a BROAD in BARCELONA

Observation: RAIN!!!!

2008-04-17T03:34:00.000-07:00

After writing on the drought in Catalonia, I was blessed with a day of rain! Barcelona is a beautiful Mediterranean city in the municipality of Catalonia. Although the weather is temperate all year round, lately there has been a lack of precipitation causing worry among the people.

Sitting in studio working on our project, the day dreary and gray, we were surprised to hear the rain. It's rained on a few occasions- at night and for short bursts- throughout the entire time we've been here. The rhythmic noise of the rain hitting the surfaces of the city is refreshing and welcoming, increasingly so because of the drought. The peaceful sound fills the city, rejuvenating it physically and psychologically.

This impact on the urban scale is evanescent, the sound only last as long as the weather, but thats what's intriguing about sound. Specific sounds are never perpetual, some are reoccurring though. The noises that are reoccurring trigger memories and associations, while newer sounds trigger curiosity at the source. Both types, reoccurring and newly occurring, can be (and are) used to impact the perception of a space. Water is added to spaces to tangibly refresh and cool, but the sound of water is just as important. Water fountains that create the trickling noise from their flowing water are advertised as "calming" and "refreshing." The sound of the water is what brings about these feelings. On an urban scale, water features (like the linear path of flowing and cascading water from Joan Miro to near the MNAC) fill the garden space with a memory of refreshment as well as the tangible. Materiality within buildings effects the soundscape as well. Tin roofs ping with the impact of rain, while tiles absorb more of the sound.

As kitschy as it may be, when I'm inside and I close my eyes to the sound of rain, I can feel the wet drops, drawing from previous experience. Eric reminds us that any writer can describe rain as wet, but only a good writer can make the reader feel the wetness of rain. I'm not a prolific writer, but I'm becoming a better designer.

Observation: Placa Espana

2008-04-11T11:09:00.000-07:00

Although Catalonia is in a drought, major landmark fountains come on in the warmer weather. Fridays and Saturdays from 7-9 on the half hour Placa Espana is flooded with people enjoying the fountain show. A grand axis from the traffic circle up to the MNAC is dotted with water features, including the main fountain shown. Choreographed to music and lights, the water dances to the beat.

The music fills the air of Montjuic. As I walked down the mountain from the Fundacion de Joan Miro on Friday I could hear the crescendo of the music and I could envision the rise of the fountain to match its tenacity. Sound used in the urban landscape in this manner is used to draw people in. Visually and acoustically attractive, the water show is a tourist attraction as well as a draw for the locals. Although the main point is the beauty of the water, music enhances the patterning of rise and fall.

Observation: Morocco

2008-04-06T04:17:00.000-07:00

Compared to Istanbul, which is covered in older and grander mosques, Morocco declares its religious zeal modestly. Although multiple minarets topped with megaphones aren't found surrounding every mosque, call to prayer is still vocal in this younger city. Morocco is substantially more conservative Muslim than the European-style Istanbul (interesting because Morocco was founded by Europeans). Smaller and more frequently occurring, mosques are found throughout Morocco; tucked in between shops in the Medina, or situated on corners in the newer parts of Fes. Their prevalence makes up for their size in creating a presence in the urban environment acoustically. Call to prayer is still heard throughout the city 5 times a day. Shopkeepers will put a piece of wood across their booth, signifying their absence due to prayer. Meanwhile, neighboring shop owners will chaperon the store until the return of the actual owner. Again, this act of faith is beautiful and very evident to someone visiting, leaving an impression on visitor's perception of the city: sound shaping memory.

The mihrab is the non-electrical megaphone of the mosque. The person leading salat (prayer) faces the wall and speaks loudly. The sound bounces off the curved surface and intensifies in volume, echoing loudly to the faithful lined up for prayer facing the qibla (wall facing Mecca containing the mihrab).

Mihrab

Morocco: Day II

2008-04-04T06:29:00.000-07:00

I wake to my alarm, satiated from my slumber. I fill a hot bath and slip in, anxious for the say ahead. Dressed and ready before 8 am (I know...you don't believe me), I joined my group for breakfast. Fresh squeezed orange juice, so delicious you feel like you should be biting instead of sipping, baskets of different breads and toasts, accompanied by jams, honey, butter, cheese and yogurt. As we cleared one plate of bread a new variety would arrive at our table. Finally, we had fueled ourselves and demolished the spread before us. Unable to eat anymore, we waited in the adjoining courtyard to meet our tour guide.

Jessie, myself and Stacey at breakfast

Muhammed, affectionately known as "Mo-mo," greeted us with bursting enthusiasm. He stands looking like a regal friar, in his ankle length traditional hooded kaftan and groomed mustache. A native of Fes and a tour guide for many years, Mo-mo has guided Robin Williams and Hillary Clinton.

Mo-mo

Now we ventured into the city with assurance as we tail our pint-sized guide. Our first stop was at the Dar Batha Museum, which was originally a palace. Again, we had beautiful weather and the gardens were in full bloom, containing a variety of flowering plants, evergreens, and palm trees- a paradise within four walls. We leisurely lay in the sun, sketching the layout of the palace, the details of the arches and the patterns of the doorways. I pulled out my watercolors and worked on a new piece until the museum closed for the day.

Dar Bartha Museum Courtyard

To kill some time before lunch we sketched the Bab Boujoud gate. I picked up some postcards to send the family (especially since I've been clacking on postcards during my overseas adventures). Then we returned to our Riad for a traditional Moroccan lunch.

Bab Boujoud gate

We feasted on a variety of appetizer plates. Moroccan potato salad, olives, tomatoes & peppers, carrots with parsley, and something that tasted like b-b-q (and was delicious). The main course arrived in a covered platter. When the waiter removed the top hot, he revealed chickens- whole little chickens- arranged radially with lemons and olives. Immediately some people;s interest dropped because they weren't prepared to work a whole chicken to get meat. They were probably expecting boneless chicken breast. I decided to go for it local style: with my hands. Dessert was fruit salad, oranges and strawberries with nutmeg and mint leaves. Finishing off the meal was the traditional mint tea that I had already become very fond of. After lunch we were ready to introduce a Spanish siesta to our Moroccan schedule, but we had a packed afternoon so we had to keep moving.

After leaving our Riad we headed for the royal gardens, but because of construction we had to take a detour around the city wall. The gardens were being renovated so we only were able to glimpse the beauty of the geometric patterns of flowers. We passed many historical sites and stopped to take pictures as we covered a lot of ground. One courtyard we were only able to stay in for a few minutes before prayer time began and they kicked us out.

Courtyard of a Mosque/School

We walked through the winding streets of the Medina, discovering little shops and interesting urban planning (or lack thereof). At one point in time we were in front of the Royal Gates...which they don't like you taking pictures of. We weren't informed of this fact until after some of us had snapped shots. The guards pointed at the offenders saying they saw five people take illegal photos. They had picked out four from the herd and then looked around until they spotted me. Falsely accused, I showed them my camera to confirm I had not taken a photo. After that confrontation we were careful to ask Mo-mo before taking pictures with guards in them.

The Royal palace is also a nesting ground for storks. Supposedly, the myth of storks bringing babies to homes originates from their culture. In June there is a large festival with much drinking and debauchery. People are happy, the weather is nice, add some booze and conception happens. Nine months later babies are being born left and right, coinciding with the return of the storks from their migration pattern. People would "blame" the storks for the increase in babies, rather than their actions nine months before. And that is why storks are associated with babies. Good story...thanks Mo-mo.

We had been walking steadily through Fes for most of the day. Mo-mo took us to the bottom of Fes' version of 5th Ave before taking his leave for the day. We wanted to trek up to see the sights and to find the large grocery store at the end of the road for provisions. Walking up the street lined with cafes, we noticed men. Lots of men. There were almost no women sitting in the cafe chairs (save for a group of 4 we spotted several blocks in). It was an interesting observation. It was slightly unnerving, but not as annoying as the random kids that would come and pester our group. One girl was nonstop asking us to buy gum. She hung with us for 4 or 5 blocks before being told nicely by Hawra in Arabic that we were not interested, and then I repeated our intentions in French. By now we had been walking for a solid 15 minutes, passing fountains resembling koosh balls and cafe on top of cafe, but we still had not spotted the grocery store. With the guidance of a couple that Adrian had befriended during on our walk, we saw the glaring neon sign announcing our destination.

The grocery store was yet another cultural experience. Their product layout was different than the US, and subsequently so was the smell. I'm not sure how to explain, but we picked up some chips, cookies and drinks (we're health conscience) and headed to check out. The cashier struck up conversation with me (in English) and we began to talk about the upcoming election. He was curious to see if anyone was supportive of Hillary Clinton, which, not to make this a political statement, I am not. After some more fragmented question and answer, I paid for my purchases and bid my first friendly local goodbye (Okay...I had met other friendly locals, but they were either being paid to be nice or they befriended Adrian first).

Our next adventure was flagging down a cabbie to take us home. Stacey, Josh Humphries and I paired up for this particular feat. The first cab had someone inside, but tried to take us as well. We passed and tried to the next cabbie, who repeated our previous encounter. When we were able to find an unoccupied cab, the driver to understand where we wanted to go and started telling me "Adoit, adoit..." meaning "Right, right..." in French (as in the opposite of left). Confused, we decided to take the next cab, which after a little bit of mispronunciation figured out where we needed to go.

Home again, we dined on our junk food. I was exhausted after a day of walking around and decided to go to bed after a bit of reading.

Morocco: first day in Africa!

2008-04-02T05:18:00.000-07:00

"One nice greeting and 99 glares." - Michael Doster (a stereotype of how we felt after walking up a hill and feeling unwanted until a little girl waved at us and said "Bonjour!")

We arrived in our most foreign and exotic of cities via Ryanair, an Irish budget airline that has its stewardesses sell scratch cards and other idiotic trinkets. I just read and gazed out the window at the Mediterranean while Stacey dozed, leaning occasionally on the stranger to her right. We arrived in Africa (my 3rd continent of the week!) and walked off the airplane into beautiful, warm weather. I could have run around in a sundress...if I wanted to risk being stoned.

Exchanging money was gratifying because the Dinhar is weaker than the dollar. With 560 MAD in hand (approximately $75) I felt richer than my usual European student status. Our bus driver drove us to our Riad, a house with a garden courtyard, in Fes while chitchatting with Adrian in French and Hawra in Arabic. Its nice to have that language connection in such a foreign city.

Stopping at the walkway by our Riad, our bus brought us in the middle of a pack of male teens. None of us were reasy for the gawking and harassment so soon to out arrival- we wanted to at least drop our luggage off first. Luckily, the discomfort was kept to a minimal because we are such a large group and we have an even guy to girl ratio. [Although tourism is boosting Morocco's economy, I feel that tourists are a burden on their culture. In Turkey everyone was selling- laughing and friendly. Here it is much more reserved. As I walked through the city throughout the trip, I initially would feel a sense of intrusion as I maneuvered through traffic, down alleys or markets.]

We walked up to our Riad, passing stuccoed plain walls. Hidden behind these walls lay ornate homes, courtyard gardens, and bustling households. The home is a sacred place in the conservative Muslim culture of Morocco; interior beauty of the architecture is kept a secret because of a combination of modesty and privacy. Windows never give views inside, front doors never sit directly across from one another, and bedrooms never open directly onto courtyards.

