A hidden gem.

January 9th, 2011

A 7:15 am wake up call and the bus leaving at 8:30 am to Toledo from Madrid. The directors had a full day planned out for us, which I was sure would further exhaust my already exhausted body. I was not looking forward to this day trip because my sleeping pattern had been so out of whack and I had only slept for 2 hours the night before. Normally I would count on catching up to my sleep during the bus ride but Toledo was only an hour away from Madrid. As soon as I dimmed my eyelashes, we had already arrived in Toledo. What I was about to see was a city that could not be described in words. And if I had to try it would be picturesque. There were so many winding roads and hills and bridges and cathedrals. Toledo looked like it was straight out of a movie. And as the tour guides got on our bus I was ready to wake up and bask in Toledo. My tour guide for the day was a guy named Javier who works as a tour guide in Toledo on weekends and studies in Madrid during the weekdays. He was very helpful with his descriptions of the city and knowledge of certain regions in Europe. I made sure to take in every detail both mentally and with  photographs as Javier described the beautiful city of Toledo to me. I soon realized that there is so much history in this little town. 

As we did a panaromic bus tour up hill from the newer part of the city to the older part, our tour guide explained several interesting things about Toledo to us such as summer being the worst season in Toledo with temperatures of 40 degrees celsius. And how there is a bell in one of the churches where the guys have to ring the bell if they want a girlfriend. And the girls must choose a pin for hair color of specified male and then they choose the guys. And how there is this house called Istigarales in the older part of the city which sold for 700 million euros.

On our walking tour of Toledo we visited the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes and got a detailed explanation of the history behind the architecture of this fascinating cathedral and of the king and Queen Isabella. We then made our way down to go see a synagogue by the name of Tránsito de Nuestra Señora in which the synagogue was now a museum/cathedral. And Javier further explained the history of the Jewish people in Toledo and told us many touching stories of the history of the Jewish people being exiled from Toledo. We then made our way to go see the main cathedral in Toledo named Catedral de Toledo before making it to the main plaza. This gigantic building towered over us as we awed at its architecture and the many years it would've taken to complete the structure. Javier informed us that there are many enormous bells inside the cathedral and the biggest one that weighed 700 tons broke the first time it was rang. And that the archbishop who lives next door has his own bridge to get to the Cathedral without being disturbed. We then walked over to the main plaza named Plaza de Zocodover were we disbursed for lunch and met up again to head to the hotel for the night. I was lucky enough once again to get my own room thanks to my director Jaime and the view from my hotel room of part of the city was more than spectacular especially as the sun set. Besides our last orientation meeting before getting to Barcelona I ordered room service while watching a show in español about the issues between the jews and the muslims in Palestine. And soon I dozed off ready for the 8+ hours drive back to Barcelona.

1/10/2011

Rise and sunshine Americans. We have a bus to catch. Breakfast was free once again and afterwards as if the directors were trying to freshen us up, we had to drag our luggages up hill to the buses. I was sure I didn't need extra exercise because my favorite dreaded stairs were waiting for me at night once I arrived in Barcelona, but nonetheless I didn't complain. Since I just had my duffle bag. But I did feel bad for the other students who were dragging 2+ bags up hill without any assistance. Once loaded we started on our journey to our host city and that is how the day was spent. Sleeping, gazing out the window, and making new friends on the autobús + planning future trips with them. As soon as I got dropped off I took the metro home and crashed for we had our welcome orientation at the campus mañana.

Un nombre de chico.

