Siesta Time

BY: DYLAN

I was reminded by Macy that I've been slacking a little bit with my posts, so I guess it's time to get going.

I arrived in Barcelona on the 7th and so far it's been a lot of fun and a lot to take in. The first day I was here, I found out that everything closes in the middle of the day. Apparently people start work in the morning like the rest of the world and then just close shop for a break come about 2:00. They go home and nap or just chill out until about 5, then come back and finish the work day. Like I said, I figured this out the first day and ended up aimlessly wandering around my neighborhood, checking out the area. Then I got lost and wandered around some more. Finally I'd had enough and hailed down a cab. Luckily I knew my address and told the cab driver....his response: "Que? aqui es muy cerca de este direccion (What? that address is very close to here)," my thoughts: "yeah, that doesn't mean I know how to get there." I got home a little fed up with the whole siesta thing, I mean seriously, I haven't had a structred nap time since kindergarten, why should adults have one?

Then my housemates arrived and I learned to appreciate siesta. Do a little sightseeing in the day, party at night...EVERY night until about 6 or 7am. Siestas become essential and a much needed part of the day. However, by the end of the first week or so, it seemed as though the whole program had partied too much because everybody was sick with a cold or the flu or anything in between (no worries though, we'll all be back at it soon enough).

We've seen a lot of cool sites, churches, and other cool buildings. Parc Guell is a Gaudi designed park that sits on top of a mountain, overlooking the city and La Sagrada Familia is one of the coolest buildings I've ever seen (I guess it better be though since this is the 100th year of construction and they don't plan on finishing it until 2026). The beach also looks really nice and I can't wait to go to the beach in between classes. With all that said, one of the highlights of my time so far was an FC Barcelona game, soccer is a big deal here, so I'm loving that.

Stay tuned for Aurora's visit this weekend and my visit to Paris the following weekend.