Homeward Bound

Well according to Karen Smith, I am supposed to be experiencing “reverse-culture shock” any minute now, which would entail lots of crying and sudden urges to eat lots of jamon (aka ham)… But Megan and I have chosen to not believe this little theory of our psychology teacher Karen. We are very sad to leave Barcelona but excited to go home as well, and we think that we will be able to handle ourselves just fine in the USA; although, we may be a little behind on all of the gossip pertaining to Tiger Woods and Twighlight….. I was very sad to leave our host family this morning, and even teared up a little bit when I wrote them my good bye letter. At the crack of dawn, they all drove us to the airport (with our 5 pieces of luggage on the roof of the car) before they went off to their normal lives of school and work. I am really going to miss them a lot, especially since the last few days have been so much fun. They threw me a little birthday party on the 15^th, including presents and an ice cream cake and a birthday crown. Meg and I even taught them how to do a little line dancing to Keith Urban. The next night was even more exciting, because we cooked them an “American” dinner, including corn bread, barbecue chicken, and ice cream sundaes. When we brought out the ice cream sundaes and squirted whipped cream into our mouths, the boys started screaming. Haha. Then after dinner, we were so surprised because they gave us the sweetest presents we could have ever imagined. They had made both Megan and I individual picture albums with 100 pictures of us and the family from over the past 3 months. They had also written us a very sweet card, and Elisabet even got out the guitar and sang us a farewell song. I never thought that I would be so lucky to have such a great family while I was in Barcelona and build such life-long friendships.

My 21^ST birthday was SO much fun in Barcelona. It was a great time to see a lot of people for the last time, and I felt like it was a last great hooray! The night included lots of Spanish sangria and Cava!

I’m now on the 7^th hour of my 16 hour journey, and I can’t believe my time in Barcelona is over… I am ready to come home and celebrate the holidays with my family and friends, but I can’t wait to come back one day to BARCELONA!

Dublin and the Pyrenees

Dublin, Ireland is such a happy place. The people there are very friendly and stop to speak to you on the streets like you’ve known each other your whole life. Hearing English was fantastic, and I was able to understand everything! What a change from my normal life of blissful ignorance in the Castellano world. All of the street signs include English and the Irish language, and during our day trip to Wikilow, our trusty tour guide, Malas, even spoke a little bit of Irish. Wikilow is so beautiful, and we got to see the spots where Brave Heart and PS I Love You were filmed. The weather was freezing, and we were both frozen to death much of the time. I loved that the culture in Ireland was very similar to America and that I didn’t have to wait til very very late to eat dinner.

Megan and I went to Temple Bar the first night and hung out at some pubs. Sadly enough, while trying to socialize with the Irish, we found Americans. Americans seems to always find Americans. The pub scene was great! All of the people were singing songs together and drinking the favorite Irish drink, Guinness. The Guinness factory was huge and reminded me a lot of the Coca Cola factory in Atlanta. We also saw the Book of Kells in Trinity College and a cool prison. Although, in the prison our tour guide repetitively spoke about the prisoners that were housed there in the future tense. I think that his job was a little too real for him.

Immediately after returning from Dublin, we dumped our bags and repacked for the Pyrenees Mountains with our host family.

For the Spanish holidays, Monday and Tuesday, they offered to take us to their mountain house. The house is in the most beautiful pueblo with picturesque scenes all around.

We got to meet much of the extended family including many cousins. I even got to go in my first hot spring and Roman bath! We played in the snow and went sledding, played black jack and lost all of our tokens to little kids, took bike rides and bike falls, and engaged in lots of wrestling.

I have never had my hair pulled as much or been smashed with pillows as many times as I was this weekend. I am really going to miss Marc, Aleix, and Pau so much when I leave. I’ve gotten a small peak at what it would be like to have 3 little brothers, and I have to say it’s been very nice.

