I miss Cicely and Miya! They are now back in Pamplona and I am back at school with another week of Spanish class. I am actually learning quite a bit. I wouldn’t say I can carry a full-on spanish conversation, but I can pick out words here and there and read off signs and billboards. Not a complete fail.

The past few days have been much more relaxing since I am finally all settled in, I learned to get around using the metro and I know where to shop! All is good. On monday, we tried this sushi place near ESADE in Sant Cugat. This district is around 35-40mins train ride from the heart of Barcelona and the temperature is a little cooler than Barcelona. It is also a richer neighbourhood. The sushi place was call Izakaya (we have one in Vancouver but of course, operated by different people) and it was surprisingly good. I ordered the set lunch menu that came with an appetizer and an entre for 10€. We also had wine, but nowadays, I have wine with almost every meal, so just assume that from now on. A girl named Steph which I met through Una is hilarious. She is a free spirit, she speaks her mind and is absolutely crazy about japanese ginger. We watched her order plates after plates of it. I get along with these people quite well since we all have fun personalities.

I have also been cooking a lot more at home instead of eating out. 1. It is expensive to eat out all the time and 2. now that I am travelling and I find myself eating irregularly (I don’t know why), especially when I go out. What I mean is that I sometimes eat very early and other times very late. The amount I eat also fluctuates from day to day. Somedays I am a machine, and other days, I can go on the whole day with just breakfast. But since I’ve been cooking at home more often, I’ve also been eating less sporadically. Does anyone else feel the same? Another problem I have is that whenever I go out with friends, I always feel the need to eat even when I may not necessarily be hungry. I guess it’s because I don’t wanna sit there and do nothing, but talk and watch other people eat. It seems like a socially awkward thing to do. —Anywho, back to cooking, I’ve been loving this “egg in a hole” creation I learned on YouTube. It is so easy to make and delicious to boot! I’ve also been bringing salad to school with baked chicken breast. Whatever is fast and easy, I will make.

One major event that happened this week was the National Day of Catalonia. It is celebrated every year on September 11 to commemorate the 14 month Siege of Barcelona. Here’s a little history lesson: Spain was not always one happy country. The problem was that one of it’s kings (Charles II of Spain) could not produce a heir, so when he died, they had to sought out another king and in this case, through the heirs of his sisters. This problem divided spain into two, followers of Philip IV (the French) and followers of Charles VI (the Austrian). And basically, the catalans fought to support Charles VI to the throne, however, on September 11, 1714, they were defeated and forced to surrender. And the catalans are made up of four major provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. The catalans wants independence from the Spanish government because of taxes and lack of public spending (the govt treated them like shit). Here’s a video that might explain more since I am just learning about this recently:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ_cAQ8j1O8&w=560&h=315]

There were so many people on the streets and around Arc de Triomf and Parc de la Ciutadella, tents were set up to sell catalona gifts, flags, books, food and drinks—there was even street performers! Not to mention GIANT PAELLA! Seeing the atmosphere and experiencing how passionate these people were, I just had to pick up a flag to join in on the festivities. For lunch, Marc brought us to his favourite sushi restaurant called ZEN Sushi (all you can eat for 12€ + cost of drinks). The interior was very proper and the food was very good in comparison to other sushi places I’ve been to in Barcelona. THEY ACTUALLY HAD A MENU TO ORDER FROM!! The dish that stood out the most was this grilled duck. I want seconds just thinking about it. Marc was embarrassed that I ordered so many dishes, but hey, I’ve got an appetite for good food! After lunch, we walked towards the human chain (people holding hands to form a line dividing Catalonia and the rest of Spain) and joined in on the chanting of IN-INDE-INDEPENDENCIAAA!! So much history and culture within one day, I love it! And I was so glad to be there to witness this momentous event in person. Also seeing all these people with the FC Barcelona jersey makes me wanna get one, paint my face and watch a football game! Maybe…

We also got to see the Parliament building for free and it was really fancy, almost like a museum or royal palace. This is kinda embarrassing, but I haven’t even been to the parliament building in Victoria or Ottawa…please someone bring me to these places!

On thursday, we had a welcome dinner with all the other exchange students from ESADE (MBA and BBA). It was organized by a group of ESADE students (CIEE) who plans activities for incoming exchange students. Initially, I thought it would be a sit-down dinner with fancy venue and wine (we paid 20€!), but it turned out to be a club setting with a bar and tapas. We had four drink tickets and by the looks of the place, music and atmosphere, it was definitely not enough to amp up the night. It was really difficult to socialize in those settings because we had loud music blasting, very little lights and shitty drinks (wine and beer sucked).  Not to mention, the food was not worth 20€ to say the least. I felt like I was shouting the entire night and hardly anyone danced. People just stood awkwardly and by the end of the night, my ankle was not feeling it and I left to catch the last metro home.—oops, forgot to mention that everyone who was in the intro Spanish classes had a final the next day…

I tried to squeeze as much studying as possible but I ended up falling asleep because of the wine. But good thing I was paying attention in class and have been keeping up with the worksheets and handouts. I am confident that I passed and got a decent grade since it was pure memorization and I finished first.

After a long week, it seems like I finally have time to myself and explore the city a little bit. Considering my current situation of living out of a suitcase, it was time I did some shopping. Sophia, Raj and I went to Plaça de Catalunya where it was basically shopping central. Department stores after another and streets full of boutiques and big name brands. Specially, Zara and H&M, they are everywhere! They are like Starbucks, one on every block and sometimes, two on the same block. A little obsessive, but I’m not complaining. We then met up with Uri (spanish local) and Melánia, explored a bit of the streets (Portal de L’Angel and La Rambla) and he brought us to the Cathedral of the Holy Cross and Saint Eulalia which designed by Josep O. Mestres. I really like these gothic-inspired designs and architectures. Along the way, we passed a couple of shops that were very interesting like this donut shop which had donuts hanging on their wall and a bunch of touristy shops. We also stumble upon Plaça Reial which looked very different from what I’ve seen of Barcelona. It almost looked like a resort!—must be the palm trees. This however, was designed by the one and only….Gaudí!! The fountain looked so cool, I just had to do something spontaneous…

Uri brought us to Marc’s favourite tapas restaurant (Txapela) and I really liked the atmosphere of the place and especially the menu since there’s pictures to choose from! My Spanish still sucks, so I’m pretty much a baby when it comes to talking to Spaniards.  Maybe you can see from the pictures, but I had #6, #27, and #39. It was very tasty and although Raj is a vegetarian, he managed to pick out some very unique dishes and overall, I give this place 7 thumbs up outta 10 since the service was extremely slow (same with else in Spain…slow as hell). After a full afternoon of shopping, Sophia and I stopped by Amorino (recommended by Raj) for ice cream! It was not that they have tons of flavours to choose from but the fact that whatever flavour you choose, they will make your ice cream cone look like a flower!—too bad I picked flavours like tiramisu and pistachio, because my cone looked, well, less flower-like. Nonetheless, mucho bueno!

And same with last week, I had an uneventful sunday where I literally just siesta all day and worked on my resume and cover letters for January and May recruitment. Oh, I guess I forgot to mention, all my roommates have left! Well, just for the weekend, so I have the whole apartment to myself which is nice but kinda lonely sometimes. I am used to at least having my brother around the house, but I’ll live, no big deal.

And for my next big adventure, I will be going to MILAN, Italia next weekend!! Just in time for fashion week. So until next time, cheers and adios mis amigos!

Kevin