Fifth Week in Barcelona + Staycation (with visitors!)

Monday, Feb 17

Another regular day at the internship, but today we had a heavenly lentil and rice lunch with some freshly picked fruit. The Jonas Brothers were in town today and they were biking right where the bus picks me up and drops me off everyday for my internships. But they were there right in the middle of my work day. ):

For this week’s Monday Sunset, Jojo and I decided to go to the Ayre Hotel that overlooks Sagrada Familía. We met Lanie there and Cece decided not to come because she had too much work to do. We split a jug of sangria (that was very hard to pour without spilling). The view was spectacular even though the sun hits Sagrada at a sideways angle. Jojo and Lanie were headed to the Jonas Brothers concert after sunset.

After sunset, I went home, made dinner, read for class and did some computer work.

Tuesday, Feb 18

In our culture class at the Mundet campus, we learned about literature and film. We compared Spanish, Catalan and American strategies for storytelling in these media.

PHOTO?

After class, I made lunch and took a massive siesta. I proceeded to make dinner earlier than usual because today was Bachelor Tuesday. Before the boys came over, I found myself in a YouTube hole and caught up on all my favorite channels. Then the boys came over and we all deliberated over what would happen by the end of the episode.

Wednesday, Feb 19

We had our classes as usual today and hung out in the sunny common area for the hour between the classes. For lunch I had some pasta salad that was leftover yesterday. Our wifi had been spotty again, so after class I was home alone in my room when the maintenance guy came. He seemed pretty frustrated, so I decided to stay in my room until he left. After this, our leasing office emailed us that if we continued to have problems we may get a new router. For dinner I had my fried rice leftovers from the night before.

Thursday, Feb 20

Today was one of our bosses last days at our internship. She was expecting a baby boy and would be going on maternity leave. The school threw a big baby shower party and the preschoolers had a little performance. Lucy and I took many photos and videos.

One of my friends from Mizzou, Q, was studying in Léon, France and visited Barcelona this weekend with some friends. He came with one other American, Conlan, and a large group of Mexicans - half of them were from his program, half of them were studying in Madrid. But they all know each other from home. Sadly, only Q and Conlan could meet up with us tonight. Lanie, Jojo and I decided to walk around the Gothic Quarter and got dinner at Rosa Negra, a yummy Mexican restaurant. I got fish tacos while the other girls got an assortment. The boys ended up coming a bit late so we were done by the time they arrived and were seated. They sat right next to us so we hung out for a bit before leaving. They were going to a club tonight with the rest of their group.

Friday, Feb 21

Today it was a bit chaotic at the internship because our one boss’s maternity leave had begun. We helped out her replacement with social media logins, website navigation and any questions she had.

Here I am holding the 2L mojito.

After work, Jojo, Lanie, Natalie and I headed to Ultramariscos, a restaurant on La Rambla that had good reviews. The boys were waiting for us when we got there. Tonight we were joined by Q, Conlan and Valde. It was so fun speaking Spanish with Valde and showing them all the traditional Catalonian food. They wanted to party again, so we headed to this bar called Pippermint. It turns out that Q decided not to go out the night before, so we wanted to go somewhere fun but chill. At Pippermint, the drinks start at a liter and go up. Yes, 1 liter is the smallest size drink you can order. Lanie and I split a 2-liter mojito while the boys got a 6-liter rum and coke.

It was very different and fun. The atmosphere was nearly all locals, some of which were definitely too young to be there. Q had been texting another Mizzou boy so he met up with us and brought a few friends. We had quite the crowd!

Saturday, Feb 22

Today we had plans to go to a Barça game in the afternoon. I was seated with Q and Conlan while all of their friends were VERY into soccer and got way closer seats. Jojo and Lanie also bought tickets last minute.

Before the game, Jojo and I decided to explore - this was out first weekend staying in Barcelona in a while. We ended up taking the metro to Plaça Espanya and made out way to the Olympic Park, Palau Sant Jordi and Museo Nacional de Arte Catalunya. We took in the views and got a few pictures. The weather was perfect: sunny and just windy enough where we weren’t hot or cold.

We then took the metro to Camp Nou and were a bit early. We decided to get some sandwiches while we waited for the boys. We found Rodilla in the little marketplace thing outside the stadium and got some food and water. I also bought a scarf and Jojo got a shirt. We met up with the boys and Jojo found Lanie. It was a magnificent game as Messi got a hat trick despite the team having a slow start. I also loved being able to see the whole game - our seats gave us a bird’s eye view. I also found one of the local friends sitting with the super fans and texted him. Who knows, maybe I’ll go to a game with him one day and sit in that section!

After the game, we made plans to meet up with the boys at their Airbnb and head to a club. In the meantime, us girls showered, ate and got ready. Natalie, Lanie, Jojo and I taxied to the Airbnb and Q let us in as the doors and locks were very confusing. Here is where the night really picked up. We met all of their Mexican friends and hung out for a few hours (Side note: when they introduced themselves, they only gave you a kiss on one cheek, not both cheeks like in Spain.) It was also fun to randomly break out (or eavesdrop) in Spanish and see how shocked and impressed all the Mexican boys were. I was thriving. We eventually decided we would go to Razzmatazz as it was pretty lively the last time we went. Not all of the boys came, but Q, Conlan, Valde, Alex and a few other did. The music was an odd French rapper so we decided to try to take a look around to see the music in other rooms. The night ended up being a bit crazy but in the best way - Jojo and I left the club around 4/5am and got back to our apartment at 9am after hanging with the boys at their Airbnb. This night and the other night at Razzmatazz are definitely my two favorite nights.

Sunday, Feb 23

Because Jojo and I got back so late last night, we slept in until the afternoon. I luckily had a frozen pizza so I popped that in the oven to give me some energy and we hung out with Cece and Natalie, recapping the night in detail.

Jojo and I decided that we should go see the sunset tonight at Los Bunkers because we wanted to get out of the house and move our bodies a bit. Los Bunkers are on top of a large hill so it is a bit of a hike up there, but all of Barcelona can be seen from the top. Lanie also wanted to come so we met up, got some snacks and drinks at a gas station, and began the ascent.

We stayed up there for over an hour just talking about life and observing all the different people. There was a group of about 20 super loud, obnoxious Americans sitting in front of us and that made us realize 1 where that stereotype started and 2 that we wanted to be extra careful not to give off similar vibes.

My mood when the annoying Americans were talking and once they stopped. (:

Lanie mentioned this noodle place her roommates went to so decided to go. It was called Chen Ji and looked super authentic. It was even in the Asian area near our apartment, down the road from where we went our first night. I got a seafood soup that was delicious.

After dinner, Natalie, Jojo and I just hung out and prepared for the week ahead.