Going to Morocco

For Thanksgiving, although I was far from family and friends in America, I was lucky enough to travel to Morocco with a student exchange program. Upon departure, I had no idea what the following 5 days would hold, but I was incredibly excited about traveling to a new continent, Africa! Our group departed Wednesday evening and arrived in Casablanca. At 10:00, the streets were abandoned and very desolate looking. I was surprised at how unwelcoming the city felt and compared to the night life and energy of Barcelona, it was quite different. The next day, we went to Marrakech, which was about an hour drive from Casablanca. Marrakech was incredibly lively with snake charmers, monkeys, spices, jewelry, and exotic foods. All the Americans capitalized on the great exchange rate of the durham (10:1) and were crazy bragainer in the market place. While walking around Marrakech, I was in total shock at my surroundings. Everything was different, and the "call to prayer" that was projected on loud speakers 5x a day was a constant reminder that I was in a totally foreign land. I was so surprised at how different this country could be, yet be so physically close to Barcelona.

In Morocco, about 99% of the people are Muslims and almost all pray 5 times a day. Later in the afternoon, we were able to spend about 2 hours speaking with Moroccan university students who were able to explain many aspects of their culture to us. We found out about music, books, movies, friends, family, politics, etc... We were very curious about the call of prayer and found out that when it sounds, people do not have to immediately stop what they are doing, but they are supposed to make their way to their place of prayer within a half hour. Morocco has a true king that holds all of the power, and when he dies, the prince will take over. Some of the women in Morocco wear full coverings and others are dressed in modest but very modern wear. This seems like such a huge difference to me; some women are covering their entire bodies with a piece of fabric, while others are out shopping at Zara. Although, all married women wear some type of a head covering.

The university student also explained to me that dating is not allowed in this society, but all of the teenagers "date" in secret. But dating to them is sending text messages or holding hands in secret. They also get married extremely young, and the more rural you are in Morocco, the earlier the girls get married. After spending time in Marrakech, we made our way to Amizmiz, which is a town about an hour outside of Marrakech. We stayed with families for two nights here and got to see what it would be like to live their lives. I stayed in a house with 2 other American girls and a Moroccan woman and her daughter, Cena. We slept on these hard little couch/benches that were pushed up against the wall. Their houses were very bare with no running water or a bathroom. On Saturday, the people celebrated one of their biggest holidays, L'eid. This holiday comes from the part in the Qur'an when Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, but instead, God tells him that he can sacrifice a sheep. In remembrance of this, every family saves up a lot of money and buys a sheep to slaughter on L'eid. We saw a slaughtering of a sheep up close and personal. It was rather interesting and grotesque all at the same time. The people of Morocco, however, were not phased by the blood at all.

We even had little children running up to us in the street with blood all over their hands! They also dabbed some of the blood on their foreheads (just for fun) after the slaughtering. Later, I was so happy because our host mother cooked my favorite parts of the lamb... the lungs and heart, to eat for lunch and dinner. Even better, the organs were wrapped and skewered in pieces of fat from the sheep. Yumm.... I made sure I got that recipe. haha.

But, besides the sheep organs, I loved most of the other Moroccon food. We ate a lot of vegetables and freshly baked bread and sweet green tea.

I was victorious over the food and never got sick, unlike some of my colleagues!

We had so much fun with our host family, even though we don't speak any Berber, and they didn't speak any English. I learned several Berber words though, including our most commonly

used word "Zwena," meaning pretty, which was our word choice in every desperate moment.

The last evening together, Cena dressed us all in head scarves, and we ran about the town laughing and giggling together. I felt incredibly safe in this small, little town, even though with no street lights, it was completely pitch black at night. If someone committed a crime, the town was so small that he/she would be immediately isolated.

Many of the Americans were most surprised by the technology that was present in these people's lives. My host sister, Cena, had a cell phone and listened to Akon, yet she's cooking her food over an open flame and has no concept of brushing her teeth or washing her hands. Also, we were reminded constantly of how separate men and women are in this society. But I did notice that the men do treat the women with more respect than I have been used to in Barcelona. There was certainly no cat-calling going on in Morocco. haha. Even at the airport, men and women were separated into 2 separate lines for security.

