Home Sweet Tarragona

After such a relaxing weekend, I wasn't looking forward to getting back to classes (especially knowing that everyone in the U.S. was off for Memorial Day)! But it was actually nice to be back in our routine, and classes were very interesting. In my Culture & Medicine class, we learned about La Peste Negra (The Black Death) and watched a really cool video. Did you know that the first evidence of biological warfare comes from the Middle Ages during the plague? Soldiers would catapult the bodies of infected soldiers into enemy camps to spread the disease to their enemies! Cool, right? After lunch on campus, Sam and I opted not to go shopping with some of the others in the group, and she took a nap while I did some reading! Then, we had a really special dinner! Remember my post last week about the Roman style dinner we had at the travel agency, Elit International? Well, dinner was there again, and this time we made our own PAELLA :) Paella is one of my favorite Spanish dishes, so I was really excited to make it for myself! Here is out final product... so awesome!

Today, our class schedule was a little bit different. They often divide all of the students into two groups based on the classes they are taking—a medical and a culture group. I, of course, am in the medical group. Today, the culture group went off on an excursion in town, and the medical group had a “conference” at school. Our university has great practical medical facilities, complete with equipment and dummies to practice all sorts of procedures. Today, we learned the Spanish terms for all kinds of medical equitpment and practiced CPR procedures (in Spanish) on a dummy. Luckily, my partner, Hannah, did everything right and I were able to save our dummy!!!

On Tuesdays, we also have an additional culture class in the afternoon, and today's topic was music! We learned about some popular Spanish artists and got to sing some of their songs. The class ended with a duet, with each half of the class singing one of the parts. It was so funny! And now I've been singing "Mi corazon.... sin tiiiiii" (My heart... without youuuu) stuck in my head all day...

CAMPING

Ok... so the title of this post is a little deceiving. This weekend, we didn't actually go camping, but to a beach resort called Camping en La Playa de La Mora. It is still techincally in Tarragona, but is about 30 minutes away from our dorms. So, we were instructed to take the city bus to get there. The bus stop is only a few blocks away, but with our luggage for the weekend, it was a bit of a hassle. To make matters worse, not everyone was there where we were supposed to meet, so we wasted a lot of time trying to gather everyone. Finally, a bunch of us decided we would just go to the bus stop and go, and the stragglers would have to take a later bus. Well, wouldn't you know, just as we rounded the corner to get to the bus stop, we saw our bus pulling away (4 minutes earlier than scheduled I might add). We weren't really sure what to do at that point because, according to the schedule at the bus stop, another one wouldn't be coming for over an hour. But after talking to several people, it turned out that another would be arriving in about 30 minutes, so the whole lot of us sat on benches like homeless people for a while, bags and all.

We finally arrived at La Playa de La Mora, and the beach was gorgeous!!! We walked along a mini "boardwalk" which had three restaurants and a store, but nothing else. It was small, peaceful, and perfect! The place is called Camping because of the lodging. We stayed in rustic cabins up on a wooded hill that overlooked the Mediterranean. We were randomly assigned four people to a cabin, and luckily Sam and I got put in the same one! Here we are in our cabin before the Barcelona futbol game...

After settling in to our bungalow, we went to one of the beach front restaurants for lunch, then hit the beach! The waves were a lot of fun that day, and we really enjoyed ourselves in the water… especially after the purchase of a Hello Kitty raft!!! After we were all “beached out” we went to check out the pool. It was amazing! It was huge and lined with palm trees. I took a little nap in a lounge chair and did a little reading!

For dinner, we ate at a nice restaurant right next to the pool. The restaurant had prepared a special menu for us, but it was very poorly translated into English! For example, for starters we could have one of several salads or a "broth soap!" Our of the teachers that is with us is a professional translator and he was laughing out loud! Since most of the menu wass lost in translation, Sam and I both took our chances ordering "Escalope Milanese" thinking it MUST be a dish with scallops. Wrong!!! Turns out, it was a breaded type of steak, and we all know I don't eat steak! Luckily, the portions around here huge, so I was able to steal chicken from other people's plates! After dinner, a bunch of the girls got together for wine in one of the bungalows. It was the perfect, low-key night to top of a day of relaxation!

