Lastly, some important dates...

December 18th -The day I pack up and leave Barcelona

December 18-20 - Trip to Paris

December 20-22 - Trip to London

December 22nd - Back to Barcelona to grab all of my stuff and say my final goodbye.

December 23rd @ 11pm - Arrive back in OAKLAND! Give me 30 mins and my cell phone will definitely be on. (same number!)

(Check out the entry before this, if you haven't all ready. I should've included it with that one, but oh well.)

Peaceeeeeee

This is it...

(*Disclaimer - This is a real long one. Grab that coffee or get yourself a snack before you read this.)
I was sitting in my cultural psychology class on Thursday and we began talking about our journey back home to the United States. We discussed the term reverse culture shock and what it means to us. Personally, I think the reverse culture shock is going to be just as rough as the original culture shock, because even though I am going back to family, friends and a familiar environment, I have to get used to living back home without college. I can already see myself going back and questioning a lot of things about the U.S., just as I did over here. Why DO we leave our lights on if nobody is in the room? Is it really that bad to sit down and enjoy a meal with somebody, instead of eating it on the go? If traffic is so bad in some areas day after day, is public transportation really not an option? These are just  some of the questions I can imagine myself asking once I get back. A lot of people say you sometimes learn more about your own culture back home than you do of the one you are studying in. While I have definitely taken in a lot of Spanish culture, my eyes have been opened a lot more to the places I call home. Looking back on my life back home, since being here, has opened up my eyes to some faults in my own life. I definitely stress over things that are completely unnecessary and I take a lot for granted, which I need to fix asap!

These four months have been an experience I will never forget. Not only do I have around 3,500 pictures to remind me of all the memories, but the friendships and people I have met will always be close to me. Currently, I am in such a great frame of mind. I feel so much more ready to get to San Diego and start job-hunting. I did a lot of self-reflection while I was here and I feel that my plans after college couldn't be any clearer. There are one or two aspects of my life here that I am hoping will make it back to San Diego with me. I don't want to jinx it, so I will just leave it at that. Family values have come into my thoughts a lot. My roommate and I are the minorities in our program, in that our homestay family really does count us as members of the family. Since day one, I have never felt like a guest in this house. Whether I am sick, tired, or frustrated, they have all been there to help me get through it. This is something I can never forget. I owe them a visit back to Barcelona, where they promised me I would always have a place to stay. Same goes to them in California. Absolutely.

If you haven't caught the drift of this entry yet, I decided this is going to be my last one. Here are some of the reasons why I have come down to this decision:
1.  I still have 4 papers to write, 1 presentation, and 5 finals to finish in the next 2 weeks.
2. A substantial blog entry takes about 2 hours to complete each time (1 hr and 15 mins to usually write it with 45 minutes of internet issues to deal with).
3. I will have plenty of stories and pictures to share. That isn't a problem at all!
4. I realize (especially after my psych class on Thursday) that I blog mostly to keep everyone back home updated with my life over here. I really need to live in the moment for these last couple of weeks. This is going to be an overwhelming goodbye and one that I am not currently ready for. I will be home in less than a month, so I just need to focus on the time I have left over here.

Do I feel like I failed with this whole blog business? Absolutely not. While I have had my moments of slacking off, I feel I have given everyone a general view of my life over here. I don't want to go in too deep with trips or experiences. Some stories are best told in person....a lot, actually. Despite the craziness of the week coming up, I will still be documenting everything and treasuring the last 2 weeks I have here. I am actually surprised I kept up with the blog as long as I did. While I don't feel I have lost touch with people back home or have had an incredibly hard time updating friends, it is hard when you have to put your experiences into words, while telling the story and not going into too much detail.

Will saying goodbye to Barcelona be tough? More than I could've ever imagined. However, I feel that this is the best time to do it. I will be leaving a chunk of myself here to come back and visit in the future. I have made the most of the experience and have no regrets. I am going back home with different ideals and ways of living in the familiar environments I know very well, while coming back with several new friends all across the country. It's a win-win situation. I bet the next time I find myself in Barcelona, it will be tough not to be here with everyone that's here now and as time passes, things will inevitably change. With an amazing experience abroad, I almost don't want it replicated. Why re-live another moment in hopes of making it as incredible as the first, when the first was almost perfect by itself?

I will close the blog with this picture I found from September 1, 2009. This is a picture when Amy and I were about to land in Barcelona. I guess you can consider it my very first picture of Barcelona. While my camera skills have definitely improved, I can't help but remember all of the worries and fears I had when this picture was taken. Worries involving my homestay situation, classes, meeting people, traveling to other countries, money problems, getting lost in Barcelona, being away from home for 4 solid months, etc. I have overcome and conquered all of these. I did it. I made it. Thank you to everyone that made this experience what it truly was. I have never been more honest when I say this - I will never forget this time in my life. There will never be another. Barcelona Fall 2009 for life.

See you all very soon! d:-)

-Brent

Update delayed...

I know I promised to continue my Prague trip, but unfortunately, it is 4am right now and I have a 10 page paper to finish by 9am. I am definitely only on page two, as we speak. Time to put my all-nighter skills learned in San Diego to use....

In the meantime, enjoy this great picture. This is the original group that all met up within the first two weeks of Barcelona. We had a reunion dinner last week and it was great to have all of us at the same table. Its been awhile. We were still missing people, but this is the majority of everyone. This is just an example of some of the incredible people I have met throughout these months. I can honestly say I will keep in touch with everyone at this table and plan to visit them all throughout the U.S. within the year.

Time to get on this. Get back to you tomorrow! d:-)

"What's REALLY in Prague? I mean, who REALLY knows?"

That was one of many unforgettable quotes from this past weekend. Myself, along with a few of my good friends in Barca, went to go visit Prague over the weekend for Thanksgiving. The city itself is incredible! It has that big city with a small town vibe to it. Not a huge fan of the people. We definitely met a few incredibly helpful/decent people, but overall, they weren't really kind to us. Either that or they just didn't wanna go out of their way for us. Not really sure. Then there's the language....Let me just say I'm glad we knew someone otherwise the trip would've been a nightmare trying to translate Czech.

