The Rain in Spain...

I'm currently in an internet cafe in Rome, across the street from our hotel, but more on that later. I only have one hour to recap my experiences in Spain and this keyboard is really confusing so if my spelling and grammar is not up to par, forgive me.

June 24- Today was a learning experience. I now fully understand the importance of flexilibity and patience when traveling. Sometimes everything does not go according to plan, and you have to learn to roll with the punches. I wasted the morning away waiting to meet our Italian interport student, only to discover that his plane was delayed 2 hours and I wasn't going to be able to meet him. We arrived in Barcelona on a Catalonian holiday, so almost all of the shops and museums were closed. Our city orienation trip could have been better, since we spent most of it on a huge tour bus and only had 20-40 minutes at each place we stopped at. But today I experienced new things, and I was challenged to be flexible. And as our interport lecturer Barry the clown said, "When you fail, the sun comes up the next day, the birds chirp, and you move on."

June 25- Today was a new day in Barcelona. I spent most of the day hanging out with Katie and our neighbor Sam. We went to a Starbucks so they could use the Wi-Fi, and I took notes for my project on coffee in the Mediterranean. Afterwards we wandered through the stalls at La Boqueria, an award-winning food market off of Las Ramblas. I tried croquettas, churros con chocolate, and cafe con leche. All of the above were absolutely delicious.

We went inside Gaudi's masterpiece, La Sagrada Familia. This church is incredible, over 100 years old, and is still being built. We payed 2.50€ to take an elevator to the top. The view of the city was incredible. In the evening, we met up with some other kids from our hallway to watch Spain and Chile battle it out in a World Cup game at a restaurant called Top Tapas on Las Ramblas. The bar was filled with high energy and cheers each time Spain scored, and when Spain won the game it cleared out as everyone moved to the streets to celebrate.

June 26- I woke up from what I would call a nap to catch a train to Madrid. Today I traveled to Spain's capitol to meet my friends Ardena and Sara. Traveling by train is definitely the way to go, and I wish I could use it at home. A drive from Barcelona to Madrid would take 8 hours. Traveling at speeds up to 210 mph, the AVE train got us there in two and a half. It was like taking a roadtrip in fast forward, and I enjoyed the comfortable reclining seats and view of the Spanish countryside. Ardena and Sara picked us up at the train station in Tres Cantos and we spent a couple of hours at her house sharing stories and catching up. It was so pleasant and surreal to meet up with familar faces in a foreign country. That night I went out and had a fabulous time with Ardena, her sister Carmen, Sara, Bonnie, and Katie. I wish we could have spent longer in Madrid-- I really loved it. We rolled back into Tres Cantos around 5 a.m., soaked from the rain shower we got caught in. I guess the rain in Spain doesn't always stay mainly in the plain.

June 27- After waking up from a 3 hour nap at Ardena's, we walked to the train station and said our goodbyes. We missed our train by a few minutes, and once we made it to Madrid we learned that all economy class seats were sold for the day. Since we only had a few hours to make it back to the ship, we had to travel first class. It was really nice because they fed us, but I don't ever want to cut it that close again. Today I realized that the Spanish lifestyle is a little too fast for me. As soon as I returned to the ship, I slept-- for 15 hours! I now know that there is a reason for the Spanish siesta.