Breakfast the next day was at one of the beachfront restaurants. The restaurant is owned by the cutest old man in the world, Luigi. We really bonded with him, and he was so sad to see us go today. He even told us his address, so we could send him post cards from the United States!

We spent most of Saturday on the beach, then went to the pool for a few hours before dinner. I defnately caught some rays! Then we headed back to the bungalows to get ready for the big futbol game! Saturday night was the Champions League futbol final between Barcelona and Machester United. We just visited the Barcelona stadium last week, and were excited to rock our new jerseys! We ate dinner at the poolside restaurant again, which was perfect because they have a few big screen tvs. Here we are by the pool in our jerseys (Sam, Me, Hannah, Katie)

We watched while we ate (I ate chicken, not Escalope!) and then stuck around after dinner to have a beer and watch the rest of the game. Everyone in the restaurant was dressed in Barca colors, jerseys, and some even had team flags. It was so exciting, and reminiscent of the Superbowl! Barca won the game, so it was basically the best day ever!

This morning, we had to check out of our bungalows at 10 AM, and then we headed to Luigi’s restaurant for breakfast! Since it was nice out, we decided to stick around for a while and take advantage of the beach. We had already check out, so we had our suitcases with us on the beach. We looked pretty silly, but whatever! Around three, a bunch of us decided to head back to school to get started on laundry and homework (and blog entries)! It was a really relaxing weekend, and I was sad to see it end!

I'll leave you with one more picture... The lighting in our bungalow was so bad, that we did our makeup out on the deck! Haha

I'm on a boat!

On Friday, our planned activity was a boat ride around the Port of Tarragona and dinner was also on the boat. So, I imagined something like the Baltimore Harbor Cruises with a little restaurant in inside. Imagine my surprise when we boarded a pirate ship!!!

Here I am on the boat (I mean, pirate ship) with my teacher, Belkys!

The ride was really nice, until the sun went down and we all started getting really cold. We were also getting really hungry, and nobody would tell us what was for dinner since it was a surprise. We were on the boat for two hours, and then they had us get off the boat while they set up dinner. We waited for about a half hour (rather impatiently) then returned to the boat. They had set up long tables on and below deck, and HUGE bowls of fresh mussles and bread were waiting for us. I probably ate 20 mussles!!! Then, they brought fideua for our main dish. I've had fideua about four times since I've been here because it's such a popular dish. It's similar to paella, but instead of rice, it is a type of pasta. It hit the spot after a long boat ride!

Bike ride in Cambrils

What a GREAT day! Everyone in the group rented bikes, and we went for an 8 mile ride along the beach. It was great exercise, and so much fun!

After the ride, we were on our own for dinner, so me and some of the girls found a great restaurant on the beach. We got sangria, of course, and I shared paella and a few other tapas with my half of the table. Some of the other girls order hamburgers, and this is what they got...

It was more like a cheese steak sub with fried eggs on top, but they loved it. But after expecting a hamburger, we were cracking up when they served them those!!!

Back in Tarragona!

It's been  really nice to be back in Tarragona! We've had our usual classes this week, and then we have actitivites in the afternoons. On Monay, we had a "photo rally" which is similar to a scavenger hunt. We had a book with photos of buildings and statues around the city and a worksheet with questions conrresponding to each photo. For example, we'd have to go find whatever was in the picture, and the question would be "What is the name of the bar next door to this building." Sam and I had a really fun time with it! It had taken the previous groups over an hour to do, but we were done in 25 mintues!!! I think we'd be really good together on the show, The Amazing Race! Since we finished so early, we had time to go to the beach before dinner, and eventually everyone made it down to join us. The weather was GORGG on Monday, and almost everyone got into the water. I was standing in water up to my shoulders, and looked down and could see my pink toenail polish. The water is so clear and amazing.

Our activity on Tuesday was another tour of medeival Tarragona. It was bearable the first two times, but no one wanted another guided tour of the ruins. Luckily, it lasted only an hour, which gave us time to shop and eat ice cream on La Rambla. While shopping, a bird pooped on Samantha! It was gross, but is considered good luck in Spain and many parts of Europe. We're hoping the luck will rub off on the big futbol game Satuday night... GO BARCELONA! We had a great dinner (as always) at Bar Delta. It was a pasta with garlic, shrimp, and portabella... right up my alley! After dinner we stayed in to relax and video chat with our friends back at JMU.

