Me dejo bendita

There are so many reasons why this is the last thing that I should be doing right now. This upcoming week is basically an accumulation of all the work in the semester ever put into one week. Actually, it's more like the amount of work that I would probably normally need to do in a normal week at Barnard, but I have not had that typical workload all semester, so it is throwing me off just a little bit. But I do emphasize the little part, because I know that whatever I have to do, I am fully capable of pulling off, and might even (dare I say?) have a little fun while doing it! This is what my awakening as a nerd has done to me in Barcelona... haha

Anyway, enough people have asked me about my blog or mentioned my blog in their individual messages to me that I have felt guilty enough to need to write again (ex. Every once in a while I check up on your blog, even though you haven't updated it in a while!) I'm sorry for being so inconsistent! But I also greatly enjoy writing in this, so this is a real pleasure to share my experiences with you. A few of you know that having the opportunity to keep a blog was one of the reasons why I wanted to study abroad. Well, it's more like a symbolic action of the experience that I wanted to have--to be able to freely experience the environment around me and to encounter the world in a new way with a different perspective. I kept a blog in high school and sometimes (usually when I am in ultimate procrastination mode) I really enjoy looking back on it and reading all of my insightful comments that, to this day, I still don't know how I came up with them.

Since my last entry, many milestones have occurred: I have seen friends from Columbia, finally left Spain, and even left the European continent! The latter is kind of ridiculous, but I only validate it with my unique circumstances of my family living in Hong Kong and it being my semi-home (this association having gotten stronger since this last trip to HK--more on that later.)

So without further ado here are some of my stories :)

A Sunny Journey to Sitges
Sitges, the famous site for the crazy Carnaval that happens before Lent, is actually the Spanish P-town (prototype: international gay beach town), so Katie and I decided to take a little day trip there one lovely Saturday morning. The original plan was that we would be going with a few other friends from our program, and actually be social with people outside of our homestay. Alas, no one wanted to play with us (aka we have no friends), so we ended up going on our lone-twosome. Thankfully both of us are easily amused both by ourselves and by each other, so it was still a great time even without other friends!

Sitges is about an hour outside of Barcelona, and we took the train there (and didn't pay extra by illegally using our unlimited metro passes to get into the station...) A friend of mine from Barcelona told me that it would be a good idea to get off at the station after the Sitges station because there was a nice little path on the border of the sea that would lead us to Sitges. So we opted for the scenic route, thinking that it would take maybe an hour at the most.

However, to our pleasant surprise, the trek took almost 3 hours. But it really was vale la pena (worth it)! The views were beautiful, the waves were rolling, and the sun was shining. The only thing was that the sun was only shining on our right side as we were journeying along the coast, and so by the end of the trip, only the right side of my body really got any sun, and a lot of sun it got! I was slightly burnt, but again it was totally vale la pena.

Upon our arrival in Sitges, we began to search for the Japanese restaurant that a few of our classmates had recommended. We were about to give up, but thankfully we finally stumbled upon it with its Bamboo-related name. It actually was the first decent Chinese food that I have had in Spain!

After spending the rest of the day lounging on the beach, we opted to make a pitstop at the supermarket before hopping on the train. In true Spanish fashion, we picked up a plastic 1 liter bottle of Tinto Verano for the road and proceeded to drink it on the train. I honestly wish they would make juice box versions of this stuff. It's like juice.
On the train, we sat across from one of my favorite and one of my least favorite parts of Spain. The sighting of my least favorite thing was this overly-affectionate couple who really needed to get a room. The sighting of one of my most favorite things was the most adorable little Spanish child who kept on calling his mom who was sitting across from him on his plastic cell phone, while stealing glances at me and Katie every once in a while.
All in all, it was pretty great day :)

Paris, Je T'aime
The first thing that I felt upon arriving in Paris was that the city fits its romantic stereotype. The architecture, the people, the landscape... everything was just so much more beautiful and classy than anything I had ever seen in Barcelona. I usually think of Barcelona as being a really dirty and hard-shelled city. There is just a hardness here that is difficult to explain, mostly manifested through its people, I think. Not that I had much contact with French people because I was with Melanie (my friend from Barnard who is studying abroad there this semester) most of the time, but at least the background of Paris was more soft.
Another thing I noticed was that Paris is definitely a major tourist spot, but I didn't feel like the city really compromised its culture or identity to the invasion of tourists. Barcelona is a different story. Now, again, maybe it is because I was in Paris with someone who has lived there for some time, and lived their when she was younger as well, but I didn't get the sense that the city's life revolved around tourism, and that was a really nice thing.

I was extremely lucky because the day I arrived in Paris was the day that they had a strike in the transport system, so I rode into my friend's apartment completely free! Then the next day, I somehow pulled off sneaking into the station each time we took the metro. And for the rest of the time I was there, I used my friends' passes that they left behind when they returned to the US. I also saved on housing because I stayed with my friend in her apartment, so expensive Paris got to eat my bubbles!

There are so many highlights from my time in Paris...
- people-watching: I discovered the joys of people-watching in Paris because there were just so many beautiful people to look at! I did not see a single mullet or drullet while I was in Paris. When we went out one night, all the boys were quite clean-cut (but not in the boring way, just in the clean way, haha). No wonder Paris is one of the meccas of fashion. Unfortunately, to avoid awkward situations, I wasn't able to adequately capture these moments, so you'll just have to believe me! Except the picture I am including to the left is of this little girl on her way down to the metro station holding a little fairy wand and carrying a backpack that says "Oui, oui, oui, oui"--one of the cutest things ever.

