The town where we stayed
Outside of the first church
Beautious
To see the rest of my photos, check out the Facebook album
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2019932&id=1246890174&ref=mf
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
A Trip to the Roof of Spain
Last weekend, my entire program embarked on our first "viaje de estudios" to la Valle de Boí, a valley in the Pyrenees Mountains. We left Barcelona at about 4 pm on Friday, and after about 5 hours we made it to the village of Boí, where our hotel was. Driving through the mountains in the pitch black was somewhat scary yet super awesome. I couldn't see much, but the one thing I remember is driving past a town that was perched on a steep overhang between the road and this beautiful mountain lake that was starkly illuminated in contrast to the dark mountains. The town was so beautiful with its twinkling lights-- I wish I knew what it was called and how to find it again. Upon arriving at the hotel, one of my good friends Celia and I found ourselves to be roommates. Our room was tiny and freezing, but had a TV so we happily watched a bit of catalan television before heading to dinner. Dinner included some less than appetizing vegetarian options and a lot of free wine. After chillin with friends following dinner, I made it to bed at a reasonable hour. The next morning Celia and I woke up for breakfast at 9. She got out of bed, opened the blinds and was like, Whoah! Neither of us had realized the extent of which we were surrounded by mountains. This was the view we were greeted with:
After a big breakfast we went off on our tour of Romanesque Churches... or arte románico en español. It was sort of odd to be taking a tour of Catholic churches on Rosh Hashanah, but I was able to reflect a little and take bits and pieces of everything we did that day and make them meaningful. The churches were very cool, but my favorite part of the day by far was a hike through the mountains between churches. Like always, the leaders of our program didn't really tell us what we were doing, but all of a sudden we start walking off the road down a trail and were like oh I guess we're hiking now? The hike was RIDICULOUSLY beautiful, I've got lots of pictures up on facebook already but I took over 200 pictures that day--mostly of fog on mountains cause it just looked so amazing! Other highlights of the day included finding blackberries on our hike, sitting on a rock in the middle of a freezing river, embarking on my very own mountain climbing expedition with Elena, Celia and Marisa, deciding that we were going to build our own house on this mountain, and our bus being held up by protesters in the town of Pont de Suerte who wanted better roads up to the villages. All in all, the weekend was surreal, visually because of the landscapes that were so foreign to me and also because of the altitude I think everyone felt a little dazed. But the Valle de Boí was an astounding place and I'd love to go back at some point, either to hike or to ski!
After a big breakfast we went off on our tour of Romanesque Churches... or arte románico en español. It was sort of odd to be taking a tour of Catholic churches on Rosh Hashanah, but I was able to reflect a little and take bits and pieces of everything we did that day and make them meaningful. The churches were very cool, but my favorite part of the day by far was a hike through the mountains between churches. Like always, the leaders of our program didn't really tell us what we were doing, but all of a sudden we start walking off the road down a trail and were like oh I guess we're hiking now? The hike was RIDICULOUSLY beautiful, I've got lots of pictures up on facebook already but I took over 200 pictures that day--mostly of fog on mountains cause it just looked so amazing! Other highlights of the day included finding blackberries on our hike, sitting on a rock in the middle of a freezing river, embarking on my very own mountain climbing expedition with Elena, Celia and Marisa, deciding that we were going to build our own house on this mountain, and our bus being held up by protesters in the town of Pont de Suerte who wanted better roads up to the villages. All in all, the weekend was surreal, visually because of the landscapes that were so foreign to me and also because of the altitude I think everyone felt a little dazed. But the Valle de Boí was an astounding place and I'd love to go back at some point, either to hike or to ski!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Fake meat and sore feet
So a lot has happened in the past week, let me try to reproduce the highlights.
