Classes Tomorrow!!!

Today is the last day before classes (Spanish classes) start. So far so good.

What do I think about Barcelona? The main thing that really stood out was the hours that Spaniards live/work/eat by. Nothing is opened on Sunday. Nada. Even Ikea, 'though on the website it shows that it should be opened all week. Dinner is after 9pm. I have been hungry for the past few days, dying waiting for dinner. Oh yeah, the super market isn't opened on Sundays either, and since it is August, it's closed from 2-5pm on weekdays.

Saturday night, after I arrived, I meet up with a few classmates to have dinner and later went to a club called Mirablau. It was a great place. Situated on top of a hill, it has a very good view of the city. Plus I enjoyed the music. Met quite a few first years. Now, I'm trying to put the names and faces together. There were a few whom I talked online earlier.

Didn't get back home until 5am. And got up around 2pm on Sunday. My roommate, Anna, and I wanted to go to Ikea so I looked online for directions. Took me about 2 hours. I'm not kidding. The transportation system is confusing at first. Anyways, finally we left for Ikea but it was closed. So, we tried Carrefour, but, obviously, it was closed too. Disappointed, we started heading back home but took a detour at Plaza Catalunya. Spent about an hour there looking around. I haven't actually done any touristy stuff yet.

On Monday, I was going to get up early to go to the bank, buy groceries, get a mobile phone service and buy a few electronic appliances (ie. Boombox, digital recorder). But I didn't get up until 1:30pm. I only had time to get groceries. In the mid-afternoon, my 3rd roommate, Mario from Portugal, arrived. After he settled in, we left for Ikea. This time, it was opened. We bought tons of stuff from Ikea for our flat. Pretty productive. Now, I can live quite comfortably. Not as comfortable as at Taiwan, but pretty much like at Stone-D. Afterwards, at 10pm, we met up with a few other classmates who lived quite near us for tapas. My first time having real tapas. After dinner, I went home, while the rest went to join another group for drinks. Me too tired. Need to sleep, or else I won't get anything done.

Today, after struggling a bit, I got up and finally opened my bank account. So, for those who want to send me money, hehe… Just kidding. Went to IESE to check out the campus. Small campus, I gotta say. Got my cell phone service setup. I ended up using the same Nokia phone that I have been using for the past 3 years. Cannot seem to get myself to get a new phone. Went downtown to do more shopping. Dinner (dimsum) w/ classmates. We all went home by 10pm. Gotta get up early tomorrow morning. Wahhhh, Spanish placement test and I haven't studied yet.

For those who want to go to Ikea, get off of Station Gornal on L8 of the FGC. (You can catch L8 of the FGC at Station Espanya.) After you leave the station, walk backwards towards the highway. Once you reach the highway, turn left for about 5 minutes. You should be able to see the huge blue Ikea building. If you look further down, there is GranVia 2 which houses Carrefour, a cinema, H&M and many other stores. If you just want to go to GranVia2, take FGC L8 and get off at Station Ildefons Cerda.