Oranges and future expeditions

I'm off to Barcelona tomorrow! I'm really excited. All the Gaudi architecture is going to be amazing! I originally wanted to study abroad there, but I learned that people mainly speak english or Catalan, a strange version of spanish that is regional. I suppose it's similar to the Valenciana that's spoken here, but here at least everything that's posted in Valenciana is also posted in Spanish. However, apparently everyone speaks Catalan there, and I wanted to learn Spanish! Speaking of Spanish, I feel like my comprehension is improving immensely. The only difficulty is actually speaking it. When I speak with my host mom, it's like playing a combination of charades and taboo to try to get her to understand what I'm trying to say but don't know the Spanish word for. Luckily I'm good at both of those. Haha. However, it's hard being with ISA people, because you can talk with and understand them in Spanish, but if you don't know the wordfor something you revert to the English one since they know english. Playing spanish taboo probably makes you a better speaker. I really want to improve and I think my accent is terrible.
On Wednesday night I went to the intercambio at the english speaking bar. It was packed! I met a Valencian woman who I talked to for a while. She had studied abroad in Australia for a while so her english was a lot better than my spanish. She told me about some art festivals and plays that were happening soon, as well as a movie theatre that showed spanish films for 1 euro! I'll definitely have to check them out. It was really fun and I think I'll go back. Next Monday, there's a huge sailboat race here called America's Cup. We're going to go down to the port after class and check it out. And, on Monday, I guess there's a group of Spaniards who invited anyone from our ISA group to join them in small sided futbol games! yay! I'll definitely be doing that.
Another thing: I tried orange Fanta here and it is the best thing ever. And I thought lemon was amazing. This orange fanta is so different from US fanta. I don't know what it is, but it has real orange juice and real sugar in it and it is AMAZING. Also, we tried "Agua de Valencia" which is a local mixed drink that has fresh orange juice, champagne, and I think vodka in it. It was pretty good. Almost every place we go around here has a machine to squeeze oranges, just like everywhere has alcohol. Both are present in the heladeria (ice cream store) we went to and school cafeteria. Craziness!
On another note, Jenna and I have been checking out lots of local bookstores. I'm hoping to find some young adult novel to attempt to read in Spanish...I'm thinking Harry Potter. Also, right now I have the strange tango from Chien Andaluz stuck in my head. Chien Andaluz is a very strange movie that we watched in Cine and part of in AvanGuardia. It's an old surrealismo film that was partially directed by Salvador Dali. It is very strange, fascinating, and has a very catchy tango as background music. I guess this is hasta luego now.