Today was orientation. 29 of us students participating in the 8-week intensive internship program here met at the IES Abroad Barcelona center just off the Plaza Catalunya this morning. It was a typical orientation except for our safety activity. We were given case studies derived from true stories from prior IES students and the one my group had to mull over was about Kate. This is Kate's story:
Kate was really drunk but her friends were really tired. Kate's friends wanted Kate to come back home with them but Kate met a guy she liked at the club and wanted to go back to "listen to music" (my quotation marks) with him back at his place. So Kate's friends left Kate to go home with mystery man while mystery man's friend also professed that he was too tired to listen to music and got in his own cab to go to his own home. Kate and her mystery man made it back to his apartment and then...PLOT TWIST! He held a knife to her throat and forced her to do cocaine and made her have sex with her. When she woke up, she was disoriented, hung over, and a rape victim. "Kate was very, very upset" (quote taken from original case study). Oh, Kate...
Moral of the story: Barcelona has knife-wielding, cocaine-toting, dancing and club-going rapists. So does the rest of the world. So listen up lady-folk: don't go home with creepy strangers. The stranger danger assembly from the first grade applies NOW. Let's put that to good use and make our parents proud.
After that activity, with all the students in markedly good spirits, we got our assignment for the day: scavenger hunt. We had to explore El Born and La Ciutadella while other groups explored other areas of the city and then we had to fill out a questionnaire. The first group with the most complete questionnaire back at headquarters would win a free trip to Rupit and the second place winners an art pass to get into various art museums in the city. But that wasn't until 3 and it was only 12:30 in the afternoon when orientation was over. So I, along with Joanna and Courtney (our neighbor and fellow internship participant) explored Passeig de Grácia around the corner from the IES headquarters.
Passeig de Grácia is a giant avenue and it's even longer when you're not eating lunch and crossing whatever intersections have a green pedestrian light. We saw some beautiful and quiet back streets but also two famous architectural landmarks. I took some pretty awful photos:
We got back at 3 and our group was barely half-formed when we got on the subway and were off to El Born or Born as it's known to the locals. Down L'Argenteria, a narrow downhill street, we met our first task: try some Tapas at Sagardi, a renowned Tapas Bar in the Gothic quarter. While most of the nine of us had already had lunch, Joanna and I had starved ourselves, looking forward to this moment. The rest moved on and we popped into the self-service restaurant, specializing in pintxos, bite-sized morsels of whatever food on sliced baguette. The only seats were outside and they were limited so most people stood at the bar or at standing-height tables around the restaurant.
All the tapas are priced the same. When you're done eating, someone counts up the toothpicks that are left and gives you your check. We had six items (the sixth--a shrimp croquette filled with cheese, wrapped in ham, and fried) is not in the picture because we ate it quickly after it appeared after the photo had already been taken. The whole meal altogether cost just ten euro and we split it. I call it 5 Euro well spent.
Next stop:
La Catedral de Santa María del Mar
It was closed during Siesta but it's still a Gothic Cathedral with attitude from the outside. Around the back of the church are some amazing old apartments with balconies I could imagine being serenaded on. It's on a narrow tree-lined street that only really has bicycle/moped and pedestrian traffic.
The Picasso museum is right around the corner, so we passed it by on the way to La Ciutadella park, along with the Pre-Colombian Art museum, mammoth museum, Museu de la Xocolata (chocolate), and finally, the Museum of Natural Sciences. This last museum shares its home in a park with a museum of geology, a number of outdoor arboretums, and extensive vegetation. It's a kick-ass park. Some of the thing we saw:
An hour after we were supposed to be done with the scavenger hunt but at least complete, we struggled over to the Arc de Triomf as our last stop and accomplished our final task: a group photo in front of the arch. This photo was not taken on my iPhone so I can't share it with you but you can google the arch and imagine nine very tired college students in front of it. That's all you're missing.
It's midnight now and I'm exhausted. We'll know the results of the competition by Thursday so you'll know in roughly 48 hours if we've won anything. In the meantime, I'm about to pop some ibuprofen and call it a night. It's been an epic journey of eager beavering and now that I've rinsed off my feet, dined on a grilled cheese (gouda, tomato, oregano, garlic) and a boiled egg, and taken a full shower, I'm ready for day 3.
