Two weeks in one

Where I work... MATER... All four photos are examples of what I do at work.






My tiny elevator
My street
My street name
Second bacony from the top... far right is Paco's room, the balcony to the left is my room!







This was especially cool because after five seconds of ariving the fountain started...Chris Varga, Marina, Max Leinweber, Sophie, and I.
A sweet pic of the Poble Sec (my neighboorhood and metro stop) sign in the metro. Robby, Marina, and I.

This week, I tried to catch up on sleeping. I really did not do much during the week. I will just cover some highlights. I was in my internship one day and she said she was going to be back from lunch in a half an hour. Well she was late and I had to go before she left. So I made a note for her, and was in the middle of putting up a sign that said the place was closed and that someone would return soon. I had to do this because she also put me in charge of the hole place and making sure no one would enter. Anyway, she entered as I was just finishing the sign. She quickly read my note and sign and was very impressed with my Spanish. Right after I went into a camera store and bought a case for my camera. I conversed with the store employee and cashier and they were both impressed that I was from the United States and thought my Spanish was pretty good. I know these are only small instances and easy conversations, but hey better than nothing. I also got a haircut this week. The people did not speak a work of English. They did not even understand “John” I had to say “Juan”. Anyway I tried to explain short but not to short and to thin it out. I think it went very well. On Thursday I went to this concert in Apolo 2 for the MasterSounds who are from England. It was pretty cool. On Friday I played basketball with some friends and some GAs. One of them used to play on the professional team for Switzerland. He was pretty good. Afterwards I went shopping with John Clark who was a punter at Missouri, but quit like me. We spoke Spanish for two hours which was pretty cool. We hit up the rebaixas or rebajas (sales) and got some cool stuff. Afterwards I had a phone interview with Virgance.com. I also think that went pretty well. We talked about my work experience, about Virgance, Inc. and how it is functioning, and we also did some small talk. He said to keep in touch and I should hear back in about 2 weeks. That night I went out to Opium but it was not that much fun. The next day I woke up and met Louis to go to this market. The market sucked but we saw some weird festival with people dressed up as traditional folk, but the costumes were also like Giants. After the market we went to the Cathedral of Barcelona. It was cool inside and we go to see the city from the top of the church. After that we went to the beach to hang out and get some food. Here we met my friend Vincent from ESCI. After lunch we went to the museum of the History of Catalonia. It was okay a typical museum to say the least. I went home and slept till about 11:30 at night had dinner and met Laura, Marta and Victor at a bar near Marta’s place. That was fun. Then we headed to this club/bar made from an old mansion called Elephant. It was a really cool place but there were a bunch of real sloppy Americans, which becomes quite obvious when you do not hang out with Americans much. Laura, Marta, and Victor said it was good because I was becoming more Spanish haha.

On Sunday I woke up and for some reason could not get enough sleep. This has continued into the week and I think I am a little sick. Not sure why but I will relax this week because I have part one of an exam on Friday for Spanish class. On Sunday night, I watched a movie called “Todo de mi Madre” which is directed by Amadovo. Amadovo is a famous Spanish director and since we could not put on the subtitles I did not understand much of the story, I relied on the Amadovo’s skilled directorship to follow the story. This was a tough story to follow anyway for example the main character had child who died at 18 from a transvestite. This same transvestite had a relationship with Penelope Cruz’s character and gave her aids. Also this movie played off many parallels to the movie “All above Eve” which I also have not seen. Anyway needless to say cool movie but could have been better if I could understand more. Oh also, the movie took place in Barcelona which was pretty cool. Good shots of the city.

