One Week

   I have officially been in Barcelona for an entire week. It seems like longer because I have packed so much into a single week, but I have only scratched the surface of what Barcelona has to offer. Orientation wasn't bad; it was just full of helpful information  about the city and how best to get around. Spanish classes started Friday and continue until tomorrow. Wednesday is the official first day of school. I tried to drop down a level in my Spanish class, but my professor doesn't seem to like the idea. Hopefully tomorrow she will consider it again. Margaret, our two other Wofford friends (Kate and Maggie), and myself continued to explore the city during the week; often wandering off on side streets and finding really cute restaurants and shops. Every time I go out onto the street, things become more familiar and I am starting to find shorter routes to certain areas. Margaret and I walked to the beach one afternoon after class. It was exciting because it was my first time seeing the Mediterranean Sea! It was gorgeous. I hope it gets warm enough later in the semester to go sit out on the beach.

The Beach in Barcelona-so pretty!

Thursday night was our first real night out in Barcelona. We went to a "Welcome to Barcelona" party for abroad students at a bar called Dow Jones. This is a favorite spot of past Wofford students and I think we will continue the tradition because I really like the atmosphere. Thursday it was really crowded and we could barely move, but people began to clear out and it was more enjoyable. Dow Jones is a Wall Street themed bar, so the crowd is pretty American. There are TV screens up throughout the bar with drinks listed and their prices. Every so often an alarm sounds and lights begin to flash; that signals that the stock market is crashing and drink prices drop. Everyone tries to get to the bar so they can get the lower priced drinks, so it gets pretty crazy. We decided to call it a night pretty early for Barcelona time (2am).

playing with our European phones at Dow Jones

After class Friday, we continued to explore then came back to our homestay to take a nap. We were going to try out the Barcelona club scene that night. Margaret and I went to dinner with Kate and Maggie at Santa Caterina Market. Thanks to a suggestion once again from the list compiled by previous Wofford students (don't know what we would do without that! Thanks Molly, Charlotte, Candice!!) Santa Caterina Market is a really neat market by day and restaurant by night. All of the food in the restaurant is so fresh because it comes straight from the market. It also features many different types of cuisine, Asian, Mediterranean, Vegetarian, so it will pretty much suit anyone. We all really loved the setting of this place so I think it is one we will bring our visitors to! We went back to Kate and Maggie's apartment to get ready for the clubs. There is a Facebook page of a promoter who "friends" all of the American students studying abroad in Spain and every other night or so there is an event at one of Barcelona's many clubs. If you know the name of the club promoter you can usually get in for free. We were a little hesitant about it at first, but we thought we should give it a try. We got to this club called Duvet and there was a line out the door and a red carpet, we already were cracking up at the people taking this club scene so seriously. We got into the club and it was jam packed with American students going crazy! We decided not to stay for long  (drinks were 10 euro-like $12 American dollars!!!) because we had met some friends who were local and they told us about another club/bar we could go to. Our new friends, Juan and David, took us to a salsa club. None of us knew how to salsa, but when in Spain...This new club was soo neat! It wasn't crowded and I'm pretty sure we were the only Americans in there so it didn't feel like the tourist trap of the other club. They played popular American music as well as Spanish music. Juan and David and some other Spanairds taught us how to dance. I'm sure we were terrible, but a lot of their moves felt like we were dancing the Carolina Shag like we do at school. Around 5:30am we decided to call it a night even though the club was still going. It was our first big night out so we decided not to push it too much later than that! Tonight we are going to try and go to one of the club events promoted on the Facebook page. Apparently "Loco Lunes" (crazy Monday) is a big night here. Even if these places are filled with American students, its a nice way to meet new people from our program. I'm sure we will begin to find our favorite "going out spots" and stick to them.

 I'm taking more pictures of sites rather than nights out because I don't want to lose my camera, sorry this post doesn't have many pictures. The next one will have a lot! All of the pictures I have taken so far are on my Facebook!

Adios,

Langley