Entering our Riad, we were not disappointed by our accommodations. Ceramic tiling, in vivid blues and white; intricate motifs carved into walls, framing the doors and windows; stain glass arches and windows; sunlight streaming into the courtyard filled with potted plants centered around a bubbling fountain with floating rose petals. We were greeted warmly by the hotel staff and offered mint tea. We anxiously awaited the unveiling of our room. As they lead one pair and then another to their suites, we glimpsed four poster beds fit for a king and delicately carved sofas and armoirs. Finally, a staffmember garbed in a loose fitting burgundy tunic and pant outfit walked Emma and I up to the winding stairs. As we ascended up the tight and winding staircase, I likened the experience to a Princess climbing up to her tall tower room. I felt like a Princess when the bellhop opened our door with a big brass key to our room, which we were delighted to find our four poster bed draped with beige and gold sheer fabric, natural light filtering in through the large windows. I jumped on the bed in my excitement, leaving the bellhop in the doorway to laugh at my childlike enthusiasm. After I gracefully got off the bed, I followed him as he motioned us to a small hallway off our bedroom. We descended a few stairs and turned a corner to find our bathroom bathed in natural light with a double high ceiling- akin to our bedroom. Not too shabby.

After we grasped the concept that we were living in a house/palace, we began roaming around, discovering balconies and terraces, as well as our neighbors (all CUA people since we took up 10 of the 12 existing bedrooms). We had jacuzzies in some rooms, terraces in others, a loft in yet another. Each room was uniquely beautiful and absolutely spectacular.

Applauding Christy and Adrian for their fruitful efforts we gathered in the courtyard to embark on our first Morroccan adventure. All the girls made sure they were properly covered, not baring shoulders or collarbones. Its not so conservative that we need to don Burkahs, an islamic head scarf, but caution in flashing skin was heavily advised.

Tentatively we exited our Riad, apprehensive of our reception as we walked through Fes. Some people stared, young boys heckled to impress their friends with their mock bravery, most people continued on- unconcerned with yet another group of tourists.

The day was warm and the beautiful weathered melted some of our anxieties as we began to appreciate Fes' understated vibrancy. We passed the gates of Bab Boujoud that mark the entrance into the Medina. We headed uphill, still inside the city walls from the 13th century. A large space to our right swarmed with people involved in the flea market. People sat next to their towels covered in various goods- from shoes to pottery- as others wander through the tight aisles of trash and treasure.

Walking through Morocco

Passing under the city wall I started to sweat under the warmth of the sun in my jeans and jacket, but because od modesty ( I was wearing a tank top underneath) I couldn't shed layers without offense. We crossed the bustling roadway unscathed to begin an upward ascent for a good view of the city. On our uphill travel we witnessed a funeral procession. Men carrying a pyre containing a body draped with a traditional cloth passed us chanting praises to Allah in Arabic (thank you for the translation Hawra). I found the procession intriguing and slightly archaic, while some of the other ladies in the group thought it disturbing.

After our first culturally shocking exhibition of the day, we continued onwards and slowly upwards. Finally, after passing a high school, a scenic outlook and a hospital, we reached the hilltop crowned with historical arches crumbling with age. One local boy, who rivaled most agile monkeys, had successfully climbed up one such deteriorating structure and sat triumphantly in the center of the arch. His friends found it amusing to chuck stones at him. We all looked on with a sense of amusement at their form of affection. The boy began to scramble down as his friends continued to deter rather than aid in descent. At one point, the monkey-boy cheered at us, trying to get us to take photos of his feat. As amusing as the picture was, we weren't gullible enough to take a photo knowing that the little boy wouldn't leave us until he extracted a fee for his impromptu photo op.

The arch the monkey-boy conquered

Content with our other photos of the Moroccan scenery, we headed down with two new friends- policemen who were nice enough to watch over us because the locals might give us some trouble. At first they trailed us, but then Adrian and Emma struck up a conversation with our volunteer guardsmen in French.

The light began to fade and we were getting hungry from our hike, so we set off past the shepherd and his flock of sheep to get some dinner. Backtracking to Bab Boujoud gate, we entered Medina and were quickly convinced to try a restaurant near the gate entrance by their friendly Maitre de. Seated on a terrace overlooking the bustling street, we dined on local favorites of cous cous, targine, and skewered meats. For desser we were surprised to have sliced oranges sprinkled with nutmeg, simple, but delicious. My stomach still didn't trust me from my ill-adventure in Istanbul, so although I tried bits of many things, my full appetite had yet to return.

View from our terrace dinner

The sun had set and our travel weary bodies yearned for the comfort of our gloriously indulgent looking beds. Entering the Riad I bid good-night to my teachers and classmates and beelined for the bedroom. Settling into bed after my nightly rituals, I finished off a book and quickly fell asleep.

(pictures and the rest of my adventures to follow).

Observation: Istanbul

2008-03-27T04:04:00.000-07:00

Call to prayer echoes across the cityscape, blaring from megaphone speakers affixed to the minarets. Five times a day the Arabic chanting fills the corners of the cities. It begins as a hum and grows rapidly, beckoning followers to show their faith and love for Allah. Filling the inside as well as the exterior courtyards, people gather in the mosques to practice the forms of the body movements of prayer. Aligning themselves parallel to the ground, groveling in their earthly ways and then raising up to reach the heavens in a symbolic connection to a higher being.

The beauty of this ritual strikes me as a Catholic living in a city with more churches and cathedrals and actually practicing Catholics (exaggeration, but it feels that way). Although I know that not all Muslims are conservative or even diligent in their prayer, Istanbul city echoes faith and tradition in its soundscape. It could be the megaphones that allow great amplification or the urban planning that placed the great mosque structures upon hills. Also, the highest points of the city in the old city, by law, are the minarets and domes of the religious buildings, leaving the speakers unobstructed and granted more clarity in their projection.

Night prayer at the Blue Mosque

Istanbul: Easter in a Muslim Country

2008-03-26T09:31:00.001-07:00

Asia and Europe

2008-03-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

Josh Humphries, Lindsey Dehenzel, and I are going to Istanbul!!! We leave bright and early tomorrow morning. I'll be able to walk around Europe and Asia in one weekend, explore the beautiful mosques of the city, admire the Byzantine art, and experience the Bazaar (aka great shopping). And when we get back, our entire class is traveling to Morocco (Northern Africa). I'm going to be overloaded with experiences this next week and a half....not that I haven't been finding new things and meeting new people everyday.

Oh and in Morocco we're staying in a Riad, which is pretty much a palace. Pretty sweet!

I miss everyone back home and I'm sorry to leave you all... I've been neglecting my initial habit of punctual posting. I'm going to fill in the blanks soon. Promise!! Have a happy Easter and God bless.

Observation: the Metro

2008-03-17T08:11:00.000-07:00

The metro of Barcelona has interconnecting tunneling hallways within its stops where lines intersect. These hallways carry stories...sounds of the city. Located centrally in these hallways is a tiled marker for performers. Performers don't make the only acoustical influence in the urban environment, but they usually are the most memorable.

Walking down these hallways you do more than just pass from one train to the next, or try and just find the right street exit. If you're not engrossed in your iPod or the newspaper, and you begin to absorb the sounds of the other passengers, the music of an erhu (traditional Chinese violin), the sellers with their mix of candy, scarves and knick knacks, the smell of coffee at the little bar cafes, those transitory experiences are more than just a passage- they become a place.

The acoustics of these spaces effects me the most. Maybe its because I studied music for most of my life...I'm not really sure, but the feelings noise (including music) can evoke in a space, transform the space.

Parents Invade Spain

2008-03-03T07:08:00.000-08:00

I'm going to fill in captions and stories when I return from Istanbul. xoxo.

Saturday: First Futbol!

Sunday: Calçotada

Monday: Casa Batllo & Tapas

Tuesday: Freixenet

Sant Sadurni d'Anoia Cava country (sparkling wine)

Wednesday: Tarragona and Country Driving

Thursday: Sunrise and South of BCN

Saturday: Last day already?

Casa Mila (and Deanna)

2008-03-01T07:16:00.000-08:00

Thursday marked the last day of classes before Springbreak (hurray!!! parents coming!). We had been working tirelessly on our final project- a set of rendered boards of a site in which we articulated history, site analysis and transformation (an experiment in altering the space). Josh's hand was about to fall off thanks to his dedication to shading the boards and I knew a little too much about the area. Nick was ready to head off and away from Josh and I, especially since we argued about layout and content until the last possible minute. Our jury for the project was scheduled for Thursday, but because of problems with locating jurors, we moved the jury to the Monday after Springbreak. Promptly at 5 pm that day we pinned up our work and wanted to walk away to enjoy our time off. Unfortunately we endured a "Debbie-downer" lecture about performance and our ability to perform well, but our continual acceptance of delivering mediocre work. Frustrating way to start off the break, but such things happen.

I was instantly uplifted when I realized Deanna and her boyfriend Sean were set to arrive in Barcelona that evening. Most of my roommates were leaving for Greece and when they were busy packing, I tided up and napped. Deanna and Sean arrived around midnight, buzzing up I see their faces in grayscale and my excitement rises. I open the door and wait.....and wait...and wait...and finally!!! (our elevator is a bit slower than what I'm used to in the US) Deanna and Sean are opening the gate and I'm eagerly hugging Deanna like I hadn't seen her in years- even though it had been less than a week.

Sean had studied in Barcelona with the architecture program a few years ago, so we were on a mission to convince Deanna of Barcelona's superiority over most European cities (including Rome- where she studies). We went out that night and walked down to the water, talking and laughing, while we pointed out landmarks and great places to eat. They were pretty tired so we headed back to the apartment to say good-bye to my roommates who were on their way out the door.

Deanna and I before walking around BCN

The next day we waited around for Rafa to show up (one of Sean's friends who works in Madrid). Unfortunately, we got the dates wrong. After figuring that all out, I went to studio to catch up on work and plan some last minute details for my parents, while Sean and De went out into the city.

Saturday we met up with Rafa, and the four of us toured the city. We visited Casa Mila, one of Gaudi's famous structures. Built on the Passeig de Gracia (Barcelona's 5th Ave), Casa Mila is an upscale apartment building, which now stands as a museum and symbol of the city. His use of light and air, combined with organic structures and curves is beautiful.

Sean, Rafa, and Dede on a Stairway in the Casa

Gaudi also designed furniture

Funicular model of structure in the museum

On top of the roof at Casa Mila

Looking at my watch, I realized I had to go grab the bus to the airport to meet the folks. I was to meet up with everyone the following day, since I'd be busy with the parents. I departed the casa and my friends and headed to meet my parents!!!

Blog Assignment

2008-02-28T13:36:00.001-08:00

We're supposed to start to explore a thread, a pattern, a reoccurring theme that has become evident or has captured our curiosity within the urban environment. I've been looking at how people gather in spaces and the acoustics of the spaces. Street performers chose certain corners and their music drifts through the corridors of the old city. Other performers chose large placas to fill with an audience. It's an interesting pattern within the urban spaces of the void.

So stayed tuned for updates on my Spanish adventures as well as my new focus into the acoustics of urbanism. :)

Holiday in Rome

2008-02-25T13:19:00.001-08:00

Went to Roma. Saw some really old stuff. Beautiful weather sitting in the sun near the Colosseum, being harrassed by salesman. I broke down and bought a pair of glasses. Fakes of course.

