Mazie

I just realized I forgot to post pictures with my super long blog post! They may not be the greatest pictures ever, but they give you a sense for the city!

Why shouldn’t I be writing a blog post? I can enumerate multiple reasons. For starters its 10pm and I haven’t actually slept a full 8 hours since I got to Barcelona; I think the tiredness is just going to compound until I fall down one day in the middle of the street (or fall asleep during class, which has already almost happened multiple times during orientation). Reason number two would just be the amount of other things I have to do, like applying for summer jobs and figuring out my class schedule. More important than blogging? Debatable, but probably yes.

The reason I decided it would be a good idea to write one, however, is because I just spent at least 45 minutes writing long texts to friends and family describing how things are here in Barcelona, and I thought gee this would be fun as a blog post. I’m not going to read through my old texts later to remember my experience, and I haven’t been journaling at all, so this blog might be the best way to remember my time abroad! So… aquí tenemos un poco información sobre mis primeras días en la ciudad!

The City Is so much bigger than I expected! I don’t know why, but I visualized Barcelona as more of a mid-sized city with plenty of open space and parks, and the beach right next door. While there are technically parks, the biggest one I’ve seen hasn’t been larger than a building and was stuffed inbetween a bunch more buildings. It was more of a concrete path with a wide strip of half-dead grass on either side. You’d never know the beach was right there because the buildings are too tall and completely block any chance you might have of glimpsing the water. And as far as the size, you could walk for hours in any direction and still feel like you’re in the city. I was asking people today where they thought the main city center was, and someone responded “It’s kinda just everywhere”, which I think is pretty accurate. The neighborhood that I’m staying in, Sarría Sant-Gervasi, is an hour’s walk away from what one could deem the center of the city, and it is slightly more calm. Although it’s annoying to have to commute at least 30 minutes via metro/bus/walking to get anywhere, its really nice to be able to return to somewhere more chill and relaxed at the end of the day. It sounds nice, but I don’t think I’d want an apartment that’s a 5 or 10 minute walk away from our school because you’d never escape the business.

All that being said, I really do love the city: The architecture is beautiful, the shops are all adorable and unique, there’s so much to do and explore, and the (scarce and sometimes human-made) nature is lovely. Its been two of more than one hundred days and I’m already anxious that I’m not going to have enough time to explore it all (and honestly I probably won’t!). I’m so excited to get into a routine hopping on the metro to get to my classes and internship, finding the best coffee/pastry shops to stop into for breakfast or studying, and scouting out areas to hike and explore after class/work.

The People Have been super cool… for the most part. To begin with the negative, there are about 250 U Miami kids on the program (I’m guessing they make up 50-70% of the entire program) who all know each other and think they’re all that because they go to school in Miami. They’ve gone out drinking and clubbing every. Single. Night we’ve been here and have no interest whatsoever in meeting any of the rest of us. I was sitting next to a crowd of U Miami people during orientation on the first full day, and there were people leaving to go throw up their drinks from the previous night. The worst part was that they were talking and laughing at full volume while someone was trying to present- SO, SO RUDE! I was getting really annoyed. The bright side is that whenever I meet someone who’s NOT a U Miami kid, its a little instant bond.

Onto the cool people! I didn’t expect that I’d be seeing much of the St. Olaf kids once we actually got to Barcelona, but they’re actually the people I’ve been hanging out with the most and, including my roommate, the people I get along with the best. There are roughly 10 of us on the program, and most days we wander around together after orientation and go get lunch somewhere. My roommate Natalie and her friend Sara have been joining us, which is great! They both go to the University of Illinois and are really fun and easy to get along with. I am so, so glad that I have a roommate and that we’re becoming friends because it truly makes the morning metro rides, walks back, homestay dinners, and everything inbetween all that much better. Even better, she’s someone I can text anytime to see what she’s up to! If only she knew she’s slowly filling a hole in my heart from my freshman year….

Cristina, my host mom, has also been super amazing. She’s in her mid 70s but has so much energy, goes to the gym, and works a full time job on top of preparing us meals and cleaning! It was love at first sight from the second I met her, seriously. She’s so incredibly sweet and caring and has opened her home to us without a doubt. I have already learned tons about Spain in general, Barcelona, Catalan, her family, and her opinions on dogs vs cats, all while practicing my Spanish (as she doesn’t speak English). I was really curious and somewhat worried about my homestay family because it can really make or break the experience, but its turned out amazing these first few days! Just know that if you ask Cristina a question you could get a five minute answer :).