Bryan and I got in around 2:30ish, which means there is only about 1 1/2 hours left of sunlight. Real strange to me...We check in to our hostel called the "Czech Inn" (haha?) and it is by far the best hostel I have stayed at. Waterfall showers, keycards to get into the rooms, buffet breakfast, and all for only 30 dollars, not euros! Sweeeet. Then we head over to Cassie's apartment, who is Brad's girlfriend. Thank God for her this whole weekend. Without her, we would be lost and confused in that city of Czechness. We (as in them) made an AWESOME Thanksgiving dinner that looked like this. It was really weird and strange being away from family on the holiday, but this was definitely second best. Good company, good food that night! We then went out to a club later that played a lot of old-school hip hop. It was a good trip down memory lane. Not too much more, because we had to get up early the next day for adventures!

The next day was awesome! It consisted of churches, castles, bagels, infamous clocks, Christmas decorations. It's a lot to go into, but here are some of my favorite pictures...

  
               

Ah, my internet is starting to load real slow and fail with uploading anymore info. I will continue this tomorrow...2am time to go to bed.

Ugh

I am 3 presentations, 4 papers, and 5 finals away from being completely done with my undergrad work.

Didn't I graduate in June? It is starting to look like a dream the more I think about it.

Well, hello again!

"Oh so you are gonna have a blog while you are in Barcelona? That's awesome. Good luck keeping up with it though. That's usually the hardest part."


These were the words that Lindsay told me right before I left California. Sadly, it is becoming true, since my last blog was at the beginning of this month...and about Michael Jackson. Yes, I'm a huge fan and with it being around the release of his movie, it was all I could talk about. Now onto Barcelona updates.

Looking back on the 2 1/2 months, it has been quite a wild ride. I have experienced just about every emotion possible over here, while still looking back and having nothing but fond memories and great friendships. As my time here is wrapping up, I am starting to get nostalgic, as usual. I find myself not only thinking of my time here, but the whole year of 2009 in general. With it being my last year at UCSD, my last year RAing, last year on-campus, first and only college graduation, and the many unforgettable memories that have been captured on film, it makes the idea of coming back home have a very interesting feel to it. In exactly a month, I will be back in the Bay Area and happy to see everyone back over there again. I just about secured a place to live in SD until June, so know I just need to follow up on job offers and make all these plans a reality.

Life is so much up in the air right now. After graduating, I am starting a brand new chapter in my life (one that I have no experience with). Not being busy from 8am-12am with meetings, rehearsals, study breaks, and other priorities is going to be real strange for me in the beginning. Still, as I am embarking on a new journey, I can't forget the last four years of my life. UCSD has been more than a second home to me, which is why I never second guess returning down there. I had THE BEST college experience and couldn't have seen any of it coming when I arrived there as a scared freshman back in the fall of 2005. As I mentioned earlier, I want to return and get back in touch with everyone, including those who I haven't spoke to in awhile.

Whew, that was definitely some self-reflection up there. Hope some of that made sense, at least. On another note, I am having a blast in Barcelona. I couldn't imagine myself being happier here and making some friendships that will definitely last forever. It hasn't been a perfect trip, but its honestly been pretty damn close. SO, since I was slacking for the last couple of weeks, I have promised myself to update this thing daily. Since I have travelled a lot the last 2 months and haven't come close to blogging about them, I may either mention some on here or just wait to share them when I get back. The idea of blogging about every single trip in the past is just overwhelming, which has a lot to do with why I haven't updated this in awhile. Also, I wanna be able to come back with SOME stories!

To start this new promise off, today a group of us checked out this area outside of Barcelona called Montserrat. It's a huge giant mountain range about an hour away from the city and you have to take this ski lift kind of contraption up for about 3 minutes. We were SO high above the ground, so it was a little intimidating when we first got on. Once we did make it up there though, the view was spectacular. We continued to climb the mountains for the next 2 hours and took this awesome picture. After that, we went back to get a buffet lunch, check out an art museum, and spend some time in a monastery. The whole day cost about 35 euros, which was a GREAT deal.

This week will be easy. Three days and then on Thursday, I take off for Prague for Thanksgiving. This will be my very first Thanksgiving that I haven't spent in Pinole. Very strange to me. However, I am spending it with good company and we will be making our own Thanksgiving dinner. Definitely excited.

Talk to you all soon....seriously!

That WAS It!

It's 2:30am right now. I should REALLY be packing now, because I have to be up at 7:30am and have a lot to do before my flight to Dublin tomorrow night. However, I just saw an incredible movie and must write a short review of it...

I wasn't sure how This Is It would be publicized over here, because it's another country. However, I saw these posters up all over Barcelona ever since the movie came out last week. I waited VERY patiently all week to see it tonight. After reviews online, it seemed to get great reviews, overall. Most of the negative ones had to do with people complaining about it not being a documentary about the entertainer's life. This was supposed to be a film that showed his preparation for his comeback show, not a biography on his life.

Josh and I were frantically looking for the theater and got lost, which resulted in us missing the first 15 minutes. We walked in and it didn't seem that we missed much. Overall, this movie was incredible. Yes, I'm a huge fan, so I guess you can say I'm somewhat biased. Still, for a 50 year old, Michael has incredible energy and moves/sings as if he was back in his younger years. Plus, this wasn't even the final product! He was always known to be a perfectionist and he is still flawless in this movie. With every song, Michael Jackson had a big screen projection of some sort to accompany the song. After thinking about it, this makes complete sense. Not only was he an amazing entertainer, but he is extremely well-know for his classic music videos. The screen wasn't necessary, but for Michael Jackson, it was definitely ideal. I am shocked at how humble he is throughout the entire film. He always thanks and praises his dancers, without any attitude. I mean, he is Michael Jackson and he knew it. Still, at the end of the day, he knew that everyone was just as important to putting the entire show together.