January 7th, 2011

Orientation is today and I couldn't wait to see how it would turn out. With 170+ students in a hotel and having meetings and sight seeing around Madrid. My friends left early this morning to catch their plane back home and I slept 2 extra hours before check out time from the hostel and taking myself over to the hotel that I would be staying at for the next few days. When I arrived at the hotel I told the receptionist "soy con ISA" meaning "I am with ISA"; "mi nombre es Ikram. Sabes que mi cuarto es disponible?" My name is Ikram. Do you know  if my room is available? She looked me up on the list and gave me my key and told me that my roommate is William Bailey. Clearly I wasn't awake enough and took the elevator to the 5th floor and then took myself to my room and was ready to go back to sleep since the program didn't officially start until 6pm in the evening. As I am taking my hijab off I realize that the receptionist told me that my roommate is William Bailey, clearly a guy's name. It then hit me that they thought that I would be a guy and roomed me as such. I went back downstairs and asked the receptionist - "El director con la programa de ISA esta aqui? Is the director for the ISA program here? Where as "Jaime" the program director was already standing there and was like I am him. After a brief introduction, I managed to form another sentence and tell him - Jaime, mi compañero de mi cuarto es un hombre. pienso que ellos piensan que yo soy un hombre porque mi nombre es un de hombre y mujeres.. Where as Jaime laughs and responds with No. And then I'm like sí. So he takes a look at the list of hotel rooms and sees that I am right and tells the lady at the front desk that there has been a mistake and to see if there are other availabilities for me. Long story short, Jaime made me a happy camper and gave me my own room. Orientation was brief and consisted of introductions of some of the program directors and their positions and also of some basic rules for our stay in Barcelona. We then took a city bus tour of Madrid in which I fell even more in love and afterwards met with the RealComm cell phone folks where I finally received my data sim card so I can stop roaming with my Arizona number. Tomorrow was going to be long, so I decided to go to bed early and be ready for the museum tours/explorations.

1/8/2011

Wake up call seemed as if it came as soon as I finally shut my eyes. I planned on going to sleep early that night but stayed up on the internet instead. Once ready and looking decent, I went downstairs to have breakfast a la carte. We were then on our way to our first museum - Museo del Prado to see the works of famous painters such as Goya, Diego Velazquez, y Greco. My favorite paintings were that of Diego Velazquez. Such a talented artist and one I wanted to research and learn about more. Museo del Prado is so huge that you would need at least several days to see all the exhibitions and paintings that is held there. We on the other hand only had 2.5 hours to feast our eyes. Inshallah I plan to revisit if ever given the chance again. Especially since taking of photographs were not allowed. We then headed to el museo de Reina Sofia which is a more contemporary museum than el Prado which holds more classical artwork. Our visit to Reina Sofia was really short and so we were only able to see a couple of paintings mostly of Picasso's work and Dali's. Both magnificent artists. Especially Dali and the many details he has in each painting. Attention to detail was definitely beyond amazing. I found myself getting really close to most of his paintings because from afar you wind up missing all the techniques and the details that he put into each single painting that he did. Thank God for being able to take photos sin flash at Reina Sofia. After our museum tours we had free time and were able to do whatever we pleased. I was excited because I planned on visiting the egyptian Temple de Debod, going back to El parque de retiro since it was so huge, and visiting the King's Palace. All of which I didn't get to do or see because it was raining profusely. I was starting to hate the rain in España because since walking is the main transportation, everything becomes impossible. I realized that in Arizona I loved the rain because I had my car to drive me around as I enjoyed the drops of rain on my windshield and the taps on my car's roof. Where as here, if it's raining there isn't much to do besides staying in. And plus I was trying not to get sick. As I made my way back to the hotel, and my boots got soaked with water, and then my socks, and finally my toes - I kept thinking so much for not trying to get sick. I might even get pneumonia here. Rain rain please go away. Inshallah I will be able to visit Madrid again during my time here in España and get to do all the things I planned without interruption. Tomorrow is reserved for checking out and heading early in the morning to a town called Toledo.

See ya later pero No Goodbyes here.

January 5th, 2011

Wednesday morning began as early as possible with a ring at my door from Jamil letting us know he was downstairs so that we can head to the bus station to Madrid. Most of the day wednesday consisted of traveling to Madrid from Barcelona which was approximately an 8 hr ride. Once we arrived in Madrid we had some difficulty accessing the already booked hostel and dragging our luggages around the city once again. Once we found the hostel they told us that we hadn't made any reservations. Good thing I had my print out of the receipt. The other dilemma was once again the stairs issue in Spain. Almost all the buildings have no elevators. Something I still am not used to. Once given our key we decided to go find a place to eat nearby "puerta del sol" which is the plaza closest to our hostel. Although we were in Madrid we winded up eating at a Texan/New Orleans restaurant. But the food was great. Once dinner was done I decided to head back to the hotel as Kafiyah and Gitzel roamed the town for a few hours. I wasn't feeling too great and just felt like watching shows online via the free internet access. Wednesday was very much uneventful.