On Tuesday Paco’s boyfriend came into town. His name is Carlos. He is nice and is in the military. We had a political discussion about America and Spain both in English and Spanish. And Moira sent me a package so we enjoyed some candies from America. On Wednesday night I wanted to go out, but no one really had plans before the Metro closed so I went to the house (by Camp Nou) of my Spanish friend name Vicent we watched a movie and talked in Spanish a lot. It was good practice for my Spanish test that was on Friday. On Thursday, I got lost in the Barrio Gotico (Gothic Neighborhood). It was really cool cause every corner you turned I did not know if I was going down a sketchy alley or stumbling upon a small and quaint plaza. Lately, I have been feeling like I am actually “living in Barcelona” and not just in wonderland. I also feel like my mental map is expanding like when Link in the game Zelda goes into a new area his mental map uncovers that area. Anyway, for those who have played the game you would understand. Friday Morning we had a test in Spanish, I think it went well. I had plans to explore the city with a few friends but then they went to Tarragona and I could not join because I had to be back to go to the Museum of Barcelona at 7:30 at night for class. During the day I traveled to Mountjuic to the National Museum of Catalonian Art (which is in this HUGE Palace) with Robby Gross. The modern art was the best because it included such art from Gaudi, Picasso, Mir and Ramon Casas. Then I went alone to Poble Espanyol because Robby had class. Poble Espanyol is like a mini Spain. All the different types of areas and places in Spain replicated in a small town with shops and restaurants. This was built for the Olympics so people could get a feel for Spain… I can tell you from experience that being at the real places instead of the fake ones is much better. Then I traveled to Caixa Forum which was a museum which had a great exhibition of Joaquim Mir. I really like his work. I told Paco that he was my favorite artist of the day. Turns out Paco’s grandmother worked with Mir and Mir taught his Uncle how to paint too. Pretty cool if you ask me. Then I walked back through the Poble Sec barrio to check out my home place. I found some cool little places, but nothing note worthy. At 7:30 I went to the grand opening of the exhibit about the transnationals (basically people like me and other people who live in Barcelona for an extended period of time but to not become citizens). The info was okay, but the displays were cool. Friday night I went out with Vicent, Nick, and Louis Pierre (from Gtown but is from South Africa just a fun fact) to a club. It was fun and at the end of the night the Americans had to take care of the drunk Spaniard which usually is not the case. We thought that was funny. On Saturday I was supposed to go to Girona and Besalu. Well I had my alarm on vibrate and I always wake up to it. Well when I woke up at around 11:30 I noticed it was on the floor on my jeans. This means it must have been going off for quite sometime that it vibrated off the table on to my jeans. Long story short I missed the bus again, I guess it was not meant to be and judging by the pictures of the places and other kids opinions it didn’t look I was missing much. So I went and explored the city with Louis Aronne, and Steve Hurley. It was okay we found a cool beach. I went home and before going asleep I walked around Raval and found it to be cool. This weekend I really did not feel like taking pictures. So I didn't... maybe its cause I take so many at work. Anyway, that night I wanted to go to Sitges (a beach town near by) for the Carnival festivities. But no one wanted to go and I did not feel like going by myself. So I went to a bar in the Wax Museum off Las Ramblas. This was really cool. Half the bar was like the Wax Museum and half the bar was like a jungle. After that I just wandered the streets with a friend and went home. On Sunday, I went to the Labyrinth which was really cool. Again I explored Poble Sec a little more and then went home to do some homework.

Madrith

Real Madrid's Stadium

Some friends from my group and I in front of Placio Royal (royal palace).

Chris, Matt, and I.


In Plaza Sol, the Bear with the tree is the symbol of Madrid. The tree is popular in Spain and you can see it in the background.
This is like the Times Square of Spain. Everyone gathers in Palza del Sol... right by Plaza Mejor and everyone has 12 grapes (not sure why but it is some tradition) And when the clock strikes 12 you eat 1 grape for every second (or bell ring) after. It is supposed to symbolize good luck.
Main building in Plaza Mejor
The oldest Resturaunt in the World "Museo de Jamon" (it has never closed even during war time since like the 1700 something)
There street signs have paintings on it... one thing that Madrid does better than Barcelona

