It's Finally Hitting Me: I LIVE IN BARCELONA!

Little things like buying stamps, setting up a bank account, and getting a SIM card are more thrilling than they should be because they all mean one thing: I LIVE HERE!  Maybe not forever, maybe not even for very long, but for about half a year, I'll call Barcelona home.  It is a strange feeling... terrifying and wonderful at the same time.

It's been over a week since the last blog post due to general craziness.  School is from 10-5 every day, followed by errands with the host family or possibly hanging out with their friends and speaking Spengalan (my new name for a combination of English, Spanish, and Catalan) while chilling (literally, as it's quite cold here) at a cafe.

School is a challenge, but a good one.  I find all of the other teachers to be very nice but sometimes I struggle a little bit with the language barrier.  Lunches here are two hours long, and I usually sit there trying to listen the whole time.... but I'm impatient.  I want to know what hilarious jokes they are telling and I want to participate in meetings.  The language barrier makes that impossible at the moment, but we are all learning and the important thing is that everyone is friendly. I think I am very slowly making progress and will be able to communicate more as time goes on.

The kids are adorable.  Of course there's a handful of troublemakers, but most of them will melt your heart.  A three year old named Paula came up to me today and said, quite enthusiastically, "HELLO,
INGLES!" Haha... I like my new nickname.  I am starting to remember some of the students' names, finally.  I've never been good with names, but now that I am seeing them consistently every day on a set schedule, things are starting to click.  I'm starting to feel a bit more settled in.

The weekend was really lovely.  I spent Saturday exploring my town a little more with Anna, another Conversation Assistant, and then we took a train into Barcelona (after I lead us in the wrong direction and wasted a ticket, but hey you live and you learn) and saw the spectacular Plaza de Espana.  It was bitterly cold and windy, so we spent most of the evening at the Centro Comercial Arenas, a.k.a. a nice mall filled with clothing stores, churros/crepes/ice cream/sweets, a museum, a cinema, and restaurants.  At the top level is a fantastic view of Barcelona, and I plan to go back there during the day because I imagine it's even better then.

Sunday was relaxing.  The host family and I went into the city center and saw one of many impressive cathedrals.  It's called Santa Maria del Mar.  Then we
 strolled through the Parc de la Ciutadella, which I really enjoyed.  It was beautiful; I think my favorite part was the Cascada fountains, pictured below.

In other news, my host sister (Claudia), has taken it upon herself to help me learn Spanish.  She is only 10 but she's so focused and dedicated (I've had several exams already).  I'm enjoying it a lot, and I have learned useful words such as goma, lapiz, and pez.

That's all for now.  Just finished la cena and now it's time to plan some lessons and get to bed.