Another amazing part is how well he knows all of his songs. He would critique aspects of each song, which prove how much his music means to him. From tempos of songs to lighting on the stage, it is clear this is not new to Michael Jackson. The idea of making Thriller in 3-D was incredible and looked like it was going to be real cool. Billie Jean was a flawless performance and he was moving just as well as he did back during Motown 25. The ending song, Man in the Mirror, is the one that gave me goosebumps. It's such a great song with a powerful meaning. At the end of the movie, everyone got up and clapped. It was a memory I will never forget. The impact he had on people all over the world is a one in a million opportunity.

Throughout the film, MJ does look incredibly thin. He also never shows his legs or arms. Some of the critiques voiced their concern with the movie not being completely honest, in terms of the state he was in during rehearsals. While this is true, who would pay to see a movie that showcased his struggles and declining health? I was glad to see him at his best. This concert looked like it was going to be the comeback of all comebacks. Now that he has passed, it's hard to say how successful his show would've been. Still, after seeing the movie, I'm convinced this concert would've been a reminder to the world why he is known as the King of Pop.

All in all, great movie! Personally, I think it does a great job of showing how he really acted around others. I would've loved to meet him. For being an international superstar, he seemed very down-to-earth. Go see it if you haven't! I will be waiting for the DVD release, for sure.

Now, I'm off to Dublin for the weekend...with two giant midterms waiting for me on Monday. Wonderful. Here's to a good weekend, more updates on Monday, and hopefully A's on those exams. Take care everyone!

WHAT a coincidence...

So, since Amy and I made our plans for London and Paris (after school ends), I was trying to look up some stuff for us to do in London. Then, I ran into this...

You best believe I already bought tickets. They will be showcasing items from the Jackson 5's signed contract to Motown and the infamous glove he wore in '83 when he did the moonwalk at Motown 25 for the first time to numerous awards and outfits of his. Apparently there are over 300 items to show. I'm excited!

P.S. I was walking home and saw 5 billboards for his movie that came out today. One week away!
I can't wait!

BOMB THAI FOOD!

So, a bunch of us have been hitting up this Thai restaurant that is literally 10 seconds from our school. It's legit and definitely crackin. Not bad prices either.

I will actually be going there before salsa and hip hop tonight. It's sort of a tradition now...

AMSTERDAM!

So, I have decided that it is really hard to even blog about a trip that happened a month ago. My goal is to get back that far, but I'm going to start with the most recent....which is Amsterdam this past weekend!

A group of us flew out of Barcelona on Friday morning at 6am (which meant getting ready 3am, which REALLY meant no sleep that night...). We got to Amsterdam around 10am and checked into our hostel. It definitely wasn't the best hostel, but the great thing was that we were all together in the same room. On our way to the hostel, we got a little lost and came across this older man with sunglasses on (with one lens missing and the other one as a light green color). "I can help you. I know ALL about Amsterdam!" We were pretty sure he was probably on some drugs, but he was still really nice to all of us. This guy was really awesome. This set the tone for a great weekend ahead...

Overall, the city of Amsterdam is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! While it is a touristy city, it doesn't come off that way, at all. It's a nice city with many different landmarks and artwork. We were around during the "March of the Elephants" which was this art exposition only there for a few months. Basically, it was different elephants painted up with different designs. Here are some examples. All of the locals that we ran into were incredibly nice and SPOKE ENGLISH. As nice as that sounds, I hate going to places like this and then returning to Barcelona. It's depressing to think of how much my Spanish gets worse after just one weekend of speaking only English. I HAVE to keep this going when I get back to the U.S. (P.S. - Yes, that's an Obama elephant on the left).

After stopping by at different coffee shops, we visited the Van Gogh museum. It was really cool seeing his different works, but honestly, I am much more of a fan of Dali. He is my favorite artist, thus far! We also stopped by for a tour at the Heineken museum. We got to see the various stages of how the beer is made and got three free beers at the end. I also ended up getting my own bottle which states: "Brewed at Heineken Experience, Amsterdam, Holland for Brent." Sweeeeet.

Wow, I almost forgot to mention one of the best parts of the weekend. We checked out this rave where Dj Deadmau5 was spinning. It was incredible, to say the least. Luckily, all of us stayed together as a group most of the time and just got to enjoy it. Being a  hip-hop man myself, it isn't my most preferred type of music. Still, I can definitely get down with the house/electronic music. Every time he played one of his more popular songs, he put his mouse head on and people went wild. We didn't end up leaving until 4am (like most raves) and slept till 2:15 the next day. hahaha

All in all, it was a GREAT weekend. Out of all of my trips thus far, this was the hardest one to say goodbye to. Everyone was really bummed to be leaving Amsterdam. It's just such a relaxing city and we all had such a great time. There weren't any crazy stories, like usual (Even though, the Red Light District was crazy enough all by itself). Just a good time in an amazing city.


Alrighty. Time to head to bead. Friend's birthday tomorrow night and with a midterm on Thursday morning, I have to get up early tomorrow and start studying. I really missed the whole "classes are really easy abroad' part. While classes aren't near as challenging as UCSD, I definitely have to work hard to get good grades. I found out I aced my film midterm today. While it doesn't sound like a hard class, we have to analyze the films we watch with our readings and lecture notes to dive deep into hidden themes and comparisons between the film and what was going on at that point in Barcelona. Blahh


One more psych midterm on Thursday and I'm done for awhile. Staying here in Barcelona for Halloween. Thanks to everyone for keeping in touch! I can't thank you all enough. You keep me from getting homesick. T-minus 1 1/2 months and I'm back in the U.S. Whew, time definitely flies.


Next blog entry, I will cover our crazy adventures in ROME! Take care everyone!

My Apologies...

