Wait, you're telling me I still have a month of vacation?!

I can't believe I've only been in Barcelona for a week (well, a tad over, but I'm really not counting). It feels like I've been here longer, but in a good way.

My Apartment
Not going to lie, when I first walked in I was a little apprehensive.... the place was dirty and organized. I mean the kitchen had dishes piled up in the sink and more piled up on the side, the cabinets made no sense, the trash was full and over flowing, and when I walked into the bathroom the floor was soaking wet. My room itself wasn't so bad, just a little dusty. Now, I do not necessarily think of myself as a neat freak but if there's one thing I get a little OCD about (especially when I'm living with people) is keeping the public spaces clean and tidy. Fortunately, as far as the dishes were concerned, I had simply walked into the apartment at a bad time because that hasn't been a problem since. However, after I took my first shower and the water started to pool around my feet because the drain was clogged, I decided to be "that girl" and just buy everything I thought the apartment needed....starting with Drano. Thankfully, coming from London and Norway, I found everything dirt cheap. I also reorganized the kitchen cabinets because, and I think most people would agree, all the plates should be with other plates and all the cups with cups, etc, etc. So, yeah, that was my first couple of days. Yes, I was a little worried the other girls (did I mention I have 7 roommates?) would be upset/maybe offended that I had decided to do so much without consulting the "household" but most of them just seemed thankful. Now, I really like my place! My room itself is the best part, it's big, airy, and has a terrace! Granted, it was pretty cold the first couple of days because there's no heat in the apartment but now that it's warmed up some it's amazing. Today I ate lunch and read out on my terrace. Here's to many more similar afternoons in the future!

The location of my apartment is also pretty amazing. It's right near Plaza Catalunya and the center of the city. There are so many great places within walking distance and if I can't walk then the bus and metro stops are only a few blocks away. Fantastic!

My Roommates

I've mentioned that there are 7 and yes, that is a lot, but so far so good! While I haven't had too much time yet to hang out and get to know all of them, the ones that I have talked to and hung out with I really like. They're from all over the world too which is pretty cool: Vietnam, Italy, Lebanon, The Netherlands and Florida.

School
Oh yeah, there's a reason I'm living in Barcelona at the moment, sometimes it's easy to forget. Funny story, I emailed my adviser when I arrived here and, due to a slight miscommunication, my courses do not start until March. On one hand it's been great because I've had time to figure stuff out with registering for classes, opening a bank account, getting a SIM card, and all that boring but necessary stuff but on the other hand I'm here to learn! Not that I'm complaining, I'm very good at bumming around European cities, but still, I was looking forward to being a somewhat productive member of society again....

Thankfully, in a couple of weeks I'll be starting a Spanish class so my weeks will be slightly structured again. I really hope to improve my Spanish while I'm here. Sometime I'm a bit surprised at how much I understand when someone is speaking to me but my responses are fairly basic and minimal. I think the class is pretty immersive so hopefully after the five weeks are over I'll be able to have a short conversation without consulting "Google translate" on my phone.

Speaking of bumming around.......
The first weekend I was here my friend Ana (from my same master's program) was also in town. She's from Terrassa (a city 20 km NE of Barcelona), and invited me for a day of hiking in Montserrat followed by lunch at her parent's place. Montserrat is a mountain with a monastery/basilica famous for its black faced Virgin Mary.

Copied from the internet, didn't wait in the humongous/slow moving line to see her up close

You take a funicular up the mountain to the monastery, which is amazing enough in its views, and from there it's a 2 hour hike to the peak. It was pretty windy and cold the day we went but that certainly didn't detract from the views, simply amazing.

View of the church from above

We did the hike in the morning which was great because we got there before a lot of the tourists. On our way up it was only us and a few crazy Spaniards who exercise by running up the mountain.

The hike really worked up our appetite which was much needed for lunch. Ana's mom made a delicious seafood feast with paella as the main event. Mmmmm, it's a good thing I don't eat like that every day.... The only time I've been homesick in the past couple of months was this afternoon with Ana and her family. Even though there was a language barrier between us, they were so welcoming and warm....her dad constantly imploring me to taste different alcohols, never leaving my glass empty for long, and her mom serving me the largest plate of paella I've ever seen in my life made it easy for me to compare them to my own parents :).

I haven't done too much site seeing here on yet because 1) I've been here twice before on vacation and have seen all the main sites and 2) what's the rush? but I have made it to a couple of places.

Last weekend I went up to Castell de Montjuic, a place I don't think I've visited before on other trips here but it had really nice views of the city and the sea.

And of course I've made it to the beach:

That's all for now but I can already tell it's going to be a great semester. Can't wait to discover more of this city!