enjoyed each other's company. I found the Spanish people extremely nice, and enjoyed the laid back lifestyle they had. We saw people just singing in the streets and then others would start dancing. It was a really neat cultural experience! Bad stuff aside, we all agreed that Barca was great!! 

Miss you and love you,

 Liv