- visiting the Mosque: With my newfound interest in Islamic art, Melanie and I went to the Mosque in Paris, and we went just in time for one of the prayer times. It was so interesting to see the imam make his call for prayer, and to get to peek in on the prayer gathering. I've written about my appreciation for Islamic art in a previous entry, but it was really interesting to see it live in the present day, as opposed to my previous encounters with the historic Islam. It's making me very excited for my upcoming trips to Morocco and Turkey in less than two weeks.

- the food market: I really loved the outdoor food market close to Melanie's apartment. I've been to my fair share of them in the places that I've been (from Guatemala to New York to Hong Kong), and for me food is such a pivotal representation of a culture. There is so much involved in the relationship that a certain people group has with their food--it shows the geographical location and climate, the type of society it was in the past, and just the taste of the culture. In the French food market, I saw a lot of cheese, baguettes, roasted chicken, fruits and vegetables. A lot of the vendors seemed to be of North African descent (no surprise there with all the French colonies in that region). Mel and I bought our cheese and baguette for lunch, and eventually made it to an area inside a modern art museum. It may have been the best gourmet cheese I have ever tasted. It was creamy, with a very subtle but strong taste, and the perfect texture for spreading on bread.

- other important sites I visited: the Eiffel Tower at night, Notre Dame, a stroll on the Seine (the bank of which we had a little guacamole picnic), a cemetery (in which Jim Morrisson is buried, who I don't really know much about, but others did and they kissed his grave with their lipsticked lips, haha)

Paris made me want to learn French. I've always preferred Spanish, with which I feel like I have a love affair sometimes, but Paris made me appreciate the beauty of the French language. I would love to return to this city again someday in the future. I didn't spend nearly enough time in it.

La Costa Brava (the Wild Coast)
This is one of the ultimate Spanish tourist destinations for Northern Europeans who want to enjoy the 3 S's of Spain: sun, sea, sand (+1: sangria =D). I went on a trip with my program to here, but unfortunately the night before we left, my right knee started to hurt a lot, and I almost thought that I wouldn't be able to go on the trip. Thankfully, I braved it and was glad I did so because aside from missing out on the trek along the wild coastline, I was able to participate in everything else.

One of the highlights of the trip was when we went to the Dali Museum. Dali made my brain hurt. He is absolutely insane and genius. He had a fetish with bread, painted a portrait of Beethoven with octopus tentacles, decided to bury himself in the middle of the museum he created to celebrate his works, decided to design an apartment out of a woman's face... there is so much else that I cannot describe because there are not really words to describe his artistic expression.

Another highlight was in the Southern French town of Collioure, which we visited on our last day. It was quite incredible to have just crossed the border into another country without really realizing it, and then need to speak a whole other language. I supposed if I could speak Catalan, I would've been able to get by a little better for the few hours that we were there, but Spanish apparently does not sound too much like French. I actually did the same thing when I was in Paris--Spanish being my foreign language, I immediately tried to speak it because I was in a foreign context. I realize that this has been the first time that I have traveled in a country where I have absolutely no knowledge of the language at all, aside from the basic hellos and goodbyes, and even then I cannot read it in a phonetic fashion. Actually, I think French is very hard to read, with its silent t's and weirdly placed accents (yes, yes, this is from my Spanish-biased perspective).

Anyway, my friends and I went to get gelato after lunch, and of course I couldn't adeptly communicate with the gelato-lady and fell into my default foreign language of Spanish. However, there were these two other women also ordering ice cream who apparently sounded like they were British, but also spoke French and (reluctantly) helped me in the communication, but not without commenting that "Spanish won't get you very far in France" to which I replied "well, I'm only going to be in France for 4 more minutes anyway, so it doesn't really matter to me." (Not) regretfully, my snarkiness got the better of me :-[ But it was a funny moment, to say the least.

Collioure was also fun because we actually got some great weather while we were there! Unfortunately, even though Franco promised us sun, sand, and sea in Costa Brava, we were left with mostly sand and sea. It is a lovely little town (aside from the catty British French speakers), and there is even a windmill and this cool little cube that sits on top of the hill (which you can see behind me in the left picture) that looks as though it has Arabic architectural origins. We went on an adventure to visit these two monuments, and although it took us some time, it was well worth it!

It is very hard for me to believe that in just a mere 9 days, I will be leaving this experience. I'll be still traveling and embarking on a new adventure in various different countries, but the study abroad experience with my classes, my homestay, the life here... is about to be over. There is so much that I'm going to miss, especially the things that have become so daily and familiar to me that I don't even realize that I will miss them at this present moment. I will write in more detail about these reflections some other time, as well as about my Spring break trip to Hong Kong and Shanghai, but for now I must get back to my papers!

Living and Learning, part I

Okay, so you all really cannot be surprised that it has been about 3 weeks since my last post because it is a pure reflection of my way of life--being very dedicated to something and then dropping the ball for a little bit. Then, when I feel guilty enough, I eventually turn back to it and give it my attention again. This is probably the case for most things in my life that require consistency, other than maybe friendships (although that is obviously up to your individual experiences with me... haha). That being said, a ton has happened these past few weeks, so I will try my best to summarize as extensively as possible.

