je t'aime, Paris

PAREEEEE
i am currently inbetween classes and don't have much time, but i want to start writing before i forget everything! so much happened!

DAY 1: Friday morning, our flight left at 6am. it was just me and diana. so i had to leave my house at 3:30am = no sleep. but we made our flight, got there on time, and made it to the meeting point where the hostel lady said she would meet us to take us to the hostel. unfortunately, the earliest check-in was 1pm. she said she would make an exception and come at 11am. that meant sitting in the train station for hours!!!!! it was so so so cold, we were shaking and just sitting there trying to sleep and keep an eye on our stuff at the same time. so that meant no sleep.

she came at 11am and called my name, and then said, "no? okay" and turned around to leave. and i was screaming "waiiiiit!!! i'm here!!!!!" and i probably looked like a crazy person with bloodshot eyes and super pale skin from not sleeping. but she took us to our "hostel" which was more like an apartment. we had a kitchen with stove and everything, tv, computer, bathroom, etc. perfect! in a VERY good location.

so we were dead, and the first thing we want to do is take a nap. just like 2 hours or something. but of course, since check-out is at 1pm, that means the beds weren't cleaned yet and wouldn't be until later. so we put on our bravest faces, piled on more layers of clothes, and set out for our first massive cup of steaming hot french coffee.

we found a little place and sat inside and got a cup, which ended up being 4 euros!!! ridiculous i tell you... so we pouted a little and then decided to start our adventure. by this time, we were running on adrenaline from the excitement of the city. a lot of the areas are very posh, you can tell people have money. very pretty buildings but the architecture doesn't compare to barcelona. and all the buildings are beige or white. not as exciting. but anyway, it was still beautiful, except for the weather. it didn't rain at all, but it was really really really really cold!

we just started walking around and found the louvre on accident! it is such a huge gigantic massive museum, i can't even tell you. and the building is so so so nice looking. there's a glass triangle dome (does that make sense??) sticking up from the ground in the middle outside, in the little plaza, and it is just awesome. we took so many pictures. i'll tell you right now, the whole trip, we took so many pictures we ran out of memory on the camera. i'm talking hundreds. and videos too. so when i get them from diana i will post some good ones!

we wanted to go in the louvre but we figured we'd walk around more while it was warmer (emphasis on the er) out. we found these HUGE gardens that were full of people, and i can't imagine what they look like when they are in bloom. but the trees were cut exactly alike, so precisely, trimmed down to every single twig so they were all neat and organized. crazy! and the statues, i am on statue overload. you can't look anywhere without seeing 10 statues in your way. and i'm not exaggerating. and they are HUGE! you will get tired of me saying that. the whole trip i was like, wow! so big! oh my it's a giant!! and so much gold and marble everywhere.

we went to this area called Madeleine which had a lot of posh and high-end stores. the jewelery was so elaborate, i can't even explain it. on the windows of the stores they had signs saying, "do not take photos." if you can't afford it, get out!

we found l'opera which was such a nice building. the columns were all marble and purple and green and it was just awesome. they had the names of all the famous composers and a statue for each one.

we found the most famous pastry shop in paris called Duree. it's green on the outside and looks so quaint and cute. but when you go inside, you see the prices. 15 euro for a piece of chocolate! i'm talking the most beautiful pastries you have ever seen in your life hahha. and the place was jam-packed.

we decided to get lunch to get some more energy in us, and we were really excited about testing the food! i wasn't actually that excited about french food, but boy did i change my mind. first of all, the plates were put together so extravagantly. every meal we sat down to, i said i didn't want to eat it because it was too pretty. so of course we took pictures of it all :)
the staff in the restaurants were on top of everything!! so so nice and they loved us! i was surprised. and the crazy thing is, everyone we talked to in paris could speak english. it just makes me ashamed. but it was very helpful ;)

the food was delicious. they like duck there, a lot! i tried some and it was very tasty, but then we went out to some fountains and i saw them swimming and wanted to cry. but anyways, they were pretty darn good haha. we had a lot of crepes, everday. they have stands everywhere you look! and we even got some extra toppings once because "we were sweet." haha. the perks of being a girl. but the crepes are not just chocolate. you can get ham and cheese, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes, tuna, even rum! it's like a meal. so so good. i'm addicted.

