day 40 (2.12.09)

HOLA A TODOS!
Monday night I went to "cook and taste". It was really awesome! It is a small business that runs out of a really cool apartment above Las Ramblas. We went in and there was a chef and a really long table/countertop/stove/cutting board. It is difficult to explain, and I didnt take pictures becaus I forgot my camera. I will ask a friend to send me hers so I can attach them here. We learned how to cook Tortilla Espanola an egg and potato dish, Paella the most typical dish from this region, a cold tomato/garlic based soup, pan con tomate (basically bread with garlic and tomato), and crema de espana which is a custurd with carmalized sugar on top. It was a lot of fun, I didnt volunteer to do much of the cooking because I liked sitting back and drinking wine and watching the madness. (But I did pay a lot of attention so I could try to make some of it back at home!)
Today, Thursday, my friend Sarah Martin who is in my sorority got to Barcelona. Another one of my friends, Betsy, arrives later tonight. I met Sarah after my class and showed her around the oldest section of the city. I felt bad because I had to hurry home for dinner and to get showered to go out tonight. She ended up canceling because she had to get up at 4AM for her flight out of Paris this morning, which is probably best because I have class at 9AM tommorrow! So, now I am working on booking hostels and trains and planes for my spring break trip to Italia!
Adios for now!

day 37 (2.9.09)

JUST GOT BACK FROM MADRID!!
Madrid was soo much fun. We got their from the high speed train called the AVE. (literally meaning the bird) We stayed right by Palacio Real, the "Royal Palace" in a small old hotel called Principe Pio. It was really cute and included a great spanish style breakfast. The first day we didnt do much except walking tours and the Prado mueseum-- which was HUGE!! I got to see all of the original Goya art that I learned about in my Spanish classes at IU. The second day we toured the palace, which has 2,800 rooms! obviously we didnt get to see them all though, and we went to the reina sophia museum. There was a lot of cool stuff there, but I saw a few disturbing modern art exhibits and decided to leave after looking at body parts strung from metal wire all over the room.
Anyway, the city was very clean and well lit. It looked newer then Barcelona especially because the buildings were taller and the streets were wider. But, in general the city seemed much more generic then Barcelona. Barcelona is much more tattooed and pierced and high fashion and funk and dirtier and wierder... but I love all of those things about my temporary home.
I do have to admit the food was better in Madrid. Maybe because I was given fake money from my program that worked as real money to any resturant I wanted, so I was willing to spend more then I am when I am here. The tapas were amazing! (tapas are like appetizers and everyone orders a bunch and shares them, they are usually spanish meats, and stuffed pepers, mini sandwiches, and other finger foods). A group of us went to get wine and tapas for dinner one night, and stayed out eating and drinking untill 1:30 AM.
It was so fun, I am glad that I was given the opportunity to go see it- and how suprisingly different it is from Barcelona.
Sorry momfor not writing lately, I promise to get back into the swing of this blog thing!