Spain and I kick some collective ass.

UM, life is fantastic.
First of all, we have these delicious little sweet bread things (and I mean that like a bread that is sweet, not like animal innards sweet breads) for breakfast which make me warm inside because they remind me of Costco dinner rolls (ohhhh dinner rolls) but with a touch of honey - basically it's magical. I had a REALLY weird weekend, and so I am very glad that Monday is off to such a KICKASS start. My weekend: On Friday night I went over to Stacey & Danielle's to watch the debate (which aired at 3 am). In order to stay awake, we listened to some awesome Spanish band, watched Palin's interview with Katie Couric, and tried but failed to watch the Colbert Report. We went to a nearby bar (I secretly hate them for having cool stuff in their neighborhood - mine is really nice and has good cafes but is very residential so there are very few bars or activity at all after midnight) and had ONE beer before racing back to watch the debate. We had it going on the CNN live feed (on two different computers, because one or the other kept cutting out) and on the tv, but the tv one was dubbed so that wasn't so useful. Stacey made homemade patatas bravas to keep us going until 4:30, at which point I decided it was better to sleep on their couch than try to brave the NitBus with my current state of exhaustion. In the morning (read: 1pm) Danielle made us tofu scramble and potatoes, and I went home to shower and face the day - but ended up just facing the internet as I tried to figure out my mobile phone plan. It took me literally two hours of wading through the Spanish and English versions of their website to figure out my plan, if I wanted to change to a new plan, and what the differences and costs all are. Basically I feel like I'm spending a lot on my phone and want that to change. Aaaanyway that night I went to a concert as part of the Indian Festival (lots of Viva Krishna going on) and then out with Danielle, Stacey, Laura, and her roommate Laila, but went home at a decent hour (3am) in a totally sound state of mind. THEN. The weirdest thing ever. I slept straight through until 6pm. I didn't wake up once in 13 hours of sleeping. WHAT THE HELL. I have no idea what happened but I assume I must have been sleep-deprived or sick, and I don't feel sick at all. Anyway, that was really weird and stupid because I wasted a whole day sleeping. It was lucky I fell asleep at all last night.

ON TO THE KICK ASS DAY THAT WAS TODAY: I got up with my alarm (this is an event in itself), had a delicious sweet roll and some Cinnamon Toast Crunch (viva Espanna), and WALKED to UPF. I knew this was possible, since I have done it on my way home twice already, but I wasn't sure about the timing or the best possible path. Well, it was a beautiful clear morning, sort of crisp but not cold, and the walk took me only 22 minutes, whereas the metro takes 25. Besides, it goes right next to the Parc de la Ciutadella and the Arc de Triomf, so it is a gorgeous walk, and I sort of accidentally met up with a growing group of students on their way there. It was so great. This must be what it's like to go to college in a city. FANTASTIC. Anyway, I had my poetry class which was great, except that apparently I was blind to the number of foreigners in it last time - there are tons. I was literally surrounded on every side with Americans. We're reading Ruben Dario and talking about modernism, and I just love love love it so far. Except it's hard to just listen to the poems - I like to see them as well. But she was reading some aloud that aren't in our reader, so they were harder to follow. On the first day, she read one aloud in French, then said, "Is there anyone who doesn't speak French?" As if that was only a slight possibility. Several people said they didn't, so she read the CATALAN translation. Um... not helpful. Anyway. Back to today. I really like this professor, and wish she would stay with our class at least until the actual prof gets back - she said it'll probably change though.
THEN I went to the dreaded Islam History class, plunked myself down in the front row, drank a coffee from a vending machine (50 cents! And not half bad - ok so I don't really know coffee but I just wanted the caffeine for the sake of my attention span), and readied my pen. As if the first day had been nothing but some horrible nightmare, I understood nearly everything he said! (In case it wasn't clear, that's why I kick ass.) I love the front row. I'm sitting there every day. It was also very interesting, because we were talking about the time when the Sunnis and the Shiites (Sunnitas y Chiitas, if you were wondering) separated, and the European Christian perception of Muslims at the time (and how it has lasted oh... 1400 years). So that was GREAT.
Next I booked it to IES, grabbed my bocadillo de chorizo on the way (2.60, cheaper than last week and more delicious), and went to castellano, where I discovered that the seemingly unending por/para lesson has actually never stuck with me, and my homework was nearly all wrong. Then we planned the interviews we will be doing next week, and talked about what we don't like about Spain (to practice phrases from interviews such as "Odio que..."). I contributed that I hate waiting in lines. It's crazy how I'm so used to lines that are all about speed, where as here the checkers will be talking to their friends, or doing their nails, or just generally being slow, even when there's a line of 20 people. It took me 40 minutes to wait in a line of six people on Friday. Other contributions included the rude people on the subway and the street noise - which personally I feel are just city complaints, not specific to Barcelona complaints. You can't really blame Barcelona for being a city. You could say you don't like cities. Someone also said "How the Spanish students hate Americans" which our professor immediately contested. What? Why do you think that? No, they're just not as hyper outgoing as you're used to. They don't hate Americans. What do you say to them? Do you talk to them? Oh, well see, if you say "Que tal" that doesn't mean you want to talk, that's something you say in passing. No one would stop and talk to you because you said que tal. And so on and so forth - this should give you a good idea of the general flow of our classes.

Anyway, the weather today is STUNNING: 70 degrees, minimal clouds (just enough to be cute and look poofy without blocking the sun), and a crisp, clean feeling in the air - I just love fall. Especially WARM fall! What a concept. I mean, it rained last week, but it isn't raining now! Basically this is just reinforcing my sunshine = Prozac theme of life. Tonight I am going to a cooking class, where we will learn to make paella, tortilla de patata, gazpacho, and crema catalana. And then we eat it all! MY GOD WHAT A DAY! I love Barcelona.

[Update:] Oh, cooking class was a magical experience. The woman was fantastic, and had a few of us do each dish, staggered, so we could also all see what was going on. I helped make the crema catalana, which was basically a lemony creme brulee (amaaazing). We served the gazpacho in double shot glasses with aioli and pesto, and grated cheese on top (to look like a cappuchino - sort of) and it was the best gazpacho I have ever had. No contest. Then the tortilla, which was as good as Ana's, which ranks it as tying with the best tortilla I have ever had. We ate it with pan con tomate, which is just toasted baguette with garlic, tomato, olive oil and salt. The combination? Again. Orgasmic. Then paella with chicken, peppers, beans, tomato, onions, garlic, saffron, all that goodness - incredible. I can't even talk about it. At this point I was so full I thought I might die, and then we had the crema catalana. Which she bruleed. It was the best meal I have had in Spain, and I have all the recipies, along with restuarant recommendations. Hands down, the best 20 euros that have ever been spent on education.