Eurotrip: Finally, I can relax!

I know you're probably thinking, "how could this girl possibly relax any more than she already is?" Well, it's possible. I have traveled to four different cities in the past four weekends and I'm exhausted.

I came home from Barcelona on Monday and was welcomed with a relaxing family day. I went with Maria and Andrea to Olga's basketball game then after went food shopping to pick out food I wanted for the week. The basketball game was hilarious. This poor team, of eight year old girls, was up against monstrous 12 and 13 year olds who were already going through puberty. They didn't stand a chance! We managed to be up by a few points before half-time but it wasn't too long before the small glimpse of hope seemed to die very quickly. The game finished with a score of 14 to 8, them. I can't decide if my favorite part was watching Olga get angry and scream at her teammates or hearing the parents laugh and joke as they watched the girls run back and forth without any plays. It reminded me how fun it was to play recreational basketball. Not!

Everyone must think that I'm here for all fun and games because that's all I talk about. Well, that's not exactly the case. My schedule consists of four classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays. Yes, I know, it's a very easy schedule BUT the days are long. Sometimes. With only one week left of classes, there is a list of presentations and papers due very soon. For example, for Retail Marketing, I have a 45 page paper and a 20 minute presentation due in two weeks on the retail chain, H&M. On top of the countless projects, I am still freaking out about a summer internship. I don't have one! It's so difficult to stay on top of things, back in the U.S., when I'm here, because it makes the application process nearly impossible. To try and solve this problem, I'll be staying home tomorrow, during the huelga and applying all day.

The huelga is a strike that will occur across Spain. We don't have classes tomorrow because none of the buses or trams will be running, there will be picketing everywhere and basically... Spain is shutting down. This is the first nationwide strike since the end of Franco's dictatorship in 1975. Hopefully it won't be too dangerous or violent as it's just a resistance against the new labor laws that were recently passed by Parliament. This official strike will be ran by Spain's main labor union, CNT and it should be an interesting experience even though I'm going to try and stay out of it.

These signs are everywhere!

Park Guell in Barcelona, Spain.

Buildings by the famous Spanish (Catalan) architect in Park Guell. What makes his work more than just beautiful is the fact that he introduced modern architecture. Most of his famous buildings were built in the early 1900's and he died (in 1926) getting hit by a tram as he was sketching one of his new buildings.