What a week it has been...

Well today marked my week anniversary! This is going to be a long blog so bare with me.

A week ago today I arrived here in Barcelona and began what has been thus far an incredible experience! I have learned a few, but very important, concepts and things in my week abroad:

1. Don't be timid...Barcelona is not a city for pushovers! If you want something, speak up...and be loud! If you want to go somewhere you have to do it....sometimes you might have to "push through" large crowds...don't be rude, just forceful. If someone is offering you something be cautious 9/10 it is a skam...especially if they start talking in English...because then they have picked up on the fact that you are American and they might try to give you a so called "stupid American" scam!
2. Only say perdon (excuse me) when it is absolutely necessary...people here will walk in front of you, cut you off, blow smoke in your face etc. without saying excuse me....so by always saying it you not only come off as timid...but AMERICAN!
3. As far as being American...to these folks over here it is obvious...adopt the culture but don't lose yours...the more you try to look European...the more you stand out, because eventually you will have to speak and that's always a dead giveaway!
4. Some people are extremely nice...and then some are huge you "know whats"...just like in the U.S. use common sense, if someone starts to be ignorant, the best thing to do is walk away! YOU ARE VASTLY OUTNUMBERED!
5. Don't smile unless smiled at. (this one is kinda hard for me haha) Over here everyone is about getting to where they are going...not to be rude but they don't care about what is going on with you! So unless someone greets you happily, look ahead and be about business...besides you look stupid if you are always smiling and no one smiles back.
6. BUY A REUSABLE SHOPPING BAG!!! Plastic bags over here cost money at the store...I was wondering where all of these extra .20 and .30 euros were coming from on my receipts haha.
7. If you plan on going to any store go in the morning or at night...siesta occurs here. (Siesta is basically a huge lunch/sleep/nap break from about 1pm to 4pm). Also stores are NOT required to post there hours here...they open and close whenever they feel like it.
8. Barcelona has its sketchy places (bad parts) but sometimes the best stores and restaurants are in these sketchy places! Besides there is a police officer or two on LITERALLY every block here.
9. Explore...Explore...Explore. Did I say Explore yet?
10. And lastly relax...sometimes I can get a little stressed out...but then I remember I AM IN EUROPE!!! How cool is that?!??!?!?!!!?!!

Ok I am off of my soapbox for now...here is what I did today! We went on a bike tour through out a portion of the city...we covered about 7-1/2 miles today...it by far has been the coolest thing I have done over here to date! Riding a bike in Barcelona is much different than it is say in Downtown Charleston (might I add I don't think I would ever do that...the mentality is different). First off they have bike lanes on some of the streets and sidewalks. If there is no bike lane in the street or on the sidewalk...you GRADUATE INTO A CAR....GET IN THE ROAD WOOOOO! Yes today there were many occasions where I was riding right next to cabs, trucks, and a really nice Audi at one point! (Goes back to my rule number one...you can't be scared....otherwise the cabs and cars will run you off the road while honking at you like a madman!!)

However my first time riding a bike in a heavily populated city did not go without trouble! First an old lady HIT ME WITH HER PURSE AND YELLED "VERY BAD" while I passed her on the sidewalk...not exactly sure what I did wrong because about 3 others had passed her before I did. And then later on when we rode down a very narrow street I man walked out in front of me and walked extremely slow...needless to say even bikes don't stop on a dime so I LIGHTLY, I repeat LIGHTLY graced his leg with my front wheel...boy oh boy did he flip out on me....I'm not exactly sure what he said (first he spoke Catalan not Spanish) but based on the context, his facial expressions and his heightened voice it was not good...
(This qualified for rule number 2! It was absolutely necessary to say perdon! Then I used rule number 4 and pedaled away...quickly!) It was an eye opening experience, well the week is just about finished one short class tomorrow and then the weekend!

Has a Dubai "feel" to it...apparently the architect that designed this building said his building design came before the architect that designed the building in Dubai.

On the boardwalk at the main beach in Barcelona...we rode down a portion of it on the bike trip today!

This is the route we took (approx. 7-1/2 miles) ...luckily we have native professors who know where they are going.

I think this was stop number 7 on the map above...but it was a very nice public pool secluded in a small park off of one of the streets....very pretty.