Interesting play of spatial movement and the acoustics of urban spaces.

21...still special even in Europe

2008-02-17T12:44:00.000-08:00

We decided to celebrate my 21st on the eve of my birthday. I'll share the day with you soon. trying to catch up :)

Birthday Sightseeing

2008-02-17T07:00:00.000-08:00

I've been in Barcelona for a month and had to stop by the Sagrada Familia for my birthday. It was to be a sightseeing adventure as a present to mysef. In between cleaning and cooking, I ventured out with Kristin and Gavin (Kristin's friend from Catholic who is studying in Valencia, a city south of Barcelona) to go to Sagrada Familia.

Throughout Barcelona you can see the spires poking through the skyline. We walk down Avenue Diagonal and for a period of time the usually prevalent spires weren't visible. When we hit the corner, the park opened up and the church lay before us. Definitely impressive.

Gaudi chose to cap the spires and arches with agricultural and organic elements like mosaic corn. It's interesting. I'm not sure I would have every thought of topping a symbolic religious structure with maize and grapes, but to each his own. He wanted to embrace the Catalan culture and the context of the site.

I was unable to stay long because I was still in need of a shower and groceries for my celebratory dinner, so I left Kristin and Gavin to explore the inside of the landmark church.

I'm not sure how much I like the structure, but it is definitely memorable. I think I'll enjoy the structure more once I've studied it more and explored the interior.

The ducks :)

2008-02-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

We were in the Alcazar (Arabic for "castle") in Seville sketching. I chose to sit in a sunny spot by a pond filled with ducks. I shared my sandwich with a few of them and we were friends from then on.

me and my duck friend :)

Sunset over Alhambra

2008-02-11T16:29:00.000-08:00

Granada: Islam + Spain = Awesomeness

2008-02-10T11:45:00.000-08:00

This time we left early (its a new concept in our traveling schedule) I was sad to leave Cordoba, but excited to venture back to a larger city. Granada was a bus ride through the country, through beautiful olive groves and a mountainous horizon.

We had another beautiful day when we entered the city. Our hotel was fabulous and this timed I roomed with Jessie Euler (another Marylander!). We went out to sketch and explore the city.

Obviously the city loves me!

After finding some interesting graffiti, I was curious to explore all the little old-world streets of the city. While the rest of the group sat down for lunch, I recruited Kristin to join me and we were off to discover new lands. We wandered a bit, finding some awesome graffiti, as well as interesting courtyards. I decided to sit and sketch a bit after our photoshoot (see photo below). The buildings of the city dug into the incline , seemingly stacking on top of each other. It reminded me of the valley in LA, which I had visited over the summer. I found all the steps and innovative entry sequences intriguing, so I gave it a shot in my sketchbook. Meanwhile, Kristin had gotten a call from Nick, another member of a group, who wanted to meet up with us. She ventured out to locate him, since we had wandered aways away. I continued to sketch, dangling my feet over a sidewall with a 40 foot drop, as I sketched the homes that clung to the hills.

After Kristin had successfully hunted down Nicholas, we decided to find the highest point possible in the city for a good view. We took lefts. Then rights. We went up. Got stuck. Had to go back down. It was entertaining...other than the fact I had not worn hiking-esque shoes for the day, but had vainly chosen black flats to coordinate my outfit. The cobblestones massaged my feet in sometimes pleasant ways, but sometimes I'd catch myself on a it of uneven paving that would leave my feet sore later. Triumphantly we climbed what would be our last inclined alleyway to find ourselves near a square rising above the surrounding area. Guitar music and lively tourists, who had also discovered this scenic plateau, gathered above us. We climbed up the stairs to find a dazzling panaramic view of Alhambra before us. We snapped some photos before realizing we needed to meet the group shortly...and we didn't know exactly how far we had wandered.

Heading down was a bit easier. Shortly after our descent we started seeing familiar areas. Then it dawned on us that we had taken a very convoluted journey to get to the site. We met up with our group by a tea market where that had been doing a bit of shopping (Granada has an awesome Islamic/Middle eastern feel because of its history). We made plans to meet up again in a bit, since some of the group wanted to retrieve another layer to wear before we left to watch the sunset over the Alhambra. While some people headed over to the hotel, a few of us joined the professors for an Islamic tea. The patterns of the inlaid wood table soon captivated everyone's attention, although I found the play of the candlelight on the environment around me more interesting. As I sipped my violet tea, I enjoyed the warmth of the company around me as they chatted about the turns of the geometry in the woodwork.

Reluctantly leaving their riddle of a pattern in the tearoom, we headed out to meet up with everyone again. After the habitual head-count we started off. Walking down towards the trickle of a river, we were often crammed into doorways as cars had to squeeze by the narrow streets. We hung a left and started our climb. Talking to Christy, we soon discovered we were returning to the place Kristin, Nick, and I had found earlier. Laughing as we continued our ascent we ran into a couple from the US that chatted it up with Eric and Adrian. Climbing up one particular stairway we passed gated garden courtyards that were so picturesque in the late afternoon sun. Finally, we rediscovered our plaza and positioned ourselves on the wall to sketch and watch the sunset over the beautiful Islamic structure.

Amusingly, as we sat sketching an unknown older man was telling people (in Spanish) that he was our professor and we were architecture students. I thought it was touching that we would incited pride for this man's non-accomplishments. Other people just thought it strange.

The sunset was gorgeous:

(I'm posting this unfinished because I'm trying to catch y'all up! I'll finish ASAP)

Cordoba: A b-e-a-utiful city

2008-02-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

Bright and early, yet again, we met to travel to our next city. I had bought some oranges that I threw around to help rejuvenate our ragged looking bunch. The Superbowl had kept most of the group up until a few hours before our departure....and a few people just decided to stay awake until we got on the train.

We left the hotel a few minutes later than planned because a few stragglers had yet to come down. Since we were on a tight schedule we left them, knowing they would be able to catch up. Thankfully, once we got to the train station it wasn't long before the tardy pair joined us.

I love train rides. When I was in sixth grade I learned how to play Gin Rummy on the TGV (fastest train in Europe) as we rode through the French countryside. In eight grade I debated religion and bounded over Sister Hazel with my Girl Scout troop as we rode to Savannah to memorialize the founder of our sisterhood. This past summer I watch surfers crash into the waves and beach bums line up next to the RV's as I traveled up the California coastline to visit my Aunt Patty and the rest of the family. This ride proved to be no exception as we pulled out of the station and my companions passed out. I sat day-dreaming, listening to Spanish flamenco music on the cheap, complimentary headphones provided by the stewardess. I pulled out my sketchbook and decided to do some observatory sketching of the interesting people sitting around me. I decided to try and capture a guy sitting a few rows ahead of me, bobbing his head to his Ipod. He was my chosen victim, since sometimes I maim people when I try to draw them. I spent the rest of the trip sketching away, glancing at my target. Into the ride he noticed I was drawing him and gave his approval when I showed him my progress. The finished product looked pretty good.

Arriving in Cordoba, life was looking up. It was warmer, everyone had taken a nice nap on the train, and the city looked beautiful. We hailed cabs to our hotel, which was located right next to the Mosque. When we got out of our caravan of taxis we were immediately surrounded by Gypsies who tried to force rosemary into our hands and tell our fortunes. Supposedly we're all going to have long lives, good health and find our true love. Quaint. I told them no thank you because I wasn't about to tip someone trying to tell me the creases in my hand will unveil the dark mysteries of my future.

Our hotel lobby

We got into our hotel and were stunned. It was beautiful. Christy did a fabulous job booking accommodations so far. It was an Ottoman structure converted into hotel rooms. The lobby was ornate and lead to an open aired, picturesque courtyard. We stuck all our bags into a room since our rooms weren't ready yet, and set off to explore the area before our meeting time. The Mosque was ringed by tons of little touristy shops and a cubby-hole restaurants. Our hunger got the better of us and we stopped into a reasonably priced restaurant only to find another part of our group had decided the same. Reunited, our group took over the sun-filled courtyard and enjoyed a good lunch before setting off to do some shopping. I got a beautiful cross pendant with Islamic patterning. I love my crosses :)

Interior Courtyard Wall of the Mosque

Our fearless leaders met us to sketch inside the Mosque/Cathedral. What's interesting with many of the religious and iconic structures of Southern Spain is that they usually start as Islamic structures and then are forced converted into Catholic Cathedrals. The Mosque of Cordoba has a beautiful, ornate Islamic detailing and a cathedral plan stuck in the middle of it, reminiscent of its transformation. I loved the walled courtyard with its gridded orange trees. The interior of the actual Mosque was beautiful as well, but after over an hour of sketching, my hands began to numb from the cold.

The interior of the Mosque

Standing under the orange trees in the courtyard

I had asked a shopkeeper where a supermarket was earlier in the day. After finishing up some sketching and checking into my room, I set off with Christy to pick up some provisions. We walked into the center of the town and soaked in the windy, old world streets lined with shops and quaint cafes. I thought that before I'd ever retire to Florida, I would definetely look into Cordoba. The road widened to a central square with a fountain and trees. One of the roads that lead off the square to my right dipped downhill. As the houses on steep street disappeared from view the river became visible. It's a reoccurring theme on my adventures, but it was beautiful.

We found our Super Dia (a chain grocery store, much like a Giant or Food Lion) and grabbed the necessary items. On the way home from the store we stopped in to admire some artisan jewelry that was out of my price range.

On a mission to find an appropriate gift for her beau as well as her new niece and soon-to-be Goddaughter, Christy and I ducked in and out of some smaller stores near our hotel. After some brainstorming we decided that another city would be more appropriate for her beau, and Maria would look darling with a charm bracelet. Unfortunately, we were unsuccesful in finding something appropriate for her niece, but Christy did walk away with a unique Mallorca pearl necklace.

A group of us decided to take a run in the city, but since I hadn't brought my knee brace I didn't know how long I'd last on the oddly paved roads. We ran through the old part of the city and across an ancient Roman bridge currently under reconstruction. Reaching the other side of the city we decided to test out the boarded river walk in hopes in being nicer to our knees. As we ran along the river I took in the old city along the opposite riverbank. My running companions ran along to the beats blaring through the Ipods, but I've always preferred to be aware of my surroundings. Ironic because as I call out to my friends to alert them that the walk was ending, I trip on a raised board and gracefully skid across the boardwalk. Laughing at my never ending finesse, I brush myself off and shrug off my throbbing palms. Doster tries to comfort my embarrassment by sincerely telling me I looked graceful. He tries to be such a nice guy.

We continued our run past canoodling couples and historic landmarks into the newer part of Cordoba. Looping around to start our return trip, we are confronted with the sunsetting over the river. Doster opens his arms as if he wants to hug the scene unfolding before him. I agreed entirely with his sentiment. After crossing the bridge back I decided to cut my part of the run short since the cobblestoned parts of the city were not compatible with my joints. I trudged back to the hotel and right before reaching the entrance, was joined by the rest of the runners.

I was so grateful to climb into a nice hot shower before crashing into bed for a nap. I woke up when my roommate for the night, Emma, came in from dinner. I quick threw some clothes on and knocked on Christy's door so we could eat our dinner consisting of some items we had picked up at the grocery store earlier. She greeted me in a state that lead me to assume she had also just gotten up from a good nap. I went down to the front desk to procure a bottle open so that maybe I'd finally be able to enjoy the red wine I had picked up Madrid. Again, a wine bottle opener alluded me, so we settled for orange juice.