1. I FOUND TOFU AND SEITAN! Although it was expensive, I got ridiculously excited and bought a ton of delicious fake meat at El Corte Ingles. Elena and I made a delicious stir-fry on thursday night and I've been eating extremely well ever since. I'm definitely starting to enjoy cooking for myself, which can range from a seitan, cheese and ketchup sandwich (delicious) to some excellent spicy tomato sauce with mushrooms over tortellini (thanks mom for showing me how to make this). The tomato sauce, which I made a few hours ago and has already completely disappeared, drew at least 5 people in from the hall due to the amazing smells it produced. And we also found a vegetarian restaurant in the Borne neighborhood which was great. In all, it's been a great past few days for food.
2. I went back to the record store that I mentioned in a previous post and had a fascinating conversation with the owner and a patron. I feel sure that this store is going to be the source of some great investigations. The owner seems like he knows a lot of bands and also mentioned something about having had worked for the Clash in New York at some point and meeting Grandmaster Flash? He also has copious amounts of music knowledge at his disposal (including knowing a lot about Ghostly International) and I cannot wait to talk to him again.
3. I sprained my ankle last Friday :( I was jogging by the beach-- for the first time in at least a month-- and I didn't see a dip in the sidewalk, resulting in a nasty ankle roll. I've been limping around for the past few days but I'm pretty sure I'll be better soon. I've relied on walking a lot so far in this city, so it really sucked to not be able to do that. I ended up still having to walk a bit, unfortunately probably delaying my healing process. And no, Dad, I didn't find arnica :( Also, I didn't really look for it...
4. More and more I've been becoming frustrated with my inability to speak coherent Spanish. I wish it could just come easy to me, but I feel like every time I'm in a situation where I need to talk, I just forget everything. It's even extended to my English-- I feel like I'm losing control of my ability to speak any language at all. A lot of my friends here are having the same issue, which is comforting I guess. Also, I can't get used to how stupid I feel and look alllll the time. It sucks having people stare at you like you're an idiot. I definitely feel like I don't fit in yet, but at least I'm working on the tan (to blend in, of course).
5. Until today, every day here has been beautiful, sunny and 80 degrees. I was beginning to think that the weather in Barcelona would stay perfect forever. Until today. We were in class talking about Romanic art and religion when all of a sudden the sky opened up and it began to pour/ hail/ thunderstorm. So now I know that I actually need to buy an umbrella or some type of raingear.
So yeah, I still really like it here. It's an incredible place to be. I really can't wait to start real classes, learn more about the language and culture and just explore.
1. I FOUND TOFU AND SEITAN! Although it was expensive, I got ridiculously excited and bought a ton of delicious fake meat at El Corte Ingles. Elena and I made a delicious stir-fry on thursday night and I've been eating extremely well ever since. I'm definitely starting to enjoy cooking for myself, which can range from a seitan, cheese and ketchup sandwich (delicious) to some excellent spicy tomato sauce with mushrooms over tortellini (thanks mom for showing me how to make this). The tomato sauce, which I made a few hours ago and has already completely disappeared, drew at least 5 people in from the hall due to the amazing smells it produced. And we also found a vegetarian restaurant in the Borne neighborhood which was great. In all, it's been a great past few days for food.
2. I went back to the record store that I mentioned in a previous post and had a fascinating conversation with the owner and a patron. I feel sure that this store is going to be the source of some great investigations. The owner seems like he knows a lot of bands and also mentioned something about having had worked for the Clash in New York at some point and meeting Grandmaster Flash? He also has copious amounts of music knowledge at his disposal (including knowing a lot about Ghostly International) and I cannot wait to talk to him again.
3. I sprained my ankle last Friday :( I was jogging by the beach-- for the first time in at least a month-- and I didn't see a dip in the sidewalk, resulting in a nasty ankle roll. I've been limping around for the past few days but I'm pretty sure I'll be better soon. I've relied on walking a lot so far in this city, so it really sucked to not be able to do that. I ended up still having to walk a bit, unfortunately probably delaying my healing process. And no, Dad, I didn't find arnica :( Also, I didn't really look for it...
