Jan 24th – Day to Leave for Barcelona

Today is the day! My friends and I can hardly wait let alone pay attention in classes. The plan is to meet at 4pm to take the bus from Alcala to Madrid, then catch our bus from Madrid to Barcelona at 6:30pm. Technically the bus ride takes 8 hours, which is long but since this was our first trip we planned, we didn’t know any better. Next time we decided we would fly or take the train. History of Spanish Art is my last class of the day which since we are going through pre-historic art, it’s a little boring. But today, we come to class and Carlos says that today we have a choice with all of the loaded homework from other classes and the long weekend; we can either have our normal lecture in class on PowerPoint like normal, OR we can go to the archeological museum just down the street for our lecture. Umm, is this a test?! Of course we want to go to the museum! So we pack up our things and walk down the street through a courtyard and there is the museum….but it looks more like an old Spanish building, maybe part of a church but certainly not a museum. It’s so strange what the decide to convert old buildings into. Today our lecture is starting into roman art when they had conquered Spain. The museum was really cool, and free for students. Walking through we saw old mosaics that were used in homes for the floor in their courtyard, to signal the entrance to their home and even for their dining room. The one in the dining room was of a roman god who believed in excess of everything; food, sex, drinking, everything. People during this time that would have these mosaics were very rich, or very important because it is so expensive to have them made. There are three main people involved in making these, which they are huge to begin with…but these three are the team leaders of their area. One makes out the design and layout; the second plans where and how the small stones lay to create the look in the design that is desired as well as dyeing them the correct color; and the third is the person who carves out the stone into these small tiles. Mosaics like these were very detailed in shading and design and therefore took a long time to make. It could be anywhere from months to years until they were completed. Man that’s fancy. By the end of the tour, class time is over and Carlos tells us that we can go if we want or he can show those of us who want to stay just a little longer a few more mosaics. My friends in the class and I decide to stay…I mean, why not? After he showed us a couple more and explaining them, the last he showed I was definitely glad I stayed. Man did it open my eyes. In the courtyard, mosaics were done on the floors and one he pointed out the design…they were interconnected swastikas…oh my gosh. None of us knew what to say. Carlos then explained that the Romans were not Nazis but this type of design is where they got the logo for their cause. The reason it was chosen by the Nazis was because Romans were a sign of strength when they were in power and because they conquered the world (or as far as their world went), literally with everything. Their culture, their way of life, their way of thinking and gave a lot to the world and the places they conquered. The world was forever change because of them in the best way. For the Nazis, they wanted to become what the Romans were in their time. To conquer the world and forever change it. Carlos then said (again) that the Romans weren’t Nazis, but he wanted us to understand how and why people choose certain symbols to distinguish themselves from others. It’s because they hold great meaning to that group, even if others outside of themselves don’t understand. Wow. Even on the bus ride to my host home, I was still digesting the idea. And I began to feel a sneaking suspicion that by the time I return home, I would truly be changed by this experience. With even wider eyes than before and an even further broadened mind. I am lucky to have this opportunity at this point in my life. When I entered the door, Ana was waiting for me since she knew what time I was leaving at. After making my lunch, she told me that she had made two sandwiches to take on the bus ride and a bottle of the lemon water I like to drink (they were the ones to introduce me to it. it’s supposed to be more refreshing with lemon in your water to help the body cope). Thank goodness I packed the night before since I didn’t have much time. When I left, Ana had left to pick up Adrian from preschool. As I walked to the bus station, I ran into them where she wished me a great time and asked Adrian if he wanted to say bye. He pouted for a minute, then kissed me on the cheek and said bye. After getting on the bus to Madrid with my friends, we were ready to have a great weekend. Once we got to the bus station for our bus to Barcelona, we had gotten there with plenty of time, which was our goal so we wouldn’t have to rush. We got to our gate for the bus, when it was time, we boarded. Victoria and I were paired (sitting) together, Trevor and Katy, and Michelle and Dominique. The bus going to Barcelona was a little cramped (they are like greyhound buses) and uncomfortable. At a pit stop we got some chips to go with our sandwiches and ate on the bus. We slept the rest of the way until we were awakened by hearing the bus driver welcoming us to Barcelona. It was 2am. Looking around we are instantly becoming excited although we are extremely tired. Palm trees, clubs and restaurants still buzzing with customers and beautiful buildings. Once we get off the bus and get our bags we decide to get a taxi to our hostel. The hostel was called Sun and Moon and was pretty nice. We checked in and took our room key. Getting off the elevator at the 5th floor, we took a deep breath and scanned the room key to get in. Once the light was on, we could see our room. It was small, crammed and reminded me of the rooms in frat houses (size wise, not cleaniness, or lack thereof). The room was probably the size of a two girl room in the sorority house with a big closet, and 3 bunks. We had a bathroom with the standard; toilet, sink and shower….and it was clean. This is loads better than we thought it would be, and we had hot water. Thank goodness for that. I guess they are right when they say that hostels are an experience in themselves. Getting our bags in and getting settled, we realized that with 5 girls (poor Trevor is the only guy…we think he’ll probably turn gay after these four months because he’ll be so tired of being this close to girls for so long), getting ready will be very interesting. I was on the bottom bunk with Michelle on top, V (bottom) and D (top), K (bottom) and T (top). We started reading the messages written under the top bunk. Mine gave the best advice, as blunt as it was…’the cleaning lady is a thief and a lying bitch’. A little vulgar, but thanks to whoever wrote it. The closets can lock with a key you can carry on you, and there were no other ways of getting it open without the key. So we would plan to lock our things every time we left the room. We are getting in our pajamas and Trevor is becoming more and more used to us telling him to go in the bathroom or don’t turn the corner so we can change. Poor guy. After cracking jokes in our beds, we eventually fell asleep anticipating exploring the city the next day.