Organs in Catherdral next to Placio Royal



Arik, Matt, John, Tyler, Me and Chris... Having some beers and food in Madrid


This week I have solidified my internship plans and schedule. Currently I have a busier schedule than I do in the states. I wake up around 8 get home around 10. It is pretty ridiculous. I start my photo internship on Thursday. I am currently working at a small Museum in association with the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona. The museum is called MATER http://www.materfad.com/. This museum highlights materials that are state of the art in design and function. They showcase these materials to architects, designers, builders, artists, etc... to all over the world. My role as an intern is to take photographs of the new materials to highlight the design and functional aspects and post them on the website. My Boss is named Valerie. She is French and speaks Spanish or Castellano (the Spanish do not say Spanish or Espanol… they say they speak Castellano) with a horrible, horrible French accent. I cannot understand her. Nor can this other girl from my program who works at the same place but does other things. And she is very good at speaking Castellano (probably cause she actually has the requirements for this internship program). On Monday, I had my first tutoring session; we just went over all my questions that I had written down in my book of words/expressions that I need to know and any questions that arose. I went out Monday and Tuesday night; I am sick of going out again…. Haha. Although on Tuesday night there was this electric violin with these monsters running around this discoteca/bar. The violin was awesome the monsters were weird. I went out to dinner with Laura and her sister Marta to Marta’s favorite restaurant. We had calcoots, wine, and pan con tomate. Needless to say, a great dinner and I learned some Catalan. I also started to cook with Paco. It is fun and I learn how to make some dishes… including fried bananas. They are surprisingly delicious.

On Friday CIEE took us to Madrid via the AVE train. The first day we had a tour of the city which included seeing the oldest restaurant in the world (Museo de Jamon) and Plaza Mejor. It was a small tour but I liked it. We also were given 50 Euros in restaurant passes. However, the key to the passes was to just find a place that took them. On Friday night, I went to dinner with Louis Aronne’s family. They were really nice and took us to this Argentinean restaurant with really good meat and wine. At the end of dinner my friend Matt fell asleep at the table. The parents did not seem to care. We tried to play a trick on him by leaving him alone at the table and having the waiter wake him up and tell him he had to pay for everything. We all hid with our cameras ready and the waiter tried but could not wake Matt up. We had to get him a cold towel and some water for him to wake up and had to help him walk out of the restaurant into a cab. We got him back to the hotel safely. He needs to take care of himself, we will see if he does. Talk about an embarrassing moment though. Oh well. Afterwards, Louis and I met his friends at some club and they took care of us by letting us skip the line and hooking us up with bottle service.

On Saturday, we went to the Museo Del Prado. This had artists such as Velázquez and El Gecko. It was good, but we did not have enough time to really enjoy it. Then we went to the Royal Palace and toured 35 of the 2800 rooms. This place was elaborate and beautiful inside. I especially loved the ceilings, although, I still do not understand Royalty and how they get to be so privileged. After that I took a siesta and then went to the Real Madrid Game vs. Racing. This was my highlight of the trip. We sat in the Racing section because it was the cheapest, but that added to the game because they were chanting the entire game. Oh by the way alcohol is not served at the games. The reason is clear; the fans are rowdy enough without it. That night we went to a club called El Teatro Kapitol. It was seven floors. It was cool, but I am over the club scene for now. I just went there cause it is like the thing to do. On Sunday, I went to this market that was supposed to be good. I found it to suck. A huge street of the same stores over and over selling a variety of the same poorly made crap (excuse the language but it was). I tried to go to another museum but I did not have enough time. I arrived back in the evening in Barcelona and I am looking forward to having a low-key week.

