Una Semana mas!

OH MY GOSH I can't believe that a week from today I will be home...that's so crazy! I am ready. It's hard to explain to anyone who hasn't been abroad that you can love the place you are in and still be so ready to leave at the same time. I can't wait to see my family and friends, go to Itty Bitty, go to FPC, watch the Titans beat the Steelers with Todd, eat my dad's delicious breakfast....the list goes on!

Until then....ONE week to finish everything I want to do that I either a) haven't done yet or b) want to make sure I do one more time before I leave. Plus, I have 5 finals in there somewhere. Ahh! Time is going to fly!

Conchita

I realize more and more each day how lucky I am to have such a wonderful senora. I knew from the minute she opened her door to me with open arms and kisses on the cheek (typical Spanish greeting), that she would be a blessing in my life.

Conchita is a mother, and that totally reflects on how she treats me. She is always making sure I eat enough "Quieres mas? Un pocito, un pocito!" (Do you want more? Just a little, just a little!). When we were homesick the first week, she made us tea and talked to us for 2 hours about how 4 months was short, and that we were so lucky to be able to come to Europe. The first weekend that I was away for orientation, she packed Lexi and I little bags with apples and juice to take with us, and sent us text messages the first night that read "Buenas noches, besos" (Good night, kisses).

The IES guidebook mentioned that some families treat students like tennants and not like family. I was a little nervous about going to live with someone I didn't know at all and who didn't speak my language. However, she has been more than hospitable to me in every way. From talking to other people about their homestays, I can tell that I am extremely fortunate.

I know that when I leave here, I will be sad to leave her because she has become my family while I am away. As difficult as living apart from other students and speaking only Spanish has been, it will be one of the most rewarding experiences of the semester. God answered my prayers that I started saying way before I left Spain!

A little insight on how weird I am

I'll admit it...I can't help it...I'm somewhat of a control freak and I love having a routine. I like being able to cook for myself because not only do I get enjoyment out of the process, but it means that I can eat what I want whenever I want. I actually enjoy cleaning/organizing because it makes me feel productive and in control of my environment. Doing dishes, laundry, general cleaning etc. is part of my normal routine at home that I don't mind at all (and if I really want to be a nerd, I can say that I kind of like it sometimes). In Barcelona, I feel so obsessive about food because I never know when I am going to get to eat next or what exactly it will be. I also feel so helpless here because I don't do any household chores. When I am bored or procrastinating, I don't have the option of organizing the space around me because my senora cleans, does my laundry, etc. and we have someone clean our apartment once a week. I know...such a rough life....
I crave variety but find comfort in consistency. It's an interesting paradox. I don't have very many things that are consistent here, which is unsettling. I don't have a set "group" of friends, so I find myself floating back and forth a lot. I am torn between trying new cafes, stores, restaurants, etc. and finding a select few favorites that I can visit routinely. Maybe I just don't know what I want...

Limbo

It's such a strange feeling to be so caught in between emotions. On the one hand, I can finally say that I am glad to be in Barcelona. No, it's not the constant high that I experienced while I was in Vienna, but I am enjoying my time here and feeling like I am learning a lot. But on the other hand, I am still counting down the days until December 19th rolls around (74 days, in case you were wondering).

My time in Barcelona is actually only 110 days, which is nothing in the grand scheme of things. I have now been here for 36 days, so one-third of my semester abroad has already passed. When I think about it that way, it seems like time is just flashing before my eyes. Then, I think that I still have 2 1/2 months left here, and I feel like December will never come. This dilemma puts my emotions on such a roller coaster just within the day. For a person who craves balance and stability in her life, this phenomenon is pretty foreign to me. Living in limbo is difficult...

(Update on my weekend in Costa Brava, including pictures, coming later today!)

Life continues

Hola! By the way, thanks to everyone who is actually reading my blog! Comments are also VERY appreciated!

My first week of classes started today, and I am such a nerd for being sooo ready to begin. It's been nice having a schedule and a routine. The 9:00am classes Monday-Thursday are rough because I've never had class earlier than 9:30 the entire time I've been in college. Plus, the lifestyle here makes me stay up later because we don't even eat dinner until like 9:00 or 9:30. I guess they invented siestas for a reason!

Looking at my calendar, I have exactly 3 months left in Spain. That seems like both a very long and very short time. My 3 months are split up pretty evenly though:
October 3-5 (two weeks from today)~ I signed up to go on the IES trip to Costa Brava.
October 23-29 (3 weeks later)~ VIENNA :-D
November 14-16 (2 weeks after that)~ Possible trip to Granada, Spain with Dannie. We haven't booked anything yet, but we definitely want to go.
December 19 (a month later)~ Fly home. Exams and such also happen that week before.

My Spanish seems to be getting better little by little...we are watching a movie in my Spanish class called "El otro lado de la cama" (The Other Side of the Bed) which is quite hilarious. I would recommend watching it!

I went to a Flamenco show last night, which was really awesome. It's a dance that's very popular in southern Spain, so it was a unique opportunity to see it here. This weekend is also a big fiestival for the patron saint, so there should be lots of activities going on around the city. I'll give you an update soon!