4. More and more I've been becoming frustrated with my inability to speak coherent Spanish. I wish it could just come easy to me, but I feel like every time I'm in a situation where I need to talk, I just forget everything. It's even extended to my English-- I feel like I'm losing control of my ability to speak any language at all. A lot of my friends here are having the same issue, which is comforting I guess. Also, I can't get used to how stupid I feel and look alllll the time. It sucks having people stare at you like you're an idiot. I definitely feel like I don't fit in yet, but at least I'm working on the tan (to blend in, of course).
5. Until today, every day here has been beautiful, sunny and 80 degrees. I was beginning to think that the weather in Barcelona would stay perfect forever. Until today. We were in class talking about Romanic art and religion when all of a sudden the sky opened up and it began to pour/ hail/ thunderstorm. So now I know that I actually need to buy an umbrella or some type of raingear.
So yeah, I still really like it here. It's an incredible place to be. I really can't wait to start real classes, learn more about the language and culture and just explore.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Tiny record stores, old people dancing and the Pinker Tones
So on Saturday me and two other girls took a ramble through the old city of Barcelona in an attempt to find a vodafone store so I could fix my phone. It turned out to be broken beyond repair (thanks Steve... haha) but I got a new cute one for only 19 euros. On the winding way back to the dorm I came upon a tiny record store, about 3 by 10 feet, chock full of records in boxes. Of course I had to go in, where I was greeted by a very nice couple who spoke to me in English. I guess it's that apparent that I'm a foreigner... But anyways, I immediately found 2 boxes labeled dub and hip-hop and the first record I pull out is by People Under the Stairs. I exclaimed aloud how much I love this underground hip-hop group out of L.A. and the owner was like, oh yeah, I'm getting the new record in next week. I continued rifling through the boxes and came across something Madlib produced for Stones Throw Records, among others. I'm still astounded that such a tiny store could import all of this amazing music. Like, this stuff is hardly well-known in the U.S. and here is some random, 50-something Spanish dude who knows all about these artists! Needless to say, it made my day. I will have to investigate this store further sometime very soon.
Yesterday, Sunday, was an even more exciting day for music. The Pinker Tones, an electronic group based I believe in Barcelona, were playing at this free festival in Santa Coloma which is about 15 minutes outside of Barcelona. Me and my new friend Dan had been talking about going all week, and we recruited our friends Celia and Evie to come with us. So we get on the metro at about 10:30, and arrive at the place at 11. The band before the Pinker Tones was called Electronic Boy and I must say, the lead singer was the most flamboyant man I have EVER seen. The music itself was pretty pop-py techno but this band was all about the performance. The lead singer strutted around the stage, danced with the other band members (synth and dj) and at one point I believe he was wearing a cape. By far the best part of this concert was watching the people in the audience. Immediately in front of us were two old ladies and an old man dancing their hearts out. Kids were running through the crowd and everyone was dancing and really into the music. I just thought it was great that even though this music is clearly aimed at a younger demographic, everyone was participating in this community event and definitely enjoying it.
Finally at about 12:3o the Pinker Tones came on. We moved up, expecting the crowd to follow, but everyone pretty much stayed spread out-- which made us feel slightly awkward. However, I was definitely able to lose myself in the music. The Pinker Tones put on a really good show: the lights were cool, they projected sweet graphics on a screen behind them and the three members were all quite talented. They started off the show looking like a super futuristic rock trio, comprised of drums, bass and guitar. After this first song, they mostly resorted into doing whatever they do with their soundboards, turntables and computers. The result was some really wacky but awesome music. Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-9qmY5D1XU. At various points during the show, they included samples of MGMT's Electric Feel and, my personal favorite, Parliament. The whole atmosphere was really chill-- people were just grooving, dancing with their friends, and enjoying being outside on a summer night. Sadly, all the old ladies had gone home, but the show did go on. And on, and on. At one point we decided to check the clock and realized it was 1:50 and that we had class the next day at 9... we figured we'd better pull ourselves away and catch a taxi back to the city to get a few hours of sleep before Catalan class. For my first experience at an electronic music concert in Barcelona, the Pinker Tones were fantastic. I'd heard of them while doing preliminary research, so what better way to become acquainted with the music scene here than to see them first? This taste of the music scene has only made me hungry for more. I can't wait to see what this city really has to offer.
