Put on your dancing chanclas

On Friday we received our TEFL certificates. It was a really sweet and informal ceremony. Afterwards, I went with some colleagues from class to the Mercat de l'Abaceria Central to pick up some food for lunch. This was the closest to a dinner party I've had in a looooooooong time. The food was delicious: loads of fresh lettuce, super sweet tomatoes, stinky blue cheese, crusty bread, sautéed mushrooms and zucchini, wine, olives, the best mango in Spain, and cured meat.

After this sweet, languorous lunch we headed up to Parque Guëll. It was absolutely packed with people and we lost each other immediately. Duke, Kendel and I walked to the top of a couple little mountains in the park, including Tres Creus. It was really beautiful with wonderful views of the city. There were performance artists all around including belly dancers, puppeteers, and musicians. At around 6 pm, Duke and I headed back home so I could rest up before the end of course drinks.

I wandered over to Plaça Virreina at about 10 pm. There's a great bar/restaurant/pool hall there and I got to hang out with TEFL alumni from previous classes. We closed down the bar around 2 or 3 am and then headed to the discoteca, Otto Zutz. The cover was steep for me, 12€, especially since I don't dance, but then Lady Gaga came on and I had to get my money's worth. Yes folks, I went dancing. It was a big deal. At first, I could not stop laughing at the playlist they had going: the Police, Elvis, a LOT of REM. It just wasn't what I expected in a dance club. Somehow I ended up on some kind of go go dancer box. After a few minutes I remembered I was afraid of heights, panicked, and then got down. Then I saw some friends across the way, forgot about my acrophobia, and climbed onto the VIP platform to hang out with them (later I was reprimanded by one of the bouncers). I headed home around 6 am. Halfway home, sheer exhaustion and dehydration got the better of me and I jumped in a cab so he could drive me 5 blocks to my flat.

(NOTE: I posted all of my Barcelona photos online.  Check out the link on the left!)