Marrakesh, Medinas, and Mint Tea

Without photos this post will seem woefully incomplete but I promise to add them as soon as I have a funcional computer back in the states! This past weekend I went with two friends to Marrakesh, Morocco–a trip unlike any other I´d experienced.  My travel companions were my friend Caroline, a girl in my program, and [...]

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Catching Up…

As an addendum to my last post, my beloved dinosaur of a computer has finally died and I will have to replace it in Chicago.  What that means for the future of urbanita is simply this: fewer posts and unfortunately no photos (in all likelihood).  That said, I want to fill you in on the [...]

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Barcelona v. Madrid: A Showdown

Yankees v. Red Sox.  Sharks v. Jets.  Bears v. Packers.  Latin v. Parker.  Like these other longstanding rivalries, Barcelona and Madrid have been vying to be top dog for quite some time.  Though Madrid has been the capital of Spain since Phillip II moved his court there in 1561 (thank you wikipedia), Barcelona has long [...]

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My First FC Barcelona Game

Tonight I just got back from my first FC Barcelona game against Zaragoza (another team from a town in Spain) at the massive Camp Nou stadium (it seats 80,000 people and is one of the biggest, if not the biggest stadium in Europe).   It was a rout: Barça’s 6 to Zaragoza’s 1.  It was definitely [...]

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Gracia

Today my roommate Tanja and I explored the neighborhood of Gracia, one of the most vibrant and young barrios of the city.  We ended up going at the perfect time, which was around 5:30 pm, after a luxurious day without classes and a long nap for both of us. Having only been to Gracia a [...]

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Mullet del Día

Something tells me that if this guy were American, he’d be pretty annoyed with Minnesota’s new drug law.

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Rain Update:

No sooner had I walked out into the pelting torrent did I find a savior: one of the Pakistani guys who usually sells beer on the street (“cerveza beers?”)–yes given his country of origin, it is an incongruous profession–was standing outside the bus station a block from my residencia selling umbrellas!  What a savvy businessman.  [...]

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Londres

This past weekend I was lucky enough to hop up to London and see my Dad, who was there on business.  With no classes on Monday (it was a bank holiday in Barcelona), I arrived on Saturday and stayed ’til Tuesday morning. Except for my 8-hour blitz at the start of this journey, I had [...]

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La Mercé

Last weekend was one of the biggest festivals of the year, the Mercé.  Unique to the city, Barcelona witnesses 5 days of revelry, including two days in which most classes are suspended.  Celebrating Barça’s patron saint, from whence it draws its name, the festivities contain many Spanish traditions including the gigantes (which I unfortunately missed, but are [...]

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Oh right, I guess I am supposed to take classes here…

After approximately a month in Barça, I have now started classes…er “shopping period” (¿¿periodo de compras??).  Unlike for most students, Spanish or otherwise, my program allows us to cross-enroll in multiple Spanish universities, and with the goal of fulfilling some concentration credits, I have wound up taking courses on three different campuses (including the one [...]

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