I had thought that at some point this semester, I would start to have some free time here in Barcelona, but if this week was anything like the upcoming weeks, I will be constantly exploring, studying, and experiencing new things.

I’ll start with my exciting classes this week.  While some classes are extremely boring and nearly impossible to keep my eyes open, others are very interesting and nearly impossible not to pay attention.  For example, in my Sport and Society in Spain class, some castellers visited our class.  These are the people who build giant human towers in the streets of Spain.  They told us about the history of the “sport” and even showed us how to properly build a castell, or tower.  After they showed us the correct way to climb a tower, they had us build a tower ourselves.  I really learned to appreciate the skill and strength that is required to build one of these.  It took our whole class to get one person safely into a second level and I was exhausted after it.  The castellers are able to get 10 layers of 3 people into the air.  It truly is incredible.  See for yourself how intense and dangerous this cultural event is.  The person on top of the tower is almost always a child.  Those are some brave ni�os!

In my Sustainability class, we went on a field trip to an energy conservation office.  Here is home to the first residential solar panel in Spain and a lot of other inventive ways to be more energy efficient such as solar cookers, worm composting boxes, and urban gardens.  I thought it was very motivating to see people care so much about the environment and the ways they are trying to help others have the same opinion.  They really push the “full circle of life” idea that waste can be made into food.  In my opinion, this is a great idea but it takes way too long to come full circle; from vegetable, to food, to compost, to soil for more vegetables and fruits.

In my Spanish film class we watched The Spirit of the Beehive, a 1973 “masterpiece of Spanish cinema” due to its extreme use of symbolism to subtly criticize the Franco regime.  Then we talked about the symbolism in the movie for an hour and a half.  My teacher was guilty of what I like to call “The Old Man and the Sea Complex”.  According to my theory, the symbolism in a piece of art is over-analyzed and broken down piece by piece to find the depth in such a superficial and ordinary plot (i.e. The Old Man and the Sea is simply about a man going fishing).  While the film definitely had a lot of symbolism and did a good job of criticizing Spanish life under the Franco dictatorship, not every single scene has a hidden meaning.  It was so frustrating to hear the students try to sound deep and observant as they attempted to make every single thing in the movie a symbol for something else.  Even though the film can be found on any “Best of World Cinema” list, I was not a fan.

On Saturday, IES sponsored a bus trip to Montserrat (“serrated mountain”) which is a mountain that seems to just shoot out of the Catalonian landscape about an hour outside of Barcelona.  Montserrat is home to a Benedictine monastery that is built into the rock and was a place of shelter for hermits and monks for hundreds of years.  The road up the mountain was very small and very winding. I felt like I was back in Costa Rica; every time I looked out of the window of the tour bus, it felt like we were going to fall off the edge of a cliff.  Looking out at the landscape featuring bald rock faces and lush green ferns, I thought was on the planet Pandora from Avatar.   The rock formations are very odd and seem to come from another planet.  The peaks rise out of the clouds and offer fantastic views of Catalonia.

At 65 degrees Farenheidt and sunny, we had absolutely beautiful weather.  Due to the nearly perfect weather, there was a clear view of the snow capped Pyrenees rising out of the horizon.  It was exciting, beautiful, and serene. I couldn’t imagine being able to live on top of the mountain like the hermits did, and being able to see the stunning landscape every morning.  The tour group I was with was very slow and kept stopping every 20 minutes or so for no apparent reason, so my roommate, another friend, and I broke off from the group and did some adventuring on our own.  We hiked to the peak of one of the rocks and sat there and ate lunch over looking hills, mountains, rivers, and Barcelona in the distance.

There was also a monument that looked like a giant’s staircase that seemed to hang out over the edge of the mountain.  After seeing some kids climbing it, I knew I had to give it a try.  I got my adrenaline fix that day climbing up the giant’s staircase, sitting on top, and looking down below me.  It was scary and awesome at the same time.  Plus, it made for some pretty cool pictures.

Then we got a tour of the art museum/archaeological history museum.  In my opinion, the art museum was a waste of time.  There were a few lesser known works by Picasso, el Greco, Renoir, Dali, and Monet, but other than that all of the artists were Catalonian painters and the paintings were forgettable.  I was much more interested in the archaeological exhibit which had a real mummy, a mummified alligator, circumcision instruments, ancient weapons, and other interesting pieces of history.  While the group got a painfully in depth guided tour of the paintings, I spent my time learning about the artifacts of the past.

After the museum, we were rushed through the main basilica of the monastery, which is home to La Virgen Negra or “The Black Virgin”.  This is a statue that is surrounded by mystery.  There is a very big back-story that I will not get into, but it is a statue of Mary holding Jesus in her lap.  Originally Mary was painted with white lead paint, but the paint tarnished and gave the statue a black color.  So when the statue was restored hundreds of years ago, they painted it black not knowing that it was originally painted white.  Anyways, the church is beautiful and has a very creepy crypt inside of it.  The shrine of the Black Virgin is amazing.  The walls and ceilings are covered in a gold mosaic.  People go on pilgrimages from all throughout Spain to see this statue.  Unfortunately, the statue is protected by a glass case, but the public is still allowed to touch the ball that the young Jesus is holding in his hand, which is supposed to represent the universe.

I wish I could put into words the feelings of elation and awe that I experienced at the top of Montserrat.  It was absolutely breathtaking and I wish we had more time on the mountain so I could have hiked a lot more.  Hopefully you will understand my feelings from the pictures.  You can view the whole album here: Montserrat Photo Album

Sunday night I had the fortunate opportunity to watch the Super Bowl in a foreign city.  We found the best deal in town for the game at a bar where they locked us in the bar for the night and gave us great drink specials and cheap food.  Unfortunately, my hometown Pittsburgh Steelers lost, but I had a great time making friends with kids from all over the United States who joined together to root not exactly for the Green Bay Packers, but against the Steelers.  After the game, I went to congratulate the Packers fans and one of the fans, a 250 pound football player from Dartmouth was so happy he was crying his eyes out.  I got a good laugh at the sight of a true, diehard football fan.  The game did not end until 4:30 a.m, but the metro didn’t open until 5 a.m, so we went and got some empanadas (a delicious meat and cheese calzone-like thing).  I didn’t get back to my homestay until 6 a.m.  It was a long, ultimately disappointing night, but I still had a blast.

Last night, I booked a bus trip to the French Riviera from February 17-20.  It is the first weekend of Carnival and we will be staying in the heart of the Riviera in Nice, France.  I can’t wait!  This will be my first travel outside of Barcelona that is not sponsored by IES and I was a little bit hesitant to confirm the payment, but now that I have actually confirmed my reservation, it feels really good.

Hasta luego,

~Sean

Location: Montserrat, Spain