Bellaterra

I have officially moved into my summer home and I am currently looking out my huge panoramic window at the gorgeous Spanish countryside. Literally there are rolling hills and bluffs and hiking trails and forests all around me. It reminds me a lot of northern California (which I love)! I'm living at a place called Bellaterra and it is a university campus, the Universitaria Automona de Barcelona, right outside of the city. If Barcelona was Chicago (they're roughly the same size and population) then I would be living in Oak Park. And because the public transportation here is so amazing here...as it is in most of Europe...I simply hop on the metro, about a 5 min walk from my dorm and 20 min later I'm dropped off in the middle of Barcelona! Its so easy. So I have all the opportunities and excitement of the city but I'm sleeping/eating/living in the serene suburbs. Best of both worlds I guess.

So yesterday I mostly just worked on getting unpacked and settled into my dorm, which is really more of an effeciency because it has a small kitchen and full bathroom and a lot of closet space and storage space. My roommate was still in Egypt for the night so I met some of the other girls on my floor on we all went out into the city last night. The girls were really nice and down for going out and dancing! They were mostly from the east coast or the south....so a little different from the midwesterners that I'm used to but still a really good time. We went to a few different bars and clubs and stayed out until 4 am. Which was early for here....we got harassed a little by the locals for leaving so early! Every local that we met was really cool and pretty friendly; they didn't seem to mind too much that they had tourists in their bar. Most of them found my attempt at Spanish after a few cervezas comical. I am getting better though already.

Today, I explored more of the campus and Bellaterra and waited for my roommate to get here. She arrived around 4 pm and since then we have just been chilling and talking. I think this night will probably be the most chill, relaxing day and night of my summer so I figured I would get a good night sleep in before the summer really gets going tomorrow! So far so good. I will say this though, along with my friends, family and Madison I kinda miss tv (its sad I know but I haven't even seen a tv since last Tuesday).

Buenos noche!