SO. catching up from my last post, my starcom interview went ok... can't really tell what's gonna happen but they won't let me know if i get another interview until the end of february. kinda scary. in the meantime i've been applying for other internships in the chi, as well as the under armour internship in baltimore! hopefully i'll get something good this summer, and get the hell outta champaign!
last wednesday night after the my interview, i hit up o'vella negra for the Barca Real Madrid game! it was absolutely nuts. after they tied we went to las ramblas and people were going craaaaaaaazy.
as you can see. after that me and a fellow illinois student went to bling and then headed home. it was a crazy night for sure.
thursday was a rough one. pretty crappy day trying to get over that victory, so i laid around and packed for valencia. totally worth it. i got to stay in and sleep and be ready for the trip, which i found out soon enough that the sleep was absolutely necessary.
on the bus ride there, we stopped at a winery, which was pretty cool. the wine was fantastic, some of the best white wine i've ever tasted (which isn't saying much with my constant purchases of the franz). we then got in this creepy train that took us under the vineyard for another tour and i swear to god we were being sold into the sex trade. luckily we all made it out drug free and alive, thank god.
after the winery we endured another 3 hours on the bus to people moaning from being hungover or getting drunk off the wine they just purchased. when we arrived in valencia we walked around our hotel and discovered some of the coolest buildings i've ever seen.
these are all art and science buildings in valencia. at these locations we discovered that jared concannon is the biggest diva/princess/model any of us had ever seen. and we continued to make fun of him the rest of the trip (and it continues now) for it.
that night we decided to hit up a couple of bars and forgo the club scene because unlike barcelona, there is no michael jordan of valencia to help us get out of 15 euro cover. screw that. so we headed back to the hotel and chilled.
the next day we had to be up bright and early for a trip to the aquarium which ended up being absolutely amazing. we went to a dolphin show that was cooler than seaworld, and sharks and scary/creepy fish and sting rays swam above me in a tunnel. it was nuts. we then stopped at a pizza place on the way back to the hotel, which ended up being overpriced but still delicious, and adrienne proceeded to make american's look like raging alcoholics by ordering an entire pitcher of beer to herself, which she drank right out of. (smells like kams/joes/any block type situation). adrienne makes us proud. we then all took very depressing and not at all helpful 10 minute naps and then got back on the bus for a walking tour of valencia. THIS was absolutely amazing and unreal. we were all so glad that we quit our bitching and got on the bus instead of slept the whole time. that city is gorgeous, as is every part of this country that i've seen so far. i would put pics in the blog but there are way too many to choose from so just check em out on the book.
that night on the way back from the walking tour we stocked up on wine and stayed in and bonded way too much for comfort. i feel like adrienne leah jared and zach know way too much about me from that trip. the next day we woke up at a horrid 7 am and hopped back on the bus to terragona, where we visited some roman ruins. this also, was beyond cool.
i wish i could remember everything they told me about the city but it was all in spanish and we were all kinda too hungover/hungry to really appreciate it. but it was really pretty! after being in terragona for about 4 hours, we journeyed to a restaurant just outside the city that had a spanish cuisine called calcots. (pronounced calsots, kinda). anyway, they are these big grilled green unions that are super messy that you dip in an orange peanut sauce. at first they were pretty good, and then the more you ate them the more you realized how terrible they were. by then we were ready for the second course because we hadn't eaten since 7 AM and we were not going to eat an entire plate of those onions. they then brought us bread with tomato and aioli. by far the best part of the meal and we ate baskets of it. after that they brought a dish of lamb chops, sausage, white beans, and inedible artichokes. needless to say it was my least favorite meal i've had since i've been in spain. we had a plate of oranges for dessert and a bowl of creme brule, which was terrible but jared decided to scarf down anyway so we could get the hell outta there and back on the bus. we were antsy to get back to barcelona for sure.
that night, i slept so well. my 7:30 alarm came a little too quickly, which was unfortunate. although, i made the best discovery of food since i've been here so far (credit to jared and adrienne for this one). the people i spent most of the valencia trip with and i went to this bocadilla place called Bo De B. basically they have sandwiches on fresh baguettes with either chicken, steak, tuna, or salmon on it with fresh vegetables. and these sandwiches were HUGE and for 3 FREAKING EUROS. it was UNHEARD of. i feel like i looked like a man when i ate that meal but damnit i didn't care. we made a deal to go there every monday after class from now on. after that, me leah and adrienne went to a cafe nearby and finished our meal with patatas bravas. so worth it.
i then ventured home after the most amazing lunch of my trip so far and extensively crept on facebook. i then hung around the apartment, went grocery shopping, and skyped bailey for a solid hour. it was a great freaking day.
yesterday was a little more productive. i got a lot of sleep before my 12:30 class and felt pretty awake for once. either i'm finally getting used to this sleep schedule or not going out every night is helping my health. probably the latter. inbetween classes i actually got homework done and bought my 3 month metro pass after struggling speaking in spanish to the woman at the metro station with a THICK barca accent. i swear it's impossible to understand them unless they speak slower. i then went home and relaxed before heading to the euroleague headquarters in another part of the city.
jesus my business of sport in europe class is amazing. they organized this trip and we got to speak and meet with the COO of euroleague, which for those of you who aren't familiar is the NBA of Europe. basketball is the 2nd largest sport in europe, which isn't saying much because futbol is so dominant. this definitely showed in their offices because it was miniscule, but still really nice. everyone walking around there was HUGE, which was a pretty big change from most spaniards who are mostly just a couple inches taller than me. they discussed with us what they do, how euroleague works, their licensing and merchandising as well as TV deals. it was really cool and keeps reminding me that THIS is the profession i want to be in. pictures coming soon to facebook!
i then came home and relaxed for the rest of the night because of my 9 AM today. today has been rather unproductive, but in my food and culture class we talked about a couple of spanish dishes that sound effing phenomenal that i have to try. i'm getting excited to try restaurants in the city, but i have to stop being so cheap first and venture outside of the grocery store. after class, a friend and i finalized our plans for spring break (kind of). we decided that we for sure want to do a couple days in greece, rome, and then we're for sure doing amalfi coast for the last part. i can't believe we get like 11 days for break. unreal. after figuring out details of that, i came home and siesta-ed, totally typical, and then have been kicking it all night. gotta rest up! the 13's are headed to barca on friday and it's about to get INSANE. can't wait to see you girls!!
on that note, i think i'm finally getting tired. hasta luego, more updates after the weekend if i survive it!
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