All Nighter...

I decided not to sleep before I leave for Morocco so I can try to sleep through the 8-11 hour journey there. Can't decide if this is a good idea or not..but we will find out!! Africa here I come! Gateway to the Middle East! Definitely going to be a culture shock but I am so excited to see and experience this way of life that is so new and foreign to me. I can hide a little bit in Spain (expect when I run cross walks...I really need to stop that...) but I am going to stick out like a sore thumb for sure in Morocco. This will be a whole new experience for me and I am excited to see how I will adjust.

So, I have had a crazy week! I had a presentation in my Latin American class today and I have been spending all week working on that.

I spent this past weekend in Barcelona. We left extremely early on Friday morning to walk to the bus station to catch a bus to get to the airport to take a plane to the train station to take a train to the metro that would take us to our pension. Trains, Planes, and Automobiles x 10!! However, it was surprising easy to get around. Everything here is set up for very convenient travel. We stayed the Pension Sagre right in the center of town. We had a really nice 3 person private room that was relatively cheap. Honestly, my trip to Barcelona is a blur. We arrived and literally didn't stop moving for 48 hours. There was just so much to see. Barcelona is such a beautiful city. I know I say that about EVERY city, but if you are ever in Spain, please please please go there. Hands down my favorite city besides Granada which will always have my heart, of course. For me, it was an urban paradise with so much culture and places to go and explore. There was always something interesting that caught my eye. I had no problem walking around all day because I was just so excited to see what else I would find.

On the first day we went to the Picasso Museum... for 45 minutes...I know its a travesty but it is what happens when you have 48 hours in a city. We also went to this huge market in the center of the city. It is like the West Side Market in Cleveland only a lot bigger. There were so many types of fresh fruits and vegetables. It was so incredible! We even stumbled upon a vegan stand in the market. Sometimes it is just nice to take a break from fried meat with a side of fried something dipped in a gallon of oil along with a side of a huge baguette. Yay healthy detox lunch!

Day 2 was simply packed. We started the morning at Camp Nou, the futbol stadium home to FC Barcelona. I am in no way a "futbol" expert, but being in Spain really has made me interested in the sport and I've really enjoyed watching games while I've been here. It was a hard choice deciding between Real Madrid and Barca...but I think I made the right choice :) We took a tour of the stadium, got to see the changing rooms, press box, VIP section, and other places of sport-type importance. At the end of the tour,we got to hear all the fan chants and see Barca's finest futbol victory moments. It was just really awesome to see the city's enthusiasm and pride for their team. Kinda reminded me of Cleveland :)

Well, that is where I am going to stop for now. I have a limited amount of time and I feel just making a laundry list of everything we did does not do justice to this incredible city. Until next time!!