A week already?

I seriously cannot believe I have been here for 8 days already.  Wow!  We've been exploring a lot.  Amy and I explored Las Ramblas (don't worry we kept our bags very safe from pickpocketers- apparently this is the most well known pickpocketing spot in the world).  There were several street performers dressed up, for example, like Bob Marley:

Of course we got some Gelato...yum!

And then we walked all the way down Las Ramblas to the Christopher Columbus monument... it was very impressive.  This is it from a distance...

Here is some of the detail: Ferdinand and Isabella statues...

And of course we went to La Boqueria... they had such a variety of meats, fruits, vegetables, chocolate, seafood... pretty much everything!

And then we walked down Passieg de Gracia and saw some beautiful architecture by Gaudi and others...

Clearly we did a ton of walking this day (Saturday) so we went home, napped, and went out with Brittany, our new roommate, to L' Ovella Negra, or the Black Sheep, a local bar with delicious Sangria.  It was a lot less touristy and more friendly than some other places we have been and we really liked it so we will most definitely go back soon.  

Sunday, Amy and I decided to go to Parc Guell and explore.  As I got off the metro (which we know how to use now yay!) I realized I didn't bring my camera...oops... but no worries we're going back soon and this is why:

We walk into the park entrance and there are tons of speakers blasting this one song on repeat, people shouting orders over a loud speaker, dancers, and so much commotion- we had no idea what was going on!  We walked up the steps and there were people dressed up, a man on stilts, and people handing out black and white balloons.  Amy and I were so confused.  After a while we put two and two together...they were filming a music video and were trying to get the public involved in it!  So obviously Amy and I went over to be in it.  We couldn't understand what the people with megaphones were saying but we just copied what the people around us were doing and just started dancing and waving our hands in the air... We eventually found out that the City of Barcelona wants to start charging admission for entry into Parc Guell and this was a commercial in protest.  So, Hola Espana!  Look for us on TV!  

It was quite an interesting experience but we want to go back when it's not as crowded so we can explore the park again because it was so pretty.

I have had Spanish classes for the past 3 days and our regular classes begin tomorrow, so it will be really nice to get in a routine soon.  Yesterday, Ellen, Amy and I went to the gym for the first time.  It's a really nice gym but we weren't thinking about the differences in measurements in Europe... so on the treadmill we didn't know how many kilograms we weighed and we weren't sure of the equivalent miles we ran to kilometers we ran.  Luckily I have my Nike running iPod gadget so I could see the distance in miles which made much more sense to me!

It's amazing how much better my Spanish is after only a week.  I feel a lot more confident speaking to people...well, until they speak Catalan and that's just another story.  But we're still learning a lot!  My Skype has finally started to work so Skype if you can!  Hopefully it will keep working.  

Adios!