We were in a rush because we only had a few minutes before we needed to join the rest of the group in the lobby for the highlight of the day- Arab Baths. We hadn't received confirmation on our reservation until that afternoon because the Baths had recently been under construction and we didn't know if they were even open.

The Baths were just around the corner and we anxiously waited in a side area inside the building. Christy explained how the baths operated. We had about 2 hours to enjoy hot, warm, and cold baths, as well as a steam room. Each of us also would get a 15 minute massage in order of the plastic numbers we pulled. I was in the second batch to receive massages because I pulled #7 and they had four tables set up. I was really excited because massage is a guilty pleasure of mine and I was a little sore from "gracefully" falling into the boardwalk earlier.

Typical Arab Bath Structure:

Bath Entrance
Cool Water Room - pool of water with an approximate temperature of 16 degrees Celsius
Temperate Water Room - large pool of water approximately 36 degrees Celsius
Massage Room
Hot Water Room - Smaller pools of water approximately 40 degrees Celsius

Traditionally, Islamic bath houses admitted men only and represented a spiritual, as well as physical cleanliness. Interestingly, hammans, the Arabic word for a bath house, also were places of equality. As soon as a man entered, it didn't matter if he was a lord or a servant, he was an equal with the man next to him. Fortunately, some of the surviving bath houses have been turned into touristy spa spots.

Waiting to start the baths!

When we were oriented with the traditions and rules of the hamman, we donned our bathing suits, rinsed off, and entered. I started in the warm bath with my classmates. We joked around in the large "bath tub" and were shushed by the masseurs setting up their tables. Some people began to trickle out of the warm pool and head over to the hot pool. I follow ready for a change in temperature- or so I think. I stick a toe in a shrink away because it's definitely hotter than I had anticipated. Someone finally told me to just get in and I gritted my teeth and let the water surround my body. It felt so good once I was entirely in. I was really beginning to enjoy the heat soothing my muscles, when we decided to migrate and try our luck with the cold pool.

I gasped when I stuck my leg in bravely. It was really cold. I had flashbacks of getting thrown into the icy river when I went white water rafting in Wyoming. Stubbornly I step in up to my thighs. Submerging my body was a whole different thing. I cowardly ducked under, admitted it was refreshing and took off to the warm bath. I sat enjoying the warmth enveloping me. By alternating temperatures and experiencing the extremes, it only heightens the temperature differences. I decided to just relax in the warm pool because it allowed me to view the massage "room" under the arched walkway bordering the pool. Lindsey and I debated who looked like the best masseuse, and I decided I wanted the guy with the pony tail half-way down his back- not because of the pony tail though.

Soon enough, it was my turn and I grabbed my towel to lay it down on the table. In Spanish, he asked if I wanted lemon, rosemary, or something I didn't quite catch. After repeating it in English, I picked rosemary. Oh it was fabulous. I think I was humming and about to drift off to sleep when I was told my time was done. The next group of anxious bathers awaited, as I lazily walked to the shower to rinse off the oil. The rest of the night was just relaxing, as we rotated in out of the pools and the steam room.

On the walk home, we were just so ready to slip into our cozy beds and let our relaxed, pampered bodies take over. Especially since it was another early morning and another day of travel.
Lindsey and Josh (in his swim trunks) walking back from the Hamman

Runaway Train (Plaza Mayor, Madrid)

2008-02-05T09:18:00.000-08:00

This is the sweet video I took of the street performer. If you didn't read my previous post, he had to unplug from his amp because amplifiers aren't legal for street performers. That's why the video kind of cuts short of the chorus. Oh and yes- I stood in the middle of the square spinning :)

Observations: Placa Reial

2008-02-05T03:50:00.000-08:00

Street performers set up virtually anywhere in the square. They have their backs against the colonnades because people usually move through the center. Acoustically, the square is large enough and the buildings low enough that there is little echo or reverberation.

Madrid: Rough Start

2008-02-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

(I'm a little behind...Saturday February 9th)

Waking up at 6 am is never my favorite thing to do- especially when your very sweet roommate has a wicked cold and snores like a lumberjack...making sleep impossible. I'm a trooper though, so when I heard everyone moving around I got out of bed and grabbed my bagel. In the kitchen there was a commotion going on by our door.

Okay....I'm excited to go too, but why is everyone debating whether or not to open the door yet? Lack of sleep left the situation incomprehensible until Lindsey explained that there were drunk people trying to get into our apartment. We finally opened the door and attempted to explain to the couple that the woman did not live in the apartment...they finally got the hint and stumbled away. An interesting start to our journey.

We hop the bus at Plaza Catalunya to go to the Barcelona Airport. We even beat the professors to the bus stop. Arriving at the airport its always amazing to see the hustle and bustle, while the rest of the city is sleeping.

PJ had forgotten his passport, but since he had a copy they let him through security. We found a little cafe once we entered the terminal I had some chocolate milk. Yumm.

Takeoff....Landing...all pretty uneventful, except for a few members of our group who analyze the different plane death scenarios. Everything from terrorists, to aquatic crashes, blowing up the fuselage- they are a little dramatic.

Arriving in Madrid in one, unaltered piece, we trekked into the capital ready for another grand adventure. It was cold, bleak, and the vibrancy that we've seen in Barcelona was gone. Driving into the city on our coach bus was a plus as we crossed through the famous urban housing developments that ring the city. We hoped to visit some of the government budgeted projects to study the ingenuity and creativity of young Spanish architects that win the bids. We passed Coca-cola, McDonald's , Burger King, UPS, and some other familiar logo adorned buildings before arriving at the Zenit Hotel....a 4-star hotel (one of the perks we had in this city).

The Plaza Mayor

It was cold and dull still as we headed out to explore the city. We went to the famous Plaza Mayor has been considered the center of the city since 1561 when King Felipe II made it the site for the court. It was designed as a multi functional space: theatre, civic center, market, housing, etc. The buildings marked by towers (Casa de la Panderia and the Casa de la Carniceria) were apartments for the royal court. Theres a beautiful fresco on the one building that is similar to ones seen in Italy.

A Prima Donna performer adjusting his wig

Instructed to sketch the Plaza and analyze its patterns, conditions, and irregularities, we set out to find a sunny spot since it was cold enough to be distracting. Carnival, a Spanish celebration that seems to be a combination of Halloween and Mardi Gras, was going on so we saw little children running around in costume and lots of street performers, typical to public squares (see my music video I post in a following blog). Amused by the children running around, I walked around the square with a smile on my face as I people watched- not quite the assignment.

Finally I settled in near Lindsey, one of my classmates who is also from Riva (small world), and opened my sketchbook. A man playing the bongos near me tryed to start a conversation in Spanish. After shaking my head and laughing, he tried again, this time in French. After laughing at his failed attempt yet again, he looked at me confused on what language to attach to my indecipherable nationality. I finally offered that I spoke English and he asked if I was from England. This guy had no idea. I found the whole process amusing after I finally explained that I was American, although not from California, and was visiting Madrid with my classmates. He ushered me over and we began talking about the history of the city, his hometown Granada, and our shared love for people watching. I finally had to say my good-bye so I could get some work done! He was really funny, and I didn't even remember to get his name, but I did get a sweet picture of us looking like hobos together. I saw him later teachings little kids how to drum.

We sketched, regrouped and talked. Then we were given the rest of the day off to explore the city. A crowd was begging to form around a street performer, so we decided to stick around and see what he would do. He was setting up his act, making jokes and poking fun at his audience. He danced around to silly music as the audience began to build. I left my group to check out a musician positioned on the other side of the square playing "Wonderwall" (one of my favorite songs). After some experimenting, I got a wicked music video of "Runaway Train" that stops short because he was asked to unplug from his amp.

I ventured back towards our acrobatic comedian who had also been told he couldn't use an amp. He juggled, then juggled fire, than rode a unicycle, than rode a tourist (hilarious picture), and climbed a lamppost. Police came to usher him away because he had illegally plugged back in and was making a ruckus. It was pretty funny to see him scramble down from the lamp post and then beg for money to help pay for bail.

We ventured out of the square and realized how tired our traveling had made us. I opted to head home and indulge in a bubble bath, since our hotel room housed a tub. I stopped by the grocery store around the corner first and picked up some lunch food: red wine, truffles and breakfast cookies (similar to gram crackers). I was ready for my bath...except I discovered I had no bottle opener! Since I was dressed in just a towel and my bubbles awaited, I decided to forgo the total scene of indulgence and slip in. It was fabulous and put me in the mood for a nap.

I woke up and got ready for dinner (i love how that works out sometimes :). Finding a restaurant to serve 18 people was difficult since we were in a low density, non-touristy area. After being denied from our first choice, we settled on an Asian restaurant around the corner. The food was pretty good and since I had taken a wonderful nap, I was ready to adventure out past our restaurant. No one else was game, so I admitted defeat and went back to rest up for another day in the city.

Kristin and I (and my new haircut I gave myself)

Sunday. It was drizzly and any joy in the city was extinguished for me. We set off on our walk through Parque del Retiro, soaking in the planning and the vegetation. Eric's wife, Adrian, had joined us on our Spanish adventures, and as an avid gardener and horticulturist she helped identify various plants in the garden. The garden took almost an hour to wander through before we finally broke out of the gated green and into the busy streets.

A view of the gardens

Our next destination was the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (MNCARS), which houses Picasso's famous Guernica, as well as many pieces from Dali and Miro. The museum was originally a hospital in the 19th century and was converted into an art museum to house 20th-century art. Kristin Clancey and I broke off from the group to roam because we're both avid art lovers. We were devastated to learn that since a new Picasso exhibit was going up on Wednesday (and it was Sunday) we would not be able to see the Guernica. After shedding a tear for our loss we decided to start at the top floor and wander our way down.

They had beautiful Salvador Dali work. I don't think I can express how wonderful it was to see. They also had such a large collection of Miro (another Spanish native) and it was amazing. In the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art in DC there is a huge, hanging mobile designed by Miro.

My illegally taken picture of a Dali piece

Walking out of one of the exhibits I noticed an obvious group of American guys in front of us, one of which was wearing a Clemson hat. For some reason I felt like they might be part of the Clemson architecture group studying in Barcelona. I decided to test my hypothesis.

"Where y'all from?" I asked. They turned, checked us out and decided they weren't interested. After telling me they were from South Carolina, I proceeded in making the rest of the conversation awkward. I asked if they were from Clemson (he was wearing the hat...I thought it was an obvious assumption). Then I asked if they were studying architecture in Barcelona. They were- and they were obviously creeped out because I knew way too much about them. I thought it was just good logical deduction. After asking if I was Jason Bourne, they made an excuse and bolted. Kristin and I shared a good laugh. I'm sorry I'm friendly and have no respect for comfort zones.

We continued through the exhibits until it was time to met up with our group in an exterior courtyard. We had to laugh again when we saw the group of Clemson guys sketching near our group. We pointed them out to our classmates and in less than 5 minutes we were all friends. Obviously I was too scrubbed out and too abrupt to be interesting...hahaha.

