Happy Girl

(Written 6/27/12)

Rooboot

I'm taking today to reboot. It feels good. When people here I'm traveling solo, they're always like, "oh my gosh, you're so brave. I could never do that." I think they equate it to be on a stranded desert by myself, but it's actually not like that at all. I'm actually always, always with people.

Yesterday, for example, I woke up and met with Stuart's friend Joan, who was AWESOME. He gave me a really cool "behind the scenes" city tour. He was a great host because he is absolutely in love with Barcelona. He was actually passionate about what he was showing, and he knew a lot! So that was great. Then after that, I went home and took a shower, got dressed, and went to meet with Hannah. When I met up with Hannah, we went and found Anna and Luisa and all went out for drinks. (They have a beer + lemonaide drink here. Very cool). Then Luisa went home and the three of us left went to the Harry Potter bar. Then Anna had to leave, and Hannah and I went and got dinner. Then we went and looked at the Sangrada Familia at night (which is really, really cool at night) and took the metro home. At home, which I share with seven other people, I chatted with Eric for a bit (he's my favorite person in the room. All the other  cool people left), and then I went to sleep.

So where's the bravery and aloneness that everyone is talking about?

No idea.

Anyways, I feel like I'm always around a lot of people. So today I took a free day. I tried to have a "productive day" with figuring out trains and grocery shopping and stuff. I bought some stuff at the grocery store, but when the train stuff didn't work out easily I was just like "I don't want to do this anymore," and so I went to the beach with a book. It was perfect. As soon as I got there, I could feel myself start to recharge. Whenever people tried to talk to me, I would just look at them confusedly and shake my head, pretending I didn't know their language, and then they left. That was fun. I was at the beach for a very long time. Then I came home, took a shower, and now I'm having a dinner or bread + ham + cheese + orange juice. I think I might go to the movies. That actually sounds quite lovely. I'll make tomorrow my productive day, but today, I'm recharging.

Send me emails.

(Written Today 6/29/12)

Hi guys! Feeling much better! A little sick, but I’ll go to sleep early tonight. Here’s what’s on the agenda for tonight: blog, get laundry out of dryer, fold laundry, pack, email people I like, SLEEEEEEEEEEP, wake up early, get on a train, sleep, wake up, switch trains, sleep, wake up in Paris.

My ring broke today, so I went and got a new one. It’s weird, in that little time period where I didn’t have a ring on my finger, I was like, “AHHHH! I’M NAKED! EVERYONE IS STARING!!!!!” Even though, obviously, nobody was. It was funny ring shopping. I could feel myself getting closer to my ring. One place would have rings that were too big, the next would be too small. One place would be too cheap, the next too expensive. One too shiny, the next too dull. But then I find mine! It makes me very happy. It was made in Thailand but I bought it here, and both those things make me happy. I feel like I learned a lot in Thailand (did I blog while I was in Thailand? I don’t think so), so this ring can be a reminder of that. PLUS, I really, really love Barcelona. So it’s a keepsake from here as well. And I think it’s more me than the pearl one was.

Anyways, sorry for the girly ring talk.

What else to talk about? Oh! Two things: 1) Sagrada Familia, 2) Picasso Museum.

SAGRADA FAMILIA

I went to Sagrada Familia yesterday, which is the GIANT church (cathedral, I guess) being built in the middle of Barcelona. It was AWESOME. Rivaled only, for me at least, by the Angkor Watt ruins. My favorite ones, with the trees growing through them. I think you can find a blog on it somewhere. But I LOVED this church. I can’t believe I almost didn’t go on the inside. I got one of those little audio-guides, so you can look at something and press a number and it tells you what you’re looking at. Super cool. On the outside, one side has the depiction of the passion (Christ’s crucifixion). But what I love about it, is it isn’t just Jesus hanging on the cross. It has lots of different scenes that tell a story, staring with the Last Supper. AND all the scenes have the Bible references, so you never go, “hmm…I don’t know if that really happened,” so that makes me happy. The other side has the depiction of Christ’s birth, again as a story. The cool thing is that the two sides are completely different. The Birth side is flowery and lovely and reminds you of Narnia when it turns into spring with animals and children and happiness. The death side, though, is barer. Much more serious. More solemn. It’s very, very cool. All together from far away, the cathedral looks like a giant drip castle.

