Homeless in the land of the Billy Goats Gruff

Oh boy where to start THIS one!!

Thursday-wow that was a long time ago... Thursday, thursday... WELL we had conversation class which was JUST as much fun as it always is-aka can't wait until class with the female Hagrid is over (and that's only physically-Hagrid seems WAY cooler) but AFTER conversation we went to meet an out of towner (one of Melissa's friends) then a couple of us went shopping. I got a coat-I think it's still snowing in Geneva-and a dress! We got home and our host mother was in quite the mood (though good this time) she asked what we bought and if we would show her and she told us she got some new things too and would we like to see them. Turns out HER new item was lingerie-so we now know what at least 2 bras and a pair of underwear of hers look like. Dinner was surprisingly pleasant though! We ate salad and cheese and something I don't remember.

Friday-the adventure begins. We were able to get out of class a half an hour early in order to catch our 12:30 bus which involved a walk and a tram ride. Then we boarded the bus for Barcelona. We arrived 5 hours later (after passing the Spanish border and quite a number of Billy Goats Gruff) Utilizing the wonderful technology of the apple iPhone-I used this wonderful application and was followed by 15 other people-we try to be inconspicuous. We arrived at our hostel and checked into our two rooms of eight and decided to walk around a little bit as dinner wasn't until later, you know because it's Spain and their whole schedule is much later. So we saw a church (that I still don't know the name of) right of Las Ramblas and we all enjoyed a giant human size cup of coffee (I know we're supposed to be sampling local flavors but we all were really excited for cups of coffee that was more than two sips per cup) We made a quick stop at H&M and a couple of us made some great 5e purchases-including Grace's phenomenal gold sequined skirt (that would go great with our shoes Jen!). We went back to the hostel to get ready for the night (mostly wearing our new H&M purchases). Then went to find somewhere for dinner. We heard going toward the water was a good direction so we ambled in that direction in search of some Spanish cuisine. But given that it was already about 10:30 and we were with 16 tired and grumpy people we settled on a restaurant right on the water probably directed only at tourists. We had Sangria complete with 3 foot straws (which Matt enjoyed using to make Grace's life miserable) then I ate some steamed Mussels-which were great, some salmon-pretty good, and Pudding aka flan. Then we went to find the clubs. After inquiring from quite a few people-including the desk agent of a Best Western we made it the couple KM to the club, we heard about one and tried to get in but apparently the tennis shoes the boys were wearing (later described as "not something they would play basketball in") were not up to par with their dress code and we were turned away. We did however avoid a cover charge at a club called Shoko. Grace, Melissa and I managed to spend 10e on the BEST Mojitos ever (but if you pretend it was the cover charge it is really cheap...) We all danced for a while celebrating Allison's birthday. Finally we decided to leave and we asked for directions back to Las Ramblas-where our hostel was. The man laughed at us gave us some directions and told us to watch out for the Moroccans-at which point we decided to take cabs. We got to the hostel and got ready for bed, the beds turned out to be semi flexible metal planks which made noise anytime anyone moved and the room was about 94 degrees stuffy and the windows didn't open-but it was cheap and a good location and it was for a very short time.

So at this point it's probably important to mention that before leaving for Barcelona we decided as a group it would be fun, given the late hours of Spain to try and go the second night without a hostel.

Saturday morning we needed to store our stuff so we took it to the bus station to put our backpacks in lockers. Then took off to see the city. First we went to the Sagrada Famillia,designed by Gaudi a church 100 years in the making and still not projected to be done until 2026 this structure was AMAZING it was giant and so intricate on the outside. I have never seen any churches that remotely compare (though the Vatican is coming up next week...) After that we took the Metro to Parc Guell which is surrounded by Gaudi architecture including the longest bench in the world. But it was an AMAZING view of the city. Then we stopped for lunch, though it was not quite up to par-mediocre food, followed by slow service and 4e in change but all in 20 cent pieces. Then we took the metro, stopping off at the Arc de Triomf (Barcelona style) and walked to the Picasso Museum by way of the green house built for the world's fair in 1888. The Picasso museum was great, there was an especially cool part where it showed Picasso's version of a more classical painting, but before you went in an electronic screen showed them overlaid. The last exhibit was a bit more... exotic-they were pictures of Japanese women very explicitly positioned with squid and octopi, yes that's right. But something must have been lost in translation because the exhibit started with explaining the popularity of Japanese culture, then a book by Victor Hugo featuring a squid and thus the pictures? Then we went to Starbucks to kill some time before dinner.

