Santa Isabel's Day and My First Weekend in Barcelona

     I have had such a busy weekend, and I am just now getting an opportunity to post another blog! I had the most amazing time on Friday with my students. It was Santa Isabel's Day and all of the team colors (red, blue, yellow, and green) came together and had a day of celebration and games. It was amazing to see how excited the kids got, especially when it came to playing futbol (soccer in America)! They had a very special lunch for us as well where the cathedral is beside the school!
     After school on Friday, we headed to Placa Cataluyna, which is the center of Barcelona. When we got off the metro, we found this wonderful place called Brunchelona, and they had...DOUGHNUTS! It was amazing to have a taste of some true American food, although everything that I have tried here so far has been very good! After stopping for our afternoon snack, we headed to the area where the high end shops are. Amanda, Mary Bruce, and I fell in love!! Everything was absolutely stunning, and they were beginning to put the Christmas lights up. They are supposed to come on sometime next week, so it will be even prettier then. After we did some shopping, we decided to head home and get some sleep before our big day on Saturday.
     As soon as we got ready on Saturday morning, we headed to Las Ramblas. This is one of the most popular streets in Placa Cataluyna. The first place we went to on Las Ramblas was La Boqueria, which is an indoor market. When we got inside, I saw some of the most amazing stands of fruits, vegetables, and even candy! I had never seen so much food in one place in my life. They also had a crepe stand and Amanda, Mary Bruce, and I tried a crepe with nutella and bananas! It was so good! We then ate lunch in a very beautiful cafe and headed to see the port the statue of Colom (Christopher Columbus). Needless to say, we had a very busy day on Saturday and I was ready for bed when I got home.
     On Sunday I spent the entire day with my host family and it was amazing. We slept in and ate a late breakfast. Marc's twin cousins came over for lunch and my host mom, Imma made oatmeal cookies out of the cookbook that I brought her. They were great!! After lunch we all headed to the Gothic area to see the Arc de Triumph and a famous fountain one of the largest parks in Barcelona. We also visited a very beautiful cathedral and a market that was built on ancient Roman ruins! We had tons of fun along the way as well. Marc and I got to test drive an electric tricycle which was awesome, and we raced on bikes that powered mini cars on a racetrack...of course I lost! We came home and had dinner afterwards, which was amazing like always. I was very blessed with an amazing host family and an awesome host mother who is an excellent cook!!
     Yesterday and today were the first normal days of school that we have had. The boys are still wild, but not as wild as they were last week. They are wild, but they are so sweet! When I walked in the door on Monday morning, nearly half the class ran to the door to give me a giant bear hug, and that made my day! It is great to see how loving and kind the students are here in Barcelona, and I feel that is one thing that students here have in common with students in America. I will make sure to post on here more often so I don't have to write a book from now on!

Until next time,
Ms. Sarah