Some more Barcelona pics

Check out this expression!!!! I think he was waiting for his wife to buy some clothes, he was pacing back and fourth smoking and looking really irritated .

the Gaudi park overlook. That is the Mediterranean sea and the city. I am pretty sure that this is where a scene from a famous french film was made.

This was the group I traveled with the second day. Everyone but the guy in the red was french.

This guy and that dog was waiting at the entrance/exit of the subway system, pretty scary huh?

the main drag in Barcelona... at least the part we went to.

Oh Yeah...I went to Barcelona a while back...

AHHHHH!!!! Bird MAN!!!! Run away!!!

yes, he is actually faking playing the harmonica.

These were two of the guys I hung out with the first day. They were crazy, and kept calling things "Prolo" like Proletariat .

Cardboard would have been just as comfortable, but this place was cheap, so it was totally worth it.

Need I say more??? This was like the first guy that talked to us in Barcelona...he spoke russian, spanish, english, french, and who knows what else.

Birthday pics part III

Tine and Xavi smiling and having fun with the game.

This was a game we played called "Bonjour Robert!" We had four cards with actions associated with them. We had Robert- who had a baguette under his arm and when we saw him we had to all say "bonjour Robert". When we got the american in blue jeans and a white t-shirt we said "Hello" and had to raise our hand like we were waving. When we got an African guy we had to put our hand over our heart. The last card was an "asian" (here is where this game might not really float in the U.S.) and we had to bow when we got him. It was a game of speed and reflexes. The first one to lose all their cards wins, and they do that by never messing up on the actions. My neck hurt the next day from getting the

Kaori!!!

This was the end of the party. I got everyone on the stairs of my host family's house. It is a pretty fun photo.

Birthday pics part II

These are pics of us in the back yard playing ping pong. Yang and Xavi were the best players, I think Yang won, but no before Xavi stepped on a plant and promised to be more careful.

Check this out!!! It was a fruit platter with sparklers and two little flags in the middle. An American flag and a French flag. They were really excited that Obama won the election!

Birthday pics part I

That is the "acheteur" of my amazing cake and beloved host mother.

That is my amazing cake!!!

Xavi (Spain) and Kaori (pronounced like Cow-Lee from Japan)

This was the dinner table. From left to right, Tine (from Norway), Me, Yang (China) and my host mother (France).

This is me pretending like I was working on the food my host mom was preparing for my party, but she did all the work. It was amazing.

This is probably one of my favorite pics. We discovered this hidden cave that must have been a store room or basement room.

This is me...obviously...when we had just reached the top. We then continued on towards the Chapel.

Almost to the top...and the TOP!

This is a furry friend that was having an easier time at climbing this mountain. He looked really thirsty, so when I found this old water bottle filled with water too dirty for the people, he was more than happy to drink it all up.

This is Yang and another little friend. He, his mom and the dog were climbing up and Yang was helping out.

Yang at the top. Yes, that is a cliff to his left...our right.

This was the Chappel at the top of Pic St. Loup, at the very top. Who climbed this thing and built this stone chappel? I am pretty sure it said, but at that point I was too thirsty to do anything.

Here you go, an amazing view from the top. Occationally there were glider planes wizzing by, and this couple was enjoying the sun and the fresh air after a long hike. I wanted to sit there...stupid couple...

Another interesting fact about the trip; we road 26 kilometers there and 26 kilometers back. Sun up to sun down and we mounted two, not one, but two peaks!

Part II of the Pic St. Loup Collection

When we didn't know where to go we looked for these little painted markings. They were very helpful.


This is Yang going solely on intuation as to which direction to go. He prides himself in his sense of direction...



The route was this rocky the entire time!!!

This is the group, minus the photographer...me : (

This is the first peak with a little castle on top. It was actually a church, but it looked like a castle.

Oh, just wanted to add that these posts are from the 11th of October. The Pic St Loup pics and comments that is.

Pic St Loup ( St. Wolf Peak ) - Finally a new post!!!!

This is the peak. There is another peak that we climbed that had the remains of an old church. We had lunch there and then continuted to the next peak. Some were tired, I was terribly thirsty, but we made it to the top. More pics to come.

Yang stopped and asked this old French guy for directions. He was very friendly. Just standing on the corner like it was his job. Oh, and he kept waving his cane around and pointing. Just like a character in a movie.

You can see Pic St. Loup in the distance on the left. That is Yan, Sam and me. Sam is another American from my program. He lives in Arizona and is going to host me if I want to come over to see the mountains and trails.

This was the picture we took as we were just getting ready to depart at 8am in front of the school. I got a flat tire before we left. Luckily Yang brought his pump and I had an extra innertube. The one I used had a slow leak so we had to stop a few times to pump it up. I couldn't believe that I got a flat. It was my 3rd or fourth that week I think.

This was the sunrise outside my bedroom window. The first part of the day. It was amazing!!!

It is two days after my birthday, and how wonderful it was

So for my birthday, besides everyone sending me wonderful messages on facebook, email and someone special sending me a package bearing the sweetest gifts, I had a great day. It has been raining for the last week and a half, almost everyday, but on my birthday there was not a drop of rain, the sun was out and it was pretty warm. I went to my friend Yang's house for lunch. He is Chinese and knows how to prepare some pretty good authentic cuisine. After that we went for a walk around Montpellier and saw some interesting people. You see, I am on a quest for a patch that says Montpellier on it so I can sew it onto my backpack; we didn't find it. I returned home for dinner as usual and at filet mignon and talked with my host family. Then after dinner, my host dad runs off and they come into the room with a cake and candles and everything. My host dad snaps a few photos and I blow out the candles, all the while they were singing "bon anniversaire," it was wonderful.

Pictures to come later...but for now I will be posting some more cool pics from my latest adventures.