We're verrrrryyyy excited for today. We're done with classes and just got back from lunch. In 20 minutes, we have to meet up to get on the bus to go to Cambrils, a nearby town. There, we're going for a long bike ride along the coast! I haven't been on a bike since the last time to visit the Milots in Florida, so it's been a little wihle. I CAN'T WAIT. Gotta go find my sneakers and put on some sunscreen, but I'll post about our adventures later :)

BARCELONA

I love Barcelona. SO MUCH. It’s not even possible to describe everything I got out of this trip, but here goes! The bus first took us to La Sagrada Familia, which is a very famous basicala designed by Gaudi. I was so excited to see it, and it took my breath away to be standing in front of it. The picture doesn't do it justice, but is amazing nonetheless.

Below are some of the girls in the group in front of La Sagrada Familia! (From left to right: Katie, Sam, Amanda, Hannah, Me)

We also got to go inside, which was a very emotional experience for me! I can’t even describe how gorgeous it was, but I never wanted to leave.

After La Sagrada Familia, we went to Parc Guell, which is probably the coolest place in the entire world. The park was also designed by Gaudi, so his modern flairs were everywhere. There was great open area which was surrounded by white benches and mosaics.  And inside the open the open area were a bunch of vendors—selling everything from jewelry and scarves to carved animals. I spend a good amount of money here, but got some good gifts!



After the park we went to a famous castle, but I can’t remember the name! It was really high up and there was a great view of the entire city. We sat down for a while, had a beer, and it was back to the bus! Our next stop was the stadium for the Futbol Club de Barcelona (Barcelona’s soccer team)!!!!!! It was AWESOME! There was a museum with old jerseys and all of the trophies they’ve won over the years. And then we got to go inside the stadium. Below is a picture of Max, Kelsey, Me, and Lindsey .

We also bought jerseys, and I plan on being the ultimate Barca fan! There is a game on Saturday night, and we are so excited to put on our jerseys and watch!

 Finally, after a long, great day we made it to our hostel. It was in a room with 6 girls, 3 bunk beds, and not much else! It was a little gross and creepy, but at least the door locked! And interesting experience at least! Then we went out to dinner and wandered around looking for a fun club to go to (mind you, a mob of 30 American college students on the streets of Barcelona). We finally found a nightclub called "Duvet" and we thrilled when the bouncer ushered us in, telling us we didn't have to pay the cover charge! Well, it turns out that it was a 50 and older salsa club. Everyone was at least twice our age, and I saw some of the most interesting dance moves!!! But the music was great, and we were all cracking up that we ended up in that situation. We stayed and danced for about ten minutes, but ultimately ended up at a different bar... with people our own age :)

The next day, we had free time in Barcelona, so we visited the hot spots and did some shopping. Barcelona also has a Rambla, which was filled with art and jewelry vendors. I was in HEAVEN. Lunch was also on our own that day, so the directors gave us each 10 euros. We ended up at an awesome seafood restaurant and sat outside in the shade. We enjoyed sangria and a lobster stew. QUE RICO! We eventually made it down to the water, and got to relax and enjoy the gorgeous view.

Since it had taken hours for us to get to the waterfrom our hostel, we decided to take the subway back. And we managed to make it back with our problems. I was so proud! At the hostel, we got back on the bus and headed home, and by home I mean back to Tarragona because it's starting to feel like home! I feel so lucky for such an amazing weekend, and couldn't be happier.

REUS, no beuno

This weekend, we took a trip to Barcelona. It was a truly amazing weekend! I realize never posted on Friday so lets start there...

To understand Friday, you first need to understand what happened on Thursday. In Spain, Thursday is the big party night for college students. Since we don't have classes on Friday, we figured we should go out to a discoteca to see what it was all about. However, much to my dismay, our teachers warned us that students don't start to go out until at least midnight. So sure enough, by the time everyone in the group was ready to go out, it was 1 AM (thank God I got a nap that day)! We didn't get to sleep until 6:30 AM (which is typical of college students in Spain), and Samantha and I were horrified that the sun was starting to come up as we went to sleep! We had to be up at 8 AM to take a trip to Reus, which is a town about 20 minutes away, and needless to say we were EXHAUSTED! We were under the impression that we were going to a museum or two in Reus, and that we would be home after lunch, and would be able to sleep the rest of the day... WRONG!