A Day in the Life of a Barcelonian

Although, I have not been traveling to any foreign countries in the past week, life here has still been very exciting. Meg's parents are currently here, and I had a friend in town (Kaitlyn!!!) this past weekend. While Kaitlyn was here, we got to take a surprise trip to the Barcelona hospital. I got to practice all kinds of translation and now know where the nearest hospital is. {Kaitlyn is fine and just needed to get some meds for a very bad bronchial infection.} Interestingly enough, Elisabet and Ricard encouraged me to take Kaitlyn to the "privado" hospital because they said that the public hospital would take too long (probably about 5 or 6 hours), and she wouldn't receive very good care. I thought that was very interesting considering people here are so proud of their healthcare! After the hospital visit, Kaitlyn was so shocked to see American enterprises in Barcelona because she is so used to the smallness of Italy; I however was very proud to show off "my" Starbucks in Barcelona! I have no problem at all with the spread of good coffee around the globe... I can't help it that I need more than a dixie cup's worth of coffee in the morning. The coffee they serve you at cafes is sooooo small. It's like "let's pretend to drink coffee!"

Megan's parents came over last night for the "meet the parents" dinner. It was just as much of a smashing success as it was with my parents. I have really grown to love my host family here and am going to miss them so much when I go back to the US. I feel very comfortable with them and apparently they feel comfortable with us too, because the other day all of the children started imitating "morning Sarah." Using Elisabet's glasses as a prop, they all exchanged turns putting on her glasses and acting like dorky Sarah in the morning.... I had no comebacks, everything they said was true. So sad!

The other evening, I began teaching Marc, Aleix, and Pau some really good Brewster family "magic" tricks. I told them to all put their arms in between the door frame and press as hard as you can. It was hilarious to watch all of their little faces as all of our arms levitated up around us after removing our arms from the door frame. I was so proud because they told me that they all went to school and taught all of their friends my trick! haha. I think next, I'm gonna pull out the boy/girl differences between picking up chairs next to a wall! :) Brewster family tricks crossing borders!

Last but not least, I must confess that yesterday I went and saw the new Twilight movie, and I really enjoyed it. I am slightly ashamed, but who doesn't like vampires and humans that turn into wolves? Clearly, the woman next to me that spoke to herself loved every moment. Her laughter was actually quite catchy. I need to decide though... am I team Jacob or team Edward.... I can be easily swayed, so if anyone would like to make their point, I would be open to opinions.

Italia

In 4 days, Megan, Laura, and I conquered 3 cities in Italy. Thursday morning we headed out and had already arrived in Italy by 9:00! In Rome, we got our first authentic Italian pizza and walked all over the Vatican. We saw the museums, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica. Everything was so beautiful, including the chapel which Megan was convinced was a "dome." Nope, there's never been a dome in the Sistine Chapel before. It wasn't until later that she realized she had been thinking about Beauty and the Beast. haha. Honest mistake, Meg.

Sadly, it got dark kinda quickly, but we plundered on and saw most of Rome in the dark! We went to the Coliseum, the Forum, the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps all in the pitch dark! We got our photos taken with a real live gladiator, except when we didn't give him his requested 10 euros, his pursuit turned a little creepy.

The next morning we took the first of our many trains to Florence.

In Florence, I was reunited with so many friends! Friends from Wake and even a friend from home!

When I saw Kitten at the Duomo, I may have screamed just a little bit! Later that night, we all sat in Rebecca's friend's apartment and played card games and then games with sticky notes. Post-its plus a sharpie can be so much fun! There was a random guy that was visiting a friend that weekend but decided to stick it out with us in the apartment. I'm pretty sure that by the end of the night, he was thoroughly weirded out by us.

He said that most girls he knows don't laugh as much as we do and don't put post-its down their shirts. I wonder why he chooses to hang out with such normal people, when the alternative is just so much better? -Saturday morning started out very well with an authentic American breakfast at a hidden-away diner in Florence. We got American coffee in a glass that was larger than a shot glass. I don't understand why people here want to take 1 sip of coffee. How is that enough for them?? We saw the heaven that is the NYU Tuscany campus. The villa that my friend's take classes at is absolutely beautiful! It was stunning!

We departed Florence and travelled to Pisa, where we saw the Leaning Tower of Pisa and only the Leaning Tower. It was worth it to see about 20 nationalities all taking the same corny photo of themselves next to the tower, but I'm pretty sure everyone was asking themselves, "And why is this famous?"

