The reality of it all

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

One last tour. We were a little late getting out of the house and getting on the metro, but that was no problem, the Spanish run on "Barcelona time." Meaning, whenever they say to be somewhere, expect for everyone to show up a half hour later. I enjoy this very much, it's a lot more relaxed and I don't get stressed out when I'm running late.

Although it did take us a few days to learn this. The day after we arrived in Barcelona we were about 10 minutes late leaving the house and of course the metro left just as we were getting down to it so we were SPRINTING to where we needed to be, only for the bus not to leave until a half hour later. Phew!

Anyway, we took a tour with our lovely Spanish tour guide of La Pedrera, a museum of the famous architect: Anotni Gaudi. The outside and inside were nothing short of amazing. He really was very talented. The rooftop had many different sculptures that told a  story about guards and the Spanish people. With every building he designed there was always meaning behind every single thing he did. For example, on the Sagrada Familia, the basillica I was talking about earlier in the week, on the east side of the building the architecture explained Easter and on the west side of the building was the stations of the cross. So that each day you wake up with Jesus when the sun rises in the east and at the end of the day you are buried with Jesus as the sun sets in the west. BRILLIANT!

After seeing La Pedrera it was time for class. Ah yes, my very first class at 4:30 in the afternoon, what a change from America. However, the catch is, the classes are an hour and a half long and completely in Spanish. Being in Spanish isn't an issue as I have classes in only Spanish back at UNC, however, Spanish for an hour and a half is a lot for my brain to handle. Not to mention I have a class directly afterward with the same idea. Adios mio! So you can imagine, by the end of the day, my brain was fried! I'll miss the short classes for sure!

Tomorrow I start my language classes! Let's hope for the best! Those are about 3 hours on Monday and Tuesday and an hour and a half on Wednesday and Thursday. Those start at 11 a.m. so that's not too bad, but no classes friday!!! 

Reality is beginning to set in....