I should be working right now...

...but I'm blogging instead... aiyaaa! It's crunch time... I only have two weeks left before finals are due. Where did February go?? Why is it already March?!?! It feels like I've just been doing homework this past week. Or has it been two weeks? Maybe three? I've lost track... Anyway, after being in college now for 4 years I've learned a lot about myself as a student. One of the main things I've learned is that I'm not very good at handling stress. When I have a lot of work, I get stressed out because I worry about not being able to finish my work. So I spend a lot of time avoiding the work, which then stresses me out even more. I've also found that when I am really stressed, I tend to shut everyone else out and isolate myself with my work. It's not a very healthy way of living and I am constantly struggling with it, especially now in the midst of finals. I'm also back to a point now where my last thoughts before falling asleep are about my work and also my first thoughts after waking up :S.

Another thing I've learned is that a good teacher is sooo important! You can pick the most interesting subject but if the teacher is not good, then the class is usually crappy. I don't know why I'm mentioning this... maybe because that's kind of what my Typography class here is like. But that's a whole other story... :p.

By Friday I felt totally burned out so I decided not to work and to see some other human beings for a change... I ended up hanging out at a friend's place and we went to eat at a restaurant across from her house, which happened to be an American restaurant. It was such a funny feeling - going out to eat "American food". I didn't even stop to think that there might be "American" restaurants here. I mean there are McDonalds and Burger Kings but this was a restaurant called "Hollywood". You know how when you're in the States, you'll be like, "hey let's go out for Chinese food" or, "hey let's get Mexican food.." but if you go to Johnny Rockets you never think, "hey, let's go out for some American food!". And say you do go out for Chinese food - well, it's never really authentic Chinese food. It's more like super Americanized-Western-Chinese food. In the same way, I guess this was Spanishafied American food, if that makes any sense. Like it was American food no doubt, but it just wasn't the same as "real" American food. Anyway, so that was fun.

Other than that, as I mentioned, school is taking over my life. I've learned that it's very difficult to actually study while "studying abroad". That's one of my biggest challenges here. I feel like many study abroad students (this is just a general observation of mine) go abroad with the purpose of partying. I definitely did not come here to party hardy, but I didn't come here just to stay at home and do homework everyday either! There is soooo much to see in the city and it's so difficult to stay inside and work knowing that it's a sunny day and that you're in Barcelona... *sigh.

I am trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel... I keep reminding myself that I just have two more weeks of hard work and then I am freeee. My mother is coming the day after my last final so I'm super excited. It's not that I hate my homework - I'm actually very glad that I have my Portfolio class, because it's something I would have had to do myself anyway. The class is super helpful and I can't wait to see the end result of my final project! It's just getting to that point that is difficult. It's quite silly when I think about it. The main obstacle that keeps me from moving forward in my work is my own fear that I won't be able to finish my work!! Aghhh!

Anyway, I always carry my camera with me so here are some photos that I've taken recently:


I arrived at school one day to find that all of these little traffic poles had been covered with colorful paper. It was so pretty. I think it was for Carnaval.


Went for a walk one day in the gothic quarter...


A really cool gargoyle


Palau de la Generalitat


A pretty elaborate "street artist statue person" on La Rambla


Casa Batllo at night


Beeyootiful

Okay, I'm going to work hardcore now. I also think it's my schedule that makes it difficult to get going with homework. I seem to work better at night but here my free time is always during the day. So.. it's weird. Anyway, hasta luegooo.