The day started out at the house of Antoni Gaudi (the famous architecht), which is now perserved as a museum. It was really nice to see the house and walk through it, but the tour guide was far too detailed about little things that we had no interest in. The tour of the house lasted what seemed like forever! To top it off, the tour guide walked in on me in the bathroom, so the rest of the tour was very akward! (The lock was very tricky, and I thought I had locked it... apparently not!) When the tour was over, we sat at an outdoor cafe for lunch, and got to relax for a while.

After that, we got back on the bus, where many of us fell asleep. I was awake when we passed a really pretty building and the guide was speaking in Spanish, saying something about a pyschiatric hostpital. Well, sure enough, we pulled up in front of it and they had us get off the bus! As everyone was waking up, they were asking me where we were. "An insane assylum!" I relplied! You should have seen the look on everyones faces...

The building was very pretty, and even more gorgeous inside. So much detail went into every single part of it! But we were very tired and cranky. This tour lasted even longer (two hours) and there were no bathrooms or places to sit down. We were all a little miserable. Now the joke in our group is, "Hey, remember the time we got a hour of sleep and went to an insane assylum?!" It's funny now, but we were not happy campers at the time...

We got back on the bus, and were wrong again when we thought we were returning to Tarragona. This time, we went to the Gaudi museum, but that was not so miserable. We were all still exhausted and tired from walking all day, but the museum was SO COOL. It was an interactive museum, and very modern. It was nice that we got to learn all about Gaudi before going to Barcleona to see his architecture in real life! 

After the museum, we were given free time in Reus, though we all would have preffered to go back to Tarragona! We did a little shopping, a lot of bench sitting, and even got some yummy gelat (ice cream). Finally, we got back in time for dinner at Bar Delta. The day ended with a beatiful sunset and an early bedtime! And interesting day, to say the least.

AY CARUMBA

I am having trouble trying to find time to write on this blog because we have been so busy! Yesterday we had classes as usual and took another tour of the ancient ruins. They are beautiful, but there's only so much Roman history I can take! It took about 2.5 hours and it ws hot out, and were sooo tired by the end of it. But of course, I took a lot of great pictures :) Here I am in front of Universitat Rovira i Virgili, which is our school. This is not our actual campus, but a beautiful building none the less!

Today, in place of one of our classes, we had a lesson in “Practical Spanish.” In this class, we learn a lot of vocab and phrases that will be beneficial to us on the trip. Today, for example, we learned about shopping and what to say when you’re in a store. Next week, we learn curse words (though I know a few already)! It's a really interesting class!

The weather was great, so a big group of us went to the beach for a few hours and today I swam in the Mediterranean Sea!!! The water was a little chilly, but I was very happy to be there.

Tonight's dinner was muy interesante (very interesting). We walked across town to Elit International's office, which is the company that put together our trip and all of our activities. There were four tables in the room with different ingredients on each. Then, each table prepared an anceint Roman style dish. On our table, we crushed almonds and macademia nuts with a mortal and pestle then added pepper and honey. Then we stuffed the mixture inside of dates. Other groups made a salad with rose petals, a creamy cheese spread, and a hard-boiled quail egg thing (not exactly sure, but it was good)! Then we shared our dishes with all of the other tables. The ladies at Elit international had prepared a chicken dish for us so we had that too. During the meal, we learned about ancient Roman tradtions. For example, they only use one corner of their napkin to dry their hands, one to blow their nose, one to wipe vomit (though I'm not sure why the Romans vomitted during their meals), and I can't remember what the third corner was for! Then at the end of the meal, they would wrap a small portion of what ever is left on their plate in the napkin and give it to their favorite slave! The Romans also decorated their tables (so we did too) and gave a toast (while stomping their feet) with rose flavored wine. We reencated all of this, and it was a lot of fun!

Hola

HOLA from Espana! Yesterday was a LOOONNNGGG day because we had orientations and meetings at the university for most of the day. Then, we suffered through a 2 hour tour of one of the hosptials in town. Our tour guide, Carlos the male nurse, talked very quickly and in Catalan, which is a regional Spanish dialect that most of us do not understand. We had no idea what was going on during the tour, and pacience faded fast. We were all very tired and grumpy after that!

