Some Random Barcelona Blog: Vale vale vale.

I'm pretty sick of some of this European style stuff they have over here, just little random things that are ubiquitous here. Doorknobs don't turn the way you want them to, assuming that it's even a regular doorknob which it probably isn't. You actually have to push the door open instead of pull it. The main door that you see first and has nice friendly green letters over it is actually the emergency exit-only one that sets off an alarm and makes you look like an asshole when you use it. A lot of problems with doors. The keys all look like they were taken from Harry Potter movies. The cabinets all open different ways, and don't stay open unless you hold them up, so anything in there that requires two hands might as well just be forgotten about. Chairs that should in no way ever have been bolted down are actually bolted down, so you can't move your chair at McDonald's.

On a lighter note I really do enjoy how colorful my wallet looks when I have more than a couple euros in there. The paper bills start don't start until 5, so if you wanna carry around a couple bucks you're gonna have a lot of annoying coins banging around in your pocket, making you sound like a decked-out-in-chains Motley Crue fan heading to the next concert. The bills also get bigger as they increase in value, so American wallets aren't really designed to handle anything over a 20 euro bill. But people throw around 50's and 100's like they're nothing. Especially at the casino...

Spanish people are just emotional, and loud. Even now I'm sitting in Starbucks (for the wifi, you guys—since we still don't have any) and some woman just started crying about something. I'm really not even kidding, I have no idea why she is but she is. But now she's leaving so whatever. But if you're somewhere near a group of Spanish people and they're talking about their day or telling a story, it's like what they're saying is the funniest and most interesting thing they've heard in their life, and they really don't care who hears them audibly reacting to it. Our Spanish teacher tried telling us that they believe they need to show emotion/interest like that by constantly interjecting with oohs and aahs and screams otherwise it'd be rude. Well they also believe it's rude to give you your check at a restaurant anything less than 30 minutes after you finished eating, so we should really trust their judgment about what's rude or not.

As much as you try to hide it or blend in, everyone here knows you're American. If it wasn't you're generally confused and out-of-place facial expression you had on while walking, or the language you were using, then it almost definitely was the North Face jacket and sweatpants you're wearing that gave it away. Sweatpants for some reason just don't really exist over here, even though they seem way more practical than the tight leather jeans or bright green pants you're more likely to find on guys. Sarcasm also doesn't exist over here. People say sarcasm is a humor that's really only popular in USA, and I'm starting to see how true that is, being in a very very international school. All the kids here can speak english, but they don't get my pessimistic, fuck-you-Tom-Fee sort of sense of humor. Personally I think their sense of humor is really cheesy and childish, and sarcasm is just a little too uncomfortable for them to handle. Everyone here is just too sensitive and doesn't like it when an American is toying with them or isn't being straightforward; it's a stigma here to be American because they already have this negative perception about how you act.

I've heard so many people try to tell me how every American is like the Jersey Shore show, which is why so many people hate us before even meeting us. I'm starting to understand this stance they take against Americans, and some of it can be justified. Granted they get most of their information on us from television shows and it's just blatantly false, some of their views on us are sadly true. We're ignorant, most of us expect to only have to know English and not give a shit about other languages, we're vain as a group of people and can tend to be megalomaniacs, we're naïve to a lot of the world outside of us, are much more concerned/obsessed with material things and celebrities than issues that matter (do I sound too euro yet?). We were talking about the increase in CO2 gas emissions one day in class and some kid from Switzerland literally laughed out loud and told me he was in disbelief when I agreed with another student that said it was due to man. As an American, I'm not supposed to care about the environment because apparently no one from America does. I told him to choke on some CO2 but this is just how we're viewed.

Obviously this isn't true for everyone, and I'm not trying to sound like a Euro-hippie, but a lot of it I believe can be true. Not that I really give a shit.. Listen I don't really care what they think of us, I've never met creepier, more socially unaware people in the world than European guys over here. Absolutely shameless, disgusting dudes in the clubs, in bars, that will stop at nothing to try and get with girls. They don't even try to talk to them, they just immediately jump to the physical aspect of meeting someone. Grabbing them by the arms aggressively, literally following girls around places for a night, or just constantly trying to rub up on them or get a hug, because who doesn't like a good hug?. Their ages can range anywhere from 18 to 45 years old in the club, but they just never learn. A girl from here told me that you're not supposed to give any American guy a compliment, because they take advantage of it and take it too far. Maybe. I think that's far more true for any Spanish dude, who by the way probably does look a lot like Vinny or Ronnie from Jersey Shore despite how they say they don't like those shows, because they will do far worse things than any of us would.

By the way, in case anyone was curious, there is currently no snow here. It's a little bit like the south in that when they have more than an inch of snow, which happens once every 5 years or so, the city shuts down and everyone loses their minds. No one knows how to drive, walk, or live when there's any sort of precipitation on the ground. Hopefully Massachusetts is enjoying the nice weather tho. Adios, but here are a few pictures for anyone interested: