Packages!

I have not been this excited for a package in my life.  I was not at my apartment when they tried to deliver it the first time so I had to go pick it up from the post office (way easier than stupid FedEx which I will explain later). I sprinted to the post office as soon as I was able to and easily got the package.  The wait on the walk home was terrible! I wanted to know what was in it, even though I asked for everything that is in it.  But it is still a nice surprise.  

From what I remembered to ask for, I was most excited about the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, which most Europeans have never had.  Next, my knitting needles; the weather is getting cold and I want to knit!

Opening the package was probably the most difficult part.  I could not find the seams because there was so much tape on the box, i barely saw the card board.  When I opened it i first saw Harry Potter!!! I think that is actually what I was truly most excited about and totally forgot.  Then there was Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte packs!!!! OMG SOOO GOOD.  I loved the package.  It was practical and rewarding.  A special thanks to Will for sending it :).

Back to FedEx.  They tried to deliver my package but since I am at school I was not there to receive it.  They left me a note (just like La Poste) and I called them to see what I had to do.  They said that I need to be at the apartment to get it.  I asked if they could leave at the post office and they said no.  Then I asked if they could leave it at the office for the residence, but they did not understand that.  Then I said, FINE I can come to your office.  The office is in another city.  I don't have a car and I don't know how long the bus will take.  But I would think that FedEx could figure a way to deliver the package at a time will be home, but no.  We paid them to deliver it to me, this is stupid.  USPS is doing a way better job.  And my friend used UPS and she was able to schedule a time of delivery.  Why can't FedEx do that.  I hate them right now.

Barcelona Day 3

Day 3.  I did not get much sleep again.  I woke up at 10 ish and tried to plan the day.  I still had not done any sightseeing that I wanted to do so that was my priority.  Through research, Molly and I decided to go to Park Guel, the Sagrada Familia and the Picaso Museum.  I thought it was a good plan, and it was, but it wasn't.  

Getting to Park Guell is hard.  No matter what metro to take, you need to walk 2 minutes towards it.  So we go out of the metro and had no idea where we were and only had a shitty tourist map.  We got lost and found the park an hour later.  Once at the park there were so many other tourists and this was not what we wanted.  We also did not see what everyone was so stoked on.  Yea there was a pretty view and it did have some cool architecture going on because Gaudi was awesome, but we just did not like it.  There were probably other factors like fatigue and irritability due to being lost, but we just did not enjoy it much.  BUT everyone I talked to back at school asked if I had seen the park and I would say how we didn't like it and their mouths drop.  I don't know what they loved so much about it, but yea, I guess I offend them when I say it.  So sorry if I am offending anyone now.  

Next stop was the Sagrada Familia, which is the only thing I remember about Barcelona from when I was little.  It was just as cool as it was when I was 10 years old.  I think it is more "complete" now that they keep "finishing" it.  But it is such a different type of style compared to any other churches it makes sense why it is so loved and visited.  I wanted to go in but the line to buy a ticket was around half the church, and it is a big ass church.  Maybe another time.

Last stop, the Picasso Museum.  I had actually passed it the day before with Magdelena but did not realize it.  Side note: all these tourist spots were an adventure to fine because our map was so bad that it made no sense at all which way was North or South or what streets the sights were on.  The Picasso Museum had a longish line but Molly and I stuck through it.  I was taken aback at how much I liked the museum.  It showed you the development of Picasso.  He was not always the crazy face making painter that I think of him as.  He could pain a lot of different styles of things.  The funniest one we saw was a "Self Portrait with Wig."  We decided it was like the old fashion way for taking a selfie picture with a weird hat.  BUT I really liked a lot of his works, from is older ones to some that were more recent.  

So now it was time to go out again.  Normally when I party with groups I take a night off and rest, but for some reason I did not do this here.  I was going off of the amount of sleep in 2 days that I like to get in one night, and still managed to get ready and go out.  We finally had some great tapas at a place where all the tapas were set out on a bar and you could just go up and grab them.  At the end of your meal you go up and they charge you for the amount of toothpicks you have.  It is a cool honor system and I loved that, but was also upset because I knew that in America it would not work out since people are cheap and dishonest.  Nest we bar hopped just to et a feel for this other side of town we were at.  We went to a cocktail lounge, a gin bar, a pub and then another more pub like bar.  The 4 of us that lasted to the end of the bar scene got home around 4 am.  One guy, Jos (South African) made friends with some homeless people and wondered off, and the rest of us got into the apartment and thought it would be a good idea to play French music really loud and have a dance party.  Just the 3 of us.  There were 2 guys sleeping on the couch (and by sleeping I mean passed out) and we did not give a damn.  They woke up once and said something along the lines of "I like this song" and did not ask us to stop or leave.  It was a solid dance party with just the 3 of us (2 Americans and a Swede).  I danced my way to bed (literally) a bit after 5 and the other two danced for another hour after that.  I don't know why or how they did it, but it happened.  

