Despite being sent to the ER on Thursday, I was determined not to let a little fainting get in the way of our apartment trip to Barcelona this weekend-and I was so glad I went. Barcelona is such a hip, colorful city. I instantly feel in love with all the art, Gaudi buildings, skaters, and sunshine and seafood restaurants. We flew in Friday morning and after checking in at our hostel (Hostel Kabul-I highly recommend people to stay there if visiting the BCN), we walked down to the shore [...]

Barcelona was quite an interesting excursion. I will spare most of the details because they will be present in the captions. I went with the whole Minnesota group. Unfortunately it absolutely poured on Saturday so we didn’t get much site seeing in but Sunday was gorgeous! We made our first stop in a small but beautiful fishing village called Portlligat, where Salvador Dali’s permanent residence remains. Upon entering his house, you are greeted instantly by a polar bear- a real one (although it is not alive). This is Dali’s back [...]

I must say, Spain is beautiful. Really. Maybe it’s because I stepped onto the plane from Dakar’s sandy highways and stepped off into a dizzying maze of cobblestone, but I was sincerely impressed. This week was packed full of exploring neighborhoods and ancient cities, visiting cathedrals and museums, and some pretty spectacular vegetarian paella, but I’ll just note some of the highlights (this blog is really about Senegal, anyway, but this week was so great I had to share!). Sunday morning my mom and I spent several hours wandering around [...]

In late February I went with school on a study tour to Barcelona! Early Thursday morning, we flew out of Rome on AliItalia Airlines. We arrived in Barcelona around 11AM and immediately checked into our beautiful four star hotel. After checking in and grabbing a quick bite to eat at a local restaurant, we went on a 4 hour walking tour of Barcelona with a local guide who spoke English. We began at the beautiful Cathedral of Santa Eulalia and made our way all the way through the city. We [...]

I have been in beautiful Espana now for two months, and some days I still feel like I just walked off of the plane from the United States. BUT more and more, I feel like I am finally understanding some of the things that happen here which don’t necessarily happen back in the United States. In the off chance that any of you reading this blog post decide to come to Spain (Barcelona in particular), I hope these thoughts can help prepare you! 1. You know that medium or dark [...]

Dear Montserrat: What beautiful hiking trails you have! It was nice to be out of the urban metropolis of Barcelona and in nature.  Dear Salvador Dali: You were a crazy man, and your artwork is no less crazy; yet at the same time, I really enjoy looking at it. Thank you for introducing me to a new way to think and look at things. Dear School: You are picking up. I have midterms this week. I was always hoping that studying abroad would be more “living” abroad and not “studying”. Dear Passeig de [...]

Dear Classmates from International Economic History: You all make me feel like a celebrity every. single. class. Also, thank you for the compliment that my “accent” when speaking Spanish is not that American! Just you wait, my accent can only get better the longer I am here! Dear CIEE Building: You are in a passageway that tourists actually stop by and take pictures! Many mornings when walking to you, I cannot believe that I am actually living this experience I have dreamed about for years! Dear Madrid: I am still worn out from visiting you [...]

Dear Spanish Political Science Class: Talk about a lot of catching up on history this girl has to do! Why is it that in the US we only learn about the US government, but in other countries, they learn about their governments and those of other countries…. Dear Madrid: You are beautiful. I loved how I could actually read signs (in Barcelona, most signs are in Catalan with Spanish underneath). You almost have a semi-New York feel to you–although New York is definitely much more fast paced (You are still located in [...]

Dear Spanish Test: 99% = I dominated you! Enough Said! Dear Econ History Class: You are going to be an interesting class for the sole purpose of being through a different lens than the “American” lens. In other words, you aren’t constantly asking the question “how does this affect the United States?” Instead, you ask “how does this affect the world?” Dear Sitges: You are a small(ish) tourist beach town out of Barcelona. CIEE took us to you last weekend, and if I would have not been suffering from sinuses, I would have [...]

Dear Victoria: You are my señora for the next three months. Although we have had a few miscommunications the first week, I now feel much more at home. Thank you for opening up your home to random nieve American students. Dear Clase de Español: I am definitely probably a little to advanced to be in the “beginning” class, however, mi profesora is more than willing to challenge me in order to get better. My deadline of speaking English in Victoria´s home is October 1 and with your will be so much easier! [...]

I am not sure this is the best time for me to write my first post in Barcelona because the truth of the matter is that I am one hundred and fifty percent homesick. There are so many things that frustrate me–the language barrier, moving in with a new family that has different views than me, living in a place that is hot and humid but none of the buildings have air conditioning. (See! I sound like a complete downer right now!) Study abroad materials say that homesickness is natural [...]

In a few days, I leave for my semester in Barcelona, Spain. Right now, so many different emotions are bubbling to the surface every other minute–which is making me quite miserable actually–people are not meant to change emotions so frequently! I am, overall, excited and grateful for this opportunity; yet, there is a piece of me that is nervous (to be expected, I would presume). One of our pre-departure tips was to think hard about our goals for our study abroad experience (beside taking classes for our major). I want [...]

Only a three-hour bus ride and the sister city of Montpellier, I would have been really sad if I didn’t take the opportunity to go to Barcelona during my stay here. With only six weekends left, last weekend was practically my last chances to finally see beautiful Catalonia. Unfortunately, I could only spend one full day there because I had already bought a ticket to see Mozart l’Opera Rock that same weekend in Lyon…but Lyon will be a different post. If ever I have the chance to come back to [...]

So I have been sort of lazy recently and fallen into a routine here in Rome, but finally with a couple days worth of rest I am back and have some catching up do.  So I suppose I can start where I left off.  So Marley and I went to our interview and got the job!  Alessandro is our immediate boss and contact, and he is incredible!  He is only 29, but has accomplished quite a bit in his lifetime.  He studied law and practiced business law for a while [...]