Bienvenidos a Barcelona!!

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Barcelona is amzing!! I have been so so busy, and we jsut started classes so I am sorry I have not blogged yet before now.

Anyways, I am really loving Barcelona. I have been here for about a week and a half now. I am getting to know the city more and more. I leave in areally nice part of the city, about a 20 minutes walk from my classes and from the center of town. But, there is tons of stuff right by my apartment anyways. I am living with a Spanish senora and she is really great. The apartment is really beautiful. My senora speaks only in Spanish, obviously so, my Spanish has been rapidly improving. Barcelona is really interesting, I mean all the Gaudi buildings and just his influence on the entire city is amazing.

The only thing I was somewhat disappointed with was that on the first day I was walking down the street and I saw a STarbucks, a Subway, and a Sephora all ina row. And I kind of felt like I could have been in the US. I think I have had more culture shock coming here, after Africa than I even had going home. For some reason, I think I was subconsiously preparing to go to a foreign country and that meant preparing for Africa, because that was the last foreign country I had been to. I don´t know, it doesn´t make any sense, lets just say I was quite happily surprised that there was a working metro system and indoor plumbing in my apartment! lol. So; i am trying to find the real barcelona; which is not very difficult and it is really amazing:

the first week that we got here; we toured around a lot: we went on a walking tour of the old gothic quarter of the city; which was really beautiful; but very easy to get completely lost and disoriented in: and then we took a bus tour around the entire city just to see the lay of the land: this past sunday i just walked around my entire neighborhood and area and i also went to la sagrada familia; which is the cathedral that gaudi designed and that is stil under construction and has been under construction for more than one hundred years😞sorry that the punctuation has gotten so wierd; i pressed a wrong key at some point along the way and i am unable to unlock the keyboard: )

anyways; the cathdral is really beautiful; so full of tourists but really amazing: there are construction things all around it which look so out of place next to this ornate; extremely detailed cathedral: but; i guess that is reality:

on saturday; the group took a trip to tarragona; which is south of barcelona: it was the first roman city in spain and they have some of the roman ruins; like of the circus and of the big ampitheater; but not much because a lot of the structures were destroyed during the multiple wars that have happened between today and roman times: but it was veyr interesting and it is up on a hill but it is right on the water; so everywhere in the city pretty much looks over the water: so after we toured around a bit; we went down to the ocean; which was absolutely gorgeous

all in all; the first week and a half has been great; i started classes this week and i like them all so far; my spanish is improving and my senora is really great; crazy and very funny: and i have running wwater and a really nice apartment! i hope that everyone reads this comes to visit me as soon as possible!!!!!!!

much love from barcelona

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