1/6/2011

Today is Gitzel's birthday and we planned to go out and celebrate in Madrid. She is finally 22. The morning started with eating breakfast at an Iowa restaurant this time and then walking around downtown Madrid. Madrid is a spectacular city with grand buildings, and a sort of elegance about it. I fell in love with the city automatically and started thinking that my spanish professor Felipe was right. I should've chosen to do my program here in Madrid instead of Barcelona. Nontheless I convinced myself that I hadn't given Barcelona a fair chance since I ultimately knew that that was the city were most of my time would be spent. Madrid is a huge city much like Nueva York, hence the instant falling in love. I always saw myself moving to a bigger city and being a city gal. And Madrid gave me exactly those feelings once again. Noted: look into perhaps applying to work here after undergrad school.

As we walked around downtown, we passed the Plaza Independencia, El Banco de España, A small museum, saw loads of statues and decorations for the los reyes holiday, walked around el parque de retiro, and snapped away just in case I wouldn't ever be able to make it back to Madrid. All in all, thursday consisted of loads of walking and laughing and mesmerizing over la ciudad de Madrid. Tomorrow I will have to say goodbye to two of my closest friends since they will be going back home to finish their last semester as I stay behind to start my program here in España. I am really hoping that I don't cry like a baby when I say my goodbyes, for besides missing them, I will not be able to attend their graduation nor go back home after everyone has moved away. But true friendships last the distance so I am sure that mis amigos will always be mis amigos. I mean we have lasted since the first day of freshman year of college through all our ups and downs. Why not the rest of our lives. 

To starting new journeys...

Not quite settled in..

January 3rd, 2011

Lunes - Kafiyah left early this morning to go to Sevilla and I had another mishap with the neighbor's dog. But I was determined to still let monday be a great day for I had many errands to run. After waking up as a vacationing person at 2 in the afternoon, the first thing on my agenda was getting my mailbox key/lock fixed. There is a Ferreteria downstairs which is similar to a "smaller version" of Homedepot or Lowe's from the states; so Gitzel and I decided to check and see if they can fix my mailbox lock. The owners are Moroccon and one of the guy's Ahmed who is 40 something year old ensured us that he could fix it after taking a look. I was excited because once again I didn't have to search far from my place to find something I needed to get done. As Ahmed fixed my mailbox he asked questions about us such as what we were doing in Barcelona and how we were liking our stay thus far. He seemed extra genuinely nice. That is until he remarks to us that he kept seeing me and Gitzel walk by the shop the past few days. I thought that a bit creepy and weird but didn't really make much of it until he continued to state that he found me extra interesting and pretty by stating "Ikram es muy guapa. es cierto no?" This was the only time I pretended like I couldn't understand Spanish and looked at my friend for translation by telling her "no entiendo" but giving her a look of I understood but didn't really want to understand. Mr. Ahmed goes on to state that I was so pretty in his eyes that his heart skipped a beat. Something about his "corazon". I'm still pretending I don't understand so I smile politely and laugh at the perfect moments with him and Gitzel as he asks us "tienes novio" to both her and I. Of course we both lied and said yes. Finally when he is done telling us his story, we go inside to pay for the mailbox and at the cash register is a handsome Moroccon guy. As we leave the Ferreteria, Gitzel and I create scenarios out loud on our way to the metro about how if the guy at the register would've asked us - we would've totally told him the truth and said : " no, no tengo un novio".

Up next on the list of agendas was food in our tummys and as we made our way downtown, we realized that the day was turning to be the coldest weather wise thus far since our arrival. And it was also very gloomy which made running errands a bit too difficult. Nontheless we decided after eating that we needed to book our hotel for our stay in Madrid and look at transportation prices at the locutorio. But first it was necessary to find a "correo" or post office so that we could buy some stamps for post cards. Finding a post office was more difficult than expected. None of the Spaniards knew were one close by was and if they did it was on the other side of town. So I will have to google map one once I have internet access. We did however learn that "las estamplillas" are sold at what are called Tabaco's. These are shops that specialize in anything tobacco. And these little shops are everywhere! Who knew right? But then again, I have never seen so many people especially women who smoke like this - so clearly thats where the business is.That and at locutorio's. Time had obviously gone by very fast because by the time we were done making calls to back home and searching on the internet it was already time for our pizza dinner at the kebab place. As we arrived in style and walked in to the "doner kebab" the owner was cleaning the back section for us and had a table set up for the two of us. I really don't know why I agreed to this knowing that he was on a mission to seduce Gitzel, but free pizza is free pizza. As he prepares french fries for us as appetizers while the pizza gets ready; Jamil walks in with two gift bags. I couldn't believe my eyes. This man was really going all out. And of course he had to get me something to. I laughed silently as I opened my present which was perfume and said my thanks. As the night went on and I stuffed my face since I was only needed for presence and not conversation I practiced my listening and comprehending skills as he tried to woo in my friend. The night ended with him inviting us out for lunch the next day at a Pakistani restaurant and Gips agreeing for the both of us that we would meet him at the metro at 1 pm. Last thing on the list for monday night was climbing my awful stairs with a stomach fully satisfied and avoiding my neighbor and their dog. Buenas noches.

