Guest Blogger- Sarah Ming #2

So as things are settling down from my big trip and my parents hanging with us in Shanghai for a week, my cousin Sarah agreed to update us again on her summer travels and share a few funny stories from living abroad.  I promise my pics and blogs will be up soon!  Here's Sarah:

Hello all,
Time really does fly, doesn't it?  I am really enjoying my time here but unfortunately I am leaving in just two days.  I have learned during my time here that they really are on a different schedule and have a much different way of life than we do.  We often wake up, do our homework, go to class, sight see, siesta, and then eat a very late dinner.  I have been trying all kinds of different food but I have recently found a sandwich place called Bo de B that is one of my favorite sandwich places I have ever eaten.  Since I have discovered it, I have eaten there almost every day.  A sandwich is just 3.5 euro and patatas bravas (roasted potatoes) are 3 euro and we usually just split them.  Along with my favorite sandwich place we have eaten paella, tapas, and a lot of little cafes around.  The food here is actually really good but sometimes I just want to get some normal American food.  As for sightseeing we have tried to do everything we can.  My favorite place we have gone so far besides all of the Gaudi buildings is Parc Ciutadella.  This is a beautiful park at the end of our street that has a wonderful fountain hidden away in the middle of it.  The park is not too well known to tourists so there aren't very many people there.  We often just go over to La Rambla, one of the main streets in Barcelona, and have gelato and enjoy people watching.
When we have free time we also try to go to the beach and just relax.  The main beach in Barcelona is off of the metro stop Barceloneta and it is usually very crowded.  A funny thing about the beach here is that there are a lot of chinese women walking around asking if you want a massage.  They sound something like "massage" except in their accent it sounds like "ma sa he".  This is actually illegal in Barcelona, therefore when the police come around the chinese women have to try to blend in or run from them.  It is actually a hilarious sight to see.  One time we saw a herd of about twenty chinese women running from the police.  Another time there was a lady crouching on a sand hill by the water (I don't know how she thought she was hiding because we could all see her).  A policeman started making his way towards the lady and we could tell she was getting nervous.  After the policeman starred at her for a minute she started taking off running.  I have never seen anyone get arrested or in big trouble so sometimes I think they just do it for kicks and giggles but it is very funny to watch.
Other than sightseeing, going to the beach, and eating we have been enjoying our time in Spain and of course studying hard.  My class is one of the most interesting history classes I have taken.  We are learning more of an overview of what has happened in Spain after Franco but I am definitely learning a lot.  I didn't know the majority of the information we are learning but I am now well-informed about the contemporary history of Spain.
We are taking our final tomorrow and then we are off to travel until July 5th when i get back home.  We are flying into Rome on Friday the 25th.  On Saturday the 26th we are taking a day trip to Capri and meeting up with some friends who are studying in Italy.  We leave Rome on the 28th and are headed to the Cinque Terre which is in Northern Italy.  On the 30th we are headed to London and then Amsterdam on the 4th and home to the States on the 5th.  It has been a wonderful trip and I am excited to travel without having to worry about studying.
Also, we went to a bullfight last Sunday.  I guess the only thing I have to say about that is I will never go to another bullfight and advise all of you to never attend a bullfight.  I spend the majority of my time there staring at the ground or at my camera
I hope everyone is enjoying the summer and I will do another update on my travels when I get home.  I added some pictures of our trip also!  Enjoy!

Sarah Ming