SIDENOTE: My señora, Begoña, just walked out of the kitchen towards me holding up a giant strawberry (the first of the season!) looking kind of like that cute little mouse from that children's book saying "Ay, qué grande, ¿no?" (Wow, look how big this is!) to which I responded "¡Sí, es como una oreja!" (Yeah, it's like an ear!) My schedule this semester has a big chunk of time every day in the middle of the day which allows me to come home every day for lunch and have precious moments like these :)

Catching the Traveling Bug...
Recently, people keep telling me that I've been traveling a lot, but I still think that I definitely have not traveled as much as other people. However, I guess the outsider's perspective does have some objective truth to it, so yes, I am grateful to have gotten to travel recently! Although I still haven't left Spain yet, which I actually really love because this is a great country to explore because there is such a variety of culture here. I'll be leaving Spain in a couple of weeks though so that is exciting! More details on my future travel plans later in this entry.

Another thing: it's the people that make the place. This isn't a new concept for me, but it's certainly one that has been reaffirmed in my time here. As someone who values relationships a lot, that's what I've found is one of the greatest things about traveling: all the people that you meet just because of the nature of your status there as a tourist. You don't really have too much to lose because you are there to experience the place, squeezing as much in the little time you have there as possible. You have no obligations there, and every encounter has so much potential to change your experience. In a way, you're forced to let go of your inhibitions because that's the only way to have the best time: to dive in headfirst. (The life metaphors that you can make based on what I just wrote are so blatant that I'm not going to even spend time spelling them out :-P)
And then, of course, when traveling, second to the people is the food, on which you already know how much value I place from my Madrid entry!

>> Sevilla y Córdoba were absolutely amazing. I signed up for this trip as soon as I heard that my Islamic Art professor was going to be leading it, and I was not disappointed at all. Cordoba is about a 2 hour bus ride from Sevilla, so we went there as a day trip on the second day. It was a perfectly sunny weekend, and by the end of it, I realized that we had been learning so much throughout the day that my head almost wanted to burst with all the information! Both are much more of the small-town, typical Spanish cities that you imagine visiting as a tourist in Spain. At one point when I was walking around the streets of Sevilla, I felt like I was in Disney World with the bright, pastel-colored buildings, everyone walking around on the street, and especially with a tram. Later, because it was Carnaval (kind of a Halloween-esque Mardi-Gras) my friend told me that he actually saw a Mickey Mouse, which confirmed our previous impressions.

The theme of the trip was basically to actually see the religious tolerance and conflict of the Iberian Peninsula that we discuss in my class (The Iberian Peninsula: Cultures & Religions Through the Arts), and it was just so interesting because the architecture blatantly told that story. It's literally like a living picture book, where the pictures illustrate the (hi)story. For example, this image to the left is one that I took in the synagogue in Cordoba. There is the Christian cross under the Islamic carvings that are outlined with Hebrew writing. How much more obvious can you get about the religious heritage of Spain?

But my favorite building was the Great Mosque of Cordoba, that is now called the Cathedral of Cordoba (again, religious/political conquest!) We had been learning about the Mosque for the past couple of weeks in my class, and getting to see it with my professor guiding us was just amazing.

The more that I've been learning about the intentions of Islam in its architecture, the more I grow to respect its ideals. For example, the mosque is basically a huge area of space in which you can pray wherever you want because they consider God to be present in every part of it. The only form of direction that the building provides is the direction towards Mecca with the mihrab in the center of the qiblah wall. No one leads a service, there is no procession, it is just a direct encounter with God.
Then, also, you have Arabic calligraphy carved everywhere, which is just so beautiful and spiritual. I've learned from my readings for class that a reason why the Muslims use the writing a lot in their architecture as a form of a more intellectual encounter with God, so you can engage your mind in the act of devotion as well as everything else. It just makes your relationship with God such a more valued, precious thing.


I don't think I've ever seen such a stark contrast in my life than the one between the Great Mosque and the Cathedral that the Christians built smackdab in the middle of it when they conquered Sevilla. One telltale difference was in the lighting. The cathedral was flooded with sunlight whereas the mosque had much more subtle lighting, producing a much more tranquil atmosphere. There were also so many more images of people and ornate items in the cathedral whereas in the mosque you wouldn't really find very much iconic representations of things other than vegetation. It just made me think about the differences between what each religion chose to emphasize in their places of worship, and how as a Christian, I find myself appreciating the Islamic manner of encountering God a little more than that of the Catholics.

There are two things that my professor told us, once in class and once while on the trip, which really made an impression on me and I thought about them throughout our time in Sevilla and Cordoba.
--Sensuality: so when Carlos asked us in class "What is sensuality?", we were all a little taken aback by this question from our soft-spoken professor. But after we got over our immaturity, Carlos told us about how it is the noun to describe the sensation of the senses, which makes total sense (wow, that was not on purpose--how many different forms of the word can I use in one sentence??) He asked us that in the midst of our discussion on the difference between baroque Christian art and Islamic art. A lot of the Christian art that I've seen in churches and museums have been highly embellished and extravagant, and Carlos explained that the point of that art is to heighten your senses so that you are drawn into the art. Except what I realized is that my senses are more aroused when I am in the presence of Islamic art. There is something about the complicated simplicity that is depicted in Islamic architecture, and I experienced it so much throughout the trip. I would just get lost in the architecture that surrounded me, so much that every once in a while when Carlos would ask me a question because I was supposed to know the answer since I'd been studying for the past two weeks, I couldn't come up with the answer.