1/4/2011

Since we had agreed to meet Jamil at the metro station; today required getting up earlier than I would've liked. As we got ready and waited on Kafiyah's arrival from Sevilla I continued to check off my to do list and realized I still needed to find internet for my place. I would ask my downstairs business owners since they all seem to be willing to be very helpful. I also realized that I needed to buy myself a compass with all the traveling I plan on doing this semester Inshallah; a compass will come in handy for prayer directions. As soon as we met Jamil he told us that he was going to first take us to the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is a famous structure built by Antoni Gaudi and one I studied intensely while I was doing my interior design program. So I was automatically excited for this free of charge tour. We took the metro to a new side of the city and as soon as we got out of the station - there in front of us was the new and the old in a perfect combination. Sagrada Familia was as seen in textbooks and in photos online. You are just overwhelmed with feeling as you get to experience for the first time or see things that you always knew were on the other side of the ocean but only a plane ticket away. Finally it was my time to experience it. As we walked around to get an entrance ticket - we saw that the line did sort of a curve around the Sagrada Familia and we knew instantly that we would not be waiting in line to see the inside. I was glad that I would be staying here for a while so I had the option of coming back and I was also happy to see that my friend's were content in taking photos from the outside. I think Jamil though was disappointed that he couldn't extend his time with my friend. We then told him that lunch was great and more than enough so we hoped back on the metro and headed to a pakistani restaurant in another side of town once again. The food was delicious and reminded me of the restaurant by my house back in Phoenix. And it was good to know that there were many things easily accessible to me if ever I got homesick. Afterwards we went to the beach once again but Port Olympic this time. There are so many beaches here. But this one was my favorite so far. It was more peaceful and seemed prettier on this end. Kafiyah and I knew that we were just chapperone's on this whatever it was so we had a ball cracking jokes and bonding with each other. Once we were spent the only thing that was missing was gelato to satisfy our cravings from the past few days. This time we decided to go walk to find one and by the time we found one we realized that my street leads to one side of las ramblas and the other side of my street leads to another side of las ramblas. I had figured out what my daily jogging route would be as it was convenient and not too long. I was starting to love how perfect my apartment was situated and in close proximity to downtown and everything else. I did pretty darn well for finding a place on the internet and using google map as my guide for memorizing the streets of Barcelona. End cap to tuesday night included editing a video for blogpost and packing to head to Madrid in the morning for 5 days. Since my program starts on the 7th with orientation in Madrid and a tour of the city and then an excursion to Toledo and finally back to Barcelona to start classes. I can't wait to get my new sim card so that I can cut off my number from the states and stop being charged for roaming and I also can't wait to start school. Although its been fun, I'm getting apprehensive and kind of already miss the having something to do aspect of my life. Maybe because mostly I just want to know what my schedule is so that I can figure out when I can start taking painting classes and guitar lessons among planning my weekend getaways. Alxamdulillah life is great over here and I only wish the same for my loved ones.

