Week 6

3/23

I just got home from my 8 am. I learned a lot today, but not from the class, never use vending machines to buy anything in Spain. Two seperate vending machines took my money, and then trapped the item in between the glass and the casing. What are the odds of that. Never the less, I guess from now on I will only be purchasing snacks from the cafe on campus if I get hungry. Going back to class and being distracted the entire time by

snickering French students only made things worse. I have heard rumors about the hate Europeans have for French people, but now I fully understand. Every French person I've met have been loud, judgemental or just outright annoying. Their language sucks and they smell bad, sorry but it's true.

This week I've been writing down things in Spain that are weird. You could call this culture shock:

-The massive doorknobs in the middle of the door, but only on the outside

-The small "elevators" that are creatively different in every apartment

-Most restaurants are extremely narrow (like a wingspan length wide)

-People speak to some people in Catalan and others in Spanish, somehow they remember who they speak what language to (when you meet people, do you introduce yourself in Catalan or Spanish)

-Everyone stares. I don't know if this is because I wear American clothing or if I'm just insanely handsome, but everyone, everywhere, stare at me like I'm some sort of alien. I may have mentioned this in a previous blog, but it's getting weird!

It's so easy to stay busy here. Every week feels like a completely different experience. Some weeks will be full of traveling, exploring and playing sports, other weeks will be full of partying, drinking and going to the beach. I've met a lot of Erasmus students which is both a positive and a negative. While I'm not learning Spanish as quickly or fluently as I could be, Erasmus students are always eager to go to a bar or plan a trip. Spaniards are just boring. But I don't blame them, I'm sure after a while of partying and nightlife it turns into a chore. My roommates almost never go out, and while they don't work during the week they constantly talk about how busy they are (big pet peeve). Everyones busy, it's not something you should be flexing. I digress.

This week was great. While Saint Marys lost to Uconn in the 2nd round of the March Madness tournament, FC Barcelona won El Clasico on a 92nd minute winner by Frank Kessie. It was cool to watch it with people that are so dedicated to the team. Plus, I learned a lot of cool new Spanish swear words. On Tuesday night my German friend Benito and I made it to the final of a 70+ person beer pong tournament, and while I don't want to take all the credit, I definitely carried. Each round you won, you got more beers so as I'm sure you can guess I was absolutely buzzing by the time we actually got to the final game. Hence, us losing in the final round.

Last night I smoked weed for the first time since I've gotten here. They are much more strict on smoking weed here compared to California, making it hard to acquire. Honestly it wasn't even worth it, I can confirm Cali weed is far superior.

Next week I leave for Eastern Europe. I'm sure there will be plenty to blog about so stay tuned.