9:00am Meet at Hard Rock Café
9:15am Departure to Santes Creus
-Of course I was the last one to arrive, but I made it! Since I have class at pm1, I was not used to the metros being so crowded in the morning.
10:30am Arrive at Santes Creus
10:45am Guided visit of the Monastery of Santes Creus
-The Monastery was interesting, as in "too informational". The guided visit was in Spanish, so I did not know what the lady was saying. It was also pretty early in the morning, so that didn't help. Megan and I took a lot of pictures to waste time hehe. The Monastery is where we met our Indiana friends, Patrick and Ben.
12:00am End of the visit
12:30pm Board your coach and depart to Valls
1:00pm Arrive in Valls. Free time to have lunch and explore Valls
-Megan and I treated ourself to a 3 corse meal for only 10 euros! 10 euros is $13.01. Each euro is about $1. 20. We had pasta for the 1st course, and chicken and steak for the 2 course, and a delicious piece of chocolate cake for the final course. Oh, and we shared a bottle of wine, which was included in the 10 euros. Now that's a great deal.
3:00pm “Castells” workshop with the “Colla Vella Xiquets de Valls”
-WOW this was great. After lunch, we headed to the "Castells" workshop. One of the IES Advisors gave me a hint and said it will consist of team bonding. I was thinking we were going to do something similar to a trust fall, but no. We were climbing on one another to create a human tower. That's right. A human tower. Together, we created a 3 story human tower, called a "Castell". In Spain, it is typical for 100's of people come together to create a human tower within Catalonia. The tradition of building castells originated in Valls, near the city of Tarragona, in the southern part of Catalonia towards the end of the 18th century. The first castell of 9 levels was created in the 20th century.
-It was exciting to participate in the Catallan culture. When I say participate, I mean take pictures of our human tower success. As a tall girl, I knew I was going to be placed on the bottom, so I didn't want someone's bare feet and an extra 100 pounds on my shoulders. I preferred to take pictures.
6:00pm Board your coach and depart to Tarragona
6:30pm Arrive in Tarragona and check in at the Hotel
-The hotel was surprising nice! I shared a room with a girl named Becca, who is from New York. She was really nice!
7:00pm Free time to rest or explore the city
-For my free time, I took a siesta. Me gusta siesta.
8:30pm Dinner at the hotel
9:30am Wake up call to enjoy breakfast at the hotel and check out
-Breakfast was yummy, but the coffee was horrible.
10:45am Visit of Tarragona
-We toured the Roman ruins in the city and a monastery nearby. For example, we saw the Roman Amitheatre located on the Medeteranian
1:00pm Board your coach and departure to the restaurant.
1:30pm Arrive at the restaurant located in the village El Vendrell – Restaurant Xaloquell
-I really like how every meal has 3 courses-- I really do. The food culture in Spain rocks. To start off, we had a salad. Second, we had seafood paella. This paella was a bit more fishy than the first paella I ate last week. A lot of students did not eat the paella since there some "mysterious fish" in the platter. Last, we had some cake. Oh, and of course we had some vino to chase everything down. Although the Spanish food is foreign, the vino makes up for it.
4:00pm Depart to Barcelona
6:00pm Arrive to Barcelona
Overall, the IES Field Trip to Tarragona was fun and insightful. I truly had a good time learning the culture and meeting new friends.
Okay, I'll admit that six weeks is a long time. There was no way I could be in the same continent without seeing my Maria girl; therefore, Maria's good girlfriends, Cristina and Silvia, and I went to go visit her! And, I am so glad we did! I learned and instantly loved the Netherlands. Obviously, seeing and spending time with Maria was my favorite part. In addition, I loved how everyone rode bikes to get to and from places. When I say everyone, I mean everyone. There were more bikes than people! Cars were rarely on the streets. In fact, the bike lanes, which were located on the streets, were nicer than the car lanes. Since I have not rode a bike since I elementary school, I had to get used to a couple of things. One of those things being the bike seat. I have done squats and insanity and yoga, but my booty has never hurt more! I had to get used to standing up on my bike when there were bumps and inclines in order to prevent my booty from hurting haha. Besides that little setback, riding the bikes were great. 
The moment I walked in the Garcia Rodriguez apartment, I knew I was home. Not only was I familiar with the layout and ambiance, but I noticed that my face was everywhere! You know you're home if you see pictures of yourself everywhere, am I right? Well, I was not expecting to be this much at home. To the right of the entry way, there are The Robillard Family Christmas Cards from when Maria was with us in 2009. Maria is actually featured in the 2009 Christmas card on the top. It writes, "Seasons Best Greetings Love, Anne, Steve, Jackie, Rachel Robillard & Maria from Barcelona". I thought the Christmas cards were the cutest, until I put my bags in Maria's room. Next to her bed, there are pictures of when Jackie and I were in high school in 2010. My Mom must have sent those pictures in the Christmas cards? Who am I to say that's creepy because I have pictures of her next to my bed still, too :) In addition to the pictures, you would think I was still in the U.S. since there are patriotic sunglasses, flags and a Ricky's BBQ cup. Maria got her fare share of souvenirs when she was in Texas! It's safe to say I am Home away from Home.
