I can't believe I've been here over a month

Today has been my 33rd day here in this wonderful country though I feel I have been here longer. I only have 65 days left. I wish I had much more time to explore and live here.
It has been one week since I've posted on here and I'm feeling blogging withdrawals. I've been so very busy with school and spending all my spare time exploring Barcelona with friends or sleeping.
I left you all last Thursday knowing that my roommates were taking me to a bar on Friday night. We found a great but small bar off of Las Ramblas called the Cassette Bar. It was a crowded, fun bar with a great dj. As my knowledge of alcoholic beverages was minimal, I let my roommates pick my drink. They ordered me a gin and tonic. The bartender put a lemon wedge and raspberries in the drink. I surprisingly really enjoyed in and got another. This time. the bartender made it with a lime wedge and blueberries. I'm so glad my roommates decided to take me out. They made my first bar experience enjoyable and fun.
Friday morning (the next day), I met up with Madi, Brett, Simone, and Tiffany to explore Park Güell. We waited in line for tickets for about 40 minutes. By the time we got to the front of the line the earliest time slot to enter was at 5:00 pm and it was just 2:00 pm. Instead of waiting 3 hours to enter the park, we bought tickets for the next day at 2:00 pm and decided to have a picnic lunch before.

Simone, Madi, Tiffany, and Brett

So Saturday afternoon Madi, Brett, Simone, Tiffany and I met at Park Güell at 1:00pm for our picnic lunch. We each brought something to share. Madi brought cheese and meat, Brett brought cookies and chips, Simone brought bread, Tiffany brought wine, and I brought grapes, strawberries, and cups. Once we finished our delicious potluck picnic, we
headed into the park.

It was absolutely gorgeous. Gaudi's work is so impressive. The attention to detail and the vibrant colors are what drew me in. Though it was crawling with tourists, it was a lovely place to be.

Just me and my liter of beer!

Oktoberfest is a 16 day long beer festival held in Germany once a year. Many other cities in Europe celebrate this festival alongside Germany and Barcelona is one of them. As Sunday was the last day it was celebrated here, I decided to go with my friend Tucker. We heard from other people who had gone that the wait to get in and buy beer gets long the later you go. To avoid a long wait we arrived at about 8:30 pm. We didn't hit a line to get in but there was a huge line for beer. To get a beer, you had to go to the register, pay, and get a chip which corresponded to what size and type of beer you bought. I ordered a liter of Paulaner Oktoberfest Beer and drank it all! The few sips of beer I had tried before this I did not like. This beer was different. It had a pleasant slightly sweeter taste than what I've tried.

The atmosphere at Oktoberfest was fun and entertaining. A majority of the time, great American music was playing. Everyone around us was happy and having a great time. I would love to go to Germany and experience Oktoberfest there.
My mom came back to Barcelona from her ventures in France on Sunday night. Unfortunately Mark had to fly home early, but it was nice to see him for a while when they were here a few weeks ago. As I was preoccupied on Sunday night, we made plans to hang out all of Monday, which I had off from school as it was Columbus Day.

We took a tour of Casa Batlló. To no surprise, Gaudi's work was astonishing. This is a must see if you ever make it to Barcelona. Each tile, door, and window pane has a story in his architecture. Walking through this house feels as though you are walking through Gaudi's mind.


After Casa Batlló, I had to return home to finish some homework and then I met up with my mom again for dinner. We found a great restaurant called El Callejón . We ordered an assortment of tapas for dinner and were very pleased with all of them. With an early morning class the next day, I left my mom to go back to my apartment.
Tuesday morning in my Argumentation class, it was my team's turn to debate. Our topic was lowering the drinking age in the United States to 18. My team was for lowering the drinking age. I was afraid I would forget all of my points. I didn't forget any and took up all the time I was supposed to. I'm still waiting for my grade but I think I did well for my first debate.

My delicious salmon sandwich

With my 4 hour break between Argumentation and International Relations, I took my mom to Barceloneta to show her the beach and have lunch. We had lunch at Frescas, a place I had dinner at a few weeks prior. Our waitress was very nice and served us a lovely meal. We ate and then got some gelato before I had to be back at school for International Relations.
Since my mom had her apartment to herself, I decided to spend the night on Tuesday with her. But before going to her apartment after class, I had to pack all the summer clothes I wanted to send home with her and finish some more homework. Ugh, homework. I am doing a study abroad program but still, can't we just do the fun stuff?
Anyways, after packing and homework I met my mom at her apartment. From there we went to a great Basque restaurant she found while wondering around. There we had pintxos (Basque style tapas) and they were so delicious! My favorite pintxo was a crab and cheese mix with veggies on a slice of bread. While waiting for the check, my Mom gave me a necklace. It's a metal heart that has been painted with a salmon shade of pink. The top has two pink beads. I really love it.
Trying to take my mom to my favorite gelato shop, we headed back to the neighborhood her apartment was in. My favorite shop was closed so we got some from another place. But gelato is gelato so I can't complain.
We arrived back to my Mom's apartment with the last bit of our gelato cones barely intact. After doing more homework, I both went to bed. 
Early Wednesday morning, I got up to get ready for school. As part of my Spanish Life and Culture class, I had to go to a gastronomy walking tour through Barcelona and it started at 8:10am. Tearfully, I said goodbye to my Mom and headed down the street to walk to the meeting place for my tour. I cried the whole way there. I already miss my mom so much. Missing her is making me miss my whole family too. Missing them is making me miss my cat. Missing my cat is making me miss my friends. It's just a downward spiral so MOVING ON!
The gastronomy tour was nothing special. I'd been to a few of the places our tour guide took us but it was just to early for a guided tour and I was missing my mom. Immediately after the tour ended, I had to head to school. By the time I, along with all the others in my tour, got to school, I was late for Spanish. My teacher knew about the tour so she wasn't worried or bothered by it.

Here is a piece by my favorite artist in the gallery

After Spanish, I stopped by my favorite place here in Barcelona: the art gallery I discovered during La Mercè. I love this place so much. Each week there are new pieces but by the same few artists. I go at least once a week. My favorite artist paints with vibrant colors and creates great lines in their pieces. 
Today was a great day. This morning in Argumentation, I had to give a 30 second speech on why housewives should receive a wage for their work and then take at least 10 rapid fire questions from my classmates and teacher. I was nervous I wouldn't get my points across in 30 seconds but I did. I immediately got my grade and I got a 95%!!! And in my evaluation my teacher said I rock! I'm not going to let it go to my head but I am so excited.
I've been trying to get a solid exercise routine down but I keep using the excuse "Oh I'm only going to being living in Spain like this once so I should go explore rather than run" for the past 2 weeks. But today I put an end to that streak! I went for an almost 3 mile run with my friend Tucker. Going on a run felt awesome! It was nice to have someone to run with. I plan to run tomorrow evening when I get home.
Well it is now the start of my 34th day here and I need to go to bed. In a little over 7 hours I need to be at school to check in for our Wine Tasting Tour. I'll update you this evening on how the winery and my run were.