Hey gang! MAJOR apologies for not writing here lately. I have SO much to say and talk about, but because of that, just thinking about it all kind of turns me away at times. It's about 2:30am over here right now and Amy and I just finished booking our last hoorah before I return back to the great state of California. Our program ends on December 18th and we are heading to Paris for 2 nights and then London for 2 nights and finally, back to Barcelona to start the LONG journey home. I leave here around 7:30am on December 23rd and get back to Oakland at 10pm that night.

We were thinking about it and its almost been two solid months since we have been here. That's a REALLY long time, which means only have a month and a half yet. I cannot even think about our last day together. It's gonna be real sad....CHANGE OF SUBJECT!

I went to South of France last weekend and despite it being REALLY cold, it was a lot of fun! In less than an hour, we are on our way to Amsterdam for the weekend! It's going to be a ridiculous weekend, especially with our group that is going...

Okay. I have to shower/pack/eat breakfast all in 40 minutes. Whew.

I PROMISE (seriously this time) that I will have a lot of updates on Sunday. I got about 4 trips I still need to discuss with you all, plus a bunch of random stuff. I also need to cut my own hair real soon, which will be a blog entry in its own.

Peace yall and keep it crackin!

GOT MY TICKETS!

I got some of the very last tickets to be sold in Barcelona! For being the very last footage that we will ever see of him, I'm pretty sure this is gonna be epic. I can't wait...

Movie trailer

P.S. Check out the 1:06 mark in the trailer. MJ starts beatboxing! I'm amazed everytime I watch that part of the trailer.

Taxis

Back home, I rarely ever take a cab. However, when it gets late over here, we have the option of either taking a cab or waiting for the night bus. A couple of us went to a hookah bar tonight, so afterwards, we just wanted to get home asap. I took a cab home solo and got in. Now in Spain, you can either talk with the driver or just have him/her take you where you need to go. The driver seemed like a nice guy, so I decided to chat it up.

Even though it was only a 10 minute ride back to my house, it had to be THE best conversation I have had in Spanish since I got here. I could tell he was excited to have me practice my spanish with him and I got across everything I wanted to tell him. He was a real cool guy. We talked about the U.S., California, Bay Area, San Diego, New York, Miami, girls, the economy, my activities back at UCSD, my major, my future plans, my trip in Barcelona so far, etc.....all in 10 minutes.

As we pull up to my house, he tells me about this restaurant on the beach that his brother owns. He gave me his name, the name of the restaurant, and his phone number. He told me if we name dropped, we would get just about everything for free. No problema! If we had an issues, he told me to just give him a call and he would help us out.

From now on, I'm gonna keep striking up conversations with the drivers. It reminds me a lot of my dad, actually. Everytime I have been with him in a cab, he always starts talking with the driver. I guess I get it from him!

Great guy, great night, and now a great connection. Ahhhh, Barcelona. I'm in love with this city!

Dreams / New Motivations

Josh and I have been talking about dreams for a couple of weeks now. I told him about two weeks ago that I can't remember the last time I actually remembered a dream. Ironically, this past week I've been having extremely vivid dreams. The weird thing is that these go back before my years at UCSD. The two constant ones that I have involve me being in kung fu and acting in shows in high school. Rehearsals, tech weeks, and cast parties repeatedly playback in my dreams from the different musicals I used to be in. It throws me off, because they end up being incredibly real and without much change to what really happened. As for the kung fu ones, I keep dreaming about when I was in 10th grade and had to give it up (in order to pursue theatre and music, keep my job at Red Onion, continue tutoring, etc.). To this day, that still remains as one of the hardest decisions I had to make. I loved kung fu and everything about it. However, if I chose that over theatre, I guarantee I wouldn't have had the opportunities or met the people that I have. It's about 7:30am and I just woke up from a dream depicting the day I quit kung fu. Kind of creepy. Maybe these dreams are a sign....No clue. It does make falling asleep a lot more interesting, though.

As I have mentioned several other times, my eyes have opened up to a lot of things since I have been abroad. One of those happen to involve a lot of people from the past. I was looking at old school pictures last night and it made me realize how many people I have lost touch with over the years. While I understand that this is completely natural and happens to just about everyone, I do want to make an effort to connect with some of those people. I had some great times in high school and even the early years in college with a lot of folks I don't speak to anymore. We didn't end on bad terms, but we just ended up going our own ways. This will be one of my first goals when I get back to the Bay Area and San Diego.

Time to shower and head to 9am class. I realllllllly hope class isn't cancelled again, because I'm really sleepy and could use a few more hours.

P.S. I'm SOLD on hip hop and salsa. I will most definitely continue those in San Diego. Salsa is such a fun dance and I love all off the different moves I have learned, so far. Now that I finally got down how to "lead the girl," it's cake. As for hip hop, well I think anybody can agree that its in my blood. haha

Here's a picture of Bobby and I from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. I was trying to find other pictures, but apparently I never put that many show pictures up on facebook. I will have to get on that when I get home too. Bobby is going to hate me for putting this picture up. I played J. Pierrepont Finch and since I didn't get much off-stage time, I always had to make sure my makeup was okay and wasn't going to be bothering me. I remember this picture being taken and being irritated with my makeup; almost ready to just take it all off. haha. OH theatre! I love stage managing for sure, but I will never forget my days onstage...

Spanish Midterm ugh

So, today I had my first midterm. I love my spanish class and my teacher. I look forward to it every week and we have had quizzes already that weren't that bad. Then came this midterm...

Let me just say spanish midterms in SPAIN are much harder than the ones back home. I'm not looking forward to the exams in my other classes now.

THIS weekend, we all decided to stick around in Barcelona and hang out since we haven't done that in awhile. Plus, beach weather is just about done, so we want to get the last of that. Apparently, in a city about an hour from here, they do a mini Oktoberfest, where they bring in the beer from Germany and it seems to be a legitimate Oktoberfest...in Spain. I'm intrigued by it, but since a lot of other people made it out to Germany, we are shooting for this.

