BARCELONA :D

I spent July 4th to July 8th in beautiful Barcelona, Spain. I knew it was going to be fun, I knew I was going to love it like all the vacations I have been on, but I didn't know just how much I was right - let me tell you, it was AMAZING.

I was a little nervous about this vacation, because I heard quite often how dangerous it was and how careful I have to be. Of course coming from such a small town, I got quite nervous. When I was there, I realized how much Rome taught me, you don't have to be scared just aware. If you're aware, you make smart choices and in most cases don't have any problems. I was really scared in Rome and literally hugged every bag I had on me, and I eventually got more comfortable and realized that was the wrong thing to do. Just stay calm and be smart. Once I arrived, that fear that I had went away and I just made smart decisions like keep my purse in front of me, etc... I had absolutely no problems!!

Monika and Martin Rohner were kind enough to allow me to come on their trip, along with Ana. The Rohner family is Ana's host family, and they are amazing people.

On Monday, we arrived in the evening. Four years ago, I had an exchange student at my house named Cami Bocca. I see her as my sister and one of my best friends. She lived with me for two months, then sadly had to go back to Spain. Two years later, she came back to Canada and lived with me again for the summer. Throughout these last four years, we always stayed in such good contact mostly by phone. I miss her a lot because we don't see each other very often, and I never had the chance to go to Spain. She's from Madrid which is pretty far from Barcelona, but I told her a few months ago of my upcoming trip. She got really excited about it, which I didn't understand because I didn't think it was going to be possible that she would fly to Barcelona. She asked when I arrived and which flight, and I wasn't 100 % sure she was going to Barcelona but nonetheless I was so hopeful and excited to see her. I also have really close connections with her mom, but I never have had the chance to meet her. We talk on the phone whenever I call Cami or when we are talking on Skype, I have always wanted to meet her just never had the chance.

When I walked out of the arrival doors, I searched everywhere to try to find Cami. Not only was Cami standing there with flowers and balloons in her hand, so was her mom!!!! Her mom also flew to Barcelona to surprise me there, I was close to tears of excitement because I didn't expect that in a million years, it didn't even cross my mind! I went screaming to them and leaped in their arms, it was a really special moment.

Once we arrived, we all went out for dinner together. My life now and the people that are a huge part of it this year, got a chance to meet the people are are a huge part of my life in Canada. They all got along very well, Ana is from Mexico so she was able to speak fluently with Cami and her mom, and from what I know, they really connected. Also, the parents got into a good conversation while us three girls chatted, I was so happy with how well everybody got along. After dinner, Cami Ana and I went out to the discos, while the parents went walking in the city together. 

It was amazing to see Cami again, and to be with two girls that mean so much to me at the same time. I love the Spanish discos, they are so fun and it was also right near the beach. There was a row of different bars, clubs and discos and we went partying there.

Tuesday we got up early and Monika, Martin, Ana and I went on a bus tour of the beautiful city. It's a bus tour that you can get on and off at different stops, and a new bus comes like every five minutes. So we were able to see many, many things and also go touring a lot. The famous architecture Gaudi is huge in Barcelona, with so many famous buildings, houses, markets and gardens. He is an idol there, a genius and it was so great to see some of his work and just wonder how does someone think of that. He puts "thinking outside the box" to shame. He thinks way out of the box, and everything he did was so beautiful. We stopped at the famous garden, and got to see the beautiful things he designed.

During the tour we also stopped at the FC Barcelona stadium, a museum of artwork to fight against AIDS and also the Olympic stadium when Barcelona hosted it in 1992. 

Then once again Cami, Ana and I went out to the disco at night. Cami has many friends in Barcelona, so we met up with a group of people and went to a disco that was right on the beach. It was not only beautiful, but also hilarious. The group of people were so friendly and it was so great to meet them. 

On Wednesday it was my final breakfast with Cami's mom, she had to fly back to get back to work. I was so happy to meet her, she is such an incredible person; so friendly, open and happy.

Throughout the day we did more touring and walking around to see many places, and went on a Gondola that went over a part of Barcelona so you could see the beautiful old buildings and also the beautiful, blue Mediterranean Sea.

Sadly on Wednesday night, Cami and I had to say our goodbyes. It was so amazing to see her and I know I'll see her again, knowing our pattern I'll probably see her in about two years. I would love to come to Spain again, and go stay with Cami in Madrid.

