Sitges!

I haven't written a blog in two days so i'll have to catch you guys up really quickly. Friday night we went out to a new discoteca called "Razzmatazz" which was a lot crazier than the first. There were several rooms, fog machines, tons of people and loud music. They had a live performance on a huge stage at about 3:30am too. Although Barcelona's time schedule runs much later than I am used to, the public transportation system doesn't work so cooperatively with the schedule. The metro stops running at 12 on weeknights, and 2am on weekends, and doesn't open again until 5am. I guess a lot of people just plan on staying out that late, but if you want to get home between 2-5 you either have to take like 3 different busses and still walk a ways, or take a taxi. There are tons of taxis around every corner, and since we haven't figured out the bus system yet, we always end of having to pay 15-20 euro just to get home each night, since the colegio is so out of the way from everything. Once I live downtown though, it will be easier to just walk everywhere. Yesterday basically the entire ILP group went to Sitges for a day at the beach. It is so easy to get there, I seriously want to go back every weekend. It was so cute, really quaint and clean, but really fun too. After a short 25 minute train ride, we got there around 2pm, and laid out on the sand for a while. The beach was so crowded, everyone and there mother was there! The beach itself is not that great, just because of how many people are jammed into a small space. Since everyone smokes, they pretty much use the beach as one giant ashtray, and there is lots of garbage all over. If you want to sit on a lounge chair, you have to pay 6 euro, and people come by you constantly to sell necklaces, t-shirts, or hair braiding. But, if you lay down and look asleep no one bothers you. The water was AMAZING. Bright blue, white sand, so picturesque. It is so salty that you float so easily and there were rolling waves so it was a lot of fun to play in the water. While floating there looking out over the Mediterranean Sea, or glancing back along the coast I couldn't believe that this is actually my life right now, I definitely am getting really comfortable here. The entire coast is so pretty, and there are tons of beaches within that area, so going back again I would probably look a little harder for one less crowded. Here is a picture of the beach: (Those big slide things are paddle boats that you can rent for like 14 euro and hour and you take the out a ways to play on, there were a lot out in the water)

After the beach, we walked around the town for a while. I love this town, I would permanently live here in a heartbeat. But, like most other places we went to, it is catered mostly to tourists, and very expensive. Every little street was so adorable, the street signs were all ceramic with delicate paintings on them, and the buildings were so colorful and unique. There were several markets and fruit vendors, and hidden cafes every few steps. Here are a few pictures from wandering around:

We went into a little cafe at one point to get a cold drink, and looking on the menu we saw a bunch of juices. A girl asked for melon juice, and the bartender went to the back, and came back with a whole melon in her hands! We watched her as she literally cut out 1/4 of it, cut off the rind, put it through a juicer, added a straw and voila! I don't think you can get much fresher than that. By the way, the melon here is amazing, its a different kind then what they grow in the states, its green outside, white inside, and is really juicy and tastes a lot like cantaloupe, they have it at the cafeteria a lot. Which reminds me, I thought I would show what the food is like here, so I took a couple of pictures last night.

This is the "salad" that we have every night. Its actually really good with just some balsamic vinaigrette. 

Here is the fruit and bread that we load up on, as alternative to the fried mystery meat.

Last night after dinner a few girls came over and we got candy at the OpenCor market down the street and watched "The Hangover" on my laptop. 

Tomorrow we have classes, and Thursday is the last day of ILP! Wednesday we are going to the Museum of History of Catalunya for our field trip and then I move out the next day! I have academic advising on Tuesday to officially enroll in classes, and after the field trip on Wednesday I am going down to the police station to apply for my student residency. I just found an English bookstore close to the University, so I am going there tomorrow after class to get a new book. (Spanish is great to immerse yourself in all day everyday, but its nice to be able to really read a book when you are tired or just relaxing and don't need much brainpower.) I am trying to get involved with volunteer work or an internship because I know I will have a lot of free time. I have e-mailed several Fair-Trade organizations here to see if there might be openings, but haven't heard back yet. I'm planning on joining the UB gym too so I can take yoga and pilates classes and use the pool. I am excited to start a regular routine and get as involved as I can, it seems like there is so much out there to join into.