Off to salsa and hip hop.............

MY TRUCK!!

So, I was debating when I came back home what I was going to do with my truck. Honestly, I love that car to death and would never want to sell it. I have had that car since my junior year in high school and just about all of my friends have rode in it at some point or another. TONS of memories with that thing.

Since it is just sitting in my driveway right now, my amazing dad decided to fix it up a lot by replacing the dents and scratches, paint job, tires, as well as some of the stuff inside. This is what it looks like now. I cant WAIT to drive it again in December!

Thanks Dad! MUCH love! d:-)

October 1st - Its Been a Month

Today it dawned on me that I have been abroad for exactly a month now. Wow, the time has flown by. It seems only yesterday that I arrived here full of anxiety and excitement. In dedication of this one month, I decided to list what I have done thus far. Lets see how this goes...

-LOVED living in my homestay, which has helped with

-opening my eyes/stomach to LOTS of new foods (which I will be making back in SD)

-increased my capability to speak Spanish TREMENDOUSLY. I seriously think I can be

fluent in December. I'm shootin for it.

-appreciating things, such as long warm showers, doing my own laundy, and other things I

took for granted back home.

-gaining mad skills at making my bed. Haven't done that in yearsssssss

-REALLY appreciating family values and staying close with family (example: typical dinner

lasts about 2 hours)

-Learned how to do grocery shopping over here

-Became addicted to gelato, paella, and sangria!

-Appreciate tapas for a light lunch, but realize they do not fill you up...even with sangria.

-Explored A LOT of Barcelona with A LOT left to check out

-Found out the awesomeness of a "Con Kit Kat" and "Cerveza" at McDonalds

-Had many UCSD reunions with Amy, Dan, Kenneth, and hope for at least 6 more before I leave

-Had some GREAT nights out at bars and clubs, but hands down, the local ones win in my book

-Learned a lot about myself and friends, both here and back home

-Found a SOLID group of people to kick it with. I'm looking forward to our upcoming memories.

-Experienced several "pick-pocketers" in action and am now very cautious with my belongings

-Been to the Beach and touched Mediterranean water (including a 2 hour boat ride!)

-Had that stereotypical night that lasted till 10am. Cannot forget that one!

-Got to see over 50 amazing pieces of graffiti art.

-Had an amazing weekend in Valenica and experienced living in a hostel for the first time

-Science Museum/Aquarium/Dolphin Show

-Had over 20 video chats and have managed to keep in touch people pretty well back home, so far.

-Had an unforgettable trip to Valencia and the South of France

-Dali Museum!

-Finally using a LEGIT camera to shoot over 500 pictures so far!

-Realized how hard it is to keep up with TV shows and music over here. I'm worried about my hip hop knowledge these next few months.

-Experienced Barcelona's INSANE 4 day festival (La Merce) with 5 story towers (made of people), giant statues, fire spraying and dancing, concerts, raves, parades, fireworks synched with music AND a color fountain show, etc. I will never forget this, ever.

-Come to love the famous man known as Gaudi over here.

-Went to a BARCA soccer game and realized I will never sit with more loyal sports fan, anywhere else.

-Engaged myself in Spanish culture and meeting several interesting people all along the way.

-Fell in love with Cultural Psychology and everything it entails.

-Signed up for a salsa class AND hip hop class. I absolutely love both and will continue them in SD.

Whew, that was a lot. Just goes to show that as much as I have done so far, there's still plenty more to see. I am on my way to ROME this weekend and have Portugal, Amsterdam, Madrid, Paris, Greece, and many others.

Thanks for reading this and keeping up to date with it. Hearing your opinions about all this definitely keeps me blogging. I'm off to finish packing for Rome, and have to finish some reading for Psych tomorrow. I think a little of A Tribe Called Quest may help.

Major blog updates when I return. I will have three weekends to discuss. PEACE!

Life Reflection

Today has been a surreal day for me. I have been feeling a mix of different emotions throughout the day. It´s unfortunate that it takes events, such as, to put your life in perspective.

Ben Wieler, another student in my program, passed away a couple of days ago. Unfortunately, I never got the opportunity to meet him. I have heard nothing but good things about him, though. We all received an email about a week ago saying that he was hospitalized, so we all assumed it was something serious. They found out that he had a brain tumor and within three days, he had passed away. It´s just one of those surreal moments, because you are here in another country studying abroad and death is usually the last thing that comes to mind. Dealing with that sort of thing proves to be much more difficult abroad, given our circumstances. To think that he was just another student out to have an unforgettable four months is really tough for me. It could´ve been any of us. Even though I never met him, I feel as though I did. IES, my study abroad program, has handled the situation very well. They have kept us constantly updated and it was a topic that was discussed in the beginning of all five of my classes. Our afternoon classes were cancelled today, so that everyone had the opportunity to attend his service. It´s such a tragic event. Definitely has me in an odd state of mind. A day of reflection is the best way I can put it. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.


On a lighter note, I have a really exciting week ahead. I just picked up tickets for the Barcelona v. Dynamo Kiev game tonight. That will definitely be a memorable event. Then, I have my salsa and hip hop classes (yes, I decided to sign up) tomorrow night. Finally, a group of us head out to ROME on Thursday night and we will come back Sunday. I am incredibly grateful to have parents who have allowed me and helped me do this trip. I remember thinking back in January if this is really what I wanted to do. I had Teach for America as an idea, moving to New York, returning home, applying straight to grad school, etc.

There´s just so much out there and having the pressures of finding a job or applying to grad school can help you forget that at times. The value of life over here is just absolutely incredible. It shows in so many different ways. I definitely made the best choice and couldn´t think of a better plan after graduation. After Spain, I plan on traveling much more and exploring a lot of different countries. I am 22 years old and have the rest of my life ahead of me. Thanks Mom and Dad. Without you, this wouldn´t even be an option for me.

Much Love...

BARCA!!