Josh and I with our hoods up....I looked sketchy

The MNCARS closed and so we relocated out in the rain. Everything looked gross. We stopped by the Caixa Forum and the Prado. If the line hadn't wrapped around two sides of the Nacional Museum de Prado, I would've been so excited to go. We stopped and shopped at some street vendors before letting hunger take over. Kristin and I had our first fast food experience. By the way, the sell BEER at Burger King. Blew my mind.

Since it was SuperBowl Sunday and most of our group love American football, everyone was excited to find a pub that would play the game (which didn't start until 1 am in Madrid) until it was over. I was unconcerned because I like the party more than the game anyway.

The hotel concierge had recommended a Brazil barbecue restaurant and we decided to try that before our football adventures. I had overslept and was told 5 minutes before we were to leave, that the group was assembling by the door. I quick threw on some clothes, flats and did my hair. All was for naught because it was raining. My shoes were soaked by the time we had found the restaurant and my hair was...well its never fabulous anyway. The restaurant proved to be pricey and most of our group bailed out. I had never been to Brazilian and I also liked the group remaining, so I decided to splurge.

What's interesting about Brazilian barbecue, is they have a buffet section that serves tasty food, but then they have servers that come around with skewers of meat. They tell you what they have on their stick, beef, chicken, duck, etc. and then slice off what you want on your plate. They guys were really funny when they tried to get you to try the chicken liver and other indecipherable meat. The whole thing was super tasty. And they had live music. Soooo worth it.

The company was great as well. It was a handful of students and our professors. Towards the end of dinner we even got Eric and Adrian to talk about how they met, etc. Eric whips out wedding photos and we were amazed to see them in front of the Vatican. Coolest thing ever- they were married at the Vatican by Eric's father who was a deacon!

After dinner the group headed out to the bar for Superbowl, but because of some miscommunication I just decided to head back and tuck in early again.

Even though the gardens were beautiful, the art collection was amazing, and there was lots of interesting architecture, the combination of the weather and lack of vibrancy effected my perception of the city. I'm not a huge fan, but the rest of the trip got sooo much better. I'm going to do a new post for each city.

Hasta Luego!

2008-02-01T12:33:00.001-08:00

I start my travels around Spain tomorrow morning. I won't be able to update y'all for awhile...so until then :

xoxo

Thursday hooray

2008-01-31T10:43:00.000-08:00

Fabulousness that is final jury. I, Irene Jorden, finished all my work before jury time!!!! yeaaaaaaa. I presented first as well. It went really well. All is well. Yea!

Oh and I cut my hair. I've been cutting, dying and styling my classmate's hair. It's pretty fun :)

Hawra was really sick today though, so after she presented she went home to sleep. Most of the group went out for sushi and fun. I wasn't really in the mood, so I went home and chilled. Hawra got up and we made dinner together. I had a nice glass of red and divulged in reading P.S. i Love you, which was a touching tear-jerker. My classmates don't understand how I can devour a book in a few hours. Sometimes its nice to just relax, especially since we're traveling for 8 days straight, starting Saturday....at 6 am!!

What a beautiful day :)

2008-01-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

This is a video of the exterior of Maria del Mer last Sunday afternoon. The woman singing opera made me think of Grandma Ginny :)

My Mass experience

2008-01-31T06:03:00.000-08:00

Mass last Sunday night where I witnessed three priests being ordained. This video is of a prayer where the lector sang the name of a saint and the congregation sang back "pray for us." It was beautiful.

Observations: Born

2008-01-31T03:55:00.000-08:00

There is a specific area that performers situate themselves. Supposedly there is a sign-up system in which they rotate every two hours. Acoustically the music carries against the high walls and down the narrow streets, filling the urban landscape with this intangible experience.

Keeping it low-key

2008-01-27T08:09:00.000-08:00

This weekend we kept it low key because we're trying to catch up on homework and sight-seeing. On Saturday we all just cleaned and did laundry. Not really eventful. We went to dinner at a gourmet pizza plaza called la Veronica. Yum.

Sunday packed in a lot more. Jessie Euler, one of my roommates, and I went running in the morning. Considering I haven't run in weeks, I didn't do too shabby. We ran down to the water and looped around. It was probably between 2 and 3 miles. Jessie wanted to "look around" about halfway through so I ran back to studio. During the run, the sun glared in my eyes and the smells of Saturday night, made the whole thing pretty unpleasant. I'll go again shortly, but until then I'll stick to my in-house ab and plyo routine.

After getting some studio stuff out of the way I headed back to the apartment to catch a shower before we headed out for out History/Theory project. By late afternoon we were at the site near the Cathedral Maria del Mar. There were street performers and people walking and enjoying the beautiful day. It was so pleasant and blissful....getting a gelato made it even better :) We had to document a pattern or record something interesting about the preset area. I chose to investigate the sedentary activity and the dialogue it creates with the urban spaces. I looked at things like people gather to talk, people lounging, people dining in outdoor cafes and crowds around performers. All these people affect the mood and experience of a space because they don't just pass through it, they occupy it. I think its kind of interesting....it might be bs.

After returning home (I'm starting to call it home! uh ooo) I finished straightening up until it was time to leave for 7:30 Spanish Mass at Maria del Mar. Since everyone else was either uninterested or just trying to finish work before our group date at Hard Rock Cafe, I went alone.

When I got to the metro platform the train had just left. As some people filtered by me on their way out, one man stopped a few yards away after making brief eye contact and started talking in Spanish. I was intently staring at the metro map until I realized he was talking to me. All I had caught was "muy guapa," which means very beautiful. I looked slightly confused and said "gracias" before returning to my intense studying of the metro lines. He began talking to me again, and I looked utterly confused. I responded in his tongue that I did not speak Spanish. He first asked if I was French. I laughed and said no and said I was American. Over the next 3 minutes I conversed in abrupt Spanish and charades that I was a student, although I was "solo" I had someone in America, and that although coffee sounded wonderful I was Catholic and needed to pray. It was entertaining to implement my Spanish until my train came and I hopped on to head to church.

I got off the metro and everything looked different in the dark. Shortly I realized I had headed out in the wrong direction so I asked an older Spanish couple where the cathedral was and they looked at me like I had 2 heads. Through the crowds I heard a "yeaaa. Whatever." Hooray. Americans! I went over to them, a group of 3 girls my age dressed very stylishly. After describing my inability to navigate, the invited me to join them since they also were headed to Mass. Since I was from Maryland they flagged down one of their guy friends that I didn't notice as park of the group, since he was a fellow "we love crabcakes and football" kid. I quickly found out that Alex was from Luthium (I think that's what he said) and was studying business in Barcelona. Most of the people in their group, the 3 girls (Ryhan, Danielle, and Erin) plus Alex and his housemate Andrew and their host "Mama," where going as an educational experience.

At the Cathedral I was surprised to see the immense interior stuffed with people. I looked up to the altar and was also surprised to see 70 or more priests flanking the altar. As the Mass began we soon realized we were to witness the ordaining of 3 priests. Andrew and the host mother were practicing Catholics so they enjoyed the experience. I felt like everyone else would've appreciated an abbreviated version. The ordination and mass lasted almost 3 hours. The music was amazing and most of the prays were sung as well. One thing that caught me off guard was when they began playing Free Bird and sung a hymnal by its tune. I don't know how I feel about that hybrid. By the time I left, I was more than a little late to meet everyone at Hard Rock, but I was okay with it. I also have some new friends :)

I arrived at Hard Rock to tell them I was alive and well. Since they were almost done, I joined the table until we went home to finish some studio work. I ended up finishing right before studio on Monday. Our final pin-up is on Thursday for our first project. And then we leave for our touring of Spain!!!

Tuesday we met at Placa de Jaume for our weekly sketching class. We sketched some of the urban environment around the back of the Cathedral la Seu that connected to Placas together near Jaume. The second plaza we came to was Placa de Sant Felip Neri, which contained a civic building from the Catalonian government. It had huge pock marks in it from its battle with Franco's (oppressive ruler of Spain until the 70's) army. The whole area felt quiet and revere, it was very peaceful. I sat down to sketch on the edge of the fountain.

Suddenly, there was an eruption of noise and laughter. A school had let out for recess and a few dozen children poured into the placa to play. Most of the children decided to engaged in a feisty pseudo soccer game. They laughed and played and seemed so unconcerned with the war scarred building that towered protectively over them. The happiness that had exploded in the previously serene square, seemed so right. I found myself laughing at the children's antics. A few curios ones would approach me, glanced at my sketching and then run away giggling. One of the braver ones came up to me a stood watching intently. I looked up and said "Hola." He asked me who I was drawing, since I had started to sketch one of his classmates. I responded that I didn't know, since I don't like pressure, even from a 10 year-old, to cast a reliable portrait. I told him my name and he told me his was Franches. Exhausting our conversation options considering the age difference, he ran away to join his classmates. After a while, one of them tried to get me to play, but when I kicked the ball I launched my shoe as well. Laughing, I pick up my shoe and motioned that I should just continue drawing. All too soon their recess was over. I realized how much I missed Loretta (Hey baby sis!) and my family....so I continued my sketching assignment until I back in the grander plaza by the History Museum.

After comparing our perception of the spaces, we went to go into the museum. The museum actually takes you below street level to the excavated Roman ruins of the city. It's pretty awesome since some of it predates the birth of Christ. We were able to see ruminates of laundry services, wineries, seafood houses, and palaces, as well as art and pottery from various ages of Spanish development.

I'm standing over part of a winery from 12 BC!

Kristin Clancey and I came out of the exhibit enthused, but very hungry. Since class was over we headed down the street in search of something to set our appetite. There was a line out the door of a little sandwich store, so we decided to join the locals. I got a bratwurst sandwich with mustard, grilled panini style and split a small bottle of red wine with Kristin. We stood crowded with the locals and obviously not blending, eh, still delicious. Walking homeward we were distracted by a tasty looking display of gelato and gave in to temptation. We had to pool in all our change to buy the cones, but it was absolutely delicious. It was turning into a perfect day.

We stopped into the Boccario market and now too broke to buy anything, we just wandered. We popped out the back and while wandering down the street passed a store that looked kinda like a dollar store. Alleluia. Cheap, Chinese produced stuff. It was a perfect day. I picked up some necessities (i.e. a whisk, clothespins) that would have cost an arm and a leg at the stores we had been going to. By the time we got back we had to head out to Spanish.

Wednesday- Trying to be done for our first Jury!!! Hooray!

Friday's Grand Adventure

2008-01-26T06:43:00.000-08:00

So I awoke Friday morning and resembled the living dead. I had showered the night before, but somehow my hair decided to take on some fro-like shape. Although it resisted, I beat it down to a manageable coif and ate some left-over pasta with my roomies as we planned the day's adventure.

We were definitely going up the Mountain of the Jews, a mountain on the edge of the city that Jews used to hide-out in to avoid persecution. A really cool fort/castle had been built for military reasons not related to Antisemitism, complete with a moat. The moat has since been refashioned into extensive, geometric gardens. To get to the top of the mountain you can walk, drive, or take a cable car. Of course we wanted to take a cable car.

We also really wanted to see Mies van der Rohe's Pavilion, especially since its Lindsey's all time favorite piece of architecture and world-famous....

After deciding a gameplan we set out on our "Great Adventure!" We had to take a metro car partway up the mountain. Then we bought our tickets to the cable car and loaded up.

Lindsey's telling me to get in the cable car before it leaves me

A view of the city from the car! love it here!

