The little fruit that could.

Let me tell you the tale of the nispero. I actually don´t know anything about the fruit and all this information is going to be from google. However; if you think you have a favorite fruit, you are wrong(unless that fruit is a nispero). Nisperos are a god send. They are a little bigger than a cherry but smaller than a kiwi. And the look like an orange and a peach mixed together. They are sweet and juicy and sabor is so delicious. Look it up now.


So, here is the predicament about my blog- It takes a super long time to upload photos because I can only upload them in the living room on the apartment. I am never at the apartment and when I am I dont want to sit in the living room for an hour. The files on my camera are huge and I have to upload them to another webste, re size them and then post them. So that is why you are not seeing very many photos on here but you guys will see plenty in when I get back. Sorry to break your hearts but I am not going to be blogging anymore, I only have 2 weeks left and I would rather spend them dong stuff than being on the computer. I keep a journal so I wont forget any details, so dont worry. I have plenty of fun stories that I am excited to tell you when I get back but because there is no way that I can just live in Spain forever, I wont be blogging anymore. I hope this was a fun ride for you. Hope everyone is praying for a god send to keep me in Barcelona.


Peace and Love,

Emily Fin.

I'm Famous.

Look! It’s a new blog entry!

So I am just going to start from Last Saturday, and you will enjoy it. Last Saturday I went to a concert at Palau du Musica. You should really google pictures of the place. It’s more awesome in person though. I saw some singer. Tickets were really cheap and I just wanted to see a concert there but I had no idea who he was. He kept singing to me because I was in the front and I felt kind of bad because I think he got hurt when I wasn’t jumping up in the air like a groupie. Although there was an old lady 1 row ahead and 2 seats down that was a groupie. She was very happy and clappy (adjective form of to clap). It was traditional Catalan music and it was really nice. I havent been making daily entries in my journal so I keep forgetting what I have done but I will try and remember.

During the day I went to this really old pastry shop that was build in 1808. OH SHANANAGINS. I also stopped by the Las Ramblas Market, which is really neat. You can buy any type of food there. Its really huge, colorful, and loud. Although; there are A LOT of people just standing around taking pictures and buying juice. They sell cups of juice at the Market for “1 EURO, 1 EURO, FRESH JUICE FOR 1 EURO” (Travel advice: Don’t buy things that are advertised in English. Anything! Food, Clothes, Souvenirs. 100% of the time, its low quality and high prices because it’s directed at tourists. Even the most famous stores and restaurants will still be in Spanish.) Anyway, they give you like a tablespoon of juice. A gallon of juice at the store costs less than that.
Saturday, out.

(Originally, I thought I did this on Monday)




Sunday…..?......I went to the beach!! That seriously took me like 10 minutes to remember. I was kind of worried at first about the beach because the first time I went, it was kind of dirty and crowded but it was actually loads of fun. We all went in a big group and hung out for like 5 hours. I was also afraid to swim because Carmen was telling me that the ocean is really dirty. Carmen is kind of negative. She is always telling me the bad side of things. It was nice though!


(I am going to just skip Monday because I didn’t do anything.) Well,… I went to class and I hung out with Megan that day and she took me to this awful vegetarian restaurant. We thought we ordered a smoothie with apples and pineapple; instead they gave us carrot juice that cost 5 euros aka 9 US dollars. Later that day we went to this really nice bookstore and I bought Los cuentos de Beedles el Bardo. (So I guess I actually did do stuff on Monday)

Tuesday- I went to class again. I have a new teacher named Francesca. In the afternoon I hung out with Megan again because she was leaving the next day forever. =( I basically just ran errands with her. But she is funny so it was nice. We said our goodbyes. She was the first friend I made here. =(


Miercoles! So I had this really trippy week where Wednesday disappeared right out from in front of me. I am not joking. All of a sudden people were talking about what they were doing tomorrow as in Friday and I was like “WHAT! NO! IT IS WEDNESDAY NOT THURSDAY”. But it turns out the world was right. And so, I have no idea who stole Wednesday.

Well this is what I did on Thursday, I went to the zoo! Oh my god. Wait! I know what happened to Wednesday! NO, I went to the zoo on Wednesday! That’s right! And then on Thursday I went to the Labyrinth Park/ Maze. And then Friday was yesterday! *Sigh


Sorry for the ramble, I went to the zoo. It was a really really big zoo and they had a water show with dolphins (I wanted to jump in with them) and I befriended an Orangutan. Orangutans are endangered if you didn’t know. They had lobos there! Ya! New Mexico!


Thursday, I went to the Labyrinth Maze/Castle/Park which is really really old. It’s one of the oldest things in Barcelona. It was here before Barcelona was here. It was gorgeous. It was like miles of garden after garden, flower after flower. I thought of Laura when I was there. She would like that. I wonder if she’ll read this. Anyway, I felt like I was in Alice and Wonderland. I ran everywhere because I figured that’s what I should do. There were little hobbit houses everywhere and trails that lead to nowhere. It’s the kind of place you would find buried treasure. We played hide and go seek but I think I broke the rules like twice. Garth kept making up rules. (Garth is a person.) Then we raced through the maze like children.


Friday wasn’t interesting, except I bought headphones and guess what? The headphone plug is different here than in the US, so I can’t use them. So I am now stuck with my headphones where only 1 earpiece works.



