In a continued theme of trends and observations about Barcelona:
The music. I have heard very few of the classical and traditional tinny and classical guitar towns I supposed would be normal for Spain. How easily I forget I reside in a cosmopolitan city. Everyone here listens to american music. Not really sure why. I suppose a good majority of the youth of Spain understand some english, though in my travels I have not met very many people here who have a good grasp of english or at least to understand lyrics of a song. For instance the other day my host mom had the tv on and Celine Dion was on. She mentioned that she loved Celine Dion despite the fact that she couldn't understand any of the lyrics? Sometimes I chuckle because she is so like my mom, only 2 years apart. Scary, really.
Everyone here looks so cool. Seriously. If they are not dressed incredibly smart or sophisticated, they are pulling off this awesome alternative look, complete with dreads. And then here I am. Honestly, for the past week and a half i've been here I have felt incredibly uncomfortable with my appearance and existence in the city. I've been trying incredibly hard to blend in with the people of Barcelona. But I think it hit me that I might never do that, so I should just be who I am and go with the flow. It's kind of a scary experience to be such a minority. And a bit embarassing. I guess the easiest way to be okay would be to blend in. I'm not so sure anymore. I do know that the hardest part of overcoming that particular insecurity has been curbing my ridiculous want to buy all of the cute clothes and leather boots found on every street corner in this city. However I must remind myself that there are more important things to spend money on here in Europe. haha.
On a high note, these past couple of days have been really fun. I finally found the courage to leave my nest and do some moving around the city by myself. It's been so hard to find this courage because I am further out in the city than most of the students in my program and am without a roommate. Thus doing anything when I am not already with kids from my class, means doing it alone. The upside of this is that I have really formed a good relationship with my host mom, and I know we agree on that sentiment. The downside has been a real hard time establishing good relationships with other students in my program. But right, on Thursday my host mom took me to see a movie with her. It was very nice of her to offer me her second ticket, and so we went. The movie was however in french, with spanish subtitles. Additionally, we met up with some of her friends there who all speak catalan. The movie was one of those abstract artsy movies and was pretty good. I was just proud I understood some of the jokes. However by the end of the night my head was swimming with all the languages I had heard and used that day, being english, spanish, french, and catalan. ay dios mios.
Friday was a fun day, and I suprisingly found myself spending the afternoon with an acquaintance from school who is really to be thanked for bringing me out of my funk here in Spain. He made me realize that even though I may not be best friends with anybody here I don't need to be. It's all about being in the moment and just becoming one with the situation you are in. I just need to let go my uneasiness about the people i'm surrounded with and take it for all that is. And SO Friday night I finally went out. Yes, yes, I know I have been here for over a week but okay so I went out. Ridiculously fun. The nightlife here is amazing. We went to a place called Chupitos (which is the spanish word for shots) where they had at least 200+ kinds of shots. To name a few we tested, Topless, Harry Potter, Finding Nemo...etc etc. At around 2:00 we headed to Catwalk a nightclub, which of course was playing copious amounts of american music. At the end of the night (4:00am for me and pretty early by spanish standards) my feet were tired from my furious dancing skills and I hailed a cab back to my barrio all by myself! The cab ride home was pleasant, I was just bold enough to hold a conversation with my cabbie about what else...the weather...the economic crisis...and of course our president-elect mr. obama! A good night I plan to repeat.
Today I got up and did some sight seeing around the city (pictures to follow) and I think I might just be falling in love with the city! It really is an experience for me to live in a big city because I have never lived in a situation like this at all. I'm not sure I will ever want to either, I know that I do like to have nature so eminent around me. But I feel like there is no better time like the present, when I am young, to go live in a big city. Tomorrow there is more touring on deck for me. But I think i'll get started a bit earlier tomorrow before the cold starts to bite again.
Monday starts classes and I am surprisingly excited. I guess probably for the fact that it's a chance to meet more people. aaah, I hope 4 months doesn't go by too quickly! Though my host mom reminds me every day that I will blink and it will be gone.
This is my host mom's dog, named Pancho!
The famed Sagrada Familia by architect and artist Antoni Gaudi!
a little closer.
This is Tibidabo, and is one of the highest points in the city that is home to this beautiful cathedral and an amusement park, all in one! I plan to return. And apparently this part of Barcelona is featured in that movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
This is a view from atop the cathedral. The day today was a bit hazy and the church stone is so white that it almost felt like floating on a cloud today.
And here is another view from Tibidabo, with me. Just to prove that I am in fact here in Barcelona!
besos,
Caitlin!
You're so cool.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, please go to the amusement park/let's go when I come to Barcelona.
Beautiful pictures and little Pancho is so cute!
Do you get the impression that the American music the Spanish listen to is a bit behind the times though? I used to teach English to a class of Austrian 13-year-olds, and whenever we were in the computer labs they would goof off, not doing the English exercises but instead watching YouTube videos of the Backstreet Boys and other 90s bands. Ironic. They had no idea what they were singing about, but loved the tunes!
ReplyDeleteBarcelona is supposed to have some of the best nightlife in Europe, so live it up and have fun! :D
~Liz
I guess its hard to take bad pics when everything is so beautiful huh? I'm glad I have FINALLY found an easy method for us to communicate. Still no internet at home so it could be some time before we can actually talk in person. I'm very glad to see you've come out of your shell and explored a bit. Someday you'll have to show me around and then we can go visit a real country.....like.....Germany! Alas, I miss you tons and hope all is well.
ReplyDelete-J&J