I'll Be Home Before I Know It

(Flamenco Show)

(Casey, Tania, me, Saran, and Daniel at the ICE BAR)

(me, Shefali, and Saran at the beach)

(A little church up in the mountains at Montserrat)

(More beautiful views from Montserrat)

Despite being sick all week, it's been another wonderful week in Spain.
Monday we recovered from our trip to Paris and hung out at Tania's parents' 5-Star Hotel and Pool.
Tuesday was the peak of my sickness so I skipped my second class and slept all day. That night we went to a small local flamenco show. It started off with a Spanish guitarist who was incredibly passionate about his music. Then the singer and the clappers came on. And finally the one beautiful flamenco dancer. She was so graceful and powerful at the same time...Saran said "Damn! I need to learn how to dance like that. That's sexxxxy!" Haha.
On Wednesday, Daniela had an unfortunate accident and fell in the metro tearing the ligaments in her ankle. Poor girl was been house-bound for 5 days now but she's doing good.
On Thursday I went and hung out by myself in the morning. I walked around the city and sat on a bench and did my homework. Apparently, I blended in because I was asked for directions twice - once by a tourist and once by a local. Pretty cool. Then after class I went back to the apartment to hang out with Daniela and keep her company before going the the Joan Miró museum...quite abstract.
Thursday night me, Saran, Tania, Casey, Daniel, and Kris went to a place called ICE BAR. They are all over the world. You pay 15 Euro to get in and get a drink. They give you a winter coat, a goofy hat, and mittens and you go in a bar that's made completely of ice except for the floors. It's like -9 deg C in there. Even the chairs and tables are made of ice and just have animal skins covering them so you can sit. The drinks are served in a carved out ice block. Unfortunately a lot of us girls did not have closed-toed shoes so our feet were FREEZING. It was so cool though. Once we were done we came out and were right on the beach!!!
After that me and Daniel went to a bar called CHUPITOS (which means "shots" in Spanish) while the others went to a dance club. CHUPITOS has like 1000 shots and tons that they light on fire. It was quite the show.
Friday we had class and then went to the beach. It was the perfect day to do it. We hung out there for a while and then Daniela took a taxi and met me, Saran, and Shefali at the movie theater to FINALLY see "Sexo en Nueva York." It just came out in Spain this week and we were all so excited to see it...especially Daniela since it meant leaving the house.
Saturday was so great. I went on the IES day trip to Montserrat with Casey, Saran, and Kelly (Daniela couldn't go :(). It was about an hour away in mountains. Apparently the geological origin of the rocks/mountains is a mystery because they are unlike anything else in Europe. There's a monastery, an art museum (very diverse: middle ages - Dalí)and beautiful panoramic views.
Once we got back me, Daniela, Kelly, Saran, Daniel, Casey and Eric went out for a really nice Mexican dinner complete with Margaritas and good tequila shots - Dad should have been there...and Matt and Liz...AND MOM!!!! Hahaha. It was the best meal we've had here so it was worth it. We came back and went up the roof, hung out, and played some music. Eventually we went out to a club called Elephant but it didn't really do anything for me...way too tired.
I can't wait to get home and see you all again. I hope Mom and Dad had a great weekend with the high-school gang up in Galena. It sounded like a blast!!! Love you all lots and miss you tons.

Xoxo
Danielle

(View from our rooftop at night)