The trip was completed after one more day in Rome and then a happy return to our casa in Barcelona! It was even happier when we entered our home and were told that we were missed by Pau! Our dreams have come true!!

Ginge and Dave in Barcelona

My parents came to Barcelona for 5 days! We had a wonderful time, and I showed them all of my favorite parts of Barcelona! I insisted that we see everything on foot, and I may have underestimated the huge size of the city. After my parents had been awake all night on the airplane, I decided to show them the main areas of the city. Throughout the "walking tour," I heard several weak attempts to ask for rest and relaxation, but I was so caught up in the excitement that I thought there were just being silly. It wasn't until I sat down at my class later in the afternoon and realized that even I was sweating and exhausted from all of the walking. I think that we probably walked about 6km before I finally gave them a break. Sorry mom and dad!!!

The excitement was only heating up though because it wasn't but a mere 3 hours after their arrival that my mother was pick pocketed in the metro. It was quite terrible because the gypsy girl stole everything that was in my mother's wallet, including both her and my father's passports, new health insurance cards, Visas, even my father's wedding ring which he had taken off moments before. (I know what you're thinking, "Dave, were you trying to hit on the Spanish women?" The answer to the removal of the wedding ring is much less exciting. The culprit- arthritis) However, after an emotional upheaval on my mother's part, we went back to the train station and with the help of a very funny metro policeman, found the discarded wallet with EVERYTHING inside except the cash. After another emotional upheaval from my mother, we gathered our wits and set out to explore more of Barcelona.

On Friday, Megan, myself, and my parents went to Tibidabo for the day. Together we scampered around the amusement park like little children. Highlights included when my dad got involved with "jumping pictures."

Saturday, we spent about 3 hours getting to Montserrat (it should not take this long, but I have wonderful navigational skills) and got to see the beautiful monastery and saw quite a handful of monks. Later that evening, we went back to our home stay for a "regular" dinner. My parents were so scared that the communication was going to be awkward with my host parents, considering.... they don't speak English. However, upon my parent's arrival, Ginge and Dave were greeted with perfect English. Turns out this whole frustrating language immersion thing has been a ploy by Elisabet and Ricard. The bad thing is Meg and I have thought for 2 months now that we can speak freely because "hey, no one can understand us." Yeah, we were definitely wrong. Guess that's why we don't get fried pork at dinner anymore!

The evening was so fun though and was filled with more food that has ever been present in that household. We also celebrated Megan's birthday, so she was crowned with a birthday hat and given cake and gifts! The meal was a feast that lasted for several hours and ended with a dance party to Keith Urban. Please check out and laugh at the video... just search for "fiesta dancing with the families" on You Tube. The costumes are a regular occurrence and need no explanation other than ridiculousness.

HIking and looking for ocupados

Megan and I stayed put this weekend and used our time to soak up the Barcelona culture. On Friday afternoon after class we went to our newest discovery near our apartment! One day while running I came across Palau Reial, which is a beautiful park that even has a couple of statues by Gaudi. The park is always teeming with little green parrots and tons of PDA. Surprisingly, while in Spain, I have come to accept PDA. I was never adamantly against it, but the spirit of love in this city is just so overwhelming that after a while you come to enjoy the PDA. I don't know what I would do if I got on the metro in the morning and there weren't at least 3 couples that had decided to MO. Megan and I love to people watch here because often enough you will be watching a couple that is simply walking down the street and then all of a sudden Bam, they've decided its time to MO. HAhahahaha.

On Saturday, we went to the top of Tibidabo and discovered really cool hiking trails. In the woods, we even came across "Land of the Hidden Temple." We swung around on trees and watched a very pretty sunset from the top of the mountain.

The towns at the top of Tibidabo look as if they are from a different time period. They are very quaint, and there are many houses that actually do not even have roads that go to the houses. Megan was sure that these were the houses that ocupados were living in! Ocupados are people who have decided to rebel against the high taxes in Barcelona and instead inhabit vacant vacation homes. Everytime we see an "ocupado" (our madre Elisabet says dreads+tattoos=ocupado) we kinda shudder inside. lol.