We were all taking pictures and trying to squeeze to one side. Sometimes the car would sway and it was slightly unsettling, but the views were amazing! At the top of the mountain we arrived at the castle and it was awesome. We learned that Montjuïc castle is a fortress built in the 17–18th centuries to control the city as a replacement for the Ciutadella. Today, the fortress is a museum and Montjuic is home to several sporting and cultural venues, as well as Barcelona's biggest park and gardens. From the castle you could see the whole city laid out. We even were able to figure out where our apartment was.

The Castle entrance

We walked around the fort taking fun group photos. I saw a couple taking pictures and heard them speaking English. I asked if they wanted me to take a picture of them. After doing some fun pictures, I learned they were from Seattle vacationing. I then got them to take some photos of all of us in front of the city panorama. They were presented with a half dozen cameras and they laughed at my ingenuity to get them to take our photo by helping them first.

After exhausting our exploration of the castle we started to head down the mountain in search of Mies van der Rohe's Pavilion. As we walked we had great views of Calatrava's Telecommunication Tower, the Olympic Village, and the Museu National d' Art Catalunya (MNAC).

Calatrava's Telecommunication Tower suspended over the Olympic Village

The Olympic Torch from the 1992 Summer Olympics

Inside the Main Olympic Stadium

Glimpsing the Back of the MNAC

Approaching the MNAC with Stacey

A view from the steps of the MNAC once we got the front. There was a really good guitarist playing and people just hanging out on the steps.

Funny picture I took once we walked down some of the first stairs.

Skipping on the edge of the fountain. If I fell in I'd be in trouble because its no swimming :)

Finally we reached the bottom of the mountain and our final destination : the Pavilion! I like the design, but I'm not obsessed like some of my classmates. Approaching the building was interesting because its this iconic structure and the grass is dead from the winter and a dog and its owner were playing in front of it. We paid a guy sitting in a chair at the front steps 2 euro to enter. We explored the building and looked at the furniture. Someone would probably have leaped out of nowhere to round-house kick you in the face if you tried to sit on the furniture. I loved the reflections in the courtyard pool and I captured some beautiful images.

The Pavilion is in the background across the grassy mall.

The Pavilion, as well as some of my classmates. It's built up like its sitting on a pedestal.

The private pool in the back.

My favorite picture of the day :) i love the reflections

I wanted a reflection pic too!

After all the walking we did, we were tired and hungry. We hopped on the metro back to Plaza de Universitat and stopped for a delicious snack at Dunkin' Coffee. Yes- in Spain its called Dunkin' Coffee, not Dunkin' Donuts. Still delicious. The stores in the metro (they have restaurants, bars and shops underground within their metro) were running a promotion that if you spent 2 euro or more....you got a cool, reversible hat for free. The salesman handed me some and I was sooo confused, until I saw the promo poster outside of the store.

Stacey and I rocking the cool hats.

We went back to the apartment and while some of the ladies went shopping, I caught up on some studio work. All of us met back up later in the evening for a night out at the bars. When the bars closed around 3 am we were exhausted and happy to get some sleep.

Stacey (aka J.Lo) and I at Temple Bar

Fast Forward

2008-01-25T11:41:00.000-08:00

I'm going to quicken the pace so I can catch y'all up!

Tuesday

I blogged until Spanish class. Without my siesta, Spanish seemed really long. We got a break half-way through and I splurged on some Cheetos and Nestea. Hooray for Americana. I also had been appointed by our coordinator to get the information necessary for Catholic to credit our Spanish class on our transcript. This made for an interesting encounter with English to Spanish translations of what a syllabus was and why I would need an agenda. After that was all resolved we just wanted to eat and sleep because of the late night before.

Before Spanish, Jessie had put chili on to simmer so it'd be ready when we got home so we could make Frito pie (yummm). It's a southern thing. You put Chili over Frito's and sprinkle with cheese. Its also delicious. All of Grande Via joined us for dinner and it was fun...even if it was a little cramped :) We're having over 20 people over for my birthday (less than a month!!!) so we have to figure it all out anyway.

Wednesday

Stacey and I worked on our studio work in the kitchen. The repairman came by to replace some dead bulbs, fix the shower, tighten the chair legs, and some other miscellaneous things that had come up since our arrival. He was very friendly and our brief Spanish conversation consisted of hello and goodbye. My Spanish is really improving....

We went sketching in studio and wandered around the city a bit. We went to this cool graveyard that has been built around with aerial pathways. It's an interesting approach to the plaza design.
We also did some dumpster diving from a store that had gone out of business. We salvaged some shelves for studio and some clothes hangers for our closets. Successful. After returning to studio we pinned up our first and second attempts at urban planning. Its going pretty good I suppose.

They made a cool pattern when they were all hung up.

Dinner was stirfry. Food is very important to us :)

Thursday

We went shopping because some of the girls wanted cute new outfits to wear out to the club in the evening. I got a ridiculous long shirt that I thought had a cool Spanish phrase on it. After trying it on again at home we discovered that it was English words broken for graphic presentation. Its still a fun shirt....I'm just a little slow sometimes. We also went to H&M, which is 4 stories tall and magnificent. I bought a fun scarf, a new wallet, and an electric blue purse. Right now everything is on super sale, so for all the ladies out there who'd appreciate it, the shopping is pretty damn good.

I got to studio 15 minutes before it begins and quick whipped together my materials for the day. We had desk crits about our work and I spent most of that time fiddling with my blog settings and uploading photos. We also cleaned the studio because we had guest teachers coming to socialize. A few other architecture programs from the states are also studying abroad, so interaction is cool. Plus we got to eat some food and drink Sangria. Can't complain about that. We all left pretty early because we had Stacey's friend Brendan, along with 3 of his friends, coming for dinner.

My classmate and some of the professors mingling.

Josh and I took over the kitchen and diced, simmered and garnished to our hearts content. We made a lemon facile, but with broccoli, asparagus, chicken, and tomatoes. I also made these little h'orderves of toasted baguette topped with spicy ham, sliced tomato, mozzarella, and oregano.

The cooks after a good meal!

After prepping most of the food, I took a break to dye Lindsey's hair. She wanted a very natural black. All the girls were getting ready and we had too many things going on at once. I had gone back to cooking the chicken, when all the lights went out. A few screams and then "My hairs going to burn off my scalp," from Lindsey because she had yet to rinse out the dye. A few days before, Grande Via was without electricity due to construction. While everyone fished out their cellphones to use as lighting, I stuck my head out the window to report that we were the only ones without electricity. We found the circuit breaker and got the power back on. We shut off unnecessary lights and stopped the dishwasher. Luckily this was all resolved quickly, so no major harm was inflicted.

The guys came over and everything was wonderful, except for our selection in wine. And we didn't convert Fahrenheit to Celsius correctly, resulting in a sunken in banana bread that was still the hit of the dinner. After dinner, the girls finished getting ready, Grande Via came over, and we piled into some taxi's to go down to the Port to do some clubbing. I love to dance so I had a fabulous night. I also befriended some Russian's who shared a love for vodka and 90's music. Again I was taken from the dance floor prematurely by my classmates and returned home.Our large "family"

Friday

Was an amazing adventure and I will update shortly!

Mas fiestas, No siestas!

2008-01-24T07:44:00.000-08:00

That's our studio's new slogan. Translated it means "More parties, no napping!" I think its appropriate :)

When I last left you....it was friday night and Hawra and I had just left our new multicultural friends after a fabulous dinner. We walked back home and gave a Spaniard directions (hooray! we know the city :). Shortly after we arrived home to nos apartmento, the rest of the ladies came home from dinner out with Jessie's dad, who was in town. After our long night out on Thursday, and the good food we had eaten, we just crashed.

Saturday, during the day, Hawra and I worked on out derive project for Christy's sketching class. Oh- and my voice was almost back to normal! Nothing exciting happened until that night when we all went out to the Black Sheep, a large bar that is set underground. It was really interesting. We split a couple of pitchers and mingled. We made friend's with a group of teens from Paraguay, one of which was celebrating his 19th birthday. Sebastian, the birthday boy, and his friends joined our group and we talked and laughed until the bar closed at 3. I went with Grand Via back to their apartment and hung out until sleep overcame me and I crashed in one of their extra beds.

Sunday was low-key. Kristin Clancey and I went to a cafe around the corner and ordered delish hamburgers. The owner of the restaurant was very sweet to us because we were having obvious language problems with the waiter seating us. I'm now a big fan of the sweet older gentleman.

I went back to my apartment and then met up with Hawra to finish some more of our project, as well as finish my studio work and Spanish. Real exciting night of homework.

Monday continued our classes, which I adore in comparison with the States. All our classes work with each other and relate to one another. It's nice because what we learn in History enhances our understanding of our studio project.

I arrived in studio in the early afternoon to discover an "early birthday present," as my classmates called it. My laptop!!!!! Hooray! The short side of the story (do I ever tell a short story?) is:

I dropped off my laptop to Firedog in Circuit City before Christmas for repairs. I worked with a very nice, but slightly confused employee named Juan. I told him it was probably my powerboard since the battery and the powercord refused to play nice together. 45 minutes later he confirmed what I had already told him. He also said they'd be able to do the repairs in-house and I could pick it up in 3 days.

It was Christmastime so it wasn't until the day after New Years that I realized I hadn't gotten my computer. I gave them a call and they told me they had to ship it out and I'd be able to pick it up at the end of the week. Slightly peeved that they hadn't called me, but understanding of the holidays, I waited until Saturday to go collect my baby.

Poor Kevin. He had to relay the news that whoever had told me that my computer had been shipped out....was lying! They didn't have the boxes to ship out so my computer was still chilling in the store, waiting for a box. I was furious. I had been uninformed, then misinformed, and now I wanted to deform something. I was leaving in less than a week and a computer is a must for our work. Plus shipping is an arm-and-a-leg. I apologized to Kevin because I wasn't mad at HIM just his incompetent co-workers.

I went back everyday between Monday and Thursday (the day my plane left) to make sure...in person...that they had shipped my package, received my package, would ship my package back. They knew my face well, but no matter what helpful Joe tried, I wasn't getting my laptop back until after I had left the country. Luckily I work for Fedex, so my shipping is largely discounted, but still! Idiots.

To summarize- I was sooo excited that my computer came in. Plus my mom had shipped some spices, guidebooks I had forgotten, and kool-aid (oh YEa!). After embracing my box for a beautiful moment I regained reality and did some work.

We had a short studio, 3-5 in comparison with Wednesdays and Thursday when it goes 3-7, and then our history/theory lecture with Cece. In studio we talked about the urban cities we had created and critiqued each other so that our next iteration would improve. Cece hates giving lectures and was surprised to find us taking notes and "not snoring." The topic was interesting as we discussed the boom of cities and the problems with urban planning. The day went quickly enough and then Hawra and I went grocery shopping for our meal for the evening.

It's interesting to shop everyday for the fresh ingredients for the meal, but the results are wonderful. We've been eating fresh baked bread and olive oil, bruschetta, lemon facile, vodka penne, sausage and peppers....its all soooo goood. And of course gelato for dessert on occasion.

After dinner, all my classmates headed over to studio to finish up their derive projects for Christy's class. There was some sketchy guy outside of our studio. He meant no harm, but we still went back home in a group.

