Wednesday

¡Hola!

All is fantastic, once again, here in Barcelona! Everyone is done with the unhappiness and we are all ready for Venice. But first, let me tell you about yesterday. A ton happened.

School was good as usual. We did not take any notes, which is really weird. We just chatted in español for the whole 4 hours. We talked all about Spanish culture and our host families and how our daily routines usually go. It was pretty fun. Good to practice speaking. And of course we got to listen to more Spanish pop. I actually now like it better than I do American pop... go figure.

After school, we all went to this buffet for lunch before our field trip. It was really good, especially since we got to pick what we wanted. I had Orange Kas (instead of water) to drink...kinda like Fanta or Sunkist...this piece of information will be elaborated on later.

We AGAIN did not go to the maze park. We went to Casa Batlló. It was fantastic. This place was also designed by Gaudi and it did not have any right angles in it. All the walls and doors and windows were curved. There were mosaics everywhere and the whole house had a ocean theme. I loved it. We also got these recorders that gave us an audio tour of each room. It looked like we were all holding those old-time big boxy cell phones. Good laughs.

After the field trip, Suzanne and I parted ways as I was going to the Flaminco show later that evening. I wandered down La Rambla for awhile and ended up on the third floor of McDonalds just to sit and watch one of my favorite human statues entertain the masses. It was good to have alone time from the whole group, especially since we will all be together all weekend. After about 45 minutes it was time to meet Lydia and Amanda at the theater for the show.

The Flaminco show was FANTASTIC. It was actually Opera and Flaminco, which I some how missed the memo about the opera. It was entertaining though. There was a live band for the flaminco dancers. I can´t even begin to tell you about the flaminco dancers. Their feet moved so fast, sometimes you could not even tell the were moving! It was a great Spanish experience with two great girls. Amanda is actually one of our leader´s friends. She graduated from Georgia College just a few years ago and is an elementary school music teacher. AND she is moving to Cobb County because she is the new music teacher for the elementary school right across the street from Lassiter. Pretty cool. We all wandered down to the pier after the show and enjoyed laughing about the Christopher Columbus statue and how he pointing in the wrong direction.

I did not get home until 11PM. Let me tell you, that was fun. Apparently I missed dinner with Lupe´s friends from Germany. She served wine and everything! The food was horrible though, says Suzanne. I decided not to even try it. I was laughing so hard about Lupe´s friends from Germany. Suzanne said that the man would ask Suzanne a question in English, but he could not understand what she said back. So she had to tell his wife in Spanish, so she could then translate it back to him in German!!!!! Talk about WILD! English, to Spanish, to German. Three different people. Man I hate it that I missed that.

Now, remember that Orange Kas I had at lunch?? Well, after not having ANY caffeine for three weeks, and then having less than a can of it for lunch, my calf muscle FREAKED OUT around 3AM this morning. You know those things? Where it gets really tight in the middle of the night? Yeah, this was the worst. Somehow I managed to go back to sleep, but when I woke up this morning for school, I could not walk. Now, how in the WORLD am I supposed to spend the weekend in Venice if I can only stand on one leg? This was when I had to get creative and have a conversation in Spanish with Lupé at 7 in the morning. My brain struggles with English at 7AM, Spanish was going to be a stretch. I managed to ask her for a ace bandage and I explained as best I could,with words and actions, what was wrong. She caught on pretty quickly and knew exactly what to do. She pulled out this special cream and gave my calf muscle a 5 minute massage! Such a sweet Spanish mom! And she gave me this cloth bandage that you slide on. Its almost like tight long underwear material. I dont know. BUT, the good thing is that I could walk perfectly fine after her magic massage. And she let me pack it for Venice! Gotta love Lupé. We were still out the door by 8AM this morning, even after all of that. Moral of the story. There is no need for anything but water.

School today. Leave for the airport from school. Plane leaves at 4. Arrive in Venice around 6. Frolick around Venice until Sunday at 6. Back in the city around 8. Back to Lupé´s around 10. Back to school to give you the update Monday morning at 8:30!

Love you,
Thanks Mom!
RoSiE

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