The Food Has been… interesting! Not necessarily bad but just not my style exactly. I have walked by so many enticing coffee shops and adorable bakeries but have yet to try any. Its hard to just walk by without stopping to admire their creations! The two meals I’ve eaten out (both with the St. Olaf group plus my roommate and her friend!) have truly not been my favorite. I got a chicken caesar salad from this one place, and the chicken was edible but each lettuce leaf was covered in a thick layer of dressing. I ate one and couldn’t stomach another. The Chinese food I had today was passable, but I got a little scared after reading “fried chicken feet” and “Pig intestine” on the menu.

Cristina has been making us breakfast and dinner every day, which is so, so sweet of her and a great way to save money! Common breakfast items include: individually wrapped tiny muffins, chocolate granola, cookies, and fruit. Perfect to grab on our way out and eat on the metro. Dinner, which has been around 8pm- quite early for Spain- has been good, but has forced me a little outside my comfort zone. The first night I was convinced I was eating raw chicken and was going to get sick, and last night I ate non-scrambled eggs with uncooked yolks for the first time in my life. She always serves us bread, salad, and sometimes soup as well, and is pretty adamant that we not help with anything except clean-up. Dinner is a fun time because Natalie, Cristina and I have great conversations. Granted, Cristina is usually the one talking for most of the time (she is skilled at that) but its really cool to hear directly from a Spaniard about the country and its such a great way to practice my Spanish. I can generally understand what she’s saying even when she’s on a roll at 110 mph, even if I can’t always articulate exactly what I want to say.

Overall its been a great time. I’ve enjoyed each day more than the last, and I think its because they’re getting more and more structured. Our arrival day, Monday, consisted of a 30 minute orientation which I did around 10am (I was in the first batch of students to arrive), and then no other plans other than to get settled in and meet your host family. It was nice that we didn’t have to sit and listen to a bunch of orientation right away, but no amount of reorganizing my stuff in the room or walking around the neighborhood was going to fight off the intense ganas de dormir from our friend jetlag.

Orientation on Tuesday started at 9am, meaning I had to wake up at 7:45 to have enough time to catch the metro to the BSAE offices. Thankfully my roommate (I should say housemate- we don’t share a room) and I were going together and our host mom was making us breakfast, because I slept through my alarm and woke up at 8:10 to Cristina knocking on my door and whispering my name. I put my clothes on as fast as possible and we were on the metro 15 minutes later. However, the metro was only the first piece of the puzzle to get to the offices. We needed to either catch a different metro or a bus to go the last few miles, but we didn’t have WiFi and were really confused about it all. Finally, with 10 minutes until 9, we decided to suck it up and take a taxi, and we were only 2 minutes late! The next day (today) I was the one who had to knock on my roommate’s door to wake her up because it was 8:10 and she was still asleep.

Today was another 9am start, and we finished about noon. Its really weird to have the whole afternoon and evening completely free in a city where it feels like there’s both so much and so little to do. When we’re sitting listening to the orientation, I’m itching to get out there and see it all, but once you start walking the streets it suddenly feels like shopping around is the only option. This afternoon was great because I hung out with my roommate at a cafe after lunch, and then went on a walking tour, given by BSAE, of Mont Juic, which was absolutely beautiful. The sights were amazing, we got to see the site of the 1992 Olympics which apparently made Barcelona famous, and I got to meet some new people! Much to my roommate’s dismay, we spent the hours from 3-8pm walking (to the tour, on the tour, then the 1.5 hours back to our house). My phone logged 25,000 steps!

Tomorrow is our last Orientation day (we might only have 30 minutes again), and then Friday we got to choose between Tarragona and Girona for a fun day trip! All my friends and I chose Tarragona, and I think its going to be awesome- there are Roman ruins and ocean beaches there, and I’m excited to soak it in!

Well now its nearly 11:30 and I really, really need to go to bed. Goodnight to my Europe friends and good afternoon to my Minnesota friends!

I can’t decide if today is one long day that feels like it should be two, or two days that feel like they should’ve been one. Either way, its been long but super cool.

The day began Sunday morning with the whole family crowded around the kitchen counter eating doughnuts together. Despite how excited I was for Barcelona, it was still sad to leave them :(. I had just enough time to stuff (and I mean really stuff) the last of my things into my suitcase and backpack. I managed to zip everything shut and minutes later I had dropped my 44 pound suitcase at bag check and was taking myself and my backpack through security. I felt like I packed a lot, but nearly everyone else I’ve seen brought two suitcases and a carry on.

The flight to JFK was nice and smooth- a good nap opportunity! Immediately upon arriving at the gate for my flight to Barcelona, I spotted growing clusters of college students huddling and hugging and talking about their breaks. Turns out that the initial assumptions I made about them were right: They all knew each other and were all going on the same program as I was (There are apparently over 200 U Miami kids on this trip!). I was getting very clicky vibes…

Of course I ended up sitting directly next to a clump of them on the plane. Nonetheless the flight was incredibly relaxing and enjoyable: I watched thee hours of the Office (which was the intended purpose of the flight, let’s be clear), Delta served us dinner, I slept for maybe an hour, and then I halfheartedly tried to sleep for the rest of the time. I really enjoyed looking out the window near the end: the city views descending into Barcelona were magical.