Yesterday, Sunday, was an even more exciting day for music. The Pinker Tones, an electronic group based I believe in Barcelona, were playing at this free festival in Santa Coloma which is about 15 minutes outside of Barcelona. Me and my new friend Dan had been talking about going all week, and we recruited our friends Celia and Evie to come with us. So we get on the metro at about 10:30, and arrive at the place at 11. The band before the Pinker Tones was called Electronic Boy and I must say, the lead singer was the most flamboyant man I have EVER seen. The music itself was pretty pop-py techno but this band was all about the performance. The lead singer strutted around the stage, danced with the other band members (synth and dj) and at one point I believe he was wearing a cape. By far the best part of this concert was watching the people in the audience. Immediately in front of us were two old ladies and an old man dancing their hearts out. Kids were running through the crowd and everyone was dancing and really into the music. I just thought it was great that even though this music is clearly aimed at a younger demographic, everyone was participating in this community event and definitely enjoying it.
Finally at about 12:3o the Pinker Tones came on. We moved up, expecting the crowd to follow, but everyone pretty much stayed spread out-- which made us feel slightly awkward. However, I was definitely able to lose myself in the music. The Pinker Tones put on a really good show: the lights were cool, they projected sweet graphics on a screen behind them and the three members were all quite talented. They started off the show looking like a super futuristic rock trio, comprised of drums, bass and guitar. After this first song, they mostly resorted into doing whatever they do with their soundboards, turntables and computers. The result was some really wacky but awesome music. Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-9qmY5D1XU. At various points during the show, they included samples of MGMT's Electric Feel and, my personal favorite, Parliament. The whole atmosphere was really chill-- people were just grooving, dancing with their friends, and enjoying being outside on a summer night. Sadly, all the old ladies had gone home, but the show did go on. And on, and on. At one point we decided to check the clock and realized it was 1:50 and that we had class the next day at 9... we figured we'd better pull ourselves away and catch a taxi back to the city to get a few hours of sleep before Catalan class. For my first experience at an electronic music concert in Barcelona, the Pinker Tones were fantastic. I'd heard of them while doing preliminary research, so what better way to become acquainted with the music scene here than to see them first? This taste of the music scene has only made me hungry for more. I can't wait to see what this city really has to offer.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Its been a week...
So it's been a week and a day since I arrived in this astounding city and its the first time I've been able to conquer all distractions to set up this blog. It also might have something to do with the fact that this is the first day I've been able to sleep as long as I wanted. Man I feel amazing! Who knew what 9 hours of sleep could do for you? (especially because I was running on 4 from the night before...). Anyways, Barcelona is amazing... like, I can't really put into words how cool it is. Not even photos can do it justice. What strikes me most about the city so far is the juxtaposition of old and new. Not only can you find an ancient building sitting next to a super modern one, but I've seen really old ladies navigating the metro (which is like ten billion times faster than the el) and above all, tons of graffiti on almost every surface possible-- including an ancient Roman church that had some message scrawled on it that looked like it was in crayon. Some people might think that this graffiti was desecrating the church but I thought it was really interesting the way that people today are leaving their marks on the city just the way that architects inscribed messages on their buildings back in the day. Sure, the graffiti competes with the original pristine church, but if someone hadn't come along and tagged it, something else would have changed it in some way be it the weather, bombs (which is actually relevant... Barcelona was one of the most bombed cities during the Spanish Civil War) or whatever. So I think its fitting that graffiti shows up in the natural evolution of the city. And hey, it makes things much more interesting to look at. So I'm gonna end my rambling here and put up a few pictures, but welcome to my Barcelona blog!
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