The last day was just cleaning and catching a bus.  We returned to Montpellier at 8 pm and I went to bed at 9 and woke up at 6.  It was not THAT much sleep, but I needed it.  Bad.  

I had such a great weekend.  I am so glad that I went.  I was able to get to know more people in my major better than I did before and now we all have inside jokes and stories.  It was a good bonding time.  And to be honest, Barcelona was way cooler than I thought it would be.  I really liked the city…other than the spanish speaking part.  I was relieved to return to France where I could at least understand a conversation or when someone tries to talk to me.  In Spain I was so useless.  I still loved it though.  

From left to right: Jos, Dor, Molly, Monica, Tobias.

Barcelona Day 2

Day 2 in Barcelona was a struggle.  No one was feeling 100% due to the alcohol and lack of sleep but we knew we were in Barcelona and had to take advantage of the time here.  We made it out of the apartment about 1 and went to find a place to have lunch.  We chose a place that had the SLOWEST service and my meal came 5 minutes later than everyone else's.  I was dying of hunger so that 5 minutes felt like an eternity.  The only truly redeeming factor of the lunch was they gave us shots of some weird semi tequila tasting semi limoncello tasting shots.  It was hilarious to see all of us struggling to take them. 

After lunch we walked down to the harbor and saw the harbor mall type thing and all the boats parked.  In that mall there was a Starbucks and I really felt like a Pumpkin Spice Latte…which they didn't have.  Sad day.  I still got a Chia Tea Latte but it was not as good as a Pumpkin Spice Latted would have been.  But that latte made me feel like a new person.  So what if I got little sleep, I wanted to keep doing something now and not go home.  Thankfully one of the girls, Magdelena, had the same mindset as me.  We did not have to worry about leading a bunch of people and our only aim was to get lost and find cool shops.  We did just that.  There were so many cute shops with cute clothes and accessories but we both fought all the urges to buy anything! I was so proud, but now regret it a little.  I think having something from Spain would have been really cool. 

Though I was down to adventure and all, I could not deny the fact that I needed some rest.  We went home to nap/rest.  Napping is hard with 10 people in an apartment but I was able to just sit and relax.  Another thing that worked out well was one of the girls, Chloe cooked us dinner.  This was a money saving and energy saving idea.  She also cooked a really good veggie meal!

Yet again, we headed out on the town around 11 or 11:30.  We had a friend (a local) show us to some cheap places.  The group I was with has this weird obsession with Mojitos (also tequila) but I don't like them.  I tried to like the Mojitos but can't do it.  Not at all.  So we went to a place that had good sized 3 euro mojitos, a pretty baller price.  

When that bar closed we meandered a bit and came across another bar.  Here, it was pretty chill and normal until this lady came in frantically looking for her puppy.  She was crying and looking everywhere for the puppy.  I remembered seeing one come in and thinking it was cute but I thought that it would have just gone to the guy who brought it in.  After she was looking for 10ish minutes I decided to look under my feet for a second.  I saw a dark blob that looked like a purse but I went to touch it anyway and it was soft, warm and breathing.  The puppy had fallen asleep under my feet and I did not even notice! So I just reached down and picked up the puppy and gave it to the lady's guy friend who then gave it to her.  She FREAKED out in happiness.  She was almost collapsing she was so happy and sad and just very emotional.  She had no idea it was me and I was OK with that.  But the guy was probably not enjoying the crazy ladies reaction so he pawned it off onto me.  She then came over and was crying and kissing my cheeks and giving me hugs and speaking in english and spanish.  It was an emotional mess.  I was laughing, she was crying, everyone else was laughing.  Her man friend helped get her off of me and we ended up chatting and he was from LA and went to Cal Poly!!! Such a random small world thing.  And I was out with Monica, another Cal Poly grad, so we all talked about the magical place of SLO.  

We got home around 4 again and just ate, watched youtube and hung out for a little bit.  Basically went to bed after 5 am again.  

Barcelona Day 1

This past weekend we were granted a 5 day weekend!! Originally we were going to go to the Rhone for a field trip but that was canceled.  With 5 days at hand what did 12 of us decide to do?  BARCELONA!!!

I got a round trip bus ticket for 68 euros.  The ride was 6 hours to get to Barcelona.  I was lucky enough to be accompanied by some friends, Molly and Tobias just incase I got super bored.  Our bus ride was not that bad.  Our bus driver was a biotch, but she got to Barcelona 30 minutes early, so I couldn't be that bad.

Once in Barcelona I realized that none of us could speak Spanish.  All I have is some Cali Spanglish, and that doesn't work with people from Spain (as I have learned from the two Spaniards in my class Javier and Jordi).  So the first obstacle was finding a taxi to take us to our apartment 10 of us were staying at.  I was worried that the driver would notice we were not very knowledgable about the area and try to rip us off.  He did the exact opposite…he drove us as far as he could go (we were in a no car area) and even gave us really good directions to our square.  I don't think you tip in Europe but we sure tipped him!