Lo Siento...Por Favor...La Música...Dormir

January 1st, 2011

The New Year began with a late wake up call at 2pm after an exhausting past two days. Exactly what our bodies had ordered since we woke up just a little more refreshed than usual. Breakfast is always in style in Barcelona so we decided to have some eggs, croissants, and fries at "Brava Cafe". Although we had dressed to be out all day long - the day was too gloomy for anything but sitting on the couch watching music videos until dinner time with some of Gitzel's French friends from Lille who were also vacationing here in Barcelona. So that is exactly what we did. Watched music videos while I unpacked my suitcases. Dinner was located in the district of Gracia, a new part of town to us at a Lebanese restaurant next to a small plaza. There are so many restaurants here and even way more plazas. Random plazas on every street it seems. But I was starting to love that about this city. At dinner after meeting Gitzel's friends and ordering dinner - her friend Pierre-Etienne started up a conversation with us. He was sophisticated, funny, charming, and could hold a conversation very well. I was starting to fall for the French charm until I was told that he had a girlfriend. I thought well, at least I can make a new friend to visit in France if I decide to go during my stay here. Afterwards Pierre invited us to continue to hang out with them as they made their way to the shiisha spot; but we chose not to go and were ready to call it an early night. By the time we got home it was already past midnight and we really couldn't understand where the time had been flying to since we had arrived here. Gitzel and Kafiyah went straight to sleep on the sofa bed in the living room and I concentrated hard on falling asleep in the bedroom. With one minor problem. My next door neighbor was having too much of a good night with his music blasting through my walls. I found myself jamming to the Spanish reggae instead of falling asleep since we planned on waking up early the next morning. After a while of this struggling to fall asleep and jamming to the music I decided I was for once going to start "really" practicing my spanish with my next door neighbor by forming a correct sentence to say to him about the music. I concentrated hard on my perfect sentence and practiced exactly what I would say to him; "Lo siento pero por favor puedes reducir la música porque estoy tratando dormir."; "I'm sorry but can you please lower the music because I am trying to sleep." As I opened my door excited to have my perfect sentence and ready to knock at his door- the lady from one floor down was also at our gate and said something to me about the likes of -- is the music coming from here? and I said yes and then she says to me is it bothering you too? and I answered with "mismo" meaning "the same" instead of what I meant to say which was "yo tambien" me too. With her interruption and my forgetting a simple word, I was already starting to get apprehensive and not so sure about knocking at my neighbor's door. As she stared at me, and I wanted to make a dash for my door - she rang the doorbell and I heard my neighbor approaching. Once he opened the door and his dog ran towards me - my mind went blank and I kept thinking the dog was going to attack me as he tried to calm me down when he saw my expression. The lady looked on at this brief scenario and continued to say nothing. I spaced out completely; forgot what I came over to say as he stared at me waiting for an explanation; and all I managed to say was ....

Lo Siento...Por Favor...La Música...Dormir

Sorry...Please...The Music...To Sleep!

1/2/2011

Sunday started with Kafiyah telling Gitzel and I that our 2 hour laughing session after my mishap wasn't funny at all. But me and Gitzel continued to laugh about it anyway as we dressed for the day ahead. On the agenda was Breakfast; Arc de Triompf; Port Vell; the Beach; and Lunch at Orgasmic. As if the stairs weren't enough - walking was going to be a part of my daily diet starting with today's 10+ miles of walking in the city. Breakfast was taken para llevar from la panaderia downstairs and we made our way to the Sant Antoni station. My new best friend around the corner from my place. Since we had found a shortcut on the metro the night before - we took our shortcut to a new metro line and arrived at Arc de Triompf as the sun started to peer in. Finally some sunshine. It has been cold and rainy the past few days. But this rain isn't like Arizona rain. I LOVE AZ rain and its gloominess. This was a different type. One I didn't enjoy so much. Perhaps because it was just putting me to sleep and nothing else. As we walked around Arc de Triompf; this towering arc placed strategically in the middle of the street, I gazed around and enjoyed my scenery whilst snapping photos for my future postcards that I planned on sending to friends. There were parks all around and people up and about after sunday service walking their dogs or hanging out with their families. We then walked over to the waterfall and gazed at the magnificent sculptures that surrounded it and also at the people swing dancing nearby. After our self guided tour of the area and our fair share of photos we decided to walk to Port Vell and the beach. What a walk! but well worth it once we reached the port and saw the beach and its beauty in daylight. It had been 8 years since I had been to any beach and the feelings of comfort and bliss seeped in as I just stared at the blue water. By this time we were starving after our mini breakfast of chocolate napolitan and juice; and we decided it was time to head to lunch at Organic is Orgasmic - a place suggested to me by my friend Safia. Orgasmic had delicious food and we were glad that we were able to enjoy such great food after 6 hours of covering Barcelona from East to West by foot. Then came the last exhausting step of the night by walking upstairs and we were ready to sleep. That is until me and Gitzel are able to talk forever and we found ourselves already at midnight and craving French fries from the kebab place. We went downstairs in our pj's and were given free fries and invited to dinner for tomorrow night since we bailed on new years once again. This time we didn't refuse. As Kafiyah was leaving to catch her taxi at 4 am to go visit Córdoba and I was closing the door behind her, my next door neighbor's girlfriend came out with the dog leading the way once again. This time however, instead of attacking me - he was headed straight in to my apartment and I was trying to close the door against him as the girl screamed "Max Max Max" in fear and panic as I expect she was thinking I was gonna kill her dog. and all I managed to say once again as I almost killed her dog was...

