First Post (add-on)

Just a few things I wanted to add to the first post.

I mentioned I am taking a Beginner Catalan course. Catalan is a language that most people from Barcelona speak rather than Spanish. Everyone knows Spanish because it is the language of commerce, but Catalan is the native language that most kids grow up speaking, and is a major source of pride for people from Cataluna. It is a beautiful language that sounds a lot like French or Italian, but has its own grammatical structure independent of other European languages. This is also a major reason that the region of Cataluna has been and still is fighting to become independent of Spain and become a sovereign state. I just want to learn some basic Catalan to be able to better understand it while I am here. For example, when I went to the mall to buy my phone, the saleswoman spoke both Catalan and Spanish, but all of the brochures and descriptions of the calling plans were in Catalan, and no Spanish copies were available (hence the fact that I am not 100% sure exactly what I am paying for each call, although I have a pretty good idea).

Also, Mom pointed out in a comment that my full phone number if you are calling from the States is: 011-34-69-019-2811.

Today I had more language classes in the morning, then the afternoon free, and an Art History class in the evening. This art history class is primarily to prepare us for our trip to the region of Castilla this coming weekend. We will be visiting a number of cathedrals, mosques, synagogues, etc. to examine the architecture and art associated with each one. Some of the places I visited two years ago, others will be new for me.

Tomorrow will be the same as today, then we have Thursday off for a national holiday. It is the day when Catalunans celebrate (ironically) their defeat by the Spanish military when they were trying to gain independence a number of years ago. Interestingly as well, this holiday falls on September 11th.

On Friday we leave for 5 days in Castilla. I am not planning to take my computer with me, and I dont know if I will take time to get online and update this blog, so I might not have another post until next week sometime, at which point I will definitely tell about the trip.

Anyways, more later.
Ciao

P.S.
I will post only a handful of pictures on my blog. The rest will be available on facebook (for those who have it), and I will try to find a way to get pictures out to everyone else who doesn't have facebook some other way.