--The Weight of History: sounds like a book or something, right? When we were walking around the Cathedral of Sevilla, Carlos asked us the reason why we came to Europe and how we found it to be different from the United States. People gave their various responses, but then he gave us his own opinion--that in Europe, when you walk around and you visit places, you cannot help but feel the weight of history. And it is just so true. You just know how much influence the implications of the actions of the people before in Europe had on our present. Their history just goes so much further back in time than that of the United States.

So apart from the amazing history that we experienced in Sevilla, there is also amazing food and nice people to meet. Both nights that I was in Sevilla, we went to La Carbonería, which was this huge warehouse looking place turned into a bar/flamenco performing space. It was free entrance, and the drinks were both cheap and delicious!

I basically went on this trip on my own, even though I knew a few people, and it was great because it was a good group so I made some new friends, which is something I like to do in my spare time :) It was the type of trip that probably should've happened more towards the beginning of the semester instead of our scarring trip to the medieval, middle-of-nowhere towns of Besalu and Vic...

Okay, I'm going to write about my other trip to Granada now, but will continue in another post so as not to overwhelm you all ;-)

Living and Learning, part II

Since my last entry which I posted earlier today, I have actually changed locations and am currently sitting in a cafe very close to the Palau de la Musica Catalana which I went with a few friends for a concert on Valentine's Day. It was absolutely beautiful, both architecturally and acoustically speaking. We got tickets for 12 euro, which is such a bargain because if you want to just visit the concert hall, the entrance fee is 9 euro in itself! We had kinda crappy seats which you can actually see in the photo, they're the ones to the right on the side of the hall. But there were a ton of empty ones which had the view that this picture captures (mucho más mejor, ¿no?) so we switched during the intermission. The orchestra played pieces by Schumann and Beethoven, the names of which I don't remember right now, but when I told their names to Peter last night he immediately started humming them with his perfect pitch and then proceeded to send me a youtube video of the Schumann piece that I enjoyed very much (more than the Beethoven one.) My friends and I continued our Valentine's Day night with some cake, wine and cheese in our homestay--it really was quite divine.

SIDENOTE: Holy moly, this cafe I'm sitting in right now is incredible. I'm sitting here with my batido de fresa (strawberry milkshake), free wi-fi (wee-fee, hahaa), and then across from me are 5 TV screens with this thing called "Apple TV" that is absolutely INCREDIBLE. Right now, my roommate is listening to an NPR Podcast on the environment, and I am watching the 9th season of Friends, the one after Joey accidentally proposed to Rachel, which is really great because I only brought the 8th season and my roommates and I already finished it. Then there are a million songs and movies, (like Planet Earth!! and Princess Bride!! and Sex and the City!!) and even YouTube videos (like the laughing baby!!), what is this?!? This is my new favorite spot. Actually, Katie just said that this is like heaven. We are going to live here from now on. My friend brought me here a couple of weeks ago and it is so great! They need to bring this to NYC; specifically, Morningside Heights.
Okay, back to blogging...

Where did the travel bug take me next?

>> Granada: I caught the Southern Spain flu in Sevilla, and my roommates and I took the overnight train to Granada the next weekend (best decision ever, it was cheap, I was energized the next day, just do the Renfe =D) Coincidentally, the topic we were going to study next in my Islamic Art class was the Alhambra, which is the oldest Islamic palace in Europe and is Granada’s main attraction (pictured in the background of the photo above.) My roommates and I embarked on our journey to Spain's Islamic past on the first day (thank God we bought our tickets online before and for the Friday that we got there because our friends at the hostel were not so lucky--tickets for Saturday and Sunday were completely sold out!), but not without first stumbling upon a free walking tour given by a former Oregonian wanderer who decided to stay in Spain and live off of the tips he makes off of tourists at one of the hostels. It was quite entertaining--he actually recited a translated version of one of the poems written by the caliphs/emirs of the Alhambra--and was also probably completely full of BS--he recited a translated version of one of the poems written by the caliphs/emirs of the Alhambra.

I really enjoyed the Alhambra, but I think I liked the Great Mosque of Cordoba more, and one reason may be because I didn't have a guide or anything with me at the Alhambra who was explaining and teaching me things about the subtleties of the architecture at every moment. My favorite part of the Alhambra were the muqarnas which are the 3-D geometric shapes that line some domes like the one pictured to the right!

For some reason, our hostel was filled to the brim with British people, so my roommates and I learned a whole lot more about British culture than Spanish culture. It made me think about London in a whole different way, and made me actually want to go there! Before I had just thought that because London was in England, the origin of the English language that we all know and love so much in the US, it wasn't going to be that different from the states. But from our interaction with the Brits, I broke my previous misconceptions of the United Kingdom and now have every desire to go.

We also helped them to break some of their previous stereotypes and impressions of Americans, making a distinction between Americans like us and the very typical "Amurricans" (prounounced George W. style) who we have encountered a lot in our time here as well. We had some great conversations with the British people, especially one of the hostel staff, Chris, who taught us many different vocabulary words, like "Bollocks!" and "Blimey!" and "Fill up your boots!" and who wrote a declaration in the memory book in which my roommates and I make note of our precious moments that we were the nicest American girls he had ever met.