The weekend...well, part of it

It already feels like my weekend should be over even though it just began. Thursday in Barcelona, September 11th, is a holiday called "La Diada." Basically, they celebrate the day that they were defeated by the French army. It's a little weird, but also very nationalistic. Many people in Calalunia, the region where Barcelona is, want to break off from the rest of Spain and be their own country. So, on La Diada, there were a lot of people with their Catalunian flags and talking only in Catalan.

I went with Dannie, Aubrey, and Chrissy. I am really glad that I met Aubrey because even though she's not with IES, she lives really close to me and so we've hung out quite a bit in the past few days. Her senora, Pilar, and Conchita are good friends, which is how we met.

I went out with Chrissy and Aubrey to Placa del Sol on Thursday night to check it out, but it started raining so we didn't stay too long. Friday I went on a walking tour of Montjuic, one of the famous parks here, and then hung out with some girls I met from that. I met Aubrey for coffee and then went to Danielle's for dinner. Her dinner was DELICIOUS and it was nice to get out of the apartment for a meal, too. Afterward, though, they dragged me with them to this bar called Chupitos, and it was so crowded and loud that I didn't stay for long. It took me over an hour to walk/find the night bus home by myself, though, which was definitely not fun. THIS is why I don't go out that much! I just want to be able to sit and chill with people in a place where I can actually hear people talk...

Things are getting better, little by little. I am so ready for classes to start on Monday. I feel so restless right now. I felt like that back at TCU last Spring, and I thought that going abroad would get rid of that feeling, but right now, I still feel like I am just waiting for something to happen...

OH- And I booked a flight to Vienna the other day!!!! :-D From October 23-29, I will be visiting lovely Vienna, and I can't wait! I am going to stay with Pastor Laura from ESUMC. I am so excited to just wander around and see/do all my favorite things, and eat at my favorite pastry shops and cafes! Something to look forward to!

A new day...

My dad sent me an email today that only said "No blog update since the 1st?!" So, if people actually read this thing, here's an update!

The past couple days have been really difficult to get adjusted. This program is about 3 times at big as Vienna, and so I feel very lost right now. There are at least 70 students here from Santa Clara and a ton from Wake Forest, too, so I feel like so many people already know a ton of people here and only want to hang out with people from their own school. Also, so many people just seem to be in Barcelona to party every night. That's not me...I am starting to worry that maybe this isn't the right place for me...

Lexi, my roommate, got really homesick yesterday, and hearing her talk made my feelings surface. It doesn't seem to matter that I have already done this once...it all seems so different and I just feel very alone and lost right now. Our wonderful Senora, however, spent about 2 hours talking to Lexi and I last night to make us feel better. I just hope that things get better.

Today was interesting. I went to my first Spanish class today, and I feel WAY overwhelmed. I don't think I'm in the right level at all. I could only understand about 50% of what the professor was saying, and I don't feel comfortable with that. I talked to him afterward, and he said to wait a few more days and see how it goes. Then, I can switch if I still feel uncomfortable.

After I left IES, I didn't have any plans and didn't really want to go home yet, so I just wandered around the city. This guy from a restaurant beckoned me over and started talking to me. He told me to come in and sit down, and then he proceeded to bring me a cafe con leche, some nuts, and a glass of water. He's from Barcelona, but he spoke to me in English and knows like 8 languages. His name is Ben. Then after that, he asked me if I wanted to run some errands around the city with him. Normally, I would have been really weary of this, but he seems like a very genuine guy. We wandered around for a little bit, and then I headed home around 7:30. He gave me his phone number and told me to come back to the restaurant soon and bring my friends. For some reason, this experience made me feel a lot better. I wouldn't exactly call him a friend yet or anything, but it was someone to talk to and to experience the city with. Plus, I was going outside the "American bubble" and meeting local people. That's all for now. We leave for orientation in Valencia tomorrow, which I am hoping will make some of these worries and anxieties go away. It's still all in Spanish though (ahhh!), but at least it will be a time to make some friends. I'll write when I get back!

Mi primer dia

Hola! I am now writing this from my first day in Barcelona. I am at my new home for the next four months. Lexi, my roommate, doesn't get here until tomorrow, so it is very strange to be here in my apartment with just me, especially after having 5 other roommates in Vienna. BUT...one thing I am going to try very hard to do while in Barcelona is not compare it too much to Vienna. I know that everyone is going to ask me when I get back about which one was better, and I hope I can honestly say that they were both amazing, but too different to even compare. I want to make this a fresh start, a new adventure.

After meeting with the IES staff this morning at the airport, I got into a cab where he literally just dropped me off on the curb with all of my luggage and a name of my senora. It was incredibly nerve-racking! Conchita Mata, my senora, met me with open arms, however. She showed me to mine and Lexi's room...which is definitely small, but at least there's plenty of closet space. The only thing that really concerns me is that there is one small table that is supposed to serve as a desk for both of us. I talked to my senora for awhile in my broken Spanish. She doesn't know hardly any English, so my Spanish skills better improve! I unpacked, took a short nap, and now I am not exactly sure what the rest of the day will have in store. I will update soon, though...hasta luego!