But... today has been great and we started our classes! I am taking  Spanish Translation and Culture and Medicine on the Mediterranean, and I'm loving the classes already! On days that we have class (Monday-Thurday), we eat in a cafeteria on campus which serves delicious, authentic food!!! Only problem, is the PORTIONS ARE HUGE! Do they think we're fat Americans?? Haha, no, it's the same everywhere, not just on campus. One night at dinner, Manolo (our favorite waiter), thought we didn't like the food he made because we left so much on our plates. It looked like I didn't make a didn't in it, but I had actually eaten a lot! The photo below should give you an idea what I'm talking about... really, who eats half a pizza (other than the boys in our group)!!!

But most of the food is very good! Breakfast is always fresh pastries, fruit, and yogurt in the dorm cafeteria. When we have to eat in the dorm for other meals, the food is just OK. Nothing great unfortunately, but it only happens like once a week. A lot of our dinners are at El Bar Delta, which is a restaurant about a mile away near the university apartments, where some people in our group are staying. Dinners here are really yummy, and we love our waiter, Manolo. I really love the girls in the dorm with me, and Sunday night we went out in search of a place to have dessert and sangria. We found a great spot on La Rambla and got to sit outside enjoying sangria, pastries, and eachother. We are all having so much fun together. Love these girls!

Tour of Tarragona

Today we got to be TOURISTS! We walked all over and learned a lot about the Roman history of the town. We even went to a Medieval reenactment with jousting, horses, swords, and all! The Roman architecture is so gorgeous. Inside the old city walls were a bunch of vendors, almost like a flea market. We had a great time looking around. La Catedral (cathedral) was also here:

We also got a tour around our school, which is about a 5-10 minute walk from the dorms. There is a terrace right in the middle of the academic buildings, which will be fun to hang out in between classes. We have an orientation at school tomorrow, but Tuesday we will start our classes, which I'm acually very excited for!

Tarragona is famous for its Balcon del Mediterani, which is absolutely breathtaking. It's right at the end of La Rambla, so there's lots of shops and gelaterias (ice cream stores!) nearby. It's a great place to just sit and enjoy the view!

 Later on we took La Trenet (a little train) on a tour through the town. We went down a lot of really tight alleyways, and there were a few close calls! It was nice to sit down for a change, after the miles we walked this morning. We ended our day at the beach, which, of course, was amazing. Got a little sun, read a few People magazines (you know I love celebrity gossip), and even played a beach soccer game with some locals! And no, I did not score any goals!

All in all, a FAB day, and I'm happy to be getting to know the town a little better :)

Night 1

Night One= success! Who knew that wine was FREE in Spain? I could get used to that! We had a great, authentic pasta and seafood dish for dinner. I dared my friends to try the mussles, and they loved them... the clams on the other hand, they weren't so thrilled with! For dessert, we had flan! It was good, but not as good as my mommy's flan!!!

After dinner, we had a bunch of the kids in the group come over to our room, because everyone decided that we have the best room (YES!) But it's true... very spacious and views of a terrace and rose garden.

Eventually, we made it out to "La Rambla" which is the main drag through the center of town. It's basically a really large walkway that serves as a traffic median. There are a bunch of statues and fountains on La Rambla, and it leads to all of the good stores and restaurants. We spent a good amount of time taking pictures with the statues (typical Americans!) and eventually settled down in a martini bar. Really fun night, but have an early day tomorrow. We're taking a guided tour of the town, so we'll finally know the ins and outs. I can't wait to be familiar with the area, afterall, it is my home for the next month!

Buenas noches!

I made it!

I made it without a hitch (thank God) to the Barcelona airport where I met up with my group. Once all 32 of us were there, we took a bus down to Tarragona, Spain, where I will be for the next MONTH :) It is about an hour south of Barcelona, and is a really cute town on the coast of the Meditteranean. I am staying in college style dorms, with one of my good friends, Samantha. We just settled in and had lunch, and now it's time for a little siesta. I can't wait to go explore the town and meet up with the group for dinner tonight! More to come...