we walked around and found some other cool buildings, and a really nice church. we went to the pantheon that was so big but we didn't go inside because it was expensive. we tried to go back to the louvre but it was free if you had your ID and we didn't, so we said we would go back. so then we went to get a crepe for dinner and went to a park to eat them and you could see the eiffel tower from where we were. and what do you know, it sparkles at night! it literally flashes glittering lights, it's so amazing. it's like a lighthouse for planes or something.

okay well i gotta get going. basically we went back and passed out, at last!! i slept like a baby. it was wonderful, and we were so excited for the next day. i'll put day 2 in my next post, gotta run!

the language

did you know lisa means smooth or pure in spanish?

i've noticed i've started saying a lot of things the spanish kids say when they are trying to speak english. obviously, some things come out awkward or backward or something, and i've picked up on a few of those, it's really weird. also, when i speak english to them i try to be slow and very clear, so i am using the most formal words. i think when i come back to america it's going to be hard hahah. sometimes i even find myself having a hard time expressing myself in english! what is going on!

i was watching the news in catalan the other night with my roommates. it's such a strange language. i feel like the words are so short and i can't imagine them flowing together easily. there's so many accents in the alphabet too. but we put on the closed captioning and i could actually understand it better! we were watching the snow storms up north like 10 minutes from here! i had a snow day yesterday, but only for the morning (???). they said classes started as normal at 3pm. so i had to go to my night class. i don't really get the point of that, but i wasn't complaining. some of the international kids had never seen snow. the news was exploding with pictures, videos, outrages.... the buses didn't work so they kept the metro running all night because some people were stuck at work and couldn't drive home.

today was bright and beautiful, but chilly. i went up to this town called sant cugat in the mountains before class. it was such a quaint little town, i fell in love of course! everything new i see i just think is so exciting. but the architecture was even a little different and it was just not modern at all. they had the town hall recently built and it was all glass and black and really really modern looking. and my friend said everyone in the town was complaining about it because it ruined their image. they even had a bar called Moe's, after the one in the Simpsons, and they serve Duff beer! but they call it 'El bar de Mou' hehe. but it was nice because i took the train and it goes above ground and you could see through the mountains and all the snow and everything, so beautiful. i will really miss the mountains.

the monestary in sant cugat (monestir)

the inside had the most beautiful stained glass i have ever seen

UPDATE II

i lied. it's snowing hard, and sticking. all the little kids are having a ball outside. all the adults have their umbrellas. everyone is staring, some have video cameras out. why is everything so much more exciting in this city??!

it's funny. all of my floridian friends have facebook statuses saying, "spring break! beach! sun! cruise! let's all go outside!!" etc. etc. and all of my spaniard friends' say, "nieve! it's snowing! classes are canceled! what is happening! let's all go outside!!"

UPDATE

all my friends are freaking out because classes were canceled because of the snow! everyone on facebook has put up some message about it, it's a riot! the snow is not even sticking...

what the snow??

it's snowing! i don't believe it. it doesn't even feel like 32 degrees out. it feels warm! well not really warm, but to be snowing??? i'm in total shock.

i just got my grades for two of my classes, they are really slow on the times here! they just take their time i guess. i still have one class i don't have a grade for, but maybe this week it will come. but in my information systems class i got an 8 and in my film debate class i got a 9. very good! i'm glad because my info. class was kind of boring and it was hard to understand all the technical terms!

i just got an email from the adviser here that said they are doing a trip to a winery for all the international students! wine-tasting in some city outside of barcelona, and a free lunch! it's next weekend. i am surprised they are doing this because this semester there are soooo many more exchange students, like maybe 70 or more. but then i remember how rich this school is, and they can do anything hahaha.

i have no school today so i am just working on some homework, but this week should be a little more relaxing! this weekend on the other hand, i've got PARIS on the agenda. i'm so excited i don't even know what to picture. we have four full days there, i'll probably come back broke haha. but it will be soo worth it! everyone is telling me things to see, and we have one friend there that is going to take us out one day to some things that "not all the tourists know." it's going to be an exhausting weekend...

okay well i gotta get to work. and i need to get to the store. i still can't get over this snow....

