Falling Clothes!

There are some things in Barcelona that will take a little bit longer to get used to.

Numero uno, drying my clothes al natural. I have a clothesline right outside my bathroom window, so rain or shine, if my clothes need to be washed, and thus dried, out they go. And after my first time, when I went to retrieve the clothes to put away, I noticed my towel, my shirt and my sweater had fallen to the bottom of the building on someone’s porch. So sad, yet, kind of funny that I was dumb enough to not pin them right to the line. I hope I can  find the right neighbor to get the clothes from without sounding like too much of an idiot 🙂

Numero dos are conversions. I think in miles whereas Europe thinks in kilometers and I always try, yes, try is the operative word, to do the math.

Numero tres is military time. Talk about a brain fart at its finest. I tend to just remember that 13:00h is 1:00 p.m. and 20:00h is 8:00 p.m. then go from there.

Numero cuatro is the mere fact that I keep saying dollars instead of euros. That has been a hard habit to break! Euros, euros, euros…

Numero cinco is adjusting to how late Spaniards eat. Dinner time is around 9:30 or 10:00, not like the 6:00 or 7:00 I’m accustomed to.

Numero seis is everything being closed on Sundays. Sometimes, shockingly, I just need to go to a grocery store on Sunday or get something from the pharmacy, but I can just about forget about it unless I search far and wide for the one open place here and there.

Numero siete is the Catalan language. Let’s face it, I’m never going to learn it (I have my hands full with Spanish) and my attempt to read all the signs everywhere in Catalan are to no avail. Oh well.

And numero ocho is having no window in my room. I have become quite the lazy chica, sleeping in really late because I have no natural light and thus, no real sense of time.

I definitely welcome the challenge of adjusting to all these things because they are all, for the most part, part of the Barcelona culture. It will be interesting to see what becomes second nature to me and what I will just never adjust to no matter how much I try. And on that note, let’s all root for Barca tonight versus Real Madrid!

You Lean on Me, I’ll Lean on You

I would like to first start by saying that I truly miss my friends from home and my family (including the newest addition, Stanley, a King Charles Spaniel). I could write an essay on who I miss, what I miss, etc., but I’ll just keep it simple and say that I’m thinking of everyone a lot.

However, given that I’m so far away, I have to say that I am truly impressed with the people I have met here and what nice friends I have made. When I had a bad day during my course, both Lisa and Abi instantly came to the rescue. When my computer wasn’t working and I needed to send out resumes, Adam immediately came over to help me. When I needed help moving, Mark was more than happy to help and in fact, even offered. When I started my first day of work or had interviews, Lisa always sent thoughtful messages wishing me well. When I needed a hand preparing dinner during my housewarming, Mariela was there from start to finish. When I have needed someone to walk me home, Jared is there and when I went to France, Anthony was a great host. When my friend who slept over needed a bed, Francis gave me one of her mattresses.

Now, hopefully I’m not forming the impression that I’m really needy (hehe), rather, I hope I am conveying the idea that in Barcelona, we have each other’s backs, since we are all in the same position. And it’s really nice!

And back to the original token, I would sure love some people from home to come visit!

Some of my pals:

When in France…

I’m about to depart this lovely country, but I couldn’t do so without one of my recap lists. So when in France..

1. Speak Spanish? Yep, you read it right. Because I don’t speak French, it’s like I’m at the bargaining table with people I meet. “I can’t offer you French, but I can give you Spanish or English.” Oddly enough, more people have taken me up on Spanish.

2. Eat french fries, crepes and croissants, go figure.

3. Learn one saying in French: “I don’t speak French,” but  keep saying, “thank you,” “please” and other common words to give the illusion that I am indeed making an effort.

4. Go wine tasting in medieval cities, climb up sand dunes right on the coast, eat breakfast everyday in the middle of a vineyard and bundle up cause this country is COLD!

5. Stay up as late as in Spain, going to parties where people are dressed all in white and ones where the minimum age is 40.

6. Sit at meals with French people, continuously smiling and nodding while really having no idea what anyone is saying.

7. Realize that impressions can form without words, in my case, fortunately a good one. I am welcome back to my friend’s parent’s house anytime 🙂

8. Listen to the French version of some Bob Dylan songs after dinner and then play the English version, only to receive chuckles from a table full of people.  

9. Take a hek of a long train ride back with a 2.5 hour stop over in some French city I can’t pronounce.

10. Get even more used to the idea of a “perma” vacation!

Viva France!

It’s a tough job, but someone has to go scope out part of Julzies’ honeymoon destination and I figure what better person to do it than me? I will happily drink wine in a castle in the Bordeaux region of France and I will gladly make sure all the vineyards are properly set up for a great harvest next year.

So yes, I am likely (anything can change last minute of course) off to France tomorrow with a friend who invited me last minute and given my theme of “carpe diem,” I decided why the hek not go check out the Frenchies (I’ll of course be thinking of Audrina while doing so). It will be a 7 hour car ride, but I will just be riding along and enjoying the scenery, until it gets dark about an hour into the trip, then who knows? But I do plan to enjoy my time there and when I take an 11 hour train ride back on Tuesday so I can make it to my work on Wednesday, that will be a whole other adventure within an adventure.

I’m looking forward to experiencing a different culture, different food and of course, great wine! I hope my blog posts won’t be TOO missed while I’m gone 🙂

“Nailed It!”

It looks like interviewing in Barcelona is serving me well since I got the job! Granted, the classes I got are just an hour here and an hour there, so not even part time, but hey, it’s a great start.

In terms of my start date, let’s just say there is nothing like the present. Carpe diem! I’m teaching a 5 year old and a 6 year old in a few hours. ABC’s, colors and body parts better work for me today or else I’ll be in an hour of chaos. Teaching kids is definitely the unknown for me, but kids and I go together like peanut butter and jelly 🙂 I like the little buggers, as my Brit friends would say.

And speaking of friends, right after the lesson I get to try something else I haven’t done…cooking! Yes, crazy me decided to have a small housewarming party tonight and my right hand woman had an unexpected emergency, so I’m going to have to call in reinforcements. Or figure it out as I go along and then have a big laugh about it when it all goes wrong!

My first interview!

I’m happy to say that at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow I will be embarking on my first interview in Barcelona! Jose Antonio, yes, so classic, director at a business school, offered me an opportunity to interview. So off I will go into the land of English teaching interviewing and see how it goes!

I don’t have any idea what to expect beyond a brief tutorial I got during my course on…wait for it…what to expect during an interview. However, it was brief and when it comes to the real deal, I feel a bit lost. Tomorrow will definitely add to my adventure within an adventure. It could be a completely sketchy company or it could be really great. Regardless, it will be good experience and nice to test the waters so to speak. The website is all in Spanish, but given that I told them I am at an intermediate level, it should be a piece of cake for me to read! HA! We’ll see…I best be preparing now!