Since the past couple weeks have already disappeared faster than they came, I think it's about time for a little update...
To begin with, my internship is still going really well. I am actually enjoying it more now than I was before. Since I have gotten better at Spanish, I have been able to work on more challenging projects. I am having a lot more fun and I am learning more as well. The past couple weeks have been pretty tough though, because I have been working longer hours in order to make up for the hours I would miss for taking 3 days off to go to Barcelona for an extended weekend. Which brings me to my next update....
This past weekend, Maalia and I took a little trip to Barcelona to meet up with some friends and have a little 'vacation' (I know what you are thinking, a vacation from a vacation. But we are working hard here in San Sebastián, I swear!) We left early on Friday morning and took a plane from Bilbao. We got to Barcelona in about 3 hours total, I think. (Flying was a huge time saver!) We all stayed in this cute little apartment in a great part of town just for blocks from the beach and walking distance to a bunch of good restaurants and cool bars.
The first night, we went to a couple bars about 10 or 15 minutes away from the apartment. It was a lot of fun. At one point, we were hanging out in a big plaza and we saw this big group of people dressed in funky costumes. They were sitting in a line on the ground and one person would stand at the front of the line and fall backwards. Everyone would put their hands up and catch them and then 'crowd surf' them to the back of the line. So, of course, Maalia and I ran over to join in the shenanigans. They were perfectly excited to let us hop in on the fun. After that, we started playing another game, however when Maalia fell on the ground causing everyone else to tumble down after her like dominoes, we decided that would be a good time to peace out....
The following day, we went to see a bit of the town and do a little site seeing. First we went to Barcelona Cathedral (also known as La Seu). If I remember correctly, I think it said it was built in a style called Catalan Gothic architecture in the 14th century and the site where the church is located is referred to as 'the spiritual center of Barcelona'. We went up onto the roof and enjoyed the pretty view of the city.
From there, we headed over to Parque Guell, which was designed by the famous Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi for Barcelona's aristocracy. He was an interesting architect who was able to think way ahead of his time. The park is full of really cool rock structures as well as really unique buildings and figures decorated with little pieces of colorful ceramic. I sort of felt like I was walking in a dream world.
That evening, we met up with some other friends in town and we went to this club called Carpe Diem. Unfortunately, none of us really knew that we would be going to such a swanky place and we were all wearing tennies. Well, that didn't fly with the bouncer who was strictly enforcing the dress code.... We were thinking about where else to go when one of our friends comes bursting out the door informing the bouncer that she had paid for a VIP table downstairs and that we were all on the list. We whooshed by the bouncer, who was staring at our shoes as we passed with a pained look on his face. And from that moment on, i'm pretty sure the rest of the night was a dream (because i'm still not convinced that it could have really happened....). The VIP section had this big black couch with big colorful pillows. As we were sitting down, they were just bringing in a bottle of champagne for our table. We danced the whole night and they just kept bringing in more bottles of alcohol (which were quickly disappearing). I can't count how many rounds of Redbull and bottles of Vodka with big bright sparklers shooting out of the top that they set on our table (but we were hanging out with a bunch of Australians, so maybe that explains the disappearing alcohol??). We had so much fun. We felt so spoiled. We literally didn't have to do anything accept enjoy ourselves. And that definitely was not hard to do. We stayed until the club closed down, but I felt like I could have danced forever! It was a great Saturday night, to say the least.
The following day we slept in....we needed it! When we were finally ready to head out around noon, we went to have a big breakfast and then we were off to do a bit more site seeing. We went to one of Barcelona's most famous landmarks, La Sagrada Familia, which is an unfinished Catholic basilica. Like Parque Guell, it was also designed by Gaudi who worked exclusively on this cathedral for over 40 years. Construction began in the late 1950s and is still unfinished today. I think I remember our friend saying that it still has about 20 years to go! Anyways, the design is super detailed and super trippy. I kind of think it looks like it's melting or something. And parts of it are a little bit creepy. But it really is astounding that someone could design something so complex!
Later that evening, we went to a pub to watch the Barcelona-Valladolid fútbol game. During the game, the streets were absolutely dead. But after Barcelona won, people went crazy. It was really cool to see.
On Monday, Maalia and I took a little adventure to a town called Lloret de Mar to go bungee jumping! The entire day was a blast! It was just Maalia and I that went and it was a very memorable adventure. When we got to the bungee jumping site, we were the only customers there. We had hoped that we would get to watch some other people jump first just so that we could see that we would most likely survive the jump.... But that wasn't happening. So we just had to go for it. It was the most exhilarating feeling I have ever experienced! I had absolutely no control over anything and then it was like I blinked and it was over! It would have been cool if it lasted just a bit longer....I guess i'll just have to try sky diving next. ;)
After bungee jumping, we had an awesome evening with good beer, good food, and good friends. And just like that, our adventure was over. Now I am back in San Sebastián, back at work. I feel completely re-energized and I think I can safely say that my weekend in Barcelona was one of the most exciting, enjoyable weekends of my life!
Now, with just over 2 weeks left in San Sebastián, I am going to try to enjoy every last second of it!
Besitos! <3