Switzerland

This is when we were waiting for our friend Chris Varga who snowboards with his board sideways down the hill... I am not sure he knew the board was supposed to face downhill j/k haha but he was a good sport about it.
Matt took the three above of me... I will post better ones of the Alps when people put them on facebook.
One of the young grils that we met and her minature horse
Matt on the left Max on the right
The first pair of young girls we met
The lake
If you click the picture it becomes bigger and it looks like the swan is crying
Max and Matt with our beers and our view of the Lake Thunree behind us

Max, Matt, and I


Max and I at Neuhaus which is where we had the beers near the water
Train station called Interlaken West
We took pictures here while we wated for our bus to the lake


The Hostel


Hola,

So I left off last Sunday, which consisted of sleeping, eating, and work. On Monday, I started all my classes. My international economics is extremely boring and hot. It should be okay material wise. My other classes are doing fine. I picked up a Spain and Catalonia through the arts. But I dropped it for an Internship, which deals with photography and graphic design with the newest materials in the world. It is part of a small museum connected to the Museum of Modern Art. I am not sure what I will be doing but I am excited. It is not for sure but the head of the program said as soon as I send my resume in I got the position. I found about the Internship opportunity through talking with people especially this kid named Louis Pierre who is from Georgetown but lives in South Africa. And happened to be Andrew Baker’s, a friend I am living with next year, freshman roommate. He was telling me about the internship and how no one really spoke Spanish. So I went to the head of the internship explain my case and somehow I jumped through all the requirements including 5 semesters of college level Spanish. Oh well, I have confidence to speak even though I suck which makes me better than half the kids who do have the requirements. I am looking forward to the internship, which is supplemented by a class, which makes me reflect on the culture through diaries and presentations. It also has reading material to go along with it. The class will be held in Spanish.

This week I also posted a lot of my photos on Facebook. I got an incredible amount of positive feedback, which I thought was really cool. I also did not go out at all this week, which made me feel a lot better. I think my Spanish is improving again I felt stuck on a plateau for a while. I also scheduled a tutor for Spanish, which is like extra time to learn it is not the type of tutor if you are doing badly. I am keeping a book for questions that pop up in my head and for expressions or words that I need to learn. I also scheduled an intercambia with a kid named Sergi. An interncambia is where I speak Spanish to a local and he corrects me and he speaks English and I correct him. Usually over some coffee or lunch. I saw on his facebook that he was on a boat on the Mediterranean. Maybe I can befriend him and get a free ride when it is warmer out. As with internships this summer, I have been denied left and right but I am still trucking along with emails and looking for opportunities. I am sure I will figure it out.

On Thursday, I met Vicent from ESCI. We talked for one full hour all in Spanish!!!! I felt really good and cultural after that. He was very patient with my Spanish but we seemed to be able to communicate well and enjoyed our time together. Also on Thursday, I left for Geneva and got some snow pants from my GA Luis Juste. The pants were crucial to go skiing even though I did not fall that much. Paco made me some great food, which held me off for food until I arrived in Interlaken. Before that, we arrived in Geneva thinking we were going to go out till around 4:30 am like in Spain and then take the train at 5 am to go to Interlaken. Turns out everything and I mean everything closes at 2 (well except this shady convenience store in the Red Light District which we left very quickly). We had to sit in a closed strip mall in between two revolving doors for a few hours until the train opened. It was not that bad, but annoying to say the least. We got on the train and were off to stay at the number 1 rated most fun hostel in Europe out of 8000 hostels. In general, I was disappointed if it is the most fun in Europe. It was called Balmers and we had a private room for the seven guys on the trip. When we arrived in the morning 4 guys paid an extra 100 Swiss Franc to go skiing for two days. Matt, Max Leinweber (from Cornell), and I decided not to and went and watched the Semis of the Australian Open at a place you would never expect, Hooters. The town is small and it was the best option. We had some local Swiss beer called Rugen Brau and then headed to Lake Thunersee. This Lake was beautiful even though in the valley of the Alps it was cloudy/overcast. We had a few more beers on some patio and took many pictures. I taught Max and Matt how to use all the functions on their camera and we went picture crazy. We sat there for a few hours and just hung out and talked. We ended up buying the beer mugs for five franks after we left the patio near the lake. We met these young girls and for some reason took some pictures of them. After awhile, they rode off on their bikes and we met some other young girls who were riding miniature horses. Pretty strange. We finished the day by walking back and picking up some beer at the grocery store. We had dinner at the Hostel and there was this really sketchy club at the Hostel as well. Of course we had to live it up while we were there, so we went to the club, but it was just a bunch of Americans. It was only okay and I went to bed around 2.

