Sunny day on Friday, now snow on Monday... crazy BCN weather!
Heaviest snowfall in Barcelona since 1962!
Taking the time to “tomar el sol” February 7, 2010
When I woke up this morning I couldn’t help but smile – even though I’ve been here for over five months, I still can’t believe I did it – I’m really here. Luckily, it was beautiful sunny day out so I called a couple of friends and we roamed the streets of Barcelona without a plan nor purpose, we just walked. I’ve seen most of the tourist attractions and know how to get around the city now, but what I love most is that I can get lost in the small streets and discover all the hidden treasures throughout the city.
On Sunday’s not much is open, all the main stores and supermarkets are closed, yet that doesn’t force people to stay inside. Instead, you see everyone just walking or sitting on the grass “tomando el sol” and enjoying the nice weather. I feel like I can truly breathe here… even though at times it’s hard for me to balance, work, school and other extra curricular activities, the one thing I’ve learned from the Spanish is to take time to just sit and enjoy the present moment…
We walked through Park Cituadella, you can't tell in this picture, but there are hundreds of people with their tapas and blankets all over the park. You see everything from people walking on a tightrope to people playing musical instruments with friends singing along next to them... I love how people just take the time to sit and enjoy the company of friends and family.
Behind the Catedral, there's this small corner that has amazing acoustics, there is always someone there singing or playing their musical instruments... I love the free concerts in the streets.
There is always a new plaza to discover and streets to roam, I could live here forever and still discover something new every time... I love how Barcelona never fails to intrigue me.
Don’t mean to brag, but… January 29, 2010
… according to the Financial Times, EADA marketing is 9th in the world… money well spent :).
Best in marketing*
1. Northwestern University: Kellogg
2. Duke University: Fuqua
3. Indiana University: Kelley
4. Esade Business School
5. University of Bath School of Management
6. Emory University: Goizueta
7. University of Michigan: Ross
8. HEC Paris
9. Eada
10. Univ. of Pennsylvania: Wharton
Everyday is a learning experience… January 23, 2010
One of my favorite things about living abroad is that even the simple tasks, like going to the grocery store, always end being a learning process and the simple joys in life put a smile on my face. There are somethings I’ve learned to live without (minus peanut butter – I go to a speciality store and pay over $5 for a small jar, ridiculous I know, but I love it) and have grown accustomed to a lot of the local brands. Well anyways, today I went grocery shopping and after months of searching, I finally found oatmeal. I was super excited and grabbed some cinnamon and I started roaming the store looking for the brown sugar. I couldn’t find it so I asked the saleslady for “azucar cafe,” she looked at me with a confused look on her face and shook her head. I walked away roaming the isles continuing to look for it and then she came up to me again because she realized what I was asking for, it’s actually called “azucar moreno,” tan sugar would be the direct translation… ha ha. Even though I make mistakes sometimes, I really do learn something new everyday and I’m loving every second of it.
Holiday Travels: Final Stop – Paris! January 21, 2010
Paris was actually the first city I visited when I came to Europe, but it’s been four years since then and I’ve been wanting to go back ever since. It snowed and was beyond freezing the whole time Vanessa and I were there, but still absolutely gorgeous. There’s really no city in the world like Paris, the history, architecture, art… it’s beyond breathtaking – J’adore Paris!
Château de Versailles - Hall of Mirrors
Versailles gardens - definitely enjoying gorgeous views more from inside the warm palace...
Macaroon break at Ladurée
Delish...
Louvre - there's snow!
Tour Eiffel
Holiday Travels: Back to Barcelona!
After London, Anette traveled back to our favorite city… Barcelona. One of my best friends Vanessa came to visit to spend new years with me and to check out my new home town.
Loving the Christmas decorations!
This year the Barcelona government bought new Christmas lights saying “Merry Christmas” in 15 different languages and they were hung up all over the city. The funny thing is that they forgot to include “Feliz Navidad” or did they? The Spanish government was really mad and accused Barcelona of purposely forgetting to include Spanish since Catalunya is constantly trying to separate themselves from Spain… interesting stuff!
Feliz Navidad?
Yes, this is Obama and yes, he’s pooping. BUT, before you think this is weird, it’s actually a normal Christmas decoration in the Catalan nativity scene. From what I understand, in Catalunya, they believe that the day Jesus was born was like any other normal day, meaning that there was probably a guy pooping in the bushes on Dec. 25th. For that reason, they always hide El Caganer in their nativity scenes and when you go to a Catalan’s home, the first thing you do is look for el caganer. You can find el caganer in the shape of almost any known celebrity or cartoon, Anette asked me to get her an Obama for her birthday :).
