Party at the Guggenheim? Really?

I would have to say that Friday was by far the craziest day since arriving in the city, at least party-wise... and not necessarily in the best way. I'm not sure I'm cut out for the sleep schedule in Spain, at least on the weekends! Ay dios míííooo.

Anyways, Friday was the first sunny and gorgeous day of the week. It might not have been the best day to be inside, but we all met up at the Guggenheim to take an audio tour of the museum that I had heard so much about and have been so close to all week. While the building is so impressive outside, designed by Frank O. Gehry, I found the exhibits inside the museum not quite as intriguing. Well, maybe that's not the right word, because there were plenty of interesting and strange exhibits- mainly short videos that left me more confused and slightly disturbed than impressed. The second floor had a lot of the architecture designs from Frank Lloyd Wright, while the floor above had many modernist paintings from Picasso to Kandinsky (Mom and Dad- Double Jeopardy, anyone??). I really just don't think contemporary art is my thing. However, I did find one exhibit especially interesting. It had a blue-neon-lighted background with red vertical LED lights that had a story scrolling down in English, Spanish, and Euskara. The theme of this piece, however, was very dark and I'm pretty sure it was telling a murder/love story.

As you can see, though, it was fun to play around with this one.

Cat, me, Ali

My friends and I outside the Gugg.

Just me. 

After the tour of the museum, I grabbed some lunch with some of my new friends (still from Mary Wash, though :) ) at the library that was built just a year ago. The cafeteria was really crowded, but we managed to snag a booth and were really happy to find that the food was appetizing,  filling, and cheap. The perfect combo. Afterwards, I ambled on back to the dorm with Santi and Mike, and, as you can guess, took a sieta :)

After dinner, the night really began. Earlier in the day, a few friends and I bought tickets to the "Art After Dark" exhibit at the Guggenheim. Turned out to be the best decision, because I got to dress up and spend my night at a sophisticated, grown up, PARTY AT THE GUGGENHEIM! In Spain! How is that even possible. Unfortunately, a lot of the people that I went with couldn't get in because they hadn't bought tickets beforehand, but there were enough people that I knew there to feel comfortable and have a great time. Music was playing, people were... sort of dancing, and we got to walk out on the balcony and look over the Ría. Just a sidenote, I smelled weed there, too. Yes, someone was smoking at the Guggenheim. 

Either way, it was amazing hanging out with Michelle, Lizzy, Ali, Cat, Mike and Santi... inside the Guggenheim. Afterwards, we all walked to Casco Viejo to meet up with those that weren't admitted into the museum, and sat at a bar until about 2 am when, apparently, the party really starts for Spaniards. We all took the metro to Fever to begin my first-ever dance club (discoteca) experience... and whoa, was it an experience! The place was huge. And so loud. But I had a lot of fun dancing with my group of friends... that is until 4 am rolled around. 

Friends at Fever.

I won't whine or anything, but I really couldn't dance anymore after a) my girlfriends left and b) fatigue set in. Little did I know that I would be waiting for my Unamuno friends until 5:30 when the club closed. Then have to walk to the metro station and wait till 6am when it started running. Or have to go to sleep at 6:30 am. Either way, it's a story... and I had the privilege of meeting some... eccentric people while waiting, to say the least. 

My favorite would have to be a guy who I can't really describe in any word other than: crazy. Earlier, I'd seen him pulling dance moves that I didn't even know were possible, all the while with the craziest eyes I had ever seen. Of course, later while I'm alone and waiting, HE is the one who comes up and talks to me. It turns out he's quite amusing, but I made sure not to laugh and encourage him any more. However, favorite lines include:

• "My favorite actor is Richard Gere. I love heem with Julia Robartes? She is so pretty. I love her, how do you say, dientes (teeth). They are so beeg." Really? Richard Gere of all people?
• "I also like Bruce Lee!" Begins to do some sort of karate.
• "I like your teeth, they are so straight and beeg." I think he has a thing for teeth.
• "I love American accents. I weel teach you Euskara if you teach me Engleesh." Proceeds to say words I can't pronounce. I think I taught him how to say, "how are you" or something.

Interesting end to the night! And there were way too many people awake on the metro at 6:30am from the night before.