July 22, 2007:

Hey guys it’s me again, Megan in Barthelona. Since we are in a temporary apartment we don’t have wireless so it sucks- but it’s real late in the night now and I am borrowing a neighbor’s network.

I have been dying to organize my thoughts on my first week and a half in BCN, but also share them with my friends so here goes nothing (warning: this well be very stream of consciousness)

Funny stuff to share:
-Crappy Ikea beds are not made to handle vigorous marital relations, so we found out. The bed didn’t break per se, but we were interupted and had to put the slats back in. LOL
-We went to desposit my student loan checks, ya know the balance we need to live on. And they said:” oooo, about that. They won’t be processed until the end of August. We are going on vacation.” No joke
-We went to Sitges, a 30 min trainride south to a gay resort town. Very nice, except I got fried and spent the next day inside- no surprise there. Although we will return this week so I can continue my sun damage (I am the tannest I have ever been!)
-We saw an old naked guy with a prince albert walking down Las Ramblas the other day. We followed him just so we could see people’s reactions
-PORN. Turn on your TV anytime to find it, but espescially at night. Hard core, soft core, and it’s all on basic cable. You can also find a infomercial for a penis extender.

Interesting observations:
-You really can’t be fat in Europe- the stairways and “lifts” are so freakin small. It took 5 trips in the lift to get our stuff to the apartment
-We have only found Aquafina in one store- a mini mart called SuperSony. But you can get an ice cold 2 liter for 50 cents!
-There are lots of skinny chicks, but no one is in shape, weird.
-There are LOTS of Americans here- not sure if it’s just visits for the summer but you hear them all the time. Also many German and English tourists. Oh yeah and no one really speaks English here so you better study up

Decisions:
-I will no longer eat anything that is not labeled “bistec” (steak), pescado (fish) or pollo (chicken). Their pork and ground beef is like pate and GROSS. And the shrimp you get are the nasty mini ones. I am searching for veggie joints
-City life is great (no car etc), but I can see why everyone in NYC flocks to central park- you really miss the fresh air and trees and grass =(
-You really have to learn patience and just go with the flow- you never know when a store is going to be open, seriously. With this siesta thing and summer holiday, it’s anyone’s guess.

New experiences:
-I have been trying local foods- cause what the hey, gotta try everything once. I will pass on the cuttlefish next time, but I enjoyed my whole fish on the plate, and also the spinach with raisins, pine nuts and bacon!
-The beaches are super crowded- and with ladies of all shapes and sizes TOPLESS (no not tapas). David is pushing me to lose my top= yeah maybe by the end of the summer. Although I really have nothing to worry about seeing some of them
-You don’t tip here- so a 30 euro meal, in the states, you would probably leave 6 bucks. Here you maybe leave a euro. But since they don’t work for tips, everyone works together, your food comes out quicker and the service is so much better

About Barcelona:
-SO many museums!
-The people really are super friendly. Most are very nice and sweet, and want to help you learn their language. Can’t say I had this friendly a reception when we went to Europe a few years ago
-We went to see Harry Potter tonite (VO- original version w/ castillian subtitles) and yes there are assigned seats
-We found a place called Fresc Co. that is basically a more healthy Sweet Tomatoes. Boy did it feel great to eat a salad (they are hard to come by, but we eat plenty of fruit). Oh and a place called Habibi where you can get schwarma, hummus and falafel and pita for about 8 euros- that’s cheap for here!
-Food is expensive, and I really think there are more cafes/restaurants here then anyplace else, it is CRAZY. But you can get “el menu del dia” at lunch time 1pm-4pm which is bread, drink and dessert plus 2 courses from a list for about 8-12 Euros. That’s the best deal
-Haven’t really seen any gyms- we went running around Olympic Village yesterday but had to take the train there. Everyone looked at us funny
-There are 2 languages here- castellano (what we know of as spanish) and catalan. So all city and street names are in Catalan, along with signs in the metro and public buildings. It’s weird and difficult to juggle the 2 since one looks like a mix between french and spanish. Oh yeah and BTW I don’t know any freakin french

Well that’s about it guys. Until next time, I hope you enjoyed this. Wish us luck on finding an apartment tomorrow. Once we are settled in a place we hope to pop over to Paris to visit family but also do more touristy stuff around BCN and Spain (haven’t had time really). We start language classes Aug 13 so our summer vacation is slipping away. Look soon for pics from: La Sagrada Familia, Sitges, Barceloneta/Port Vell/Olympic Park, Parc Guell and Las Ramblas/La Boqueria.