Yes, I am still slacking on my updates. One of these nights that I stay in, I promise I
will do it. I'm off to a Irish Pub pretty soon, so tonight isn't going to be the night. Neither is tomorrow night, because I'm off to....

a BARCA game!! They are playing Dynamo Kiev and it is a champions game (which means it will definitely be crackin). We are in the talks of face paint and the works. Reminds me of Spirit Night back in

UCSD. I do feel official, because I got my jersey to rock tomorrow night.

It's gonna be an epic night. I appreciate the video chats/skype sessions, lately. In the last week, I got in about 10-13 of them, which is incredible. I love hearing from people back home. I never want to lose touch with any of you.

Talk to you all sooooon!

MAJOR UPDATE #3.5 - Hip Hop Class/"Lil JT"

SO, before I went out, I had to bring this up. After salsa class last night, the hip hop teacher came in to teach his first class. Since it was the first one, it was free. Pretty much, after being sweaty and disgusting, I was talked into staying for the hip hop class...

...and I freakin LOVED IT! I have never taken a dance class before, but if there was going to be one I would choose, of course it would be hip hop. So now I'm planning on taking salsa and hip hop back to back every Wednesday night. What a good workout.

The reason I had to mention this in my blog was because out of every possible song we could've learned choreography to in hip hop class, it was a Justin Timberlake song! ("Lovestoned / I Think She Knows") Yeah, I loved it and it was a pretty cool dance. I wish I could've videotaped it, because I think you would've gotten a kick out of it. Lil JT in action!! d:-)

Amy and I might re-do the dance and film it, so I can post it. Hip hop foreverrrr

MAJOR UPDATE #3 - THE BET

So, since this weekend has many festivities, I'm going to save the huge blog entries for another time. I'm just going to blog what I can right now. This is considered a major blog update, because of how much it affects my life...as ridiculous as it may sound! haha

I don't consider myself to have an addictive personality...except when it comes to food. I can get hooked on certain foods and eat them until I am absolutely sick of them. So, there's no reason why gelato is any different. I am absolutely obsessed with gelato and will have it almost every other day. I almost will always get Dulce de Leche, which is caramel brilliance in a cone. Two days ago, my friends made a bet with me that I couldn't go two weeks without it. Right away, I argued it and said that I could without a problem! Now the loser has to buy the winner a double scoop gelato cone. Not much of a bet, but it is clearly more about my pride here. My friend, Brad, was the one who initiated the bet, so if I lose, I have to buy him a cone and will probably get myself one at the same time. Double loss right there.

It's been about 48 hours and its getting really hard. My good friends have been very supportive with buying them and eating them in front of me the past two days. Its been hard, but I gotta keep it up. Otherwise, I'm going to have to start a gelato anonymous support group over here. Wish me luck!!




P.S. This weekend has been AMAZING so far. So much to say and talk about. It will come, I promise.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GINA!!

Happy birthday to my best friend foreverrr! From kindergarten to now, we have been through the ups and downs, but we are still close! Love you and miss you girl! Have a crackin 22nd! d:-)

MAJOR UPDATE #2 - Reflection on Culture

So, even though I thought I was going to hate the class after my first day, I LOVE my Cultural Psychology class (even if it is at 9am, which means I need to be up at 7:30am). It's a class about the different cultures and adapting to them, etc. With only about 12 people in the class, the teacher knows all of us by name and we get to have really great conversations. It makes me realize how much I just took things for granted back at home. For example, in Spain...

1. I didn't have a toilet seat cover for the first two weeks at my homestay. Luckily, that changed last week, but still, you can imagine the awkwardness until then.

2. Breakfast is a small meal, which consists of toast, marmalade, and OJ. That's it. Every day since I have been here. Lunch is the big meal of the day and dinner is (since its free!). I have been gaining weight though and I love it!

3. As dumb as this sounds, I have to make my bed every morning. I haven't done that since middle school or maybe even elementary school. It only takes a minute, though.

4. It takes me 25 mins to get to class via walking and the metro VERSUS rolling out of bed and being in class in 5-10 mins on-campus. I miss asia halllllll

5. Safety. You can never let your guard down while in Barcelona. The moment you do, someone will come up behind you and take your bag/backpack/purse. I've seen it happen 3 times already.

6. Portions of food are A LOT smaller. There is no such thing as a venti coffee (unless you seriously go to Starbucks). A cafe con leche is about 2 euros and its about the size of a kids meal drink.

7. Going to the grocery store is definitely different. Your usual brands probably aren't on the shelf and that means trying new things.

Going off that, I am happy to say my pickiness with food is almost gone completely. Yeah, there are definitely some things I will never eat, but for the most part, I am breaking barriers every night at the dinner table. From tomatoes to squash, I am broadening my food horizons every day...and I love it!

Back to culture though, I am happy to say that I now look at things a lot differently. One of the biggest key points from my reading this week was about making the effort to adjust to the new culture.

Development-and maintenance-of good interpersonal relations with hosts, marked by respect for people in the other culture, good collegial relations in the community, free time spent with those of the other culture, and sharing of personal information to others is CRUCIAL.

I couldn't agree more with this excerpt. At the end of the day, I always remember that I'm the guest here and need to show respect to others. I have heard about some of the stupid things some of the other people in our program have done at bars, clubs, and other places. Its reasons like these that make the Spaniards not too happy with Americans. I make an effort every day to meet someone new or strike up a conversation with someone. Overall, I have gotten a very good vibe from the locals here. Yeah, I have met my fair share of rude people, but those are anywhere you go. The best confidence booster was last week when someone pulled up next to me and asked for directions. Completely in Spanish...and I was able to direct them! That made me feel good not only because I was fluent enough to understand them and direct them, but the fact that they pulled over and ASSUMED I was a local. It made my week, no lie.