Finally arriving to our apartment we had to call the people already in Barcelona to let us in.  Monica (the girl who organized all of this) came to let us in so we could put down our stuff.  Surprise, surprise, the door does not unlock.  The key would go in but would not move.  We stood in this tiny stairway trying to open the door and trying to get a hold of the apartment owner for over an hour.  I was not even able to think of what was going to happen.  We were so close but so far away.  Once we got a hold of the owner (FINALLY) he came and decided he had to get a locksmith.  Luckily he owned more apartments in the building so he said "You guys can just put your stuff in the attic until we get this sorted."  By The Way, that attic had a beautiful terrace which overlooked the Barcelona skyline AND we got up there right at sunset.  The damn door breaking opened a whole other possibility, wine and cheese on the roof! It was so cute and so perfect we could not believe our luck (and unlock with the door).  It all worked out for the better.  

Now this was just the start of our night.  As the Spanish do, we got ready and headed for the bars at midnight.  The 10 of us mindlessly walked around and stumbled across this rastafarian looking bar.  The bar tenders spoke english to us and we met other english speaking people, including Australians.  What became dangerously popular at this bar was Tequila shots chased with a tomato sauce/lemon juice/pepper/tobasco shot.  I only tried one but it somehow became the drink of the rest of the weekend.  And, I don't now if it is common but when the bar had to close the bar tender poured a shot for everyone (for free) and said "your welcome, now leave."  It was a good idea and pretty funny.  

The bar closing did not mean the end of our night.  We had now picked up 2 Aussie guys to our pack and found a club.  I don't know how we found it or where it was (I was so lost) but it was a lot of fun.  I love dancing and that is all I did there.  It was not the best thing for my strained quad but I just couldn't stop dancing!!! I had so much fun there, and so did everyone else.  I thing we left the club around 4:30ish and began to head home, which no one knew where it was.  It took a half hour to walk home and later we found that we were only 5 minutes away.  Whoops.  

As I mentioned before, we had access to the terrace for the night so we decided to go watch the sunrise on the roof.  I fell asleep instantly and apparently slept walked down to the room when everyone gave up on the idea of seeing the sunrise.  I probably went to bed around 5:30 am and was woken up at about 10 am by screaming children in the square we were at.  I did not get that much sleep, and that was only just the start of the weekend.  

Photo Credit to Monica Lewis

Quad Problems

Damn...

So today (Monday) my quad felt a little funny walking up stairs but I thought nothing of it.  I really wanted to play soccer with everyone in the afternoon, so I assumed I would be ok by then.  When I got to soccer my leg was not that bad, but not perfect.  I jogged around a little and tried to do high knees but that really did not feel good.  I decided to play goalie which would not have to run much.  I kicked one ball and was out.  My quad was done.  It hurt just standing there.  It hurt to walk.  I sat down, and it still hurt.  I elevated it, ouch.  Nothing was good.  

Funny (or not so funny) enough, another guy, Jordi, did the same thing I did.  His leg felt funny so we went to play goalie and a few minutes later he was on the sideline with me.  I felt bad for him but it was also nice to have a buddy to walk home with.  We looked ridiculous walking home together.  We both hobbled in the same fashion and even funnier, we hurt the same leg and same muscle…twinzies!! 

Can You Read That?

The walk home should take 5 minutes, but it took a little longer given our state.  Every hobble felt bad, every elevation change, everything annoyed the muscle.  Finally, we got home (laughing the whole time at how ridiculous we looked), and I still had stairs to go up.  They were not that bad but I went really slowly and only stepped with my right foot.  A nice French girl asked me if I needed any help; just when I had lost hope in any nice french person, one shows up.  I denied the help because I am stubborn and made it to my room solo.  

The independent streak was over and now I needed help.  I did not have anything cold to put on it so my friend Molly walked to my room to deliver me ice.  Then, without asking, my neighbor/classmate/friend Dor came to check up on me (and give me muscle cream stuff)! I felt so loved by all the help I had gotten without begging.  I have hope in humanity again!!

It does suck a lot to be crippled right now, but it did make me happy to see that people were willing to help me out.  

Picture Walk

Picture Walk

There are a few people in my class that have nicer cameras.  One happens to be Nesli, the girl from Turkey, who I hang out with a good amount.  So on Saturday morning I was not feeling 100% since I had stayed out pretty late with everyone at pubs and such.  I was exhausted!!! But I did not just want to be lazy and sit around so Nesli and I went on a picture walk with our cameras.  She also has a Canon but hers is about 10 years newer haha.  

We had no plan but to walk around and get inspired.  Montpellier is a very pretty city with its alleyways and old architecture, so it is easy to be inspired.  

Nesli Took This...I love it!!