That's a lot of C's

I really love taking an art history course. If I didn't love IR and go to a school that loves IR, then I totally would have been an art history major. I haven't been able to take an art history class at Tufts, due to the fact that I would have to take the basics course which is the exact same thing I did in AP. But this is glorious. I am really excited for when we start having field trips to Modernisme buildings in the city!

Quick transition to Spanish where we practiced the subjunctive through listening to a Mexican song called "Noche de Boda," or "Wedding Night." It was a cute song and a creative way to have us practice both conjugating and listening. Way to go IES!

I came home for lunch (mmm salad) and a little TV time. I like this whole coming home in the middle of the day thing, and of course it is very Spanish of me. Oohlala.

My last class of the day on T/Tr continues to be painfullllll. Everyone in the class falls asleep at least once. Some of the other kids are talking about not understanding him. This is not the issue. He's just so monotone and repetitive. HOPEFULLY it will get better. I do say this after every class, but I've only had 3 so I really can't complain.

After class Holly and I had a gofre and museum date. Gofre in Spanish means waffle. But waffles here are sold in gelato shops. And instead of syrup, they put all kinds of good stuff on top. I got mine with chocolate and condensed milk (they love that here). SO GOOD. Holly got the same but with gelato on top. I actually never want anything sweet ever again. But it tasted so good at the time, I guess it was worth it. ;-) All I wanted for dinner was salt. Thankfully those potato chips I keep on hand saved the day.

We made our way over to the CCCB, or the Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona. It is a really interesting looking museum, with really long escalators and dark hallways. We got in free with our ArtTicket that we got for completing the cultural passport (who brought the cool kids? For real though, it's so worth it!).

The first exhibit we saw was called "Las Mujeres Desconocidos," or the Unknown Women. Do you know why they were unknown? Well, this exhibit made me feel like a creepy voyeur (are there non-creepy voyeurs?). It was full of pictures taken of women on the streets of different European cities. Or riding their bikes. Or waiting for the bus. Hmmm. They were definitely great photos, but the whole exhibit was black and dark minus the photos, which were black and white. Odd huh?

The second exhibit was called "Apartheid." It was an entire exhibit on racism and specifically apartheid in South Africa. It had lots of art by both white and black artists, but there was also a lot of information to read, videos to watch, and computers to explore. It was a very multimedia exhibit and it was very powerful. The whole last room was covered with lists of people who had died due to the repercussions or apartheid as well as how they died. So sad.

By the time we were done with Apartheid, the museum was closing. One of the museum workers, who was trying to be really nice by speaking to us in English but in fact it would have just been easier for her to talk to me in Spanish, told us that we could go back to the ticket desk and they would give us free passes to come back and see the other exhibit another day! Considering the fact that we didn't pay to get in anyway, I see this as a double-whammy of goodness. They were really nice about it even though we had to spell out our names for them. I'm a fan of the CCCB.

We came home and I felt gross so I jumped in the shower before homework. My homework for Spanish, I think I said before, was a 200 word composition. 200 words. I don't think I've ever opened my mouth and said less than 200 words. It's just so ridiculously short, so mine ended up being 254. If she complains, I will merely stare at her in disbelief. We'll see how long I can keep that up until I actually have to respond to her...

Anyway, I think I'm rambling. One more short rant and then I'm done for the evening. The smoke.
It.
is.
EVERYWHERE.
And it's grossing me out. My hair smells like I asked someone to breathe their second-hand smoke directly into my ponytail. Walking around Barcelona, I am coughing all the time---which in LA is a signal for put our your effing cigarette, loser. I think that gets lost in translation here, and I end up looking like the girl with asthma. I don't want it to bother me so much, but I also don't want to get used to it. Honestly, everyone is smoking allll the time. A man blew his cigar smoke in the other direction from me today, but the wind had it out for me and it all came back in my face. Yum.

Ok this has been an interesting post, so I'm just going to put an end to it now.

Dos besos