Studying Abroad in Barcelona

More nights out, days exploring, and Barcelona stories from this week. First of all, my Spanish is getting much better due to the forced practice in the streets, classes, and markets. Down to café con leche (a basic coffee/espresso with milk) there are sayings circulating our apartment as instinct which I feel shows our adaptation and comfort in this city. The word heard round this city: valé, pronounced balé, takes on meaning for an English ok, see ya, I agree, moving on, why not…it is used in almost every sentence. But it is fun to say and so it will remain in the forefront of my vocabulary.

The nightlife, unfortunately for my parents, takes the highlights of the week. This Sunday was the Super Bowl and this night is quite a story. Arriving late to Pippermints, remember the bar with the gigantic drinks, we are in a sea of American abroad students celebrating just as they would in the States. They clearly got an earlier start on this celebration because just after my first sip of the night the national anthem is played. Drowned out by the vocals of drunken Americans they fail to notice that the Spanish bartenders have muted all the televisions. An atrocious display of tone-def mixed with drunken American pride, this was an energy I will never forget! But the game went on and it was a Super Bowl night like any other year, one minor detail being that no Spaniard cares about football. Their concern is with fútbol. And when I say concern I mean obsession. Soccer is the universal sport of Europe and it is a lifestyle.

Plaça Reial yet again gives the three of us an experience no other abroad student gets without independent housing. Game days. I live in one of the most popular city squares and one thing they have most to offer is outdoor drinking so you better bet that on game days these fútbol fans have traveled across Europe to start their tailgating before my 8:30 am art class. Hysterical! On game days our plaça turns into a mess of opposing team jerseys and an a.m. beerfest. Any American who thinks they are fanatic about a sport is kidding themselves and fails to compare to these hooligans. Well, not real hooligans, they’re not permitted into other countries controlled by a list of those too dangerous to cross country boundaries. So my dream of tailgating with soccer hooligans sadly will not come true but I’ll do one better. Instead of being destructive and dangerous these fans flooding our streets are here for one reason: to drink muchas muchas cervesas.

I’ve acquainted myself with another discoteca (nightclub) called Pachá. Pachá has an energy unlike the other clubs, techno truly gets pumped right through your veins and it is much larger than others. Dancers set the mood upon private stages sporadically throughout the dance floor but if you want to tell your friends anything expect to tell them after hours because you cannot hear anything but your heartbeat. This bass line will continue to ring in your head for a few hours following your exit but it is more a thrill of your night than an annoyance.

Though the nights only get better, my Spanish class seems to get ahead of me. My professora María has her good days and bad. Taking such a hard class I knew I would be challenged and her lack of English was anticipated but I did not see her occasional Spanish raidscoming. This week we had a field trip planned and her decision to cancel it last minute sucked but we could take that. What my classmates and I could not take was her rage she let out after a few missing homeworks. She flipped, left the class, and we all sat in silence dumbfounded and confused as to whether we were to leave or stay. This confusion left to laughter and a bonding over her crazy Spanish temper that was let loose so early in the day. A bunch of us decided to go out to lunch together where I found my class is actually filled with cool people. It just took a teacher flipping out to bring on commonality. My classmates are from all over the States but we are all here for the same experience. After lunch and some number exchanges I will definitely spend more time with a few. In fact I have already met up with Katie, who attends Boston College, at Fellini’s, a great afterhours bar located right near my apartment on Las Ramblas.