Thursday night I went with my catalan friend Laura to a giant festival in the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. It is a party that lasts all day and all night with various concerts and events. I felt like I was in the U.S. again because people were insanely drunk (Sorry America but I associate binge drinking with U.S. colleges) The reason they are able to have such a big festival on campus is that there is a law in Spain that police can not enter universities. This is in order to protect the freedom of students and of their education. The president of UAB does not condone the festival but he has no power to stop it due to this law. I can't imagine something like that in the U.S. The police are everywhere during our big pig roast event at Richmond.
Friday I decided to walk around and explore our neighborhood, Gracia. I found so many cute streets with bars, cafes, and little shops that I never even knew existed. It really made me appreciate our neighborhood because it is more relaxed than the rest of Barcelona. It is also a lot more local so you truly feel as though you are part of a community. I somewhat regret the fact that I haven't spent more time in Gracia. I always go from our apartment to school or to the center of the city. But the truth is Gracia has enough to offer in itself and I think I'm going to start spending a lot more time in this neighborhood.
As Natalie, Torrie, and I did not want to go to a disco Friday night we decided to go to a little neighborhood called El Born to bar hop. We had heard there was good nightlife there for young people. The neighborhood was definitely alive and vibrant and we really enjoyed ourselves, except we felt as though we were somewhat on the younger side of the crowd. It seemed more of a place we would want to go to if we were working in Barcelona and in our mid 20's, but the night was fun nonetheless. The highlight of my night was when I got in a fight in spanish with the bus driver. My card wasn't working in the machine so she was trying to make me pay for the bus ride. Having had two drinks and being the stubborn girl that I am, I refused to pay and was forced to get off the bus a few stops early...
On Saturday I decided to go to the Museo Nacional de Arte de Catalunya. I saw such a variety of works starting in the 13th century and leading right up to the 20th century. I was really impressed by the collection there and learned a lot about the history of spain and barcelona. Not gonna lie, I felt pretty cultured and intelligent after my trip to the museum. In the afternoon I met for the first time with my language partner, Alaitz. Alaitz is majoring in translation and is going to meet with me to help me practice my spanish. She gave me a lot of useful corrections when I was speaking and I hope that meeting with her will really improve my spanish since I don't speak spanish as much as I'd like in the apartment.
Saturday night I hosted my very first dinner party!! I made chicken cordon bleu with mashed potatoes, corn, and salad. Natalie and I invited Laura, Gerard, and Gerard's roommates over for the dinner. The food actually tasted great! I was really proud of myself and am now excited to have an apartment after college and cook for my friends without burning the house down :) After dinner we did a little bar hopping and after considering the thought of going to a disco we decided to come home and get some sleep. All in all it was a wonderful and relaxing weekend and I was very happy to spend time with my catalan friends.
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