 

here's a picture of the game. a not-so-good team and the stadium's still packed! we eventually snuck down towards the front ;) 

the weirdest part ? they didn't have announcers! and it was hard to find the scoreboard, it isn't that big one up in the back. 

oh spain........

how much do i love my new roommates :)

oh what a day what a day. first of all, yesterday was glorious beachy weather. today, not so much. it was storming cats and dogs and i couldn't even use my umbrella because the wind would just flip it inside out. but, i had to go to the american express office to cash my traveler's checks. so i trekked out there, had to walk because i can't buy a metro pass. i was miserable! i was already feeling a cold coming on and that definitely didn't help. but you know what, i was walking down passeig de gracia, which is a main big street, and all of the sudden i hear horns and drums, and i see horses riding down the street. there was a huge parade! and i still don't know what it was for. but the people were playing their instruments and throwing out candy and dancing in the street, some even smoking! and they were having such a good time. so in the end, everything was better. they put a smile on my face. but then i couldn't find the office and people kept telling me different places to go, and it was cold and my feet were wet and it was not a good time!!! but i found it and got my money. and on the way home, i just started smiling. do you know that no matter what is going on, if you smile you will feel better. either because you realize it's not so bad, or because you feel stupid for smiling at nothing by yourself :)

so now i have just enough money to pay rent and buy a metro pass or two, but only the ones for 10 trips. so i have to use them sparingly! i'm wondering if i should just pay half the rent and pay the other half later, just to be safe..

school was sooooo boring today. and it's a lot more work than last semester! i mean it's expected, i can't live in a fairytale forever! the teachers just haven't given us much guidance this semester.. it's really annoying. even when we ask for some direction, they tell us, open your minds! it's up to you to decide what to do! be creative! but the thing is, we don't know where to start because we don't know what we're supposed to be turning in. and one of my teachers told us just that, to just write down our opinions and say what we feel, and when we turned it in, he tore us apart. he told us it was in the wrong format and not the right information. well if you want something specific, you need to tell us!

really though, i still love it here :) hahaha. one of my friends is helping me report my stolen stuff to the police. i'm going to go to the metro tomorrow and ask if they've seen it.

but anyways. my roommates are cool! i have been talking with them all night. they are really sweet. the english teacher was so excited because she has to take an english test and is worried about it and asked if i would help her study. the other girl, alicia, is from here and she's 19 and just started going to school for architecture. we've already got things planned to do together.

march is a busy month, i don't want it to end....

hakuna matata

good news : the game was awesome!!!! we won of course, malaga isn't that good of a team. it was so exciting though and so intense. they play hard out there! if they got hit they flew. it was so cool.

bad news : on the way to the game, my phone and wallet got stolen on the metro!!!! i lost everything, including my three month metro pass i JUST bought two days before, and i had just put money on my phone. i went home to cancel it and he had already used all my minutes! and he got some cash, my card, my insurance and school cards... blah. it took them six months to get me!
so i went to the game anyway to forget about it, but today was terrible. yesterday someone helped me get a new phone so that was nice. and it was pretty cheap. but then i found out my credit card that i saved at home just for this kind of situation doesn't work anyway. i can't take out money on the atm, i can't buy a metro pass!
so i was freaking out because of course i have to pay rent. i put the last 200 euro i had in my apartment into the bank for rent and figured i'd tell the guy i can't pay until tomorrow the rest because i will cash my traveler's checks then and put that in. then i would have NOTHING left!
but he just came home and i told him what happened, and he feels terrible, and told me he will give me the 200 back and i can pay it later. he even said he'd lend me money if i need it.
today was so terrible ! i was worried about rent, about the metro, about eating, i just didn't know what was going to happen. i knew it would eventually work out when my new debit card came but it was just scary. i am so thankful i get an extension....

i just can't let it get to me because that is exactly what the guy wants! he set out to ruin my and probably 8 other girls' nights... i'm just pissed because i'm another one on his list....

so anyways, that is that. there's nothing i can do so oh well...

my two new roommates are here, silvia and alicia. we all end in a's. they're sweet, i really like them. we just had dinner together, me and alicia. i'm excited! what am i going to do at home! i will just move around from place to place to keep myself entertained hahah.

hmm i just realized i won't have my debit card for my trip to paris. this is going to be a great week!