August 12, 2007

Hi guys! We have been here in BCN for three weeks now and I wanted to send a quick update. First of all, we are finally in our own apartment (we spent the first night on Sunday). Here is the address:
David and Megan Le
Carrer Mandoni, n°8, sobreático
Barcelona, 08004, España

What that means is that we live on Mandoni Street, building number 8, on the sobreatico floor, or top floor. We have the penthouse which is kinda neat, so we have a special elevator key for our apartment (the door opens into it, but we also have a separate door to the hallway/stairwell). The apartment is 50 square meters, so about a quarter the size of our house, BUT we have the top floor so we have a 25 meter terrace which is very valuable in the city. I like to call it the bachelor love pad, since it’s kind of a studio, with a platform bed, no oven and 2 burners. So the focus is the deck to impress the ladies. Ha ha. Our landlord is super laid back and let us paint- my lime green walls turned out more to be more minty and less limey, but atleast it’s only temporary. Finding a place to buy paint, and doing it in Spanish was interesting but we did it. It’s not like we can pop into Home Depot or something like that. The place has some furnishings but we have to buy some stuff- luckily we live close to the mall and Ikea so it’s easy. You should see David trying to get Ikea furniture boxes on the crowded bus- the locals love it (Once the place is set up I will send pictures)

So we have basically spent the last little while trying to get settled, sleeping in and getting to know the city. Also adjusting to city life, learning the metric system/celsius etc. We have not done any touristy stuff since the last time I wrote; we are here for the long haul, so our plan is to wait until all the tourists leave. There are lots of them here: Americans, Germans, English etc and I look forward to when it’s not so crowded.

David starts his 2 week intensive language course on the 13th (9:30 to 4:30 pm everyday). I start my 1 week technical/business Spanish language course on the 20th, orientation week starts the 27th, and then pre term classes start the 3rd (full classes start in October). That first month is spent getting everyone caught up and at the same level for basic business stuff: finance, economics, operations, accounting etc. Some MBA students have a business background but not all; luckily I do so that will help. The finance side of business is not my strong point or favorite, but at least I have some experience with it, unlike some others.

Speaking of school, we finally met some of the students who are in town already, which has been great. I wanted a small program with lots of diversity and collaboration and I think I made the right choice. Everyone has different backgrounds and experiences to bring to the classroom so it will be fun. There are Americans of course (Brooke from DC, Mark from Denver), but also Canadians (Mark and Tricia from Calvary, Chris from Toronto), but we are also hanging out with people from Barcelona, Chile, Greece, Trinidad, India, Argentina etc. I believe there are at least 100 total students and we have only met about 10, lots more countries represented that I will come across at orientation. We have been going out to dinner, drinking and just having a good time getting to know each other. The “first years” are definitely bonding but we have also met some “second years” who try to give us the scoop.

Now it’s Friday night and we are just hanging out. Tomorrow we have some last minute errands to run and need to pack since we are headed to …… GREECE on Sunday. I am so freaking excited. We wanted to have a little vacation before classes started. We looked into Eastern Mediterranean cruises but it was too last minute and most were booked. Luckily we now have a friend (Panos) from Greece who helped us book a trip. Everyone knows someone in that culture and he called friends/family who own hotels to find us a place. It’s high season in the Greek Islands (actually all the beaches in Europe in August- businesses close and everyone goes on vacation for the month- kinda nice) so the friend’s hotel on the island we picked- Sanotorini- was booked, but that person called their friend who has a hotel, and all over phone and IM, Panos booked a room. We thought there might have been a one night deposit, and his friend’s Dad was going to lay out the money for us, but since we are friends of friends of friends, no deposit. Yeah so we have the phone number of the hotel owner if we need something. How cool is that?!? We return on Sunday the 12th just in time for classes on Monday. I will spend that week hanging out and finishing the apartment with a few more Ikea trips.

There is so much more to write but that’s it for now. David says he will send out an email to everyone once we return from our trip. Take care and we hope everyone is doing well. Please pass along this blog/email to friends and family members who we might have forgotten to include.

Ciao for now!