The line for border control took a record-breaking amount of time but I got to use these cool new fingerprinting and passport scanning machines and an officer stamped my passport so everyone can know I’ve officially been to Spain.

My flight contained the first batch of BSAE students to arrive, and we were taxied to the BSAE center and given a quick 30 minute orientation and chance to meet each other before we split into taxis once more headed for our home stays and apartments. I rode with a pair of roommates and they were clearly perfectly matched with their host mom. I was jealous and nervous as we drove another 20 minutes out of the city for my homestay. It got gradually less busy and more hilly (while still being a gigantic metropolis), and when we came to a stop I didn’t see anything that resembled an apartment or a host mom/grandma standing there to greet me. Three more steps, however, and Cristina flung open an unsuspecting door, kissed me on both cheeks, and whirled me up to her beautiful fourth floor apartment.

Cristina poured me a glass of water and kindly laid out some cookies as we chatted about my flight and got the wifi and keys to the apartment sorted out. I was then given an enthusiastic tour of the apartment and allowed to choose which room I wanted because I arrived before my housemate. Given that one room was dark, facing away from the sun and decorated in neutral tones and the other was bright and cheery and seemed to beckon you in with a door to the sunny porch, I chose the second one. I unpacked and got the room “decorated” (my decorations consist of a crocheted dinosaur called Bean, a tin deck of cards, the game 5 Crowns, a few notebooks, and a bottle of lotion) in little time. It looks like what I imagine Scandinavian minimalism to be.

Cristina had a work meeting at 2pm, and she took the opportunity to help orient me to the Barcelona Metro system. We bought a Metro pass and she gave me a route to sample while she attended her meeting. I felt very professional riding the Metro down to Barcelona’s Central Plaza, walking around a bit, and then heading back.

At this point in the day I still had 5 hours before I could reasonably go to bed, but I was so very tired. I decided I’d go on a run/walk to shake myself awake. It turned into more of a stroll, but I was able to face time miss Tamara and explore the funky streets and adorable tiny shops all around the apartment. I returned about 5, picturing Cristina worrying that I’d gotten lost- which she was not at all- and sorted and organized some more things in my room. Christina began making dinner around 6, and my house mate arrived an hour later (she took a late flight)- earlier than we were expecting so she was able to join for dinner! Objects felt like they were wiggling and shifting in my vision as I battled my eyelids to remain open, waiting for dinner. Any time I stopped concentrating on it, my neck would snap down towards my chest in sleep mode.

We had a very early dinner for Spain- around 7:15. Cristina made vegetable and noodle soup, chicken, salad, and bread, and we had bananas for dessert. Once we cleaned up, Cristina and I both made some nighttime sleeping tea to lull us to bed. Goodnight!

This photowalk began one July night post tennis match with Tyler and surprise evening downpour. It was one of those warm sleepy nights that called to us just because we had nothing better to do. I stepped outside with just my phone camera, finger at the ready on the shutter. I waded through the thick air, whose texture felt similar to the bread pudding we had enjoyed for dessert, to a few spots that had looked inviting earlier on in the day. But as soon as I jabbed the camera close, their subtle beauty faded and I couldn’t seem to coax it back out no matter the angle nor distance I shot from. The weak settings sun was failing to push through the weighted canopy of clouds, and as it was only getting darker and darker, we decided to turn for home. Maybe the walk back took on a quiet peace and grandeur of its own… I’ll let the pictures finish the story.

These photos are a reminder that there is beauty to be found in the everyday- beauty that you might not even notice until you stop looking. Sure, there isn’t much glitz and flanker here to gran your attention from miles away, but does there need to be? I believe that by giving yourself up to these often overlooked midsummer scenes, there is a slow, calm peace to be found. Follow the striking edges of tree branches, notice how the light and the absence of it tease each other across photos, and let your curiosity about the red-shirted protagonist (shout- out to my fabulous model Tyler!) run wild. You get to choose where these pictures begin and end.

Part of Summer Challenges.

Some nice Minnesota winter photographed from the comfort of my shorts and t shirt!!

A dazzling selection of photographs made to capture the essence of its name, life of its daily inhabitants, sparkling nature, and time tested and enriched soul: This is Soglio, Switzerland. Prepare to step 200 years back in time.

My team included my dad, mom, and Tyler: four hardy photographers with foot and mind intent on capturing Life in Soglio.