Similar to our adventures in Madrid, my roommates and I needed to satisfy our cravings for food from home, so in Granada, we found the most amazing Mexican restaurant! Chimichangas, enchiladas, quesadillas, frijoles, guacamole, margaritas... delicioso. However, because this lovely restaurant was still located in the great country of Spain, they weren't open for dinner until 8:15pm when we went there at 7:30pm. So, conveniently enough, there was a Chinese dollar/knick-knack store right next door where we entertained ourselves quite a bit by trying to find a birthday present for one of our new British friends at the hostel who was there with his friends to celebrate his 24th birthday. Naturally we settled on a Spanish-English coloring book, complete with Winnie-the-Pooh crayons and a festive purple bow. There was even a page that said "Feliz Cumpleanos" which we colored in to complete the gift. Needless to say, he was thrilled with the gift, and now we have a friend in London to visit, haha :)


But perhaps my most favorite part of Granada was when my roommate, Katie, and I climbed up the hill of the barrio, Sacromonte, across from the Alhambra that is covered with caves that are where the gypsies traditionally live. Then we found the old city wall and climbed up it and saw the most incredible view of the city. There were mountains, the Alhambra, the city, a monastery... it was gorgeous.

On our way back to Barcelona, we met an elderly Spanish man and his wife who were sending off their sister back to Barcelona. The old man was so cute and friendly, and really wanted to set one of us, any of us, up with his son. I might have seriously considered it because I loved Granada so much!

So next weekend will be the first time that someone from home is visiting me here (Sara and Lana, yaay), and then the weekend after that will be the first time I'm taking a trip outside of Spain (to Paris to visit Melanie while Akhila is there, hooray!) Then I will be headed to Costa Brava (northern coast of Spain), and then will be going to Hong Kong to see my parents and we'll be visiting Shanghai as well (which I am so excited about because I think that is my favorite Chinese cuisine of them all!!) All this traveling is really exciting and I'm just very excited about it :)

embracing my (not-so-)inner "jeek"

This may or may not be true, so don't quote me on this or get angry if I am sharing something false with you, but I believe that in Spanish, geek is pronounced like "jeek." It is what I think I heard on a Spanish listening assignment, about los 'jeeks' :)

On this note, Tuesdays and Thursdays are two of my favorite days of the week. No, this is not because I prefer the letter T, or because they are the even-numbered days of the week. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my 2 favorite days because my favorite classes meet on those two days--hence the full-out embrace of my geek(jeek)iness!

A huge reason why I decided to study abroad was to have a different learning experience. The moment I decided that I still wanted to study abroad was when I realized how much the environment at Columbia was getting to me, whether or not I was actively participating in it or not.
I wasn't sure if coming to Barcelona would provide me with that opportunity to break free of the traditional university setting and learn without the pressure or having to make a certain grade. Well, the grade thing was already set in stone before I came because Barnard does not count any study abroad grades towards my GPA. I had been looking at SIT programs in Latin America because their programs are known for their hands-on experience. I wasn't sure if Barcelona would offer the same type of experience because it involves taking classes at a university in a developed city, which didn't sound too different from my classes at Barnard and Columbia. But I honestly have not been this excited about learning since high school, and I think that my attitude towards my education exceeds even that which I had before college.

I never realized how much my high school education has affected my relationship with academics and my own personal learning experience. I was a member of this alternative, democratic program called School-Within-a-School (SWS) which focused on making the student's voice heard in his/her academics, and on developing a more personal relationship with the teacher. We called our teachers by their first names, had Town Hall meetings every Tuesday to discuss the academic and administrative policies, could excuse ourselves from class a certain amount of times each semester, and had smaller, seminar-styled classes with names like "Creative Non-Fiction" and "Education" and "Individuals and Institutions". Anyway, I just decided to write an email to my high school English teacher because the last time I felt such a thrill to learn was in her classes, and I think part of my perspective on academics and education were defintely affected by her teaching.
But honestly, I don't remember the last time that I looked forward to going to class and being rewarded by my expectations in this manner. The approachability of the professors here reminds me of the relationships I had with my SWS teachers. They welcome questions and encourage me to think more deeply about what we're learning. My classes and coursework are challenging but not heavy or pressure-filled, and I feel genuinely interested in the subjects which are relevant to the world around me. I can make connections between the texts and my cultural interactions--this value for such tangibility between my education and my life was definitely developed in my SWS classes. The whole "grades don't count" thing guarantee that the threat of such pressure cannot even come close to being legitimate. I remember my high school guidance counselor, Ellen (who is a Barnard alum!), actually discouraging me from taking too many AP classes during my senior year, modeling an academic value system that completely went against the overachieving grain that I was so used to.

This overachieving track was stifling me at Columbia, not just by the professors, but also by most of the students around me. Being easily affected by my surroundings didn't help very much because I was constantly comparing myself to all the other overachieving students who actually had something to show for their achievement. I have certainly met students here who also share the same love and value for education, but there is certainly more of a diversity of thought and dedication for it, which makes me feel like there is more space for me to develop my understanding without being scared of being wrong all the time.

