Today was my first official day of classes so I thought it would be a good day to share what has unfolded over the past couple of days. I will try to work linearly. I woke up early (7:30) on Saturday(January 7th) to attend our mandatory Panoramic and Gothic tour of Barcelona. It was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. We started out at the Catedral de Barcelona. One of the first things you notice is the huge Samsung ad taking up the forefront of the Cathedral. Our tour guide explained how previously taxpayer money went to the church but over time, the choice to donate to the church was left to the people. As a result, the church lost a lot of funding and had to seek out other sources of revenue. It is a beautiful building but it was sad to see the history being overshadowed by a smartphone advertisement.
After this, we went through the Gothic district and saw several cute little shops. One of the coolest ones was a shop full of handmade figurines pooping.
El Caganer or “the crapper” is a figure in the Catalan nativity scene who is sneakily hidden by parents and left for children to try and spot. The shop was full of crapping figurines ranging from Marvel characters to political figures. After we had walked through much of the Gothic district, we walked through Las Ramblas – a strip of outdoor markets under a tent. This was super cool. So many cool items to buy. Stands served a wide selection of hot foods, cold cuts of meat and fish, candy, freshly squeezed juices, hot sauces, olive oil, nuts, seeds, and there were even full-on restaurants.
There was so much more too that I have yet to go back and explore. After this, we all climbed into a Greyhound bus and were taken around the Western hills of Barcelona. Here, we saw their Olympic training facility where the Olympics were held in 1992 and where the Barcelona Soccer team will be playing for the upcoming three seasons as the stadium is under renovation. We also saw a few works of Gaudi Architecture.
The dragon one, called Casa Batlló (nicknamed Casa dels Ossos – House of Bones or Casa del Drac – House of the Dragon), was really intriguing. Our tour guide explained that the architecture was inspired by the Catalan legend of Sant Jordi (St. George) and the Dragon. According to legend, there was a dragon who would terrorize the citizens of Barcelona. To keep the dragon at ease, the people would feed the dragon a single, randomly selected citizen each day. Eventually, the princess was selected to be the dragon’s next sacrifice. But, as she trudged towards the dragon, a knight in shining armor appeared on the horizon atop a white horse. He swooped in, saved the princess from the dragon, and slayed the dragon. As he struck the dragon, beautiful red roses erupted from its body. To commemorate this triumph, the people of Barcelona celebrate with a festival on the 23rd of April. Loved ones exchange roses and gifts(usually books) and Casa Batlló is decorated with roses. We concluded the tour at La Sagrada Familia – one of the most popular buildings in Spain and possibly the most famous work of Antoni Gaudi.
The building has been under construction for more than two centuries and we could see the cranes at work while we were there. It was beautiful, breathtaking, and inspirational. I plan on going back with friends to take a tour of the interior as we only had time to see the intricately detailed exterior. Then, later that day, my friends and I decided to take a hike up the hills that are visible from our apartment. As we walked, every turn we took and every staircase we ascended led us to a better and better view. We ended atop a hill that gave us a 360-degree panoramic view of the city.
The pictures are insane and experiencing this in person was surreal. We will definitely be back. Then that night, we went to a club called “Shoko.” The club was fun but I think we are ready to try some of the local clubs/bars as both this one and “Opium” (the one we went to Thursday night) were clearly American hot spots. On Sunday(January 8th), we slept. On Monday(January 9), I had my UPF Spanish placement test and orientation. It was fun and nice to meet some of the kids who I will be going to school with. Then, later in the evening, we hung out together, did some shopping, and got dinner together. But, on our way back up to the apartment, we tried squeezing five of us into the elevator and ended up getting stuck in the tiny 3-person capacity elevator for about an hour. The fire department had to come and rescue us! This was quite a scary experience. But, a funny story to tell. And, as I mentioned earlier, today was my first day of school. I thought I would have to attend Spanish at 7:30 but luckily we were told by our academic coordinator that our Spanish placement results wouldn’t be returned until later in the day. So, I only had my digital business class. Even though the lecture was 2 hours and 15 minutes long, I actually really enjoyed the lecture my professor gave and felt like he did a really good job of keeping us engaged. I appreciated his closing remarks emphasizing the most important resource – time. He talked about how important it was to do something that you are passionate about, not to prioritize money, and to do things that you could look back on and be happy to say you spent your time doing. He seems like a good guy. Tomorrow, I have to wake up at 7:30 to get to my 8:30 Spanish class. Then, at 12:00 I have a class called “Artificial Intelligence, Art, and Creativity.” Excited to see what that’s all about too! Also, we bought our tickets to Seville today! Looking forward to that trip in two weeks!
Nick Henderson
12:31am
Barcelona, Spain