For dinner Melissa and I were meeting some Colgate friends who are studying in Barcelona. We had tapas: tuna, potatoes, fried artichoke, and chicken wings. My dinner was a pasta with lime, mint, and mozzarella-it was great. And it was really great to catch up with Keegan. Then the Colgate Barcelona crew showed us the way to a bar with good Sangria. Outside of the bar there was mime. Yes a mime, who in fact mimed to us that we needed to be quiet. Then we were told of a bar that we would all like-though we left our friends as they had just returned from a 3 day field trip. The bar was really great lots of fun and lots of dancing. Then we decided to relocate, however it took quite some time to get to the location of the clubs, we ended up taking the metro where Melissa and I may have skipped the ticket buying process and ran in behind one of our friends. We arrived at the bar scene and tried to get into the same bar where once again the boys (same) shoes were still not good enough for the club. Melissa and I (being cold) decided to enter a bar with a 12e cover charge (after hearing that the rest of the group wanted to go in too) though after further consideration the rest of the group decided to pass but we already paid so we went in. We found a couch and took a very short nap but as it was already 5 am they were starting to clear the bar out (as bars close at 6) At 6 (after a little bit of dancing) we went to meet the group on the beach. We were all cold and tired with no where to go (some of us were huddled up under a light (which we thought would make us warmer, though it was probably just us huddling together in one place) when Zunaira ran over to tell us she found somewhere warm with a bathroom-the two things we all desperately wanted. So we followed. On the door it said something like "Urgencia" I was under the impression that this meant it was Emergency Housing for the temporarily Homeless" like us. However after further discussion the next morning I learned it was actually an ER waiting room (though at one point a police officer did come in to kick out the actual homeless people-for some reason 14 sleeping American kids don't look homeless) But we made it to about 7:20 and then decided to watch the sun rise over the Mediterranean. Unfortunately due to cloud cover it was more like watching daybreak over the Mediterranean-but I think everyone had a great time doing it. Then we went to Starbucks (while some more adventurous people who missed the Sagrada Familia went to see that) to wait for our bus which, didn't come until 1 pm. But we finally got on the bus and made it to Montpellier without any road bumps (most of us sleeping).

Kate and I took the tram from the bus station to the stop closest to our house. Unfortunately we didn't know the way from the tram stop to our house so we did get a little bit lost, but once again iPhone googlemaps SAVED THE DAY!! When we made it back to our lovely Chateau Madame introduced us to the visiting Italian/Switzerland professor (who slightly resembles Carrot Top). Now, as far as we can tell he's sleeping in his Yanesses (hybrid of Yan-our "brother" and Highness) room, but we're about 90% sure Madame is in love with him though we can't tell for sure (though that new underwear's starting to make some sense). We had dinner with the two of them-Leek Soup, cheese, fruit.

Monday we got back to the grind stone with school. Though our class had a new professor due to the vacation of our old one. This one is from Paris and does not take kindly to mistakes (which is bad for us). After school we went to Nicholas to plan some of our trip to Italy. Then we tried to go to this famous Creperie, but it was closed so we wandered around the city for a bit looking for Crepes. Then, Matt told us about this place with the BEST hot chocolate, so we went there. However, while awaiting our infamous hot chocolate Matt and I caught a glimpse of the magic behind the mug and discovered it was powdered Nesquick... a little disappointing but now I know what to get Matt for his birthday! Then I tried to find some new boots, as already after only 3 weeks mine our getting pretty worn. Unfortunately due to the Amazon blood running in my mother's side of the family my giant man feet don't quite fit into the petite sizes of the french women and thus I failed at finding new shoes. But when we returned home we had quite the dinner. Madame had fondue, or some french derivative, to celebrate the swissness of our visiter. This fondue was a mini covered stove that sat in the middle of the table, then you put your cheese into a little square pan and into this stovetop thing until it melted, than we poured it over potatoes and had it with ham (and for the first time wine!) we also got some Ratatouille and of course some fruit. (After dinner I wrote most of this blog until the website crashed which is why it is so delayed in being posted and thus painfully long)

Today, we went to school and had a long day with conversation. Though Barry (our professor) sat in on my conversation class and though we were talking about American Cinema, he managed to bring up his favorite topic: WalMart. Then after class I decided to do my laundry. I got to the laundromat and looked at how it worked. Unfortunately the machines only take the change (and only the one euro change at that) So I walked up and down the street trying to get one euro coins from somebody-it was very difficult but eventually I found a nice cheese salesman who was able to give me all my change in 1 e coins (minus 1 5e bill but I did give him a twenty...) So I was able to commence my laundry experience. After sitting in the washer for about 45 minutes I tried to dry my clothes, but the driers only dry in 5 minute increments and each cost fifty euro cents-and that's after the 3e each washing machines-so after 4 dry cycles I gave up and went to meet some people at Cafe Solo. We chatted for a bit before Kate and I headed home for dinner. For dinner tonight we had soup and pasta and ratatouille, the random professor is still here and they went to a movie today (we think... our french is really not that good)

Barcelona MasterCard Sum Up:
-16 bus tickets from Montpellier to Barcelona: 880e
-1 night in a hostel when you're staying for two: 12e
-Spending part of the night in an ER waiting room: 0e
-Watching daybreak over the Med with GSG: Priceless!

Good News:
-I will have clean underwear tomorrow (if laying all of my still wet clothes out over chairs in our room works)

Best News:
-Having my own room away from Madame SOON