Less is more.

This post title is fitting in many ways for my past week in France and my weekend in Barcelona.

The past week was overtaken by school work. We had a midterm in our art class Wednesday and a presentation in our management class on Thursday.

In our Monday art class, we spent the entire three hours in the classroom. The less I paid attention the more I kept thinking about anything and everything else other than French history. Our professor was doing roll call and says "Regina" in her French accent and cannot find me. Once she came across me she says, "Oh there you are. I was looking for the blondest one." My hair color doesn't define me Mary Anne Catherine...I always forget the order of her name and what it actually is. Oh well. I should have paid more attention at the museums rather than taking pictures of stores rather than sculptures. The midterm was a bit of a struggle but hopefully I can buy her a chocolate crossiant and she will boost my grade.

Tuesday was our last management class with our professor teaching the first half of the course. We evaluated a case study that had dealt with a manager deciding whether to race a car or not race a car in a vital race that would effect many aspects of the company. I had made my most brilliant comment yet. The class was in a heated discussion going back and forth about which decision was the best. I raised my hand and quoted the book we have been reading, "On Becoming a Leader" by Warren Bennis. I simply said, "Leaders take risks and managers follow the rules, page 43 in the book." I had made my one and only contribution and the professor said I had made a good point (when he had said that I had completely forgotten what he was even referring to...naturally). The less I say the more of an impact I have when I actually did speak up. Maybe this PR girl can survive in the business world? Lets not jump to conclusions!

Tuesday and Wednesday were devoted to preparing for the project. The group project involved analyzing the movie, Dead Poets Society. In my perspective, the project should have been writing a report on wine tasting or how to get the best deal while shopping in Paris. Who said we were here for school work? My group, which consisted of 5 members, took one character and explained how he evolved throughout the movie and became a leader. Once again, the less we practiced the better we did! Despite some technical difficulties involving printing out our PowerPoint slideshow the presentation went well and we were off to Barcelona for the weekend!

We took a bus to the airport and stopped in a cafe before checking in. I ordered the French version of a grilled cheese that has ham inside. It is made with Swiss cheese and I wouldn't order it again but at least I tried it! I made it through security after I was patted down by a French woman. I wanted to tell her to watch her hand but once again I didn't know the French words. The flight was delayed a bit but it was a short trip.

I was so impressed with how little I had packed, it is the best I have ever done. We arrived at the Yellow Nest Hostel around midnight to be greeted by Tiago, a Spanish man associated with the hostel who takes guests out. "Want to go out tonight for 10 euros?" Our response, "Sure, why not!" Next thing I knew my bag was put away in my room and we were on our way out. Tiago had about 35 of us staying at the hostel following him for our night out. Where is he taking us? Why did we say yes? Where is this bus going? We were making jokes about this but it was completely fine. He was really nice and was looking to show everyone a good time in Barcelona. We went to a pub and then tried to go to a club but the 10 euros we paid Tiago couldn't get us in since it was a 15 euro cover. Thanks a lot Tiago, I want my money back immediately or I am throwing you into the Mediterranean. He did give us our money back the next morning after I had threatened him in Spanish...just kidding but seriously.

I was loving Spain and so happy I finally knew how to communicate. The 3 years and 2 semesters of Spanish had finally paid off!

Friday morning we woke up and headed to the beach to be welcomed by numerous topless women and men prancing around in booty shorts also known as speedos. Less clothing worn by more people. We stuck out being fully covered but that was one custom we were not going to try out! After the first hour it suddenly was completely normal that everyone from little girls to saggy old women to not have a top on and think nothing of it. I wished I had brought my TUMS since I was getting a bit nautious. We spent the day lounging on the beach. The sand is so much different that what I am used to. The water was very nice and refreshing.

Friday night we went to a mexican restaurant and it was delicious! I had nachos, fajitas and a pretty strong margarita! Es muy delicioso! Following dinner the girls came back to our hostel room (all 10 of us girls shared a room) and got ready for a night out. We went to a bar that had 500 different "themed" shots for 2 euros. Don't worry doll the alcohol content was not much in the drinks! At the bar we got a free pass to a club called Otto's. We headed to the club at around 2 a.m. For the next 4 hours we danced and danced and danced. It was one of the most fun nights I have had in Europe so far. The DJ was great and played really good music. We danced in a tight group to avoid some creepy Spanish men that clearly cannot take a hint. We took over a platform in the middle of the club and danced the night away.

After about 4 hours of sleep we woke up for the beach on Saturday morning. We spent a few hours on the beach before we got some lunch at a beach bar. All the girls got either a strawberry margarita or mango margarita and I had nachos for my meal. It was so good! We headed back to the beach and relaxed for a few more hours.

Saturday night we headed out to a nice dinner in downtown Barcelona. Jamal, a 20-year-old gorgeous German boy, was staying at our hostel and came to dinner with us. He graduated high school a year ago and just spent the last year serving the army or doing some sort of social work (it is required for German boys to do that following high school). He is traveling for a month by himself around Europe and simply asked if he could accomany us to dinner. Yes please! He sat at my table which consisted of him having a question and answer session with 6 American girls. Somehow American states came up and he said he knew most of them but doesn't know where they are. I said, "Yeah, neither do I." He definitely thought I was intelligent. I also made sure to ask him about the e coli situation. He told me there were only a few cases in Germany and I would be okay. So I went ahead and ordered the grilled chicken with vegetables since I practically just received confirmation that it was okay from the German embassy. We had sangria with our meal and it was really good! Following dinner we split a brownie and cake for dessert.

This morning we left to leave for the aiport at 5 a.m. We were all exhausted but it was a great trip and we all had so much fun!!

Now it is time to rest up and enjoy the last two weeks here!!