¡Eiiiii!
It's been a while, I know.
I have been helluva busy, so I thought I'd better write to my blog before I forget what I've been up to.
So yeah, I decided that it was about time I found some students! Via the miracle of Facebook I found the Erasmus Student Network in Barcelona - ESN. Their first event was at a bar called Cyrano up in L'Eixample, where we had "cubatas" for 3€. So you order a cubata with, say, vodka... and you get given the bottle of vodka, whichever refresco (soft drink) you want, and a glass. It's then up to you how much of each you pour into your glass. Needless to say, this was quite a good way to lubricate the vocal chords of the erasmussers and get us all talking. Wednesday was the first night during which I spoke mainly in Spanish, but I got on alright. It probably helped that the people I were speaking to were not only Spaniards, but also people from all over Europe with Spanish as a second language, so nobody was going too fast! It was a fun night though, and I met lots of good people. The following morning was the start of our Semana De Orientación - so I dragged myself home nice and early, into bed by 2am so that I'd be able to get up in the morning. However! Oh. M. G. Las Ramblas in the wee small hours are an eye opener! I was walking down them on the way home, and if you're a guy on your own the prostitutes are drawn to you like a moth to a towering inferno. They grab onto your arm. They tell you about their 'services.' You politely say no thanks, they have none of it. They tell you to come and do this, taste that... I'm sure you can imagine. You give them every excuse under the sun. They don't believe you. So you just have to smile, say no thanks, have a nice night and prise their hands away!
I suppose I must've been a bit more tired than I realised, because I slept in the next day... managed to miss the welcome meeting. Not advisable! Annoyingly, the location of the workshops after the welcome meeting had changed, and nobody could tell me where to go. After like 45 minutes of searching, and accumulating other lost foreigners (who laughed at me because I'm Scottish... and all the men wear skirts there apparently) we eventually got there. I've had workshops every day since, just telling us useful things about life here, their history, useful tips, music, partying, food, etc. It was definitely worth doing, because I will get credits for it, and because I've met a bunch of people there too.
That night I met some of my neighbours from our still-mostly-empty corridor in the Residencia, and we went to a nearby bar to drink sangria. They're all architecture students from the USA, and we spoke to some of the locals and played some pretty bad pool. Fun though.
On Friday we had a trip to the Mercat de la Boqueria for a Catalan Gastronomy Session. The chef spoke only in Catalan, and Maria (our orientation girl who does the workshops) gave us some translations. We learned how to make all sorts of weirdness, including the famous pantomaca and, of course, paella. They gave us catalan wine and beer, and we drank the wine from a traditional Catalan Porró.
That night I went out with a bunch of students, mostly Catalans but some from Andorra and other places. We went to various bars and clubs, and I amused them with my slightly less-than-fluent language skills! Unfortunately I don't have any photos because my camera was broken (it fell on the road when I was getting out of a taxi on the first night), but here's a classic chooooon which they played at one of the clubs. (A Dios Le Pido - Juanes)
Anyway that was a really good night, the people were great and the music was good too. Ooh and I learned lots about what they like to drink here - they think that "vodka and coke" is the strangest thing anyone could possibly drink, but they like their chupitos (shots) and tequila-based drinks. Beer is cheap cheap cheap, spirits are expensive although you get like five times as much as you'd get in the UK so it's not bad value for money! When it came to be time to leave, I knew where I was going to catch my Nit Bus (nightbus obviously) but we realised that the metro had reopened and it was morning again. Oh well!
I do love the metro, by the way. 108€ and I can go anywhere I like for 3 months... so convenient.
On Saturday, we had a guided tour of the MNAC - the Museu d'Art Nacional de Catalunya - in Montjuïc. It was interesting enough... although most of the people who were there had resacas (hangovers!). Once you've seen one picture of Jesus sitting on an almond, you've seen enough... although our museum guide obviously didn't think so. I also met two more people who stay in the same residence as me, so that was cool.
After the tour a bunch of us wandered around and ended up going to a bar for tapas. 
It was a good thing to do when you don't quite have the energy for fiestas, but you want to be sociable!
Sunday really is the day of rest... nothing is open here on Sundays, nothing. Well, maybe some bars, restaurants and the small Spar convenience stores, but nothing else!
On Monday, as well as workshops we went to the cinema at night to see "Ché El Argentino" - a movie about Ché Guevara and the Cuban revolution etc.
It was in Spanish... it was fast, the characters were tired and mumbling in the jungle. I did understand some of it, but it was not easy to follow without subtitles! When we went out, the whole group was like... "huh?!" There's still some way to go on the language front.
On Tuesday; workshops, then sports. As you may know, I am not a sportsman and I never will be! But I went along and put on my gym stuff and everything... although I only ended up playing in one volleyball game. I was happier sitting chatting at the side anyway!
Maria, orientation week girl, said that if we wanted to we could go along to her Colla that night. In Catalunya, they have this tradition called Castells - basically human towers in different formations. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castellers The groups of Castellers are called Collas, and I went to their practise session with a few folk. To out surprise, they wrapped our torsos with these rug things, and we then had to join in and be Castellers! We weren't actually in the tower part, we were part of the Pinya (yes... it means Pineapple, like the base of a pineapple). The pinya has to push inwards and upwards with their breasts, and push the middle part upwards with their arms, to provide a stable base for the actual tower bit. The people who go up the Castell get progressively smaller, and the last person to go up is always a little child... who has to scramble up people's bodies and stand on top of the Castell and wave, before safely coming back down.
So now we are officially Castellers - and we are going to the biennial championships in Tarragona on the 5th of October!
After the wine tasting, we had a wee wander around Gràcia and a drink, then home to bed in time for matriculation in the morning.
On Wednesday we had matriculation, which was a bit tedious really. We were given a tour of Campus Nord and the guy told us that only about 25% of erasmus students actually pass all of their exams. Well, that's encouraging. Cheers.
Also, my timetable seems rubbish, with 8am starts every day and some classes until 9pm. I have been trying to log on to Racó, the intranet for my school so that I can change my course groups and fix my timetable, but I can't log on! I have gone to ask various different people for help, and today I managed to get someone to fix it over the phone... well, he said that it will now work on Monday. So we'll see.
So anyway, that night we had wine tasting at Espai Mallorca. Naturally, we are all now experts! We can tell you how old a wine is, and how strong it is and stuff like that. I'm sure it won't be long until we all revert back to the 0.39€ per litre "table wine" they sell here though, haha.
After the wine tasting we sauntered on down the Rambla Raval and had some drinks on some bar terrace or another. Then, more discotecas...
Thursday, September the 11th was the Diada Nacional De Catalunya, a national holiday. It's in remembrance of the 1714 Siege of Barcelona defeat during the War of the Spanish Succession. They are soooo proud to be Catalan, it's incredible. There were marches and demonstrations about how Spain takes millions of euros from Catalunya every year, some want independence for Catalunya, outrage that Catalan is not allowed to be used in the European Parliament... it's such a big deal here. After hearing about their history and speaking to people, I do understand why they have such a strong sense of national identity.
In the evening there was a big free concert festival thing in Ciutadella, promoting all things Catalan.
I got brownie points because I'm always careful not to speak about being in Spain and to talk about Catalans, and they know that it's a similar thing in Scotland in terms of national pride. We're Scottish, yes, British, yes, but not English.
Later that night I went out with a different group of people to a different bar in El Raval, and here's a photo.
Okay, I'm going to stop there. I'm sure I've probably missed stuff out, but I have lots to do!! And if I remember anything important, I'll add more.
So far, it's all been great, and it's only going to get better... La Mercè is coming!!
Fins ara!
