HALFWAY.

I'm very torn in how to feel over the halfway point of my adventure. The half of my brain that controls my bank account and keeps up with my general health can't believe that I'm ONLY halfway there. The other half of my brain that is loving every single second of this place and the culture can't believe I'm ALREADY halfway there.
I got gypped by a gypsy. They're sneaky. They come up to you, hand you a branch of a tree, and start reading your palm. Obviously they tell you how awesome your life will be and how kind of a person you are. Then they say something like "Oh, out of the goodness of your already kind heart, please donate." So clearly realizing I've been gypped I gave this woman a euro, which is a coin. SHE LOOKS AT ME AND SAYS NO, PAPER. As in paper money, as in she wanted at least 5 euros from me aka 7 dollars. I handed her the stupid branch back and said absolutely not in English and walked away. She still got a euro out of me though, which makes me so mad, what nerve. On the other hand, that's cooler than anything I've seen homeless people do at home, so it could be worse.
In Barcelona, my camera apparently broke. I thought it was just dead, as in out of battery, but it was actually dead, as in the lens will not work. So, my teacher Nano says the dumbest thing a United States citizen can do is buy electronics here. Of course, that's what I did yesterday. The camera I bought though is a lot nicer than my previous one, and I had found a place called the "Digital Factory" so I got a good price on it.
This week, I have two midterms. This irritates me, because that means today I have to study all day. In an ideal world, I wouldn't have to study for these silly classes. But as me and a few of my friends have been saying, we have to at least pretend to be doing something here, there's no study abroad programs that just let you romp around Europe. (What a shame.)
I am actually learning things though. One of my favorite business topics thus far has been doing business internationally, like learning about their customs and the way they do business. Yesterday in class we did that, and in certain countries you actually have to know what colors not to wear! It's funny because the US is so informal about doing business, it's hard to imagine that people take it so seriously.