Tuesday we woke a little earlier than usual, so we could finish gluing our pieces on our project. Everybody's projects looked very different. We all pinned up and explained our graphic presentation in relationship to our drifting journey.

Hawra's and mine is the 3rd from the left on the bottom

The review actually went really well for Hawra and I because we understood the idea of passing through zones as we drifting through the city. Plus our graphic representation read well. Made us happy :)

I worked on my computer non-stop until spanish....

And now i'm going to cook dinner xoxo

Que pasa?

2008-01-21T14:55:00.000-08:00

Wednesday I wake up still sick. I roll out of bed, put on a hat, grab a granola bar...I'm ready for the day :) We all metroed over to the Barcelona waterside to meet Cece for a tour of Forum, a large series of public buildings within urban planned area of rejuvenation designed by a firm she worked for. Since it looked like it was going to rain we walked around the urban spaces. The area was built to revitalize the waterfront, create more beautiful public space, educate locals and be able to support the education of people from around the world. Across from the museum that showcased Barcelona's initiatives in public planning and green initiatives was the Barcelona Civic Center, the largest auditorium space in Europe. The site is over a water purification center as well as some roadways. Its very interesting. There's playgrounds for kids, paths with bungee "stepping stones" that launched you in the air, and playful polka dotted detailing in certain parts. I could ramble on about the interesting urban design, but I tend to be too long-winded as it is.

The museum was awesome because it has a model of the entire city of Barcelona. Its massive. Its beautiful. If I had to do something of that size I'd die. It was really impressive though.

Wednesday afternoon we had studio. We went out into the city to draw a figure-ground, white paint (represents the voids and negative space of the city) on black paper (becomes the buildings). We paced out a square within a plaza and from those proportions made our own scale. Then Mateusz and I worked together to map out our path North out of the plaza until we hit another plaza. Our end result was slightly abstract, but really interesting. It helped our visual understanding of spatial voids in urban environments.

We went home and I took a siesta (hooray for culturally acceptable napping!), until dinner. By this time I had regain some vocal ability, but I still wanted my bed ASAP. The evening was low-key and we celebrated yet another delicious family dinner.

Thursday I worked on some homework during the day and did some poking around the sidestreets in the area. We have some nice hole-in-the-wall stores.

In the afternoon we had studio again and this time we were in-house. We were working with the figure ground white-on-black relationships again. This time we started with a part of a city (a little hunk of Florence) that we transferred onto the black paper (I did mine backwords so with some finagling and marker I got it to work- oops). Then we started to define the primary, secondary, and tertiary arteries of the city that would, once extended, become the broadways, streets and alleys of void space. We also had to include some civic buildings to insert within the context of "our city." With some of the assignment done by the end of class, we hung them up to look at out progress. Each person attacked the project with a unique interpretation. I was curious to see the completed plans on Monday.

I worked in studio until I had a nice chunk of work done. Stacey had left to meet up with a friend from home that was coincidentally also studying in Barcelona. The game plan was for a group of us to meet up with them later on and go to a bar or club to experience some of the famous Barcelona nightlife.

Hawra, Jessie, and I were invited to Grande Via (the apartment of PJ, Emma, Nick and Kristin Clancey) for dinner. PJ impressed us all with lamb baked with mushrooms. The girls chipped in with potatoes and asparagus that completed a delicious meal. We all socialized and laughed our way through a few hours of conversation and a few bottles of wine. Since it was almost 11 we migrated to my apartment on Plaza Universitat, which is just a few blocks down the street, to meet up with the group of girls.

Walking back to the apartment we found the rest of my apartment, as well as Josh Humphries and Stacey's friend Brendan, waiting for their check at the tapas restaurant located right next to the entrance of our apartment. The raved about the food, which I know had to be good because several people had recommended it to me before my arrival....can't wait to try it!!

We headed upstairs and finished getting ready to meet up with Brendan's roommates and some of their friends (he lives in an international college dorm). We metroed over to his dorm, which is right next to the huge bus depot, and then met his friends. Our group then grabbed a caravan of taxi's to Sutton , a popular nightclub that they had a contact with. We arrived a little after 1 am and were some of the first people in the club! Barcelona nightlife is very different from DC. Drinks cost 11 euro ($16!), which was fine for me because I was enjoying myself meeting new people and exploring the club. It was fashion week in Barcelona, so a bunch of really attractive people, presumably models, were in attendance. The DJ was okay, but as the night got into full swing, the music got better. Models in angelic outfits also were dancing up on the stage. I dragged some of my friends out to dance, when more of our friends showed up at the club and we left to greet them. Finally, I was able to get on the dance floor and had a great time until 5 am....when the rest of my entourage decided to leave, so I reluctantly hailed a taxi back to my apartment.

I woke up on Friday afternoon. The Spanish have these lovely inventions of wooden, interlocking shades that make any room a tomb. Fabulous if you don't care what time it is. I worked that afternoon on studio work and laundry! It was really exciting.

Friday night, Hawra and I decided to take Olga up on her offer and meet her and her students for dinner and multilingual conversation. Hawra and I walked to Restaurant Pandarma, which on the map looked a lot closer than it really was. Entering the building we were slightly confused on the actual location of the restaurant. We then saw an arrow pointing to stairs that hugged the right wall and rose up the back of the lobby. After ascending the stairs we were greeted by the hostess, who after a quick game of cherades, led us to a back room to Olga and a large group of people.

When we thought ESL students, we thought 20-somethings at University. The people in the room ranged in age from 22-75, professional, student, wanderer. They were American, Spanish, Italian, French, and El Salvadorian (is that right?). We began introducing ourselves to this eclectic group of people. Some were very apt and confident in their English, why others knew less than I know of Spanish. The one rule of the night was you weren't allowed to sit next to someone of the same nationality and between our two large tables we did pretty good with the diversity. I was placed between Fatima, a 30-year old architect from El Salvador who practices in Barcelona, and Ramon, a middle-something unengaging man native of Barcelona. Hawra, who sat on the other side of Fatima, and I began testing our Spanish out, while Fatima patiently tried to interpret. Conversation lulled every now and again, we switched over to solid English sprinkled with Spanish, and began to talk about everything from favorite architects (hers was Kahn) to family. We tried to get Ramon to interact, but he just kinda sat there. He eventually rotated and Olga sat next to me.

Some other characters at the dinner table were Owen, an American student who was flamboyantly charismatic; a couple native from the city who I never caught their names; Valentino, an exuberant traveler from Italy; Jonathan, another American and his gorgeous Spanish girlfriend Sophie. There was two older ladies sitting farthest away that I didn't get to meet until desert.

Maria-louisa, one of the mysterious older women, was the funniest person I met all night. When Fatima got up to talk to some of her friends, Maria-louisa cam right over and sat with us. She was rapidly talking in Spanish about her life, her family, and her beloved sister. I caught most of it and was able to translate for Hawra, who sat with a puzzled look on her face for most of the conversation. Maria-Louisa would employ the whole table in a translation game when either I didn't understand her or she didn't understand me. Everyone would laugh at our staccatoed conversations and Maria's anecdotes. She also tried to persuade Hawra and I to go to Brazil, which is where he sister lives, because the men are "Muy, muy, guapo!!!!" (she says this as she does a little dance and closes he eyes). I was cracking up. She's 75, by the way. We laughed and talked though desert and coffee. Some people began to trickle on home. As we said our good-byes to our new friends, I asked Hawra what time it was.....1 am! We had just fallen victim to the Spanish 4 hour dinner :) It was fabulous.

(Gotta run to Spanish class! I'm going to catch up soooooon!)

Playing catch up

2008-01-16T17:33:00.000-08:00

Some of the group wandered down to beach as we walked towards the glistening sculptural fish. I joined a few of my other classmates on the jetty. The sun was setting and the panoramic view of the city was amazing. The coastline, with its mountains in the distant and the newer beachfront developments, echoed years of change and growth layered on one another. It was beautiful. I've also mastered the art of panoramic pictures on my camera (thanks mom and dad!) and was able to capture not only the awesome sunset view, but my classmates in all three frames that are stitched together to create one seamless picture. The end result is a photo with the three of them in the picture three times. Its pretty awesome.

Finally, the two groups converge at the commercial center that is capped with the infamous fish. The center itself is really interesting, with its layered floors, fountains. stairs, and balconies. The whole combination is really something.

(Sweet pic of the Natural Gas Building on the way home)
Our group heads back out towards home after multiple hours of wandering through the city. We were all hungry and sore from the unintentional mileage we traversed. After making a quick dinner we wandered down to the plaza to see what the commotion was about. We could hear hip-hop music and we saw street performers. Hawra and I joined the small crowd around the people causing the ruckus. A woman got on the microphone and began speaking in a manner that was similar in gesture and tone to preaching. We were then approached by a woman who tried to talk to us about their demonstration. After conveying to her that we didn't understand because our Spanish was so bad, she grabbed one of her colleagues who did speak English. Maria then began to explain how much God loved me and wanted my heart. I understood her broken English and adamantly agreed with her message, explaining I was Catholic and also believed in God's love. She invited me to worship with them the following Sunday morning in their church in Barcelona. I may go eventually, but I want to exasperate the Cathedrals of Barcelona first. We then returned to our apartment and explained to our roommates that the people were Evangelical Christians who performed hip-hop dance routines and preached in the square on Sunday nights! After that we crashed so we'd be ready for our first day of classes.

Monday was the first day of class. Our studio is all of 1.5 blocks away so in the afternoon we walked over early to see if our Internet was up and running yet. It was not since we run on Barcelona time...which is a little slower than Americans are used to. We had a run down of the syllabi for our studio and history classes. We met Cece for the first time. She's really fun. A native of Hong Kong and educated in the states, Cece now lives in Barcelona permanently with her family (husband and daughter) and runs her own firm. She's worked for famous architects and firms in Barcelona, and is just generally and all around around smart and funny person. I have a great feeling about her class. We'll learn about architecture and urbanism with her.

For dinner we had another family style meal where everyone chipped in and ate together. It's homey feeling and I like hanging out with everyone.

Tuesday we met up with Christy Cole for our sketching class. She introduced the syllabus and then explained our first project. We were going to do a derive in which we are each drifters traveling on a path defined by our emotional response to urban spaces. It's kind of trippy sounding, but was very informative once we immersed o urselves into the activity. Christy dropped us off in an unknown location and then told us to pair off. One person would wander for an hour, while the other recorded their path and emotional reasoning for their chosen direction and then the partners would switch. I paired up with Hawra and got to start the activity first.

I chose to go towards the sunny part of the street because it look welcoming and I was cold. I then was distracted by construction on what look like a church, and was later discovered to be a museum of a palace. We wandered in and out of alleys, stores, museums, and quaint courtyards, until we switched. Hawra took a similar approach and we continued through quaint streets, uncovering beautiful plazas as we went. Along our journey we met Olga, an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher who invited us to dinner for Friday. She wanted us to mingle with some Spanish students. Hawra and I are always up for an adventure so we agreed and swapped contact info. She was very friendly and we're really excited to meet some fun new people.

An interesting art store we popped into led us to Ed, who at first was kind of a grouchy salesclerk. We talked to him about some art products and he began to warm up to us. His English was really good. We later found out he had lived in some small town in Michigan for 3 years on and exchange program for high school, which would explain the good English. He gave us his info in case we had any questions about the area. Hawra and I have extraordinary luck with people. We make such and odd couple too. She's not even 5 feet tall, from Kuwait, dark skin, and black hair. I'm 5'6" and super white with dyed red hair. It's actually quite comical to hear us both butcher Spanish when we try and talk to people.

