Nap + tapas = napas

Mmm...napas. My favorite part of the day! I am so happy because it's Friday and I got out of school an hour early today. School isn't really that bad, it's just the fact that we are in the same classroom for 5 hours every day. There is an ISA excursion to Sitges beach tomorrow, but I'm not going. I went to Sitges last time I was here and it was really beautiful, but I decided I'd rather go by myself or with Becca than the whole ISA group.
So for those of you who don't know, we have 2 trips planned so far this month. Next Friday Becca and I are missing school and heading to Paris to meet up with my sister and her roommate Melanie. We are all staying in the same hostel. So exciting! I've always wanted to go to Paris. Some people we've met here said 3 days is the perfect amount of time to see it (since it's expensive it's probably good it's just 1 weekend). Then after our final exams on June 23rd we are off to Rome to visit Sam and his Italian friends/family. Can't wait for that either. We are staying there for 5 days and missing our first day of school of session 2 (no big deal, mom.) We really are having the time of our lives here. The meal schedule has definitely taken some getting used to...small or no breakfast, lunch at 2:30 and dinner at 9:45-10pm. Good thing there are tapas to hold us over. There are also a few weird things at dinner that I haven't tried. For example last night Fina served us mayonesa with our vegetables. They put mayonnaise all over their veggies here... I want to feel good about myself if I'm going to eat vegetables. I felt kinda bad because Fina actually makes her own mayonesa but...still. As far as tapas go, we have tried several, but I want to try almost everything before I leave. We've had patatas bravas, which are diced potatoes with a spicy sauce over them, calamares a la romana (fried calamari in rings), chorizo (awesome), croquetas (croquettes usually with fish in them, tuna mostly), tortilla espanola (very typical here, made with potato, egg, onion, sometimes veggies), and empanadas. There are a few I definitely want to avoid, like callos (tripe, a.k.a. sheep intensines). Um, nooo thanks!
The weather here has been less than perfect the past few days, kind of colder and drizzling. When it clears up the first thing I want to do is go to La Sagrada Familia. I walked around it last time, but never went inside. It's 15 euro for a tour and I'm thinking it might be worth it. I read that they probably won't complete it until 2026, and then it will be the tallest church in the world. It's so crazy looking and there is so much detail in it. I also definitely want to go to the Picasso and Dali museums. Dali is my favorite artist - he's so weird. Also on our list of things to visit is Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, back to Parc Guell and not trip and sprain my ankle this time, Camp Nou (soccer stadium of course), the Columbus monument, the Gothic church of Santa Maria del Pi, Montserrat (here I want to take a cable car up into the mountains). But those are just a few. I'm glad I'm here for enough time to do all these things, and hopefully some of them are free.
Also, thought y'all should know that Becca and I have new nicknames. I don't eat that much at meals and so my host dad says I eat like a little bird "pajarito" and Becca named herself un gran elefante. I quite enjoy this.
One more thing...I will have you guys know that I gave someone directions in Spanish today. It was kind of slow and I used a map, but be proud of me.

Besos,
Leah