JODER

Ok, so here's a run down:
1) almost everyone is in. We just got Gav the party boy and we're meeting Lauren and Yolando today.
2) we have had plenty of good times to party
3) I JOINED THE HUMAN TOWER BUILDING TEAM HERE!!!! It's amazing... it is a completely community thing, and the tower stuff doesn't even seem to me to be the reason why everyone is there. They were SO welcoming to have me there, and I already have my jersey and my patch and faixa (scarf used to cinch around waist to support back and give climbers something to grab onto). The next practice is Tuesday.
4) Let me give you a timetable of my weekend
2300: walk from my apartment to casco viejo with 8L of sangria
0200: lots of sangria walk to the port. Stopped for shots/ drinks on the way
0300: arrive at the port
0600: clubs close, time to leave
0615: set off alarms trying to climb into boat yard
0630: ran across train tracks to get to street
0700: dropped of Eileen
0715: found potato chips!
0800: made it back to my apartment. Slept on a park bench
0900: woke up and went to PortAventura
2300: came back from PortAventura
0000: sleep

So, as concise as possible... JODER it felt good to sleep.

Thanks for reading!!! Un Beso a todos!

I'm never LEAVING!!

Wow these past few days have been crazy!! Here's a low down run down.
- after the return from the adventuresome weekend was a day of REST and INTERNET!!!
- then Jake showed up and the first night was, well, a BASH. It was a huge party in the town square with concerts, lot's of booze, and lot's of people!!
- next day we saw the castells... Basically these are human towers of about 5-9 people tall. It was the most amazing thing ever. I took a bunch of pictures so expect some authentic postcards (i'm getting the film developed and picking it up tonight!) I was so amazingly impressed with these things that I am going to join up with one of the teams, TONIGHT!!
- JP arrived and we went to the 'correfocs', running with fire!! Basically, you have a bunch of people dressed up as devils carrying sticks with a pivot on the end. On the pivot they fix a firework that shoots sparks about 5 feet out and spins until it explodes like dynamite.. Okay, now, imagine just thousands of these things going around the streets on the main Rambla of the city... Okay, now imagine that most of these spinner things are more ornate with like 15 fireworks in them!! Now, imagine ME as well as thousands of others (a lot, but most just watched from the side) running around underneath the sparks with hats, bandanas, old clothes, ETC. I can't hear today!!!
- I'm joining a gym this morning, working out, then taking the rest of the day easy until I have the human tower practice tonight, joder!!

This city rocks, I am finally starting to get a feel of the city and I'm loving it. It's a more tranquil version of Barcelona--- cleaner, nicer, smaller, and more engrained traditions!

Sorry with the photos because i'm moving slow getting some uploaded but they're coming!

Moltes gracies per lliure, adeu!

Una Cap de Setmana Molt Be

So It's been a long ass time since I wrote anything here, i KNOW! but, internet now works in my apartment so I can do this and start loading photos.

I went to Barcelona for my first time on Friday to meet up with another girl in our program who is really cool! She showed me around all day then I had a few hours to myself and I went shopping (of course) and got some sweet new threads as well as another flag for my bedroom, no surprise there...

Then, afterwards I met a group of some very cool girls that are Americans but live in Madrid and hopefully I will get to see them when I go up there! We all had a bunch of brews at the hostel then I went out with the girl in our program and her boyfriend to a place that I'm pretty sure defines what 'hole in the wall' means...

The next day consisted of buying the cheapest bus ticket and arriving in Zaragoza all by myself, with nowhere to stay and no map! As a resourceful young whippersnapper, I was able to find my way to a hostel and met some other American girls there!! We spent the night, well, botellon-ing and it was a great time. We definitely met some characters that night as well as being able to listen to a live French rap band... they were PHENOMINAL. They will be big, I'm sure, but I can't remember their name!!

Then I was able to come back home to Tarragona... I would have liked to keep going but two hard nights out and a lot of bus travel with very little sleep is a little tough on the body...

Cool stuff from the weekend:
- travelling alone and not making plans in advance is the only way to travel for me, from now on. seriously.
- buses are so cheap, but you have to handle the idiots that play video games with the sound all the way up, the jackasses on the phone, and the old ladies that didn't shut up the entire time
- some nice looking girls in Zaragoza! ; )
- Barcelona is the shit...
- The above picture is the huge basilica in Zaragoza... It's right in the town center where everyone is out partying all night... the thing is just huge and ornate and magnificent.. I went in to check it out and there was a full on mass going, crazy!
- I was nothing but smiles on the way home yesterday because seriously, this was the best weekend ever. Thanks for everyone that was a part of it!!
- I can no longer speak in Spanish with my roommates, we set today as the date when I have to begin only in Catalan... it's going to be interesting

Moltes gracies per lliure! Please stay in touch everyone!

Getting settled...

So i think that i am feeling settled here, finally! it´s not so much being in new places... what i mean is that the first week i was here everything I saw was somewhere new. I think that I have finally paced the city enough so that everything looks familiar!