Then you go INSIDE and it’s. . . incredible. You feel like you’re in a forest. The columns stretch way up and then branch out at the top. Everything is shell colored: whites, soft pinks, soft greens. Plus there’s really pretty stained gas. Not the weird kind, but actually pretty. And everything is so intentional. I think that’s part of it that completely blows me away. Everything, down to how many meters or centimeters tall something is, represents something biblical. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

So, ya, that was Sagrada Familia. I was completely blown away. They’ve been working on it since 1906 (I think…), and will be working on it for at least 2 more decades. Can you imagine a project that big? Oh, it was designed by Guadi. I think I’ve mentioned him before. He’s, you know, a pretty big deal. 

PICASSO MUSEUM

This just in: I know nothing about art. I really don’t. I like at something, and I go, “oh hey, a painting.” Or maybe, “look, a little girl.” Maybe I should take an art history class. Because I really know nothing. And I can’t get myself to try and learn stuff, either. It’s apparently just not a passion of mine. Like at the Picasso Museum, I had heard SO MANY great reviews about it, so I was super excited, then it was just. . . a bunch of paintings. Albeit, really, really good paintings. And it was super fun to see the progression from him as a teenager when his paintings were for school, to when he started painting for himself, to watch him as he got increasingly more abstract. That was cool. But the whole time, I was like, “oh, a painting,” and “huh, here’s another one. This must be his blue phase. I can tell because everything is blue.” Meanwhile, I’m surrounded by art students frantically sketching and saying things like, “look at this line. Ingenious.” Maybe it was because I was a bit tired, but I just couldn’t get into it. I’m not saying Picasso isn’t a fantastic artist. I’m saying I’m not very cultured.

Guess what else I did today! I went and visited THIS GUY:

So weird/wonderful to see it again. Barcelona is the first port of the Semester at Sea summer voyage, and I met some of the current SAS-ers. They all thought I was crazy, because I kept saying, “oh my gosh! I’m so excited for you! You’re going to meet your best friends, you’re going to be in each other’s weddings, you’re going have so much fun, oh my gosh oh my gosh.” They were probably like, “Gurl, you be crazy,” but whatever. They’ll learn.

(oh! I think my laundry might be done. Going to go check. Brb).

(Nope, 7 minutes)

Okay, what else do I want to tell you? I forget what I’ve told you. Wow, I just went back and glanced. I didn’t write very much about Barcelona.

What else. . . I may have to use bullet points.

-          Hannah and I ate dinner at this really, really cool restaurant I learned about from ease dropping. It was super fancy, but totally worth it. It’s apparently where all the great Barcelona artists frequented: Guadi, Picasso, some other important one. It’s called The 4 Cats. Super cool.

-          Went to the Magic Fountain last night. I’m amazed at how I can continue to find new places in Barcelona that I love love love. The fountains are HUGE and there’s music and lights and the fountains. . . dance. I can’t think of a better word for it. I went there with a bunch of hostel friends.

-          This hostel is great. It’s so easy to meet people!

-          I currently have a 8 bedroom room to myself! So THAT’S excellent. The last roommates very really bad. I was so happy when they left.

-          I learned the beach isn’t real. The sea is (duh), but the beach is made out of imported sand from Egypt. Around the time they had the Olympics here (1992), they realized that a beach would bring more tourists. So they made one. Impressive, considering the size of the beach. It’s really big. Every year, they send out ships that scoop the sand up and bring it back.

-    Going to the movies the other night didn't work. I went to see Men In Black, thinking that since it was called "Men In Black" not "Hombres en Negros" or something, it'd be in English. Nope. Spanish. I was there for about 30 seconds then left. They didn't make me pay. Complicated story there, but it turned out okay. Then I went back to the hostel and met a funny Irish guy/kid (19) that pulled me out of my funk. He was proud of upholding the "drunken irish" stereotype, and he did it very well. Quite amusing. 

(laundry is done!)

Look at how many pictures I gave you!!!!!!!!!! Now I'm packing up in my EMPTY room! It's AWESOME! I can spread everything out! I'm such a happy girl. :)