Sheesh, Spanglish, & Sun

Where I saw the parade from at Carnival... the exact location and perspective looking at that watch tower building








"La Casa" where my CIEE courses are and where CIEE is headquartered




Turns out Sheila did not come in town till Thursday. We made plans to meet at Café Zurich in Plaza Catalonia and I was running around trying to communicate to people in Spanish that my sister is lost in the city and she has no way to communicate with me. Anyway turns out it was just my mistake and I read the ticket wrong since it only gave the date of the first flight when it took off, but not the date when she landed. I also was supposed to have a presentation that day, but couldn’t since the power went out at school. During that time was also Barca’s champions league game. It was cool to watch on TV at least the end and on my way home to hear bars go crazy when the team scored.

I met Sheila on Friday at the Airport, but it was hard since her flight changed including the flight number, but in the end we met up. That day we hit Barcelona by storm. She met Paco, then I showed her my work, which I got off because of her and oh I found out that my friend’s sister will not be in town for Las Fallas so I cannot stay at her house… oh well. Then, we had a nice siesta style lunch in Bario Gotico at Taller de Tapas. Then we did some shopping, walked to ESCI where Sheila got to meet Laura and Vicent. Then we got some water and chilled in Park Citadel. We went back for my presentation and Sheila loved it. She thought it was so funny because the Spanish do no real research for their project, do not present well, and basically treated it like a joke. But hey it was all good because we left after that. That night we went back home to regroup… Oh Sheila also brought two great gifts for Paco, a black Obama t-shirt and a book of DC with Georgetown in it. Anyway we met up with Vin Jeffery (he graduated with Sheila at Gtown… he is here teaching English for a little) and his sister and her friend. We had dinner at El Pared in Poble Nou. Shady area but great place. We had colcots, pan con tomate, and some wine. Afterwards we headed to El Dorado for the end of a Reggae concert. Sheila and I were getting free drinks and consequently got pretty drunk. Also, guess what shirt Paco was wearing… The Obama shirt!!! Sheila and I loved that. We played some foosball and tried to go to a club after. We got denied the free entry which was really strange since I was on two lists, but it probably was for the better and we went home.

I missed my Spanish class due to all the free drinks haha. That day we went to Gaudi’s House on Passeig De Gracia and then headed to Park Guell. We hung out there and talked and had a great day enjoying beautiful weather. We headed to the center of the city for a little and shopped some more, but this time actually bought something. Then we headed to Mountjuic for the magic mountain. This was really cool. A bunch of huge fountains and the biggest one having color and time coordinated functions to music. Afterwards, we returned home to have dinner with Paco. Another great meal with Paco, and Sheila communicated health care policies in Spanish… I was quite impressed. Afterwards we met up with Angelica, Maddie, and Claire. We went to this traveler’s bar where the waiter did not know Spanish haha. Afterwards, we went to Opium and had a great time.

On Saturday, we woke up and went to Sitges with Vin. I love Sitges as we all know and we had some nice walks with some wine and a great lunch with an amazing view. We stayed there till the sun went down and talked about life and enjoyed life at the same time. We came back and saw Vin’s place in Barcelonetta. It is kinda funny. You have to light a furnace to get hot water, but he is right next to the beach and has a terrace up top so he really cannot complain. We went to get dinner and had some Paella and then headed home for the night.

On Sunday we woke up early and got Sheila in a cab. I was out of it all day mainly cause I was hung over. I definitely had an amazing time with Sheila and I am so grateful she got to visit me. I won’t forget it. I also will miss her. Oh ps funny story about Kevin. Him and his friend have been in an argument about who is in worse shape. Turns out Kevin is for sure. He went for a run the other day and now has to get surgery… Ask Sheila for the details. During the day I did not do much at all except try to attempt work, nap in and out, and I talked to Perry via gmail video chat. It was good to talk to him because it has been awhile. Anyway I have finals this week so nothing too exciting. I miss you all. Much Love!