Bring it on, Barcelona.
Kate was really drunk but her friends were really tired. Kate's friends wanted Kate to come back home with them but Kate met a guy she liked at the club and wanted to go back to "listen to music" (my quotation marks) with him back at his place. So Kate's friends left Kate to go home with mystery man while mystery man's friend also professed that he was too tired to listen to music and got in his own cab to go to his own home. Kate and her mystery man made it back to his apartment and then...PLOT TWIST! He held a knife to her throat and forced her to do cocaine and made her have sex with her. When she woke up, she was disoriented, hung over, and a rape victim. "Kate was very, very upset" (quote taken from original case study). Oh, Kate...
Moral of the story: Barcelona has knife-wielding, cocaine-toting, dancing and club-going rapists. So does the rest of the world. So listen up lady-folk: don't go home with creepy strangers. The stranger danger assembly from the first grade applies NOW. Let's put that to good use and make our parents proud.
After that activity, with all the students in markedly good spirits, we got our assignment for the day: scavenger hunt. We had to explore El Born and La Ciutadella while other groups explored other areas of the city and then we had to fill out a questionnaire. The first group with the most complete questionnaire back at headquarters would win a free trip to Rupit and the second place winners an art pass to get into various art museums in the city. But that wasn't until 3 and it was only 12:30 in the afternoon when orientation was over. So I, along with Joanna and Courtney (our neighbor and fellow internship participant) explored Passeig de Grácia around the corner from the IES headquarters.
Passeig de Grácia is a giant avenue and it's even longer when you're not eating lunch and crossing whatever intersections have a green pedestrian light. We saw some beautiful and quiet back streets but also two famous architectural landmarks. I took some pretty awful photos:
An awful profile of La Casa Batlló by Gaudí
A less awful but barely decent photo of La Pedrera, also by Gaudí
We got back at 3 and our group was barely half-formed when we got on the subway and were off to El Born or Born as it's known to the locals. Down L'Argenteria, a narrow downhill street, we met our first task: try some Tapas at Sagardi, a renowned Tapas Bar in the Gothic quarter. While most of the nine of us had already had lunch, Joanna and I had starved ourselves, looking forward to this moment. The rest moved on and we popped into the self-service restaurant, specializing in pintxos, bite-sized morsels of whatever food on sliced baguette. The only seats were outside and they were limited so most people stood at the bar or at standing-height tables around the restaurant.
From 6 o'clock going clockwise:
omelet with peppers and cod, dessert tapa with creamy cheese and bluberry jam, crab salad in croissant, creamy mystery square topped with savory preserves and nuts, goat cheese with nuts topped with chorizo and a fried pepper
Partial view of the bar and tapas assortments
Next stop:
It was closed during Siesta but it's still a Gothic Cathedral with attitude from the outside. Around the back of the church are some amazing old apartments with balconies I could imagine being serenaded on. It's on a narrow tree-lined street that only really has bicycle/moped and pedestrian traffic.
Apartments in the Gothic Quarter
The Picasso museum is right around the corner, so we passed it by on the way to La Ciutadella park, along with the Pre-Colombian Art museum, mammoth museum, Museu de la Xocolata (chocolate), and finally, the Museum of Natural Sciences. This last museum shares its home in a park with a museum of geology, a number of outdoor arboretums, and extensive vegetation. It's a kick-ass park. Some of the thing we saw:
Castle of the Three Dragons
I do not actually know what it's for
The Catalonian Parliament building and the fountain with the sculpture of a very sad naked lady in front of it.
It is not Kate. Although "Kate [was] very, very upset" as well.
Tiny purple flowers
Me walking over to the majestic Cascada fountain
The fountain
My arrival
It's midnight now and I'm exhausted. We'll know the results of the competition by Thursday so you'll know in roughly 48 hours if we've won anything. In the meantime, I'm about to pop some ibuprofen and call it a night. It's been an epic journey of eager beavering and now that I've rinsed off my feet, dined on a grilled cheese (gouda, tomato, oregano, garlic) and a boiled egg, and taken a full shower, I'm ready for day 3.
Bring it on, Barcelona.
I looooove your blog! Especially the food. Keep taking pictures of the food. Also the small purple flowers look enorme!
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