My OH My.....

Where oh where to begin? I am seriously falling in love with this city. It's 5am over here, so I have a feeling this might be a long blog. We will see how it goes....

I am really learning a lot about myself over here. It's real refreshing to be able to live in a city where nobody (well, only a few) knows me from the U.S. and I get to start over again. I am doing my best not to look like a tourist. After a tan and some shopping in Barcelona, I feel like that won't be an issue. hahaha

Another thing I have been picking up on are the couples in Spain. I love that they are very affectionate with one another here and it's SO different from back home. I hardly ever see people being affectionate with the intent of taking them home that night. There is just a mutual love for one another and it shows. It's so genuine. I wish it was more like this back home...

As for me, I have been living in the moment every single day. My spanish has improved TREMENDOUSLY and I seriously can't wait to come home and be able to speak it fluently. Last night, we walked Las Ramblas and checked out different bars and clubs. It was awesome to just walk around and take in as much of Barcelona as possible! Today, we had our orientation for classes. 5 classes and I don't need any of them. Ughhh. Oh well!

The best part of being abroad is the number of people you meet. It feels like orientation back at UCSD. Meeting people, introducing yourself, and forgetting their name 5 minutes later. Today, I walked around with an awesome group and we had a great adventure. We found this REALLY good tapas bar with excellent sangria! Then, we all got phones from...Mailboxes, Etc. (hahaha) They were a good deal though! Then we walked around and checked out different stores. Nick, Bryan, Carolyn, and I made our way to McDonalds...just to see what is was like. Boy, this was the best McDonalds I have ever been to! They not only had an ice cream cone w/ a kit kat bar ("Con Kit Kat"), but they even sold beer there for less than two euros! It was really good too. Then we headed to the Nike store and I realized that I definitely have to buy a few items before I leave in December. That's for sure!

After the shopping, I took the metro back home and had another delicious dinner. PAELLA! I have been waiting to try this dish over here and Adela cooked it perfectly. No complaints here. Then, we went out to this club where a lot of other study abroad students were. It felt like a bar in PB and to say the least, we decided not to stay very long. I wanted to come to Spain to get the international experience and while I love meeting other study abroad students, I don't want to get the feeling of a club back home. That's not what I'm after. So, we went to a bar across the street and I reunited with.....DAN! It was a nice UCSD reunion! We later ended up going back to the club to dance (since the music wasn't bad) and came back home around 4am.

Apparently it is supposed to rain tomorrow. No bueno. Regardless, I have no doubt this weekend will be amazing. With the people I have already met in the program and in my homestay, I feel like this is definitely a third home for me (after HOME and SD). I can definitely see myself visiting Spain again. Even after these few days, I know I will return to the U.S. a little different, as most people say. I am already getting the bigger picture and feel as though I have a much more global perspective on life. Life is too short to sweat the small things. Don't waste your time being unhappy or trying to pursue something that isn't in your best interest. There are endless opportunities and people out there to make you happy. All you have to do is find them....

(Here are some pictures to recap the last 2 days...)