I think one of the novelties of being in a foreign country is that I feel twice removed from my Chinese heritage. It is very a surreal and disorienting "out of body" "out of character" "out of comfort" state. It puts into perspective for me what it means to be Chinese. What it means to be the child of immigrant parents. What it means to be the child of Taiwanese-born Chinese parents. What it means to be American-born Chinese. What it means to be an American in a foreign country. A Chinese-American in a foreign country. A tri-lingual Chinese-American in a foreign country. And it makes me wonder how much or how little the people in that place understand this layered identity. How do they process me? All the nuances, the politics, the prejudices, the social constructs, my multi-cultural values, the pieces of my heritage that I choose to wear and the other pieces I've chosen to shed-- They can't they possibly understand any of that, but what do they see instead?

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Rambling down La Rambla

El Sábado

After a long 24 hours of travel, departing 1pm in Dallas and arriving 2:45 in Barcelona, I finally made it! It cost us 40 Euro to take a cab to home sweet home, Calle Pérez Galdos, 32 in ell barrio de Gracia.



We grabbed some late dinner at Tapas de la Villa. Some sausages that begin with an X (not chorizo) and patates braves (delicious)


Sophie & Sarah:


After dinner we wandered around a bit, then headed to La Oveja Negra, in a hidden little street. 2 Liters of sangria for 12 Euros and 2 Liters of beer for 10 Euros, por favor! It was a fun rowdy spot, a good place to make friends with other tourists and some locals...



After taking a detour to a nightclub that we decided to pass on, we started heading home and grabbed a couple six packs of the super cheap beer (1 Euro a piece) they sell in the street at night. They also sell roses...what a strange combination of late-night retail...


Let's just say we went to bed at 5:30am and leave it at that :)

El Domingo:

We wandered around for a bit today, finally got to see Casa Milá by Gaudí! I've wanted to see this place ever since I learned about it in 9th grade, CAN'T wait to actually go in to see the museum.


More wandering and wandering, down la Rambla, which goes all the way down the the beach, and down little streets past tiny little hidden enclaves and plazas. Then we moseyed over to the gothic district. Lots of gorgeous buildings that I can't remember the names of. I'll have to go back again after I've done my homework...



Then we were starving, so we stopped for drinks and appetizers at Princesa23! Maybe we were just really hungry, but these are the most delicious nachos ever. This place had a very eclectic menu...

That's pretty much it! Orientation's tomorrow, woohoo!

Hugs, Beers, and Roses,
Angela <3
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