When i first arrived abroad I was determined to travel to all of the places I wanted to go, regardless of whether or not anyone wanted to go with me, or if I was close with people I found to travel with. Since Barcelona however, my outlook has changed completely. After an interesting weekend to say the least, I realized that traveling is truly much more fun when spent with people you enjoy to be around. While I've gained confidence in myself, my ability to figure things out alone, take initiative, and be the independent person I've always strived to be, I've realized that not everything is peachy perfect. Traveling to a new destination always leaves room for uncertainty, uneasiness, none of which are comfortable states to be in. Before I begin describing a bit about the weekend and what may have caused this realization, I can say that if it wasn't for my closest friends being with me to endure it all by my side, and staying positive through it all, I wouldn't have enjoyed my weekend at all and I seriously would have reconsidered traveling again. And that would have been a huge shame.

On that note, as soon as I arrived home from Barcelona, I got on my computer and after having debated whether or not I wanted to fly to Paris to see my longtime friend Alan, or have him come visit me here, I chose to be completely spontaneous, because that's allowed with people you know, and suggested we meet up somewhere instead. I requested the beach and he suggested Portugal and two days later our flights and hotel were booked. Yep, I'm going to Portugal in 3 weeks.

Now, BARCELONA!

(photo taken by Kylee Seacat, above)

The first hour or so of arriving was rough between ripping my j.crew jacket (I've never felt such heartache), one of my friends almost getting stuck on the metro by herself, and then her arm almost getting stuck with her luggage on one side of the door and her body on the other, and moving into our hostel with diarrhea stains on one of the beds (props to me for finding such a classy hostel). We packed minimally and grunged it the entire weekend. It wasn't long before we realized that there are types of men far creepier than the Italians we are used to. One particular evening we were sung to by a drunk in a bar who then tried to drink our sangria and eat our food and became aggressive when we told him he could not and that he should leave. Later that night we were literally CHASED by some crazy spaniard all the way back to our hostel. Yeah, Barcelona was quite an adventure. Traveling on your own is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, granted I wasn't alone but most trips I've been on before have almost always been planned out for me. On one hand it is liberating, on the other hand it’s a huge responsibility.

Although Barcelona is a city, it is much more laid back than other cities we have been to thus far. This may have partially been due to the fact that we were on our own time schedule. Deciding what to do and when to do it was very nice and we accomplished everything we had hoped to, visiting the well known sights such as the

Sangrada Familia

Park Guell

(photo taken by Kylee Seacat, above)

the beach

(photo taken by Kylee Seacat, above)

and the Picasso Mueseum. Of course we took full advantage of the existence of Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks, both of which we visited several times a day.

Now that we've had our fun, it is time to buckle down writing papers, studying for exams, and in my case, painting pictures for midterms this upcoming week. The worst part about it is that it is supposed to be absolutely beautiful outside, nearing 60 degrees and sunny for once in our lives, and I can hardly enjoy any of it. Well, I wish I had a bike so I could bike to the park and work there. I may just have to make the walk.

Oh yeah, I apologize sincerely for not posting pictures promptly. This I will work on.