Monday, February 21, 2011

Ruins, Onions, and Stock Market Bars

Hola todos!

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted, this past week was so unexpectedly busy! My classes are finally starting to get to the point where they actually feel like classes, due to the amount of work I have been getting. Homework should be optional when you're abroad. I'm learning so much outside the classroom that sometimes going to class just seems like a waste of time I could be out exploring. I definitely caught the travel bug.

Anyway, this past weekend was a ton of fun. On Friday, I went on a daytrip with about 15 other people from my program to Tarragona in Southern Catalonia. We couldn't have asked for a nicer day and a more beautiful setting.

First, we went to see the Roman ruins in Tarragona, which were, as most Roman ruins are, very cool. The sky was so blue I couldn't believe it. After seeing what was left over of the walls and forum, we went down to the sea to see the ampitheater. It was literally so beautiful I was speechless. I am so jealous of those people who live in the villas on that shore...it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen.


 


After our tour, we went to lunch and I got to experience "calcots" firsthand. I had been hearing about this supposedly-delicious green onion and magical sauce combo, and I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical. I was even more skeptical when they brought the calcots to the table. They were onions, alright, but they looked like they had been set on fire! We had to peel off all the charred outer layer...it was a HUGE mess! We had to wear bibs (I stole mine as a souvenir, by the way) and my hands looked like I had just gotten out of drawing class because they were covered in charcoal.



But, oh my gosh, it was so worth it. They were DELICIOUS. The next course consisted of a bunch of sketchy-looking meats, beans, and artichokes. I tried some of the pork and the sausage and wasn't really a fan of either. The beans were good, though, and so was the artichoke. The next course was desert, some delicious custard dish, almond cookies, and sugared oranges. Needless to say, I felt like I had a food baby in my stomach once we were leaving the restaurant.

Full and happy, we headed to the town of Santes Creus, where we toured an absolutely beautiful old monastery. The tour was unnecessarily long due to the fact that we had to use a translator (I actually understood the tour guide's Spanish better than the translator's English), but I took a million pictures!


We were all pretty exhausted after that, and everyone took a nap on the bus ride home. That night, a bunch of us met up at a bar called La Oveja Negra (The Black Sheep) for drinks, then went to a club called Shoko. I was not a fan of the music, but it was fun nonetheless. We didn't get home until close to 4:30am, so I slept most of the day on Saturday and then spent the evening relaxing.

Saturday night we went out to a bar called "Dow Jones." It was stock market themed--the drink prices went up and down with popularity! It was hilarious...sirens would go off when the prices "crashed" and everyone rushed the bar! We got there kind of early (here, 11pm is considered early) so we made friends with one of the bartenders, Tatiana from Mexico. A lot of people from my program showed up (that seems to happen all the time, somehow) and it turned into a really fun night!


I spent Sunday doing all the homework I hadn't done all weekend and working on internship applications for the summer (so much fun!).

I am getting very excited for the Sevilla trip this weekend, Paris the weekend after, and my mom's visit just a few weeks after that! I can't believe I have already been here for almost a month!

Hope everyone is well, I miss and love you all!

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