everything. I don't know if I would eat everything again, but it wasn't awful. We had a good time.
After eating, Laurie and I walked back. It was such a beautiful day and it felt good to walk. We did a few errands on the way back to the residence.
At 7:00, Laurie and I went to the cultural class. It was suppose to be on an artist named Dali, but it was on Argentina instead. I certainly didn't get the gist of it all, but I am picking up common phrases.
The class lasted longer than it was suppose to be. It was about 8:30 when I was able to cook dinner. After that it was time to go to my room and read and study.
October 21, 2003
Nothing exciting in class today. I had a hard time understanding. I feel like I am the only one. A woman came into class. She wanted to know if we wanted to be tested on what we learned. I want to be tested just for curiosity. So tomorrow I will take the test.
After class, Mattes, Antoinella, Laurie and I walked to an apartment building that was done by Gaudi. It is called La Pedrera. There is a tour of the attic, roof, and an apartment. One may not think that an attic or roof is very interesting, but Gaudi's work was unique. In the attic there are models and information of some of the places that he has done. One of his works, Temple de La Saguada Familia, is still being built. I find Gaudi's work interesting because it is not the normal straight-lines and some of his works seems playful and it is colorful with ceramic design.
The roof has structures of different shapes and designs and they actually are the staircases and ventilation towers and chimneys. The attic or loft is beautifully laid out with 270 curved brick arches of different heights. The arches were done to prevent increasing weight of the building and to give more space. The apartment we saw was a recreation of a bourgeous family of the early 100's. Gaudi put a lot of thought into his buildings.
We didn't have as much time as we wanted in the apartment because we needed to meet Antoinella. Once we met her, we ran over to the place were we needed to collect the money for the trip we did not take.
I didn't do much at night. Just read and studied some vocabulary. Before I knew it it was 11:00.
October 22, 2003
After our Spanish lesson, four of us took the exam. I thought it was hard and tricky. Some of the questions on there is material we didn't cover. Plus, I didn't know all the meanings of the words.
It was pouring when I got out. The weather was funny. One moment it was sunny, the next gray, the next it was pouring. So I stayed in and read and napped. It seems the more I rest the more I want to. Laurie and I then went to a store called Cortes Ingles. It was like five stories. It was like a mall within a store.
At 7:15 Laurie and I joined the "paseo". The school offers walks on Wednesdays to see and hear about different parts of the city. It was good to walk and get some fresh air. The teacher, Alicia, spoke in Spanish, of course. I only got phrases of words. Laurie is much better at understanding when people speak.
We came back to the residence. I had eaten dinner earlier. So I had my dessert. I had ice cream in a cup and I added chocolate powder and milk and make a milkshake. It was so good that I went out to the store to get more milk to make another.
I should study, but I don't feel like it. It is 9:45.
October 23, 2003
After class, Laurie and I took the subway as close as it goes to Tibado. Tibado is the highest point of Spain. We walked the rest of the way there. We tried to find a short cut up so we wouldn't have to take the road all of the way. We ended up cutting through a neighborhood, but we found our way.
The sky was so blue and the view was beautiful. We actually see the area where our school was. We could see the whole city and the sea.
We made our way back. I had seen a trail to go down. It was very steep and I wasn't sure where it would take us. We did get to where we wanted without much problem. We took the subway back.
Sandi left a note to join them for dinner. I had a headache, so I wasn't up for it. I went to bed right after dinner.
October 24, 2003
Today was the last day of school. Six of the eight students are leaving. The other two are staying for another week.
Sometimes I feel like I am more confused and know less than when I started. We got our test back. I didn't do too bad for what I learn. I just wish I could pick up the conversation.
Laurie and I walked to the train station. We needed to validate our train tickets. We have Eurail tickets for the next two months. I don't think we will get as much use out of them as we did the first months. I also read that Spain and Portugal is really cheap to travel by train. Also, we aren't able to use it in Morocco. Oh well, nothing we can do about it now.
We walked back to the residence and that was about it for our day. I said good-bye to some of the people that I have gotten to know in the last two weeks. Sandi is leaving tomorrow to go to Grenada. She is continuing school there. Olivia is leaving also. She is heading for Paris. I hope to see her in Paris when we are there in December. I have to see Sandi in Granada when we go there.
