So I have officially been here for about a week. Adjusting to Barcelona's cultural mindset, I am no longer confused on what VALE exactly means or whether or not a medium meal in a burger place is actually a small. Realizing that Americans are just a bunch of fat people in a very fast paced world, I decided to just go with it.
Upon arrival into the Barcelona airport, I really didn't know what to expect. Hearing warnings from family and friends about intense low life pick-pocketers, the guys and I ventured into the country of Spain with super caution. Our adventure from the airport to the studio was interesting in itself. Lugging two huge luggages and a carry on roller, and a bag with a sprained left arm turned out to be..... not bad. First I found out that the aerobus driver is a pain, he was complaining to me that I was taking too long getting on the bus and didn't bother to help; gee I should just throw the 500 ton luggages on his lap next time. Finally after getting to Placa Catulanya, we became huge targets with our oversized luggages traveling across the streets of beautiful Barcelona. After going in circles we finally found the studio, very discretely located. Finally soon after, we got our keys and took a cab out to our apartment at Born Portal. Good to see a familiar face, as the cab drove away we saw Scott walking in the pouring rain whom had apparently been dropped off a mile away instead of the front door. We all got settled in and our life in Europe began.
In the days to come when it finally hit me that I am and will be living in Europe for the next 4 months, I began to see just why life here is both beautiful and exciting. The days here are long. Typical of the people here, everything is done much later than back at home in the US. For one, people don't go out until at least 12 at midnight until the early morning hours. Secondly, there is so much to do. Whether you're on las Ramblas shopping or sight seeing the streets of Barca, people here live for the moment, people are always outside walking and being active. You would think people would live longer for being active here, but the common smoker here contradicts it.
Following the days to come, we were able to explore the city such as seeing Sagrada Familia from the exterior and the shores of the harbor with its beaches. Just when we felt settled in... little did we know we were still targets as tourists. On one night coming back from the studio, taking the same route the guys and I take every other night... little did we know that 7 or 8 low-life-future-garbage-men-convict local guys decided to ambush and mug us. Stuck in the initial shock of even being mugged, we didn't fight back, in fact it was a "silent" mug. The end result was Mike and Alec losing their bags (of which is completely useless to them as it was filled with architecture supplies; boy I hope they enjoy that T-square + pencils), and my cell phone taken but no money lost. In conclusion, they were the most stupid muggers to live. Soon after, pissed and angry, we got the rest of the guys in our apartment building to go out finding those muggers. So 9 of us went out in the dark streets of Barca in search of either the stolen bags or the muggers in hopes of getting vengence. Of course we didn't find them and days later we got over this ordeal and went back to loving life in Barcelona once again. We weren't about to let a couple of scums ruin it, but watch out... we now carry deadly pepperspray and ready to blind eyes.
As you can tell so many things has happened since our arrival. Being the first post, or even my first blog usage in my life, I figured I would make a long post. Of course not all events were recorded, those of which include gatherings and outings with all 20 CUArchitecture students, and even meeting new people at bars who are also from the US. My laptop is currently broken but pics will soon be posted once I get my new one.
Buenas noche.
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