Barcelona: Day 2 : In the mix .

So today we decided that we were definitely going to have to find some sort of grocery to get some food at. My first remark when I woke up though? Good Lord it is hot. No sooner did Ryan nod his head in agreement, then we heard from across the courtyard (someone must have been on the phone), "OH MY GODDDD IT IS SOOOO HOT!" We both got a good laugh. Despite the humidity and the heat, the flight must've taken a ton out of us because we both slept until at least 11am, even though we went to bed at almost 10pm. Seems pretty ridiculous doesn't it? It seems to be that a combination of the sun, humidity, and walking around all day really tires a guy out.


So on to the goal of the day. We decided to call up Ian, who had checked in yesterday but been a ghost since then, and try to go get a phone that would work over here. Also on the agenda was buying a fan -- lest we have to sleep without one again, because that was torture. Down La Rambla and across the Plaza de Catalunya was a place called El Corte Inglés. Best part about it? The blast of a/c as you walked in. Everything is really open here -- the doors are always open, to everywhere, if there are even doors in the first place. The department store was packed with stuff; everything from groceries to clothing, to jewelry. I had worn just a pair of lightweight athletic shorts and a tank top (jeans will have to wait until October... :/) and felt a bit out of place. But, there are quite a few who go around all the time in that and less, so it was all good.

We found our fan, picked up a phone at Movistar (whose customer service system was certainly not obvious, and we spent way more time there than necessary) and even got some groceries at a newly found small market. Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of little "supermercados" that carry only a very small selection of things. It makes shopping difficult... I'm also trying to stick to a strict budget, around 10-15 Euros a day, which is totally doable, but I have to be diligent about it.

We cooked our own dinner tonight, just having some simple spaghetti and sauce with some fresh watermelon, which truly hit the spot. You tend to savor everything that is cold! I can't wait for the weather to die off a bit. It's just relentless, and since the building doesn't have a/c, the room is sometimes even worse than being outside. We're exhausted though, probably still catching up from jetlag.

Finally, we met up with some other people that arrived, Adam and Kendall had been here since yesterday, but we finally chatted with them, and turned out Jennifer and Brittany were our next door neighbors on the same floor as us, which should be really nice! Looking forward to a great semester here -- I still don't feel comfortable walking around, or with my Spanish, but we'll get there. Tomorrow might be a beach day, as the word on weather.com is that storms are a-comin'.

Nos vemos, y buenos noches, amigos, desde Barcelona.