FC Barcelona vs. Getafe Feb. 6th 2010

Growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the four sports teams we support and follow are the Eagles for American football, the Phillies for baseball, the 76ers for basketball, and the Flyers for Hockey. Futbol, or soccer as we all call it in the US just isn’t very popular in America for the most part, but not only living in Europe, but living in Barcelona where we have FC Barcelona, you can’t help but get caught up in the hype for the futbol team. Coming here and having them come off winning six championships in the past year as the buzz on the team very high throughout the city as the team not only plays for its fans, but for Catalonia. On Feb. 6th, 2010 I went to Camp Nou to watch FC Barcelona play against Getafe. The stadium was packed as it was near capacity, and to look around and see everyone in every seat watching every second of play truly showed the passion that these fans have for their team. When Messi scored the first goal the crowd erupted and it was cool to get caught up in all the commotion with the crowd. It was also interesting to see that the crowd all sang the same type of song after the goal and where I come from we have a fight song that people sing after the Philadelphia Eagles score a touchdown, so it was interesting to see the similarities between the sports and cultures. It was a cold night but none of us cared as it was a great game as I was with my four friends who I live with here in Barcelona. FC Barcelona ended up winning 2-1 over Getafe as Getafe earned their goal on a late penalty kick. Being a big sports fan my entire life I truly had a great time at the futbol game and seeing how the people of this city love FC Barcelona as we love our own sport teams at home in the US.

Carnival in Sitges

Carnival was one of the top five nights of my life. Having friends who studied abroad before and experienced carnival I thought I had a feeling of what it would be like, yet I was blown away. People of all ages, from babies to the elderly were all dressed up in costumes, including my friends and I. It was the first time in my time here in Spain where people didn’t look at those from different countries and make judgments. Everybody was talking to each other, or attempting to talk to each other as the language barrier was tough at times. At Carnival in Sitges there were several floats, including one of a huge elephant that had important people who helped plan this years Carnival. The bus ride there was wild as everyone was drinking and the music was blasting. We all met a lot of different people from CEA who we hadn’t even seen before. Once we were off the bus everyone was having a great time as the alcohol was flowing as I wouldn’t have rather been anywhere else in the world at that present time. Another thing that I enjoyed about the experience was that although I live with four of my good friends from school here in Barcelona, two girls I have grown up with along with my one good guy friend are also studying here in Barcelona. It was a real cool experience to experience Carnival, this wild once in a lifetime experience for myself, with some of my best friends. Only those who were with me that night will be able to understand that experience. Our night in Sitges for Carnival was the first new cultural type experience I’ve had here I can say that there is nothing like Carnival in the United States. Maybe some could say Halloween is something like Carnival, but I’d strongly disagree as Carnival is more of a celebration of life.

Roman Barcino Field Trip

Our trip to Roman Barcino and the Museo D’historia was quite interesting to me in many ways. First, before I came to Barcelona I truly did not know anything about the history of the city other than it hosted the Olympics in 1992 and was home to FC Barcelona. To find out that Barcelona was once under Roman control was very interesting to me. After meeting up with the rest of our class outside of the Jaume metro stop we started to walk over to the museum. The walk to the museum really gave you a feel of what it was like to live in the city during those times as our walk took place in the narrow alleyways that made up some of the old Roman Barcino. While inside the museum we entered a walkway that held man sculptures that have been preserved from many centuries ago. After viewing the few sculptures we watched a brief video on the history of Barcelona we went into an elevator which had a clock that went back the thousands of years as we descended into the area of the Roman home. Back in those times, with truly close to none of the modern technology that we use, it’s remarkable to see how the people lived, and how efficient and effective their methods were. In the area of the Roman home we saw the massive pool area where the people that lived in the area would use to wash their clothes. The history of wine in Barcelona dates all the way back to the Roman times as they had their own methods of making mine. To see the games that the kids played, including tic-tac-toe, which I remember playing when I was younger fascinated me; the games I played as a kid was played back in the Roman times.  If not for this field trip I probably never would have ever visited this Roman area so I am fortunate that we did make this field trip.