It is just so interesting to think about this, because what kind of person leaves an Ivy League academic environment to go to Spain, only to be excited by learning for the first time in a long time? De verdad, yo soy rara.

Every day I am still amazed by where I am and how I got here, and I am still so excited to see where God will lead me next!

Gastronomía en Madrid

Let's face it, we all know that the real way to Hei-Yue's heart is through good food. If you want to witness my "content and satisfied" face, you're gonna have to feed me first because it only comes out after I've consumed some hearty deliciousness. To be honest, I was slightly concerned with my Spanish experience prior to my arrival because the only thing that I really associated with Spanish cuisine was fat sausages like chorizos. I just felt like Spanish cuisine could be one of the farthest things from the high standards set by my Asian tastes!

Thankfully, I have been proven wrong! And this past weekend in Madrid was the ultimate experience to disprove my eating expectations. For dinner the first night, we stumbled upon this fantastically authentic Spanish restaurant from which we ordered paella, fried calamari, and mejillones (mussels), topped off with a delicious pitcher of sangria. It was an inaudible dinner. My friends and I only communicated through chewing and the occasional noise of satisfaction.

The next day, after viewing some incredible frescos by Goya, we found a gem of a restaurant that produced its own house cider which we ordered with fried chicken (which could almost compare with the amazing Korean fried chicken found in New York's K-Town--if you haven't gone, PLEASE GO: http://www.bonchon.com/eng/index.php) and deliciously rich cheese with bread.

For our afternoon snack, we indulged in some churros & chocolate:
But after this highly concentrated Spanish food experience, by dinnertime we were quite ready for the least western food we could find. Luckily we found the "Bangkok Resaurant." I don't think that I have ever been so satisfied by pad thai, green curry, and pork fried rice. Needless to say, it was another verbal-conversationless dinner. (sorry, it was so satisfying that I forgot to capture it with my camera hahaa)

Aside from the food, something refreshing about Madrid was the absolute presence of Spanish. Last semester, whenever I would tell people that I was going to Barcelona, many people would respond, "Oh, don't they speak Catalan there?" to which I would reply, "Hm, I haven't thought too much about it but I guess so." Since then I have learned that if people tell you things about something that you don't know very much about, like me with the city of Barcelona and its language, then they are usually right. Barcelona is full of Catalan because it is in the northern part of Spain known as Catalonia. A fairly accurate comparison would be like the Northeastern part of the US, which I suppose is known to be a slightly more snobby and arrogant part of the country.
The Catalonians are extremely proud of their heritage. I mean, I definitely understand to a certain extent--if my native language were prohibited by a Fascist ruler for almost 30 years, I'd want to restore it to its rightful use as well. But not to the extent that all the schools are taught purely in Catalan, all the road signs and Metro stops are in Catalan, and even Timeout Barcelona is in Catalan! There is no other place in the world that communicates with this language apart from this tiny region in Spain. And my impression is that a huge part of this purely stems from pride, which is, in my opinion, one of the most stupid reasons for any action, particularly any national action. What are the little Catalonian children going to do when they grow up and want to leave their home region, which is going to happen inevitably because of our globalized society?
Not like there is no Spanish here at all--I definitely communicate with others through Spanish, and I hear it everywhere. But it's definitely different from complete immersion when I can't read my way through the city as I could this past weekend in Madrid!

I couldn't believe I was actually traveling somewhere this past weekend. I felt like I was double-dipping or something because just being here in Spain means that I am traveling! It was a pleasant experience overall--just don't ever fly with Ryanair. (The flights themselves may be cheap, but that's before all the miscellaneous taxes they require you to pay, and then the bus fares you have to pay to get to the smaller out-of-the-city airports out of which they fly.) But exploring the city, especially at night when everyone just goes out and has a good time was so much fun :)

Te lo agradezco por todo

Wow, so much has happened this past week! To make it easier on y'all I shall seguir with the same format as before :)

> I moved! Yes, I didn't really express that much discontent with my homestay in my previous posts, and it wasn't that I was that unhappy or anything, it's just that something better became available, so I took it. It actually is just a huge, huge blessing and I am so thankful to God for His faithfulness because I have no doubt that this was only possible because of Him. My two friends who I go to church with here actually had a single room open in their homestay. A girl was going to move there before, but then she decided not to. So I decided to move because I'd rather live with friends. It was tough telling Nury, but I think she understood. It just kinda stinks because I think my other roommates were planning on moving as well... but oh well. I am so much happier here because it is closer to the metro, there are more things around this area, and I actually know other people who live closeby!

First dinner with my roommates, Alexis (left) and Katie =D

But anyway, my new hostmom is a real hoot. Her name is Begonia, and yes her house does smell like flowers. When I first met her, she immediately reminded me of an older version of Julie Andrews in the role of Mary Poppins. She likes to speak Spanglish to us, and make sure that we completely understand her so she repeats the different things that she needs to tell us multiple times in both languages. She is also very hospitable and, if you have been on gtalk, you will have already known from my gtalk status that she keeps buying us this delicious Chocolate ice cream and my roommates and I cannot stop eating it. She also has a nice assortment of nuts (of the hazel, almond, and walnut sort) which I enjoy placing into the pint of chocolate ice cream and eating together (no more almond hunting in my Starbucks Coffee Almond Fudge, for those of you who know about my previous self-destructive quests... hahaa) Another example of Begonia's extreme hospitality is that a couple days ago, my roommate, Katie, told her that my parents may be coming to visit me during my Spring break here in April. Yesterday, she told me that she would like to invite them over for dinner and then proceeded to ask me if I knew whether they would prefer red or white wine?
Basically, she is precious, and I am sure that I will have many other stories to share about her.
One more story: the other night I entered one of my laughing fits at the dining table, and Begonia actually hit me playfully and said "No te ries!" (Don't laugh!) but in a kind of reprimanding way which I understand of someone like her who may not have ever been exposed to someone who is as easily amused as I am.