After drifting through the city for a few hours we stumbled upon the familiar La Rambla and ended our derive. By then we were quite hungry and stopped in a Turkish style eatery to crab some falaffel. Exhausted from our travels we walked back to our apartment to join our other classmates and hear their tales of travel. We snuck in a quick nap before heading over to the metro to go to our first Spanish class.

Our Spanish classes are held in the International House, a few metro stops off the L1 from Plaza de Universitat. The Int'l house is a resource center that teaches many different language classes to people of all different native tongues. Our class is solely comprised of the people from Catholic here for architecture. Most of us are beginners, but some of the students definitely have a greater mastery of the language. Our teacher entered the room and we didn't know what to expect. He only talks in Spanish (its a rule of the class) and he dives into understanding how much we actually understand. We ask each other our names, what we do , and what we want to do in Barcelona. We finally get his name, Xavi (pronounced Cha-be). He begins to loosen up and he gets us laughing at different greetings and conversational Spanish points. Since our pronunciation was so bad we reviewed the alphabet to get a better grasp on phonetics. To practice we played a bit of hang-man as well. We killed a few people, but for the most part we were triumphant. When we began to mingle to practice more conversation skills, we all noticed how adorably small our teacher was. He wasn't any bigger than 5 feet and with his slightly graying hair, he looked so cute. All of us know love the 3 hour class that we thought we'd dread.
Tuesday night was another family dinner. Then the boys came over to hang out and Hawra and I went over to the 3rd apartment, which houses Emma, Kristin, PJ, and Nick. They each have their own bedroom and the apartment is a mix between old world and newer furnishes. Only one of the bedrooms has a window though, which wouldn't fly in America with fire safety codes, but in Europe, those laws are much different. We all socialized for a bit and then stopped into a local Internet cafe to update our friends and family on our whereabouts.

Wednesday...I'm still sick by the way. I have a frogman voice and when I get really excited and normally higher pitched- no voice at all since I lost an octave of my vocal range. It's fabulous. We finally have internet working in studio and keys to the apartments to get in...

(to be cont.)

I have a new love...

2008-01-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

I think I mentioned that already though :)

so to continue from where I left off...

We meet up with the boys on Sunday and Í sound like a frogman when my ability to talk clicks in at all. Its fabulous really. Their apartment is in a mom and pop area of the city and is very quaint. Odd room sizes and mix-match furniture versus our Ikea stocked refurbished apartment. I really like it though. Homey. After getting the gran tour we headed out in our not-so-incognito group as we begin wandering toward the waterfront of Barcelona in search for Frank Gehry´s fish sculptural piece.

While walking we came upon some really awesome tag (a.k.a. graffiti). I thought of my sister Eimile who adores the lesser praised form of art. I got some awesome pictures, which will go up soon. Promise. I actually was able to see some of the artists in the process of creating a newer pieces layered on top of an older piece (which I think was Bender from Futurama...not all culture is lost over the Atlantic). We also pass the Natural gas building, which was beautiful in the setting sun on our return trip home. It´s all reflective glass and interesting cantilevers.

We wander around the Port Vell. There was a really interesting drawbridge that lead us to a commercial center on the pier with shops and eateries. The boys got McDonalds...and although it is better in Europe than in the United States, the ladies turn their noses up and tried to blend in with the locals with our baguette sandwiches. There´s a neat IMAX theatre and an aquarium as well which we hope to return to.

After walking down the Spanish boardwalk, we catch a glimpse of Gehry´s fish glinting in the sun...

(to be cont.)

Having this much fun is illegal in America

2008-01-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

Buenos Dias Amigos!!

So I have a new love. Barcelona. And my roommates/classmates. We've been having a great time exploring the city, getting to know each other, and cooking deliciosa food.

After talking to my parents on Saturday afternoon and letting them know I was alive (oops! Sorry Mom and Dad:) I joined my roomies plus Josh Humphries for our "First Supper." Josh decided to impress the ladies with a really yummy pasta dish that he had improvised since we had forgotten to buy flour [although Hawra and I tried to meet the neighbors to borrow some...we even had our Spanish ready...and then no one was home. We did run into Conchita and her husband- very nice people.]

After our delicious dinner we toasted champagne to our new apartment and started celebrating for the evening. Our other classmates eventually joined us for our impromtu dance party.

Sunday came and I got up ready to start my day. When I went to great my roommate Jessie I was unable to make an audible syllable. It was pretty sweet. I took some meds and we all trekked over to the boys apartment to see their casa.....

(to be continued)

First 24 Hours

2008-01-12T06:28:00.000-08:00

HOLA!!!

It´s been a little over 24 hours since I´ve landed in Barcelona. I´ve recovered quickly from jetlag....but have yet to get over how little Spanish I know- thankfully I´m good at charades.

My flight left Dulles airport at 6:45 est on Thursday. Before take-off I ran into my previous roommate´s (Kristin Deitos) younger brother who works there (TSA junior). Funny coincidence. She had been able to finagle business class to Rome, while I flew coach...with a layover. I also was fortunate enough to be selected for the random special screening and baggage search, which separated me from my travel buddy, Josh Humphries. I was put through an Ionizing Smith machine that blew jets of air over my body, messing up my hair :( They swabbed my carry on baggage to check for chemicals and they went through my checked baggage, which I didn´t notice until I picked it up in Barcelona. After my VIP treatment I was shuttled over to my terminal to meet the rest of my group.

Seventeen students from Catholic are in the Barcelona Architecture program, and 8 of us from the DC/Virginia area decided to meet at Dulles. Before reunited with my group I tried to make it over to Deanna Murphy´s (another of my previous roommates going to Rome) terminal to say good-bye before her flight left at 4:50. Alas, I was too late and the plane had finished boarding so I abandoned my good intentions and trucked back to my gate. Our group sat waiting for takeoff, sad because of the family and significant others left behind, but excited about the adventure ahead. We boarded and sat within proximity of each other on the 747. I was able to move next to Travis Akiwowo, one of my classmates, who provided a nice shoulder for me to sleep on.

We arrived at Heathrow a few minutes ahead of schedule on Friday morning without any major occurrences. London was rainy and dreary looking, sadly stereotypical. We met up with another hunk of our group that had flown out of Newark. Now we were 14 strong. Since the pound is kicking the dollar´s butt we sat patiently eyeing and occasionally browsing the unaffordable shopping of the airport until our flight left.

It was a short 2 hour flight to Barcelona and I slept through the whole thing, except when I woke for a brief period when the kid behind me discovered how to open and slammed the shade to his window to a beat in his own head. Luckily the parents intervened shortly after his discovery. Also, on our flight was the Great Britain national field hockey team. I talked briefly to one of the players and I´m hoping to see them play Barcelona sometime this weekend right outside the city. We´ll see.

Baggage claim went smoothly, we exchanged money and then hopped in a caravan of taxis to our studio space in the center of the city. We rent a space from BMP Architects right next to the Universitat de Barcelona. Its a wonderful area bordering the old city with the 19th century planning and expansion of the city. Our apartment is literally right around the corner from the studio and within a block of anything we´d need- bank, Internet, grocery, shoes....etc.

We meet our primary professors from Catholic, Christina Cole and Eric Jenkins, at our studio space to be briefed on schedule and get our apartment keys. We circled the block, passing our apartments on the first time. We probably looked like dumb Americans, lugging our suitcases. Finally, I asked a woman in broken Spanish how to get to our apartment. She wasn´t helpful. A second kind Samaritan figured out that the ceramic tiles above the stores indicated the street number....whoops. We found our entrance and decided it wasn´t our fault that we had overlooked this because our building is partly under construction. We took over the lift and begin transporting our luggage up to the 6th floor. On our second trip some of the other residents of the building where peeved we were monopolizing the only elevator in the building. They snuck in with myself and some luggage. After glaring at me I smiled sweetly and said ¨Hola." I then explained that I was a student and we were moving in. After listening to my poor Spanish the woman asked if I was American. Damn. Easy to spot I guess. Well now Conchinta and I are on amiable terms and if I ever need anything I can mosey on over. So obviously we´re not the worst thing that has happened to the apartment.

Finally, I´m able to load my stuff into the apartment. There´s six girls in the 4 bedroom, 1.5 bath apartment. It was just refurbished and in great condition. I share a room with Hawra Esmaeil who is originally from Kuwait. After some rearranging of the furniture and a quick shower, I pass out on my bed, while the rest of the girls explore the city a bit. I wake up with fabulous bedhead and hear that the girls have returned from their first adventure. They were pleasantly surprised to find that right next to the door to our apartment is a liquor store and I walked into the living room to find them toasting with a local brand of wine. I joined in after putting some decent clothes on and eradicating my messy hair. We finished preparing for our first night out and then meet our entire group (minus Nick Valentino who wouldn´t arrive until Saturday) at studio.

Trying not to be ridiculously loud and obviously American, we followed our two professors to a small restaurant a few blocks away tucked behind a market. We were shown an upstairs private room, probably to keep us away from the more mild mannered guests. Eric´s wife, Adrian, joined us and we begin bonding over sangria and ¨pan con tomato,¨a toasted bread with oil that is smeared with tomato. Adrian made us practice our Spanish by introducing each other to her. We laughed as we stumbled through our ¨mucho gustos¨and ¨encantandos.¨

Christy, knowing the most Spanish, ordered for all of us. We shared family style, sampling a local fish that I didn´t catch the name of, sausage over roasted vegetables, and pieya, a popular Spanish rice dish with squid, chicken and mussels.

Stacey Carbone, one of my current roommates, fought sleep the entire meal, truly entertaining. By the end of the meal most of the group was feeling the time difference. We left the restaurant ready to sleep and awaken in this beautiful city. We walked up Los Ramblos, past the closed down kiosks and an entrepreneurial fellow asking if I wanted any hash (legal in Barcelona btw). We showed the rest of the group our apartment before sending them on their way. After a brief surge in energy and discussion, we headed to bed.

I woke up at 5 a.m. unable to sleep. My pillow was to big and there was music coming from downstairs. I wandered into the kitchen to get a drink of water. Sipping the slightly saline tap water I looked out the window to see the glowing ¨castle¨at the top of the mountain above the city. Later we would find out that our dream home was really a basilica. The cityscape was beautiful though and I settled back to bed.

By 9:55 we were out the door to meet everyone at the studio for the beginning of our immersion day. They treated us top Dunkin Donuts, truly the pinnacle of civilization, and fruit. After scaring us with tales of pick pockets, club drugs, and general dislike for Americans, we ventured through the city with our professors as guides, pointing out stores where we could get cell phones (I´m installing Skype as soon as I get my laptop back for anyone who wants to talk), frozen food, computer repair, etc. We walked up La Rambla again and this time it was filled with performers, kiosk selling pets, flowers, foods, and trashy magazines. We wandered through the market and eventually ended up at the 4 story mega art and supply store- a Mecca for designers and artists.

After browsing we split up and Hawra and I went grocery shopping. After getting some necessities and unloading at our apartment I came back to this cute Internet hub around the corner to contact my family that I had neglected and regal my tales of Barcelona.

La Rambla!