Anem a la platja

Monday I finally made it to the beach! It was perfect: sunny, breezy, not too hot and I was relieved that the last two weeks of rain didn't portend the end of summer. I read, listened to music, and took a little siesta (ha, ha, Christina likes to sleep. a lot. in the afternoon). I went to a catalonian wine expo afterwards that was fantastic. It was held outside by the port and I had dinner for only 11 Euro: four glasses of cava and rosé and enough sausage, cheese, and pastries to be both drunk and stuffed. Sex-y. I really do like Barcelona and, lack of dryers notwithstanding, think it is an ideal place to live. It combines the best of California (beaches, warm weather, easy going) with everything I love about New York (culture, walkable, nightlife, architecture).

This week is orientation for exchange students. Yesterday was the kickoff and I met most of the other students I hadn't already been in class with. It was a looong day filled with presentations that mercifully ended with free drinks. This morning we had a class on the modern sociopolitical history of Spain. It started with a quiz on which I scored 0/15. Could you correctly identify Spain's political system? Luckily, it evolved into a really interesting discussion on language and how a country's attitude towards it affects its political/economic landscape. More importantly, today, I found an English-speaking place that does mani/pedi and eyebrows. Tomorrow is a bus tour of the less accessible tourist spots and then it's off to San Sebastian for a long weekend with some of the other exchange students. But I'm also keeping it real. I had to clean the disgusting kitchen today (worse than Plimpton senior year) since we haven't found a maid and spent an hour with my roommate taking apart and putting together the bathroom sink pipes because I dropped my contact case in there and the water wouldn't drain.

In honor of today's semi-intellectual post, here are some random facts about Barcelona that's not included in the guidebooks.

• It is seriously polluted. How can I notice it here and not in California or New York? The floor hasn't been swept in months and my bare feet were black the first night from all the dust/exhaust on the floor.
• The mullet is de rigeur among Spanish youth and the combination mullet/dreads look is particularly favored by guys.
• You have to hail buses.
• The water, while potable, is not palatable. Brita doesn't exist here but bottled water in thankfully very cheap.
• Very few people speak English. When I bought pork chops for dinner tonight, the butcher pointed to a picture of a pig so I wouldn't misunderstand him.
• Nearly every single consonant is pronounced with a lisp and I am torn between pronouncing things correctly or not having to supress the urge to snicker.
• For some reason, there are only crosswalks on one, and not both, side of the street.