barcelona 101

living in barcelona has been a crazy experience so far. you all know about my struggle to get here, and now that i'm here i'm having so much fun... maybe too much :). after finding sandy (my roommate) in the airport the first night, we took a taxi to our homestay. i was filled with so much nervous anticipation that i was shaking. would my "madre" (host mom) be nice? will i like her food. what will the place look like? can i really live here for 3 1/2 months?!

as soon as the taxi stopped and we started to unpack our bags, we were warmly greeted by nina our "hermana" and her boyfriend. nina is 24 and speaks english and spanish. her boyfriend only speaks spanish, but he was really nice and helpful. as we made our way up the stairs, we were greeted by our madre, imma. she's 50-something, really petite and incredibly talkative (she doesn't speak any english). we were brought to our room which is a nice size with twin beds, a table, 2 chairs, 2 nightstands, a fridge, a small flat screen tv, and (my favorite) a balcony. the room is small, but nice and neat & sandy and i have our own bathroom with drawers for our stuff. the food is pretty good for the most part and i really don't have any complaints (other than the lack of juice). we were also greeted by a young, italian man named andrea. he's only in spain for a few weeks to learn spanish. (what he's learned in the past 3 weeks or so trumps my 4 years of studying in high school and 2 semesters in college.) he lives in the room next to ours and has a bathroom of his own. he's extremely kindhearted and helpful because he speaks english and spanish. so, he's been a kind of translator for us. on top of that, he's shown sandy and i around to some of the bars (chupitas!) and discotecas in our area.

being here has also forced me to step outside my comfort zone more. i'm generally a shy person until i feel comfortable or safe. however, i realize that i may never be completely comfortable while i'm here because i can't fully communicate with most of the people who live here. so, i have to get over myself and just try. so, that's what i've been doing. trying, failing, and trying again.

living here has been a whirlwind. i've made so many little mistakes. like ordering a sangria on las ramblas (street) and having to pay 13 euros for it. or taking a wrong turn and having to walk for an extra 20 minutes. or not drinking enough water and dying of thirst. or choosing to have lunch at a restaurant where nobody else is eating. or (the worst) being hardheaded and wearing my favorite (and painful) wedged boots out on a 15 minute walk to the movies and back. but, with every mistake, i learn. and i think i'm starting to get the hang of things now.

during these past few days i've gotten lost in the city countless times... for those of you who know me, this is not at all surprising. however, in my defense, the streets and signs in barca are sooo different than those at home. none of the sidewalks are really straight - you have to turn rounded corners before crossing the street. most of the streets are one-way (still don't understand how that works) and it took me 5 whole days to realize that most of the street names are on buildings opposite of crosswalks. but, today, sandy and i finally mastered the metro! (using the metro, itself, isn't that hard, but finding our way to and from the metro has proved difficult before.) furthermore, i always carry a bottle of water with me because it's always hot and humid so, i always sweat and get thirsty. i only pick restaurants with lots of people in it. and i've sworn to never wear any sort of heel or wedge again (at least while i'm here)! i've also decided to try to speak a little more spanish to imma now, instead of shying away or only saying "si" or "no".

barcelona is amazing, beautiful, and has so much to offer. there's always something to do or see or somewhere to go. i'm so grateful for my homestay and imma because i've heard of horror stories from other friends' homestays. i've met so many new people and it's crazy to think that i may never have been able to come here and meet them in the first place (with all my financial aid drama). now, i can't even imagine not knowing them. you create such fast friendships and have so much fun in such a short time. it's only been a week, but it feels like it's been much longer. living here is surreal. (typing the previous sentence has me flipping out because i'm actually living here.) i mean, i'm staying in barcelona, spain - halfway around the world - for 3 1/2 months! that's crazy to me! i miss my family and friends who are in the states or studying elsewhere, abroad, but i'm so glad i'm here and i hope that i can make barca a second home.