Anette's Birthday present
We brought in the new year in Plaza Catalunya, everyone gathered in the center of the city with their bottles of Cava and grapes. In Spain, it’s tradition to eat grapes for good luck on new years eve. They start the countdown 12 seconds before midnight and you eat a grape with each sound of the bell.
Bringing in 2010!
The view from the top of La Catedral de Barcelona
Finally made it inside Casa Batilo, loved it - definitely worth a visit 🙂
Holiday Travels: Second Stop – London January 20, 2010
I love my sister, especially for her spontaneity, so when she told me that she booked a flight to London and was coming in a week… I was not at all shocked. It was actually the best Christmas present I could have asked for and it definitely helped cure some of my homesickness. Here are some of the highlights from our trip, enjoy!
Buckingham Palace
We're in London, we had to take a cheesy phone booth picture 🙂
Tower Bridge, so much cooler than the London Bridge
View from the top of St Paul's Cathedral... the whisper room was definitely a highlight!
Holiday Travels: First Stop – Dortmund, Germany
When I booked my fight to Barcelona this summer, I knew I wasn’t going to make it home for Christmas. At the time, I was fine with it, but as the holidays got closer, I really started to miss home – especially my family and friends. Luckily, I have great friends at EADA who were willing to adopt me and take me home for the holidays. All my friends from Germany constantly raved about how amazing Christmas is in their home country, so I when I was invited to spend the holidays with my friend Mag and her family in Germany, I was beyond excited.
It just so happened that the day we were flying out, there was a huge snow storm and many airports were shut down. Less than a half an hour before we were about to land, our airport was shut down due to poor weather conditions and we were relocated to another airport a few hours outside the city. We were then bussed into Dortmund, which took over six hours. Ironically, we ended up spending in total almost 14 hours to get from BCN to Dortmund – the same amount of time it would have taken me to get to L.A. – ha ha.
My first view of Germany
We finally made it to the Christmas market, here we are warming up and sipping on Glühwein (hot spiced red wine).
Dortmund Christmas Market with Alex and Mag
The legendary Christmas market. The streets were filled with gift, food and dessert stands and decked out with holiday decorations.
Dortmund Christmas Market
This is where I’m supposed to be. December 12, 2009
Anette recently sent me this picture we took four years ago on my first trip to Barcelona. We were only in Barcelona for 24-hours, but it was love at first sight when I walked through the streets of Barrio Gotico and saw Gaudi’s architecture for the first time. I remember telling Anette that I could see myself living here and I felt at home…
If you would have told me then that I’d be where I am now, I wouldn’t believe you. It’s crazy where life takes you, but I can finally say that I’m grateful for the changes in my life that brought me to where I am now. I couldn’t be happier.
Eating pizza with Anette in front of La Sagrada Familia
Thanksgiving in Barcelona… November 30, 2009
It was hard to spend Thanksgiving away from my family, but I’m definitely thankful for all the new friends I’ve made here. On Thanksgiving day, I was thinking about my family and friends and missing everyone back home. My mouth would salivate every time I thought about all the delicious food I was missing out on. Luckily, My close friends from EADA decided that we had to bring Thanksgiving to Barcelona since they’ve seen it in the movies and wanted to try the all the delicious food.
I sent everyone a list of typical Thanksgiving dishes along with a Web site with recipes and I volunteered to make my favorite dish, stuffing. I was really nervous since I’ve never cooked it before and I was feeling the pressure since I wanted my friends first Thanksgiving to be memorable. The cutest thing is that everyone took their dish really seriously and since pre-made boxed meals don’t exist here, so we all had to make our dish from scratch. After school we went to the grocery stores in search of the ingredients and spent hours making our dishes. We all got together at a friends house with our dishes, set the table and started to chow down. All the food was amazing and everyone was so proud to share their dish since they put so much time and love into the preparation. The stuffing was definitely a hit, the girls were eery to try it at first since it’s something they’ve never tasted before, but they definitely enjoyed it. The only thing that was missing was a turkey (it’s nearly impossible to find one in Spain), but we substituted a chicken which did the trick. We had everything from mashed potatoes to apple pie and ice cream, we for sure had the full Thanksgiving experience.
I had two friends here visiting from home and we all agreed this was one of the most memorable Thanksgivings we’ve ever had. I can’t stop counting my blessings, I’m thankful for my parents who have given me the opportunity to be here, my family and friends who’ve been more than supportive and for all the new friends I’ve made in Barcelona. I am truly blessed.
Thanksgiving dinner before...
...and after, we devoured it all!
My Someday is Today 