I went to a concert for the group M-Clan two days ago and there is another one for the Mago de Oz tonight! although the mclan concert wasn´t amazing, it was nice getting out and meeting all my roommates friends.

So for those of you that think that everyone here speaks castellano like it´s no problem: my roommates fani was tired last night when we were all hanging around... she told me, in catalan, that she didn´t feel like speaking in castellano any longer so i had to listen to her in catalan!! it´s hilarious because we think that in spain everyone speaks spanish but in catalunia, everyone speaks catalan!!

Tomorrow I am planning to go up to barcelona to meet one of the other auxiliars, then perhaps find a cheap trip from there.

We are FINALLY getting internet in my aparment which means i will be able to start loading some pictrues when i post on the blog!

Thanks for reading!

Dilluns

Great, okay, i met person number 4 here in Tarragona!! hahah A friend of the roommates came over for lunch today. I have to say that I thought I could scoot by just knowing Spanish, but apparently it´s not as easy as it sounds around here. I have to make a pretty concerted effort to learn catalan real quick.

So i´m going to keep this short so i can spend the rest of my time at the locutorio figuring out where to take classes!

Anyone out there have suggestions for some light travel? I feel like all the train prices are way too pricey for a three or four hour trip. O well I get to spend the afternoon with Fani, one of the roomies, so i can get her to give me the low down.

MERCI PER LLIURE

Res de fer

There is res de fer around here (NOTHING TO DO!!)

I know it's terrible, first three days in Europe and I'm kinda bored... Well, number one, unless you have a tight travel schedule, don't do anything by yourself because I promise you will get bored quickly! Both the roommates went home for the weekend and are just getting back now.. I'm stealing someone's internet so hopefully I'll be able to post this without a problem!

I have walked the city back and forth then times already, cleaned, stocked the refrigerator, cleaned and organized the room, etc. I'm rather settled here, now I just have to get moving and meet some people so I can have things to do when the roomies aren't here! I suppose I should be more patient, i've only been here three or four full days. Hopefully this week we are going to head out and they can introduce me to their friends, etc. I'm also going to (as soon as we have internet set up) start randomly contacting people on the couchsurfing website to see if anyone would be up for a drink, dinner, coffee whatever. This is Mattias's brother's idea (right on) cause supposedly he did this when he moved to Sweden and didn't know anyone.

Until the other americans get here to teach i supposed that that's my best option... if you have suggestions for what I should be doing, holler!! please!!! I feel like I could just walk up to random people on the street but that may be a little awkwarddddd... I'm not complaining, oh no, it's just wierd since I have never been to a place before that I literally am 100% on my own. At least going to school you have people you already know, right?!

Thanks for reading!! Hopefully i'll get back on if i can keep stealing this sucker's internet mwahhahaha

Why aren´t there any drinking fountains in Europe?

I´m here and in one piece... so for those of you that doubted me, you can suck on that! haha

Here was the schedule so far getting over here.
1- two hours at the airport
2- 8 hour flight to Munich, which wasn´t bad and teh little greek lady next to me kept giving me food while I got to watch Terminator Salvation for the second time and the proposal with sandra bullock which literally wanted to make me never wathc a movie agian, but it was free so it wasn´t terrible
3- one hour layover in munich
4- two hour flight to barcelona was AWEFUL. there was a ´gang´of like 15 german women just screaming at each other in german the entire trip. good thing my ipod was charged....
5- taxi in barcelona to the train station and got on the first train without much problem
6- train went directly to tarragona and another taxi took me right to my apartment

My apartment is so much better than anywhere I have lived so far. Not only is it like 3 years old with completely modern ammenities, but there is a balcony, a washer, and everything is completely modern. Of course i got the SMALLEST room in the place (i´d equate it to a size 7.5 shoebox) but who cares, i´m not exaclty planning on living out of my room!

My two roomies and I went around the town center for about two hours yesterday so i got to see a big portion of the town. Then we ate dinner together! They want to share meals and food costs and stuff and I said that as long as I can, i Will! this way i get a little bit of the authentic catalan cuisine for cheeeeeeep....

I can´t write anymore but things here are not too bad. I am definitely still finding my way around and getting used to it. I must say, Tarragona is a little bit different that Long Grove.

Moltes gracies per lliure (and since no one here speaks anything besides catalan, that´s how it is)

PS: is it illegal here to put free drinking fountains around, like in an airport? they have people that literally hose down the sidewalks at night but they can´t spare any water for the weary traveller?

If you're reading this, i love you.

Thank you for being right here, right now.

These posts are going to be extremely lame until I get to Spain, but I would like to make everyone aware of this before I head over there!

I leave on Tuesday and hopefully I have had a chance to say goodbye to everyone, but if not, don't be shy to give me a ring! I'm planning on updating this everyday once I get to Spain, so please make this one of your more 'visited' sites.

I'll miss everyone, please stay in touch!!

Moltes gracies per lliure