> I started classes! Speaking of being easily amused, which is a true statement in and of itself, either it's because of that characteristic of mine, or that I just happened to pick the classes with highly amusing professors, but I have something to say about most of them! Two of my professors have repeatedly scolded themselves in the third person during class (i.e. "Ay, Rosa! Por que lo hiciste!" or "Toni, por favor! No gritas!") My Spanish professor, Rosa, is highly amusing and has already simulated two fiestas during our class, including this morning when we did a round of speed-dating in a class of 9 girls and 1 boy. Then there is my professor, Toni, who I have for two classes back to back at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona--one is "Politics, War and Economy: History of Globalization" and "Barcelona: City-Planning and Architecture." This would probably be a bad situation save for the fact that he is a dynamic professor who is teaching me two completely subjects, aka he is incredibly intelligent. I have not felt one bit of doubt about his expertise in either subject. He also reminds me of the genie from Aladdin, NO JOKE. He has a very hearty laugh and that line-beard-cut thing that outlines his jaw (I know there is a term for it but, lo siento, I am not American-cultured enough to know it.) He also enjoys sprinkling bilingual explicits into his vocabulary quite often. Also, he only says "vale" to further prove my point from my previous post. And then, there is my Art History professor who I have also made mention of in my gtalk status if you've been keeping track (because that seems to be a trend for people who have me on their gtalk lists. Apparently sometimes I provide amusement through the things that I express on my statuses...) He is the professor who is a Spanish-accented, highly-sensitive George Clooney, I kid you not. We shall see how I fare in this class, which is actually really, really interesting, not just because of the professor. It's "Iberian Peninsula: Cultures and Religions Through the Arts" and focuses on Islamic art, which is something that I've just never learned about and it's so interesting because it focuses on the social contexts and meanings that can be interpreted through arts. It's very soulful. And it is being presented to me through an excellent medium ;-)

> So city. Some of you may know Kathryn McCaleb, but something that she has made note of many times before is with regard to the embodiment of "being city." And although her definition differs slightly from the topic on which I am about to write, it goes along with the same theme. Since I've gotten here, I've just realized how much of a city-dweller I am, and how it is an identity that I've never really taken ownership of in the past. I lived in Hong Kong until I was 7, moved to Boston (which, in comparison, is really a town. But my theory is only further proven because I really am not too much of a Bostonian...), go to school in NYC, and now am studying in Barcelona. I've been able to make so many comparisons especially between Barcelona and Hong Kong. It is fascinating how similar, yet completely different, the two cities are. I guess that is a large reason why I am excited for my Urbanism and Architecture class in which we will be discussing the characteristics of a city. There have been so many times in the past two weeks when I have told other people "Wow, this feels like Hong Kong." Like the train system: here, just like in Hong Kong, they have two companies who operate the underground system, so there are two different types of Metros, one of which is a little more like a railway train than a subway train. Then the two neighborhoods that I've lived in have felt like Hong Kong to me as well, specifically the two neighborhoods that my maternal and paternal grandparents live in. Tibidabo, which is where I live now, reminds me of Ho Man Tin, which is where my grandma lives. And Les Corts, which is where I lived before, reminds me of Sha Tin, which is where my grandpa lives. But then I've also been able to compare this city to New York. For example, there is this district here called Gracia, which definitely reminds me of Brooklyn. It's a hipper area where many hip locals hang out and there are little bars on small streets. And, just like how Brooklyn did not used to be a part of New York City, Gracia did not used to be part of Barcelona until it got annexed by the city a little while back. So the people there are more likely to participate in protests and be more politically active.

> ¡"Amigos" con subtitulos en Español! Last night, my roommates and I watched the Friends DVDs that I stole from Sarah Kupferberg and made it an educational experience by putting on the Spanish subtitles. I thought y'all might enjoy some of the excellent vocabulario that I gained from the night (this is from the episode when Chandler and Monica watch Phoebe's sister's birthing video)
¡Diablos! -- Damn!
Pornografía fea! -- worst porn ever!
Hambriente -- ballsy (to be)
Coquetarse -- to hit on
Now you are all well-equipped to come visit me in Barcelona!

> More sappy Spanish songs: On the flight here, I listened to the music offerings of Continental Airlines. Of course, I looked at what Latin music there was, and one that I found was the Luis Fonsi's album. When we were eating dinner last night, I ventured into the kitchen to turn on the radio for some mood music and went against the current to search for the radio station that actually played Spanish music! And whaddaya know, Luis Fonsi came on. So because I'm not sure if there is anyone else in your life as obsessed with cheesy Spanish pop music, I am eager to fulfill my responsibilities as your friend who does and provide you with the link to his cheesy music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG7k9fSYDvA. Enjoy! jajaa :)

> Photos: In response to your demand, and because I want to share with y'all anyway, I will be uploading some photos soon onto my Picasa site. And then also will eventually be doing some facebook album-creating.