Adapting to culture here hasn't been hard at all. I'm not homesick nor do I think I will be in these next three months. Yeah, I DEFINITELY miss people from back home and SD for sure! As my roommate Josh put it, "We never really have a home. It's just something we are used to and are comfortable in. There is never a place you can really say you will live at forever." This was an interesting way of looking at it. I have always been keen on calling SD my second home, after my real home back in the bay. When I leave here in December, I can see myself calling this my third home. It's all just whatever is comfortable to you. I'm happy to finally be stepping out of my comfort zone and feeling confident while doing so.

MAJOR UPDATE #1 - VALENCIA (9/11-9/13)

Whats crackin everybody... Here is my first major update on my life recently over here. Two weekends ago (Sept. 11-13), a group of about 20 of us took a short, but amazing trip to the nearby city of Valencia. Here's how it all went down...

We boarded our train around 9am on Friday, after getting there at about 7:30am to get tickets. We were able to get a round trip booked for about 42 euros, which isn't bad at all. However, since it was so cheap, the entire train ride took about 5 hours (the real trip takes about 3 hours, maybe). We definitely entertained ourselves on the way though...

Once we got there, it was only about 2pm so we still had the entire day to explore the city. It was such a cool city. There was definitely a difference being there versus Barcelona, because we got more of a small city feel (instead of the huge touristy city that Barcelona can be, at times). Weall stayed at this hostel that was ONLY 15 EUROS EACH NIGHT! Trust, it definitely

sounded sketchy when we signed up, but being

poor college students abroad who want to travel, what other choices do you have? The movie Hostel was all I thought about walking up tothe place. In the end, it ended up being such a cool experience! We were all in different rooms and besides two of the girls from our group, I stayed with two other girls from Madrid and an 18 year old from Australia. I give this girl props, because she told me she was traveling by herself for the next four months before returning back home to apply to college. I was

definitely not in that state of mind as an 18-year old.

Two things Valencia is well-known for: their paella and their infamous agua de valencia. It's this drink that mixes Cava (Spanish champagne), orange juice, and usually whatever else they want to throw in there. It's kinda like a mimosa, which I absolutely love. We had both of these for lunch and then decided to go to the store to cook up some things for the night....which meant Bradand I getting a loaf of bread and frozen pizza. Those + 2 huge

bottles of sangria + 1 huge

jug of

water = 9 euros. Legit.

After that, we all were feeling preeeeeety good and decided to do this pub crawl of the town, since we had no idea where to go anyways. 3 pubs and a club with a drink at each one for 10 euros. Not bad. It was an awesome night, but unfortunately, none of us were able to make it to the club at the end of the night. hahah

a

Then, we woke up around 11am the next day and decided to be productive. We ventured off to the Science museum and the Aquarium. Both places looked AMAZING from the outside (for all you UCSD homies, Geisel has nothing on the design of these buildings). The museum was really cool and we didn't even end up exploring all of it. The aquarium was also a lot of fun, including th

e hour long dolphin show. I'm not gonna lie. After seeing the

dolphin show, I contemplated working with animals for the rest of the day. Just watching the dolphins and seeing how intelligent they are, I got

inspired to check that out. Maybe I can be some sort of a animal psychologist? Hmm, yeah we'll see about that. (haha) By the time 5pm rolled around, we were ready for a siesta before dinner for sure!

OH YEAH, a little side story about the dolphin show. So, we got pretty good seats in front of the show, but we were right by this ramp that was made only for the trainers to use to get to the dolphins quickly. Of course, there were tons of little kids running down the ramp with stressful parents running after them.

THEN, there was this one particular little boy. He was constantly

running down the ramp, getting picked up by his parents, and then doing it all over again. After the third time, my friends Dimitra, Krith, and Kyra decide to call to him and tell him to stay with his parents. Save the parents another jog! This angel turns around and stares down the three and yelled a very loud "NO!" and gave them this cute face. We were laughing hysterically for about ten minutes. Definitely one of the best pictures of the weekend. I'm glad I was able to get it...

After another night of cooking in the kitchen, we started to hang out in front of the hostel and "pre-party" there. A lot of the other people in the hostel were chilling outside too, so we wanted to join them. There were people from Germany, Poland, Italy,

Britain, Spain, Portugal, etc. I am always a fan of being a foreigner with other foreigners! Sooooo, we got outside around 11pm to head out and didn't end up leaving till about 1am. After the night before, we didn't end up staying out too late. Also, since we had a cheap train ride back and weren't exactly sure if we had a 10am or 5pm departure, we decided a long night out wasn't necessary (since that can happen any night back in Barcelona).

Turns out we didn't need to head to the train station till 5pm, so we went out to the beach to lounge around for awhile and have some GELATO!

Anyways, after the beach, we headed straight to the train station and embarked on our 5 hour train ride back to Barcelona. This weekend proved something real cool that I have been noticing lately. I have always thought of myself as an easy-going person and making new friends is a skill I have been lucky to have been blessed with. After these three weeks, I don't think I have ever bonded with a group so quickly. Well, given two years of RAing and three years of OLing, that's a tough statement to make. Regardless, I feel incredibly close to "our crew" and am happy that we roll together wherever we go. It's only been three weeks. PLENTY of more adventures to embark on!

Next update: Carolyn's bday and our weekend trip to Girona and the border of France!

P.S. If you want to see ALL of my pictures from Valencia, use this link. They start at picture #34.

P.S.S.

I love you all and miss you too!!!

P.S.

My three most commonly used words ("crackin", "hella," and "legit") are definitely becoming a part of my friends' vocabs...even anna (the sister of my homestay).

Amazing.

Classes and BLING

Yo, yo, yo. I still haven't blogged about last weekend and am about to go on another trip this weekend. SO, since that blog will wait till next weekend (since it will be long), I figured I would talk about class.

SO, here are my classes I'm taking. I'm striving for all A's in my classes. They all have a LOT of reading and presentations and papers. The frustrating part is that I already graduated and am done with school. I need none of these classes to graduate, but I still would love to end with straight A's. Haven't come close that since high school....

