tourist go home [barcelona, spain]

Got up pretty late and met up with Jen for lunch and the gym. We went to a tapas place in Plaza Catalunya we've been to before that we really like. They're all under 2 Euro and are pretty small so we usually each get three and then share. We've made it our goal to try the whole menu. Its a good, cheap meal - healthy, not too filling, et cetera.

Then we walked to the gym. I was a little too full to work out quite yet so I did some weights on my arms and went on the eliptical machine. By the way, I didn't bother looking at the conversion chart for weights (kilos to pounds) and ended up curling 7 kilos, which is 15 pounds, and shoulder pressing 8 kilos. My arms are killing me, but it just shows - mind over matter!

At 6:30 we had a spin class, which was absolutely brutal. I sweat more than I ever have in my entire life. I've been converted - spin is the way to go. Then we went down to the steam room - also amazing. You're soaking wet when you leave, and I suggest lotion because otherwise all of your moisture just permanently exits your pores when you go outside. Thus completed our 3-hour spa day.

After getting home, showering, and having some dinner (and washing all of my roommates' dishes) I was just getting ready for a quick nap when my friends informed me that we were leaving at 10:30 to go out. 10:30 on a Friday night is unheard of here - we're talking 8:30 in the U.S. Very tired, I went out with them to L'Ovella Negra and then with some Spanish guys they know to some random bar where we were clearly the only Americans. I practiced a lot of Spanish, and also learned that the word for "straw," when pronounced with an accent on the wrong syllable, should not be something you ask for in a bar. So from now on I'll just be drinking directly from the glass.

After that we went to a club but by then I just wanted to go home. The doorman was being a total jerk to us, making rude comments about us being American, once again. We were literally just standing outside the bar, not being loud or anything. I don't understand how such a majority of people here can be that anti-American and blatantly discriminatory. It's not even about the government - they know that most of us (young people) don't support it - it is really just about us being American. Who made this okay?