Thursday was another day for sightseeing and of course shopping! We went to the huge and famous St Josep Market, which had a building also designed by Gaudi. I have never seen so many fruits, vegetables, candies, animals and seafood in my life. It was amazing, and the fruit was SO great. We also went to another house created by Gaudi, and got to tour his thinking once again. 

In the afternoon Ana and I went to the beach, and got to spend a few hours soaking up some sun and listening to the waves crash against the sand. There are people selling things on the beach, everywhere and all the time. You learn to just tune it out, except one thing kept catching my attention. Asian ladies were everywhere selling back massages, five Euros for ten minutes. To me, that sounded pretty great. So of course, I got one and it was possibly the best back massage I've ever had. It was so relaxing and felt so great, with the sun beating on me and the sounds of the ocean beside me. Beautiful.

At night Monika, Martin, Ana and I went for dinner and ate Tapas!! So great and SO much food!! Our table was too small for all the food, but we sure cleaned the plates. I felt like an advertisement for the restaurant, so many people would walk by, see our table, stop, think, look, think, think then walk in and eat dinner there as well.

Friday was sadly our last day and luckily we had a full day since our plane was at night. Ana and I slept in for once, which was so nice to catch up on some sleep!! Monika and Martin gave us the option, if you want to wake up and go have breakfast with us you can do that or you can sleep in .. if you're there at 9 then we can go for breakfast together, if not then we'll assume you decided to sleep in. Our plan was to get up and go have breakfast, alarm set and all. The time came, and we both decided in about 1 second that we wanted to sleep in. It was so nice to sleep in!! Afterwards, Ana and I did some touring then spent the rest of the day at the beach. Luckily I always had a thick layer of sunscreen on me all week, and didn't get burnt. I have ver sensitive skin, so I usually get very bad burns. The sun is really strong in Spain and so I made sure to be super-extra careful. When we spent the afternoon at the beach, you could see the tiny spots that I missed with sunscreen. All over I was tanner, except some spots were very bright red because I missed that one spot, welcome to the skin of Katie!!

Our time came to say goodbye, but this is for sure: Spain, it was not goodbye, it was see you another time.

Klassenlager F1C !

This past week was once again, a very memorable week of my exchange. I know I say that a lot, maybe because it's always memorable and amazing weeks. This one, was once again another really special week.

At the end of the year, each class has a trip for a week. Depending on which grade they are in, is how far they go. The first class stays in Switzerland, the last grade goes on trips like to Barcelona.

I am in the first class so we went to a little house in the mountains, near a famous city called Interlaken.

At the beginning we had very hot weather, which was about 33 degrees Celsius. The nights were pretty hot and sticky, but nonetheless hilarious. Our little house consisted of 2 bathrooms and rooms made for 8 - 10 people. On each side are matrices on the floor, where everyone slept together.

Near the end of the week it cooled down quite a bit, which made our night consisted of a big snuggle group to keep us all warm on the cold mountain nights.

The week, was so busy and so great. Since we were a class of 22 girls with 2 female teachers, it mainly consisted of things like back massages, manicures, facials, hand massages, etc. Since the two teachers are athletes, we did a lot of sports if you chose to join them. Of course I did, since I absolutely love sports and I had a great time with the other sport lover in the class, Alex.

We also spent a day hiking, of course, we are in Switzerland after all! We went to a waterfall, and walked and of course talked, talked and talked.

The HUGE different between this trip and a Canadian trip, was that alcohol was allowed! The two rules, were that it had to stay in moderation and after dinner. You were allowed to go buy alcohol or bring your own, it was so funny to see people drinking together socially and not having a single worry, because it's allowed!! In Canada, they will search your bag to make sure you have nothing, here you are allowed it. It's so different, and so exciting!!

Such an amazing week and an extremely hard goodbye on Friday. I stood at the train station, waiting by the train that was going to take me back to my home here in Switzerland. As the clock ticked away, the time came when it was time for me to say goodbye to my class. The people I saw 5 days a week for almost 9 hours a day for the last year, and it was my last time seeing them. I have such good relationships with these girls that I met, I have learnt so much from them and I hope they learned a lot from me. I spent so much time with these people over the last year and they were all a big part of my exchange. So we stood in a group, hugging with tears in every eye, with the big hug and the final goodbye. It was extremely painful, and I will miss this amazing class a lot and I wish them good luck throughout their next years in FMS Muttenz.

I'll miss you ladies.

Goodbye.