Lo Siento...Lo Siento...and closed the door behind me.!

My one-word Spanish is coming in handy.

New Arrivals...New Beginnings

December 30th, 2010

I arrive in Barcelona a las tres de la tarde with my best friend awaiting me at the airport. The nervousness in my heart has faded away with the sight of her and my excitement to be studying abroad has begun. Before I was able to start really enjoying my home far away from home; I had to rush to go meet my realtor to check out the apartment that I found weeks prior to coming here. Gitzel and I found the ATM inside the airport immediately since I had to withdraw money for the deposit of the apartment just in case the place suited me. Of course I forgot that my bank would set a limit on how much I could take out. The first ordeal of the day. However we were in bright spirits so we decided we will figure out a way as we took the taxi to my future home. My main street seemed to be very lively and have everything I could possibly need for my 4 month stay in Barcelona right at my footsteps. Since we had arrived early to meet the realtor and had time to spare, we both decided we were starving and should get something to eat. Across from my building was a kebab place entitled "doner kebab"; and it seemed like the perfect place to quench our thirst and hunger. The owner happens to be Pakistani. We ordered food and I soon realized that the owner was into my friend Gitzel, but she usually likes to play naive so I went along with this drama that was about to unfold in front of me. After all, I was ready to enjoy myself even if it meant laughing about the happenings of my friend. As we were getting ready to leave, he invited us over for dinner the next evening for the new year's celebrations. Mind you this whole time he was talking to HER, and I was just agreeing to everything being mentioned. She tells him for the both of us that we might be busy since my other friend Kafiyah would be joining us the next day. We left by giving him some hope that we would be back again. We then went to look at the apartment which was just perfect besides the fact that I couldn't get my money out to rent it starting that night. We now had to find a hostel to stay in for the night while I figured out my money situation. Things were turning for the worst:

1. The Spaniards did not know were any of the closest hostels were around my neighborhood;

2. We were walking around with my 6 month stay of luggages;

3. Of course we happened to walk around in circles for practically 2 hours.

4. When we finally found a stay - they were booked for the holidays.

5. We walked out of the booked hostel to the UN-welcoming rain; pouring on us and the luggages while we walked around to find another hostel.

After all this trouble, we finally found a hostel that was more like a hotel. I guess the pain of dragging things in the rain finally paid off. Now to figure out how to get the money for the deposit. We found a locutorio (private phone booths) nearby with a western union inside so I immediately called my mother to tell her of the situation and how I was going to need her and my dad to send me some money since I would not be able to get enough out of my account before the holiday because of my set limit. After a few minutes of discussing the events of the evening with them, the Mission was complete. Mom and Dad sent me the money but it was too late to pick it up that night. However, we then had to take the metro to the other side of town to pick up my friend's luggages. This time I was stress free knowing that tomorrow Inshallah, I will be able to rent the apartment and feel secure in knowing that I have a home. After what seemed like days worth of work compressed into a few short hours, and the heels of our foots being sore, and backs and biceps being worked out we finally crashed for the night.

