SPAIN

This post is embarrassingly late, as I left for Spain over a week ago!
I had a week off between my UC Italian class and starting my University of Bologna (UNIBO) classes.  I left Bologna, and in less than 2 hours, I arrived in Barcelona! Shout out to the best family in Europe, the Gallo Family! They sheltered me, fed me, gave me wine to drink ;), and even clothed me (if you count shopping at Zara!).
To give you the best idea of Barcelona, I'm going to start where I ended. The last thing I did was go on the top of one of the tallest buildings in Barcelona where you can see the beautiful sea on one side of the city, and small mountains on the other 3 sides. So everything in Barcelona is contained within these four walls. There is the Park Güell, the Futbol Stadium (Go Barca!), the beautiful Gothic Cathedral (a must-see!), and the Sagrada Família (by Spanish architect Gaudí), and all the apartments and villages in between. Barcelona is a wonderful city to walk around in; within 5 minutes you can walk from one little old village to another. And as you walk around the old cities, you will be sure to see several statues and mosaics of saints and the Virgin Mary. (I'm pretty sure that would be illegal in Los Angeles.) There are some modern, high-fashion, fast-paced parts of the city, and some more quiet parts that make you feel like you've stepped back in time.
Barcelona is located in the catalonian parts of the Spain. The politics of whether Catalonia will separate from Spain is very hot right now (and sometimes a touchy subject), but for a tourist, it makes things very interesting. Most things are written in Spanish, Catalan, and English, and almost everyone in Barcelona can speak all three of these languages (and sometimes also French, Italian, or German)! There are many Catalonian independence flags hanging from the beautifully designed metal balconies, which depending on where your political views lie, can be inspiring or frightening. I thought attending church in Italian was hard to understand, but mass in Catalan, all I got was the "Amen". :)
In Barcelona, everyone lives in an apartment. I asked if anyone ever considers living in a house, and I was told that usually only poor, newly-wed couples live in houses because they can't afford an apartment. It's kind of like that in America...
But since they are all in apartments, everyone is very close. Cousins gather at their grandparents house on Sundays to be together and eat delicious Spanish food. Speaking of Spanish food...
I know it's impolite to talk about food, but I have to comment on the AMAZING food: tapas, paella, croquetas, jamón, jamón, and more jamón, and the best, croquetas de jamón! Every bite was a delight to my tastebuds! But the funniest food story was when we went out to eat Mexican food: the Spaniards had a very hard time as they tried to eat their fajitas with a fork and knife! ;)
But now I'm back in Bologna and have already started school. Some good stories for another post, but I have to go to class!
But before this post ends, I need to give a shout out to the best Grandmamama in the whole world! I got your letter!! And I would imagine that a package takes a little longer to arrive, but I'll let you know when it comes. A HUGE ITALIAN KISS and GRAZIE!! And for any curious readers, let's just say zucchini bread is going to be my roommates new favorite very soon!! xo