Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Today we left Madrid for Barcelona. We woke up extra early to make sure we got to eat a good breakfast before we loaded the bus. We were supposed to load the bus at 8 and lave by 8:30. The plan was to also stop at a caslte/church on the way. We tried to leave on time so that we could make it there before the siesta (which is a very annoying thing in spain from 1-5 where EVERYTHING closes for people to nap). There were apparently being very serious when they said they would leave us if we weren’t there. There were two girls missing from the bus at 8:25. After a phone call to their room, it turns out that they had overslept and had 5 minutes to get down to the bus. Shortly after 8:40, the bus pulled away from the hotel, and the girls were still not there. I felt so bad for them. They would have to figure out how to try to take the train to Barcelona. Neither spoke Spanish and they were both girls. I was pretty worried.
Luckily, the bus had to make a u-turn to go to the highway. When we swung back around on the road it had been about 5 minutes. We passed them walking to the train station! We pulled over shortly after and picked them up. I was so happy that it worked out and everyone made the bus!
The bus ride was very long. We got on the highway and then stopped. Traffic was very bad and I think we only got about 1 km in 2 hours. Needless to say, we missed getting to our church. The first leg lasted for about 4.5 hours. When we finally stopped, I thought I was going to wet myself! (this whole time I was thinking, I wish mer where here so she could make them stop the bus for a potty break). We stopped at a restaurant/gas station. I ordered a hamburger (cause It really looked like the only halfway sanitary thing). I got it and ate around the outside. I still have not gotten used to the rareness of all the meat in Spain. I am still a little weary when I bite into beef that hasn’t been cooked very long. But I am proud of myself for eating things that are different!
We got back on the road we stopped 3 more times. The total trip took a little over 10 hours. I was very tired and ready to get off of the bus. I wasn’t able to really sleep, but I did get some of my art homework nad reading done. I was also thankful for some down time.
We got to the hotel in Barcelona at around 6:45. Once we dropped our stuff off, we had our welcome dinner. For the first course (and what we thought was our only one) we got spaghetti with meat sauce. It was a huge plate of it! Mine was bigger than the guy sitting next to me so I gladly switched. I was only able to get through about half of it when I was stuffed. They came and took our plates away but we remained seated, expecting desert. However, that was not what came. The waiters walked up to our table and proceeded to but down a very very large steak with French fries. We knew that this had to be a mistake. Even one of our professors came over to our table to inquire about it. We had no idea and didn’t know what had happened. Then, they started serving it to the other tables. It was a second course! I could not believe it. I ate several bites of the steak, but was so full! Most everyone just ate a little bit to be polite, but after that spaghetti, it was just impossible to eat more. After, we got a very sweet fruit cocktail.
At dinner we discovered that we are about 1 hour outside of Barcelona. And that everyday, we must take the tram to a train to take us into the city. We have to pay for it so I am kind of bummed about that. Also, the train stops running at midnight, so if we would like to go out, we have to take a pretty expensive cab ride back to the hotel. I think we will just end up staying in the city during the day and the night, because there is not a lot to do around the hotel and no where close to walk to eat. Also, it seems like it is in kind of a sketchy place. Not so sure I will venture our without a boy and at least 4 other people!
After dinner we headed to the room to take showers and do homework. There is a lot of people going out, but it was raining and I felt like I needed to get some work done and head to bed early. Tomorrow we have a very busy day. I am excited about the new city, and the possibility of going to the beach. Although, it has been sooooo cold here! I have been wearing two jackets most everyday in Spain. I clearly did not pack for this cold weather so I am trying to make my pair of pants last a long time! Hopefully it will start to warm up!