12/31/2010

Friday morning begins at 10 am with me rushing with excitement to the western union around the corner from the hostel to go pick up my money. I walk in with an amazing "hola" to the receptionist as she was on the phone. She smiled and pointed for me to sit down and wait while she got off the phone. As I am waiting to be serviced, however I notice that she is on a personal call and is having a conversation about the night before; I believe assuming that I couldn't understand anything she was talking about. I'm thinking to myself that the Spaniards must really (not) be this rude- so I exercised my first test of patience. I waited for what was close to 30 minutes before she finally hung up and turned to me. I only knew what time it was exactly because I had an appointment with the realtor to sign the contract and receive my keys at 12pm. She then asks me how much money was sent to me, and I tell her. She then makes a call to what I assumed to be one of the western union reps and she then tries to convey in english that she can't give me the money but I can go to the other location to pick it up. I then ask her what she means in Spanish and with a shock on her face she goes - hables español? I bet she felt embarassed. She then tells me in Spanish that she doesn't have enough money at this location for me; and gives me the address to the closest other western union that would have enough money. I leave upset since she wasted half an hour of my morning when she wasn't even going to give me the money. I then walk to the bank to exchange the cash I came with - of course getting ripped off with the exchange rate. I take my losses and make my way down to the western union on las Ramblas. Las Ramblas being 15 minutes by metro. By the 2nd day of being in Barcelona I had figured out how to get to most locations by metro, surprisingly enough. After a long line and getting ripped off again with the exchange rate, I made my way back to the hostel - by this time it was already 11:45 am and I knew I wasn't going to make it back for my appointment and had my friend call the realtor and move the meeting time to 1pm. Once I was back at the hostel I put together the money and we made our way back to the apartment by foot only to realize that the hostel was around the corner from the apartment and we had walked around for close to 3 hours the night before to wind up next door. The things that happen at night with no sense of direction in a new country not to mention street signs being hidden away on building walls instead of on traffic lights. I was starting to doubt if España was the place for me with all the frustration I had been facing. Close to 24 hours after my arrival I sign my life away once again but this time in Barcelona and receive my keys. The apartment was completely as advertised and both Gitzel and I fell in love with it as soon as we set our eyes on it. There are hints of red and green everywhere. Spices up the place. And I loved it. Well besides my apartment being located on the top most floor and the 6 floors of stairs I would have to endure to get there everytime I left the house and came back. This would definitely be interesting especially since I had a fast forward in my mind of days when I would be too tired to climb up to my apartment and I would decide to crash on the stairs. Heyy I should be optimistic right? At least this gives me a chance to go back home in tip top shape and when eveyone oo's and aa's about how I lost so much weight I could just tell them: "oh you know just walking home." And literally mean it. By the time my thoughts left me of the future, my friend Kafiyah had arrived at the closest station to the apartment and Gitzel and I went to go pick her up. Last year around this time us 3 had planned on vacationing here in Spain in between Gitzel's study abroad in Lille, France and the beginning of my study abroad in Barcelona. I couldn't believe that this was all happening after all this time especially since I hadn't seen Gitzel since July of this year when I went to go take my vacation in Toronto. I was finally at ease and started looking around town while walking around. This place was gonna be where I would be spending months at. Barcelona was starting to look beautiful. Well until we had to carry my luggages, Gitzel's, and Kafiyah's up the 6 floor hike because I refused to let any guys help us for fear that they would know where I live. Lets just say that afterwards, we all needed a deep-tissue massage and a warm bath. At least the warm bath was feasible! We soon realized that today was also New Years Eve so we decided to go have dinner by the beach in the district called Barceloneta, walk around the beach and then go to Las Ramblas to celebrate the New Years figuring that that would be where the Spaniards would celebrate since Las Ramblas is the main street in Barcelona and includes the famous Plaza Catalunya. Although my body was exhausted and I would've rather slept it off, I refused to miss out on the beginning of my adventures and got myself dressed. We ate at "Siempre Viva" a place with many seafood dishes. We soon discovered that everything was fresh and that the patatas bravas (fried potatoes) a selection from the "tapas" section would be our favorite. After dinner we took a walk to the beach and then soon decided it was too cold to be taking a stroll there and decided to walk back to the barceloneta metro station to get to las ramblas only after picking up some gelato. Once we got to las ramblas we saw that everyone was walking towards the Plaza Catalunya and decided to follow suit; we also then soon realized that everyone else was also walking towards the other end of las ramblas; only to further realize that walking around on las ramblas is precisely what they did to celebrate. This is interesting we thought to ourselves but continued nontheless. Until of course I kept complaining about how my feet were killing me and we found a place to sit as I grabbed some "cafe con lete" - - side note: everything here in Barcelona is written in Catalan and not in Spanish (or Castellano as known in Barcelona) - - As the new year of 2011 approached, we walked back to Plaza Catalunya and followed the residents of this city. At one point in time, this drunk guy also tried to kiss Gitzel as she was walking. Me and her also realized very fast that the guys here are more than up front! As we laughed at the awkward scenario that was just witnessed and people around were singing random drunkard songs and fireworks exploded and champagne graced the streets including our clothes and hair; we welcomed the new year together with loads of laughter and a new experience.