Hey Ho, Listos!

So i guess the easiest thing to do is pick up where I left off. The night of my last post I was planning on going to the jazz club with my friend Dorothy. I am happy to have her here because she is interested in the same things as I am, and we are trying our hardest to go do all the things the Spaniards do before we leave. Like I said before, but not as directly, I think the key to this experience is total immersion in the culture.
Therefore.....I took the metro down to Las Ramblas, which in the evening is the place to be. There is a center walkway where vendors are set up, selling art and touristy things... they also sell strange pets, like squirrels. Who the fuck wants a pet squirrel?! I met Dorothy and her roommate on Las Ramblas, and we decided that since Barcelona had a match that evening that we should go watch it. We stopped in a Pub for about a half an hour to watch the game. It was very exciting. If you thought Americans are crazy about professional sports, you have no idea. Soccer in Europe is like religion, especially in Barcelona.
After watching the game for a bit we went to the jazz club, Jamboree. This place is supposedly the most important club for jazz in the city. We paid a cover charge to go in and see the band, but it was totally worth it. The club was small and smokey, and people of all ages were there. The jazz was incredible. MARC AYZA GROUP & CORE RHYTHM, check them out. Hip Hop influenced jazz, much like the Roots. Ironically, they played You Got Me, and even did some Tribe Called Quest. After the jazz club we went to this club, Club Elephant. I was fun, mostly Americans.
I rested all of Sunday. Strolled around in the evening. I needed to recharge.
Monday we woke up and went to the University to scope everything out for the first day of classes. After we went back to the apartment and did some more resting. I took 2 naps, and I am not a big napper. I didn´t know how tierd I really was. Ate dinner and relaxed some more, and then went to a club down the street from our house. It was fun but we didn´t stay long because we had class in the morning. Again, Klee got us VIP and free bottle service. I don´t know how the kid does it, but god bless him for it.
Today was my first day of class. I just got out of Spanish. Yo soy Ethan. Soy de Philadelphia. Eh, how bout that! I´m basically fluent already. But in all seriousness, I am getting better and by the time I get home I hope to be fluent. It is one of my goals.
Some interesting oberservations:
1. Beautiful women everywhere.
2. Alot of American music. I was coming home one night and heard Springsteen on the metro speakers. Wierd.
3. ñ Yep, they have a key for that on the keyboard.
4. Fresh orange juice everywhere. Before my class today I stopped in a cafe, had a cafe y leche (coffee and milk), and zoma (orange juice), and a crossient. It was so relaxing.
5. You can smoke indoors!

I have been reading Hemingway´s novel The Sun Also Rises. Here is a passage I liked....

¨You´re an expatriate. You´ve lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed with sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see? You hang around cafes.¨

Am I an expatriate? Not yet, I´m still a tourist, but hopefully not for too much longer.