**Sorry this was so long. It was quite rambling, I apologize!!!

Part of me wishes that all of you understood Spanish so that I could write this blog en español, or that it would somehow magically translate into English after I wrote it in Spanish... :)

There are just so many little things that I'm learning and picking up each day. I can't imagine how much more I'll be learning because it's only been a little more than a week! There have definitely been ups and downs since my arrival, which I know are normal to any situation that requires an adjustment of habits, mindset, language. But I guess at some times, the normal stresses of the beginning of a school semester with figuring out classes and my schedule are only exacerbated by the other stresses of being in a completely new place!

I actually listed some things that I wanted to share with y'all in my notebook yesterday, so here goes my attempt at organizational writing:

>> vale (pronounced vah-leh): so one of the first things I noticed once I got here was that people always said vale, and almost never said "okay" (muy Americano) and would only occasionally say "bueno" (más de latinoamerica). From the first day that I got here, I vowed that I would be able to say it instead of my reflexive "okay" by the time that I left Spain. I didn't know that it would take such little time for me to change my reflexive responses so quickly because already I say vale all the time! Now it's when I have to say okay in English contexts that I feel a little weird. There is also an Alejandro Sanz (extremely sexy Spanish singer) song that I looove with a part in which he sings "¡VALE!" so almost every time that I say/hear vale, I think of Alejandro Sanz, which is not too shabby of an assocation, I think! I first heard his song No Es Lo Mismo in Max Cafe (which, btw, in my opinion is the best cafe in the Columbia area by far on 121st and Amsterdam that serves the most AMAZING french toast. go eat it. please. it comes with strawberries and powdered sugar. do it in remembrance of me!)

>> lengua y cultura: so there are a few things about language and culture that I have experienced since I've gotten here. One thing is that when I've gone out, people are generally confused by me. And by that, I mean that they don't know if I speak Spanish, if I speak Chinese, Japanese, if I speak English... I am only further more extraño because I also enjoy dancing like a Latina. I am just a generic foreigner with whom the locals don't really know exactly what to do. Also, I came to Spain expecting to pick up some new tunes and jams that I unfortuantely cannot create a radio station for on Pandora nor download off of Ruckus because I am using a Spanish IP address, but I've really only heard American music in English! I guess there are just as many Womanizers and people who need to be put into Rehab here in Spain as there are in good ol' American Britney-Rihanna land. Although actually, yesterday, when I was sitting in the Spanish version of a Cosi cafe, I heard Samantha Mumba (don't wanna love you if you don't love me... remember??) for the first time in probably 7 years, so that was muy interesante. Just shows how much the American music dominates the world--so typical of anything American, sigh.

>> la comida: this is probably the part you are dying to know about: WHAT IS THE FOOD LIKE?? (actually, I think that's one of the first things that Sara Del Fierro asked me on gtalk, haha =D) well I can tell you that so far, I have been very, very pleased with the food that my señora, Nury, cooks (more about her later!) Last night we had homemade fried calamari (I'm just going to assume that it was from the Meditteranean.) And before we've had tortillas de patatas that are kinda like a mix between latkes and quiche (no idea if that's how you spell it) without the cheese. Apparently we will be having paella on Sunday night, which I am very excited about because I think I only tried a bit of Janelle's when we were in Puerto Rico (if only they had some mofongo here! I will have to see haha) Anyway, I think that is one of my favorite parts about this homestay business--that I get to experience real Spanish homecooked cuisine.

>> la iglesia: What a blessing it was to go to church last Sunday. Karen had connected me with her friends, Jesús and Dianne, before I came to Barcelona, so I got in touch with them and went to their church, El Lokal, where I got to worship, pray, and hear a sermon all en español! We actually sang a few songs I knew in English, like Majesty (Delirious) and The Time Has Come (Hillsong), so that was exciting. I am excited for what else God will be showing me during my time here. This upcoming week Jesús and Dianne are giving a presentation about the arts ministry that they do here, so I think I will be going back to see that. There are a few other churches that have English-speaking congregations that I might check out just to make those contacts. But I would love to go to a Spanish-speaking church because I think that's going to be one of my main points of connection with local people in Barcelona.

>> Nury: I found out a few days ago that my host mom used to be a model! And today, when I came back home to eat some lunch, she showed me some of her pictures of when she modeled back in the 70s. It was so crazy/interesting! She used to be blond, and now her hair is a darkened, colored auburn. She told me that she used to model for Loreal Paris, Pierre Cardin... it was really cool to see all her old photos! She's also told me that after her modeling career, she owned a bunch of fashion stores in Costa Brava, and that she lived in Africa for 10 years of her childhood. Something really tragic that has happened is that recently, her daughter's boyfriend was killed in a car accident, so that's been really, really hard. I met her daughter on the first day that I was here, and she looked very depressed. It doesn't help that her father, Nury's ex-husband, had a heart attack a few years back. I've been praying for her, though, and ask you all to keep her in your prayers, too.

I shall write more next time--I am planning on being a tourist this weekend for the first time and go to a bunch of the vital sightseeing points, which I am excited about!

con paz e amor