We woke up at eight the next morning (each with a massive headache) and headed to the mountain called Jungfrau. The top of this mountain is called the Top of Europe (even though it is not the highest point) and is where they filmed part of a 007 movie. It looked beautiful, but we were not going to spend 50 francs extra to see it. We got to the mountain via bus, train, and this really cool train/trolley sort of thing. It climbed the mountain and broke through the cloud cover of the valley. I do not think I will ever see a more beautiful mountain view in my life. Literally I did not talk on the way up I was just astonished.

Once we got trained up to the top of the mountain we put on our skis and hit the slopes. After the first run I had my grove back. The skiing is not as good as out west but very close. Honestly though the thing that sticks out in my mind is the view that we had all the time. If you think of a picture of the Alps and then imagine if you could take that picture and ski in it. That is what I did. My friend Steve Hurley said when he fell he would never get mad because he would just look around and be like wow this is awesome. I was one of the better skiers of the group and when we took easier trails I would just causally go down the hill and look around taking in the moment/view. I really felt like I did something special and it made the expensive trip worthwhile.

The Mountains are a lot closer together than out west so it looks like you are skiing right next to these huge mountains. The weather was perfect too, not too cold and sunny. Also practically no wind. The day ended with this amazing run down the mountain, which had trails through small ski villages too. It was really cool. Unfortunately I did not feel comfortable bringing my camera skiing so I could not take pictures, but my friends took some good ones and I will post some when they put them up on facebook.

When we got on the first train Matt started to feel really bad. He could not make it on the next train; I stayed with him in this small ski village called Lauterbrunnen, where he had to be driven to the nearest clinic. Luckily they spoke perfect English. He got taken care of turns out he was just hyperventilating and had a heart beat over 150 beats per min. I waited for him in the waiting room where they had really strange games for kids such as an extensive collection of finger puppets. I thought that was really funny. We also had the receptionist write a note in German to prove to the rental place that we were in a hospital and not skiing on the mountain so we did not get overcharged for a late return. We did not need the note but I thought the note was pretty cool and kept it. Oh and Matt was charged over 300 Francs for the visit. Talk about a rip off. But he just has to report it to his insurance and they will reimburse him.

We got back exhausted. We all went to hooters again to get food and then took the 11:00 train back to Geneva. We took three trains to get back and one of them had this really shady guy on it. He was doing drugs and asking for cigarettes. It seemed no one else cared or was bothered by him including the conductors, except us, the Americans. Anyway we got to Geneva and got in a cab to get to the Airport (turns out it is the only thing open past 2 a.m.). I was exhausted and slept till we could check in and then slept at the gate as well. Swiss Air is an amazing airline and gives you great chocolate. They even woke me up for the free drinks and croissants. Oh I also had a whole row to myself, which was awesome. Once we got back to Barcelona it felt like I was coming home. It was great!

I noticed the differences immediately in language and acceptance to foreigners in Switzerland compared to Spain. First off anytime I approached someone who I knew did know English I would instinctively talk/respond in Spanish (haha). They must have been really confused. In Geneva people speak French. In Interlaken people spoke German. And you could see and feel the differences in the culture instantly. I liked the Germans better. They were a lot warmer to us. It is also incredible how many people are multilingual. This is true among all social classes and races too. I predict in the future American’s lack of language versatility will become a problem. Also speaking of languages, once again I think my Spanish is on. I think I have surpassed this plateau that I felt stuck on and feel a lot more confident in my Spanish. I am communicating better with everyone.