I’ve been telling everyone about 4th of July but no one cares. This is the first time I have ever missed 4th of July…I think. I just laid around today. Hope everyone is setting off fireworks.






Peace and Love,

Emily Iamrunningoutoffunnywords



P.S. On TV they have a Channel 1. Who would have thought to have a Channel 1?




This is me at Parque Ciutadella.




COMING SOON A BLOG NEAR YOU!!:

The Legend of the Crazy Canadian Lady

I don't know what to title this entry.

I finished my first week of classes. At first I was all excited but then I realized the class is too easy. So I really want to switch up another level and on Thursday I take a test to see if I can. Everyone takes the test after 2 weeks. And even if I don't pass, I am going to ask IH if I can anyway because I have been bored out of my mind. We spent 2 days on the future tense, which I know like it's my own child. Then we proceeded to spend 4 days on pronouns. Pronouns are no fun, no matter what language you are learning. Therefore; I am glad that I will be taking the test soon.

Today is San Juan. In Spain they celebrate Saint John who was a cousin of Jesus. People celebrate the night before and it's supposed to be purification of the body and the sins. There are bonfires and fireworks to represent burning away the sins. Then at sunrise you are supposed to swim in the ocean after the night is over, to be “purified”. Although over the years the holiday lost its charm. Now it's just drunk people staying up all night at the beach. People still have bonfires and fireworks and there's music wherever you go but it's just a little less classy. For San Juan, I went out for a bit with friends. We set up a hang out spot on the beach right in front of a crowd of drummers and tambourinists. It was a lot of fun but I called it quits early. Staying up all night didn't appeal to me very much but I stayed up pretty late. In Spain nights are really short. The sun doesn't set until 10pm and you don't eat dinner till 10pm. So that is San Juan in a nutshell. I am glad I experienced it.

Now on to a total different subject-

So there's this little place I like to call heaven. It's an isolated cafe located on the corner of two empty gothic alleyways. It's a place where nothing is white or black, only cream and ebony; where candles are a requirement and the wood floors and stonewalls whisper to each other about the past. The light bulbs are placid and embrace the soul; the phenomenal smell reminisces of fireflies and fairies; and the people speak in the exotic tone of Catalan. It's a place where you laugh with the cheese, love with the pastries and cry with the tealeaves. It's the perfect time to be here anytime. It's Latin, it's magical, and it's better than Harry Potter and Disney combined.

I probably am not going to ever tell anyone what its name is or where it is because it's my little secret heaven. Hehe.


I went to Parc Montjuic. It's beautiful. Here are two pictures but my camera battery died as soon as I got there. =[ This picture don't really look like you're in a park but it's actually very green and huge. I am going to go back though because there's some photos that still need to be taken.









Hope everyone is smelling fresh air because I am not. 99% of people smoke here.




Peace and Love,


Emily Tu Tarjeta de Cine.( It was the first thing I saw in spanish near me)

*Sigh*

Hey guys! I am offically going to tell you what has been happening with me for the past 4 days! Be ready.

So I moved in with my host mom on Sunday at 11 am. Oh boy! I took a taxi there and I don't think I have ever felt so many emotions at once. I was excited, sad, impatient, nervous, scared!, happy, nauseated, dizzy, the list going on an on. I got there and she buzzed me in. I didn't even notice the marble floors and chandlers in the entry until later that day. I squeezed my way in the rusty elevator because after all everything is smaller in Europe. I got up to the fifth floor and was dripping of sweat. She came out to greet/help me. "Carmen." As she smiled and said her name, I recited my spanish routine, in a mumbly manner, that I had been practicing in the taxi. It was supposed to sound like Spanish but I am pretty sure it turned into Swahili. From then on I stuck to nodding. She showed me my room and I kept nodding. She showed me how to work the appliances and I nodded some more but I wasn't really listening. She told me her schedule. I don't remember that either but I think this was the part where I thought "I'm probably nodding too much." So i stopped nodding all together, however; this created a problem since I am an genetic "nodder". It's natural instinct for me to nod. So now my head is just twitching and that's even worse than nodding constantly. I took a breather and continued to nod. She soon finished and I ended up collapsing alone on my bed. As by head hit the pillow, I sighed a sigh like no other sigh in my life before. Thank the lord jesus.

To be honest, I had no idea that it was going to be like that. I thought it would be a bright shiny day and I was just getting ready for my new life! I was probably closer to tears than anything. After all, I have never been this long without my parents. I stuck through it and it only went up from there. My parents came to visit that night for tea and Carmen and my family really bonded. It was a much need relief for them to meet even though ANDEO said they shouldn't.

Four days later I have had 8 hours of awesome spanish learning, taken a night stroll down Las Ramblas with an Italian boy, got into a nightclub, successfully sculpted 2 bowls out of clay, gotten lost by myself 3 times, seen my french roommates' bod but haven't actually met him yet, had one lady fall on me in the metro and almost threw up.


The week keeps getting better and better. I think tomorrow I am going to see a movie. Terminator in Spanish? Maybe.....





Hope everyone puts vinegar and olive oil on their vegetables. (Try it. It's good!)




Peace and Love,

Emily Urquinaona




P.S. Here are some pictures of my room.









The view from my window. We are on the top floor. =]