Spanish is pretty legit. My teacher, Raul, is REAL laid back. We spent the first 30 minutes yesterday talking about betting on soccer games. Then, when we had about 10 minutes left in class, he told us to open our books, so "we can say we did something today." haha. Yeah he's awesome. Everyone else has homework over the weekend, like essays or whatever. Our homework is to speak spanish. Legit.

Psych is reallllly interesting. It's this Irish woman that moved to Spain about 6 years ago. The class deals with culture, based on race, location, food, jobs, weather, sexual orientation, family values, etc. My class only has about 10 people in it, so we have been having a lot of good discussions.

The other three are...whatever. haha. The TV class is real cool. We will be studying different types of shows in Europe, including ones from the U.S. that are just dubbed. I get to do a presentation in that class on REALITY TV! Oh boy, that's gonna be fun! My film class will be interesting, I'm sure. I have been falling asleep a little, so I can't really comment too much on it. As for my art class, it's okay. I mean, I love the art and architecture in Spain and really appreciate it. However, our class deals with a lot of the history behind it, which isn't exactly my cup of tea.

Yay class. I'm trying to keep motivation for these classes, since all my friends actually NEED the classes they are taking. I can do this!


As for THIS lovely thing, I picked it up today for only 4 Euros. Two sneakers. I told my friends I was gonna buy it "just for kicks." (get it? haha...?) I have lost a lot of necklaces at the airport traveling back and forth from SD to the Bay Area over the four years. It's time to get the necklace collection going again.

Now, I gotta pack for the weekend. We are going to a nearby city called Costa Brava with EVERYONE from our program. It's gonna be a little crazy. I'm most excited about visiting the Dali museum. I love his art and think its genius. Later tonight, I'm meeting up with Dan Driver for another crazy ERC RA reunion night in Barcelona...while still having to wake up for the trip at 7am tomorrow. Ugh, I'm getting good at this minimal sleep and I don't think it's a good thing. haha

Take care folks! Here is the picture of almost everyone who came out to celebrate my 22nd birthday in SD. Much love to you all!

More updates on Sunday...probably Monday. Peace homiesssssss

Salsaaaaaa

So, after not being happy with the prices of massage classes, I tried out salsa tonight...

...and i LOVED it! I'm signing up for the rest of my time here. I couldn't stop doing it. I salsa-ed on the metro, back home, in the office supply store, etc.

I'm hooked. d:-)

Hmmm....

Before I start my Valenica blog, I have some random thoughts to vent.

1. My teacher made a good point in class today. "As students, you have to learn how to adjust to the Spanish culture, while still going out at night AND doing well in class." I had to get up at 7:30am and after coming back at 4am, it wasn't pretty this morning. I realized that I am missing something over here that always worked for me in San Diego during late nights.....AMP!! Ugh, if you want to send me a couple of cans over here, I would greatly appreciate it. d:-)


2. I can get mail now!! IF you feel kind and want to send me some, here's my address:

Brent Costa
IES Abroad Barcelona Center
Ronda Sant Pere, 5 1°
08010 Barcelona

3. I am starting to miss some of the food back home now. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the food here and will miss it when I leave. Still, I get my random cravings, especially for these wonderful non-healthy places:























3. It is extremely hard to keep up with TV shows over here. I have to scramble and search all over the web for different clips. My favorite shows I want to keep up with are Family Guy, South Park, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office, Everybody Hates Chris, my trashy reality shows, and a lot of other ones. I think I am going to be sitting at home my first 2 weeks back home watching all of these. I DID get to catch MTV's Video Music Awards and saw several different clips of the show. Despite all the Taylor Swift/Kanye drama, I DID catch the opening of the show, which may have been the best opening in my opinion. Over the last 3 months, I have been constantly jamming to old Michael Jackson songs and as weird as it sounds, his sudden death really hit me hard. I mean, I remember being a 8 year old moonwalking in the kitchen with one glove on, bumping Off the Wall. I was almost obsessed with him at one point. I had every single cassette of his from his days with the Jackson 5 all the way to his History compilation. You could ask me to sing any song at any time and it wouldn't be a problem for me. I think my mom probably thought something was wrong with me at one point. When he passed away, it was definitely a part of my childhood gone, too. HE will always be the best entertainer in my book and I feel like his legacy is FAR from being over.

ANYWAYS, I have seen many tributes "supposedly" honoring him these last few months and to be honest, I thought most were trashy and disrespectful....until the VMAs. It started off with Madonna giving a 7-8 minute speech about him and then the screen came on to when MTV first showed the Thriller video in December of 1982 (haha I say it like I was born then...). Some of the best choreographers and dancers showcased his iconic moves for Thriller, Bad, and Smooth Criminal. Then, the video for Scream came on and Janet Jackson came out to do the song; one more time. The best part was when she does the dance with him in the middle of the song. They edited her out of the video on the screen, so it looked like she was really dancing with her brother again. This was absolutely incredible to see and give major kudos to her for being able to do that. That was SUCH a great way to start the night and I'm so happy I got to watch it. I included links down below, in case you missed it. VERY CLASSY TRIBUTE FINALLY!

There was also a trailer that they showed for an upcoming MJ movie, This is It. It will be about his preparation for what would have been his comeback concert. From watching it, I'm happy to say it looked like it was going to be an EPIC concert. I cannot imagine being one of those chosen dancers who were the last people to dance onstage with him. You can't even guess that he was 50 years old from watching the trailer. You best believe I will be getting tickets for the show when it comes out. I just found out it will be playing in Barcelona, so it's on!

R.I.P. Michael Jackson. My favorite artist always.

Madonna speech: http://www.hardcandymusic.com/2009/09/madonna-michael-jackson-tribute-speech.html

Michael Jackson tribute performance: http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/435991/michael-jackson-tribute.jhtml

Michael Jackson's trailer for his upcoming movie: http://www.hardcandymusic.com/2009/09/michael-jackson-this-is-it.html