How time flies......

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sorry about the shockingly late update- it seems the more time you have the less likely you are to do something.. but here it finally is.

Just a normal week of school today exams are coming up so I am in the process of trying to motivate myself to study- but now its not for good marks in a test its so that I can have proper conversations with people ☺ On Friday night Kate and I went to the town bar and had a drink with our friends and they mentioned that at the next town over there was going to be a rumba festival so we headed there and it was my first time in Gelida at nighttime. This is where everyone from my town goes when they want a bigger night out than the bar but was really quiet – although I am just comparing to Barcelona! We went into the pista and there was a live band playing catalan music and was awesome atmosphere- they are soo patriotic and anything catalan they will instantly praise. I love their sense of ‘nationalism’ but ‘regionalism’ the music was good and we had awesome time dancing- heading home early- well Spanish early as I had a volley ball tournament the next day.

In the morning we headed to the markets in the nearby town and they sell everything – really cheap fruit and veges/ shoes/ animals anything you can think of!! We decided we are definitely coming back before we leave to pick up some hippy travelling clothes and typical catalan shoes- I love!
I was nervous all day about the tournament- I’m not sure why but I guess in new Zealand there was never any tournaments etc for the social sports I was in so this was a whole new thing. I was happy though because it was in the next town over and therefore no pressure from all the people in our town watching us.
The last tournament we were the losers of the losers and were determined to at least win one game- we played so well and were 1 or 2 points away from winning the first 3 games – then we finally won one! We all went crazy screaming and shouting you would think we had won the whole tournament! We won another game and ended up coming sixth out of the 11 teams there- not bad! We got a couple of bottles of cava to celebrate and hence proceeded to act like pro sportswoman and spray it everywhere- all in all awesome day! Think I will be sore tomorrow though- 6 games in one day- my exercise for the week ☺

We got back from volley and I headed to the other au pairs house for a sleep over had a awesome relaxed night chilling – its so crazy because I feel relaxed in my house but when I came to Marissas it was like I was on holiday, because the thing is when you’re an au pair you don’t have a work schedule your constantly living with your ‘employers’ and always with the kids- which I love but so nice to be away from home for a night ☺ I spent all of Sunday there playing with her kids and swimming.

This week had my first experience with the thief’s in the metro- I saw a man acting really strange and before you knew it the people on the train were shouting out robber and the man sprinted off the metro- luckily he didn’t have time to take anything- but it just reminded me how dangerous it is- 3 girls my age too – from Ireland- i think they will be extra careful with their bags now!


Sat- we headed to awesome part of Barcelona called Gracia where Marissa ( au pair and also studying at art school) was involved in a exhibition in a plaza. We arrived there and there were heaps of amazingly talented people painting in the plaza with reggae music and a great atmosphere- the art was all so different and all on the same theme- wish I was creative- maybe its just I never try?? We then headed to the shops and they have awesome cheap clothes here- I’m sick of the chain stores in Barcelona! In the afternoon Marissa mentioned a music concert in the forest in a town an hour and a half away so we decided to road trip up there- taking the essentials- tent/food and wine ☺ we got there late and parked up and started to enjoy the music. There wasn’t that many people but as the night moved on there were more and more. The stage was in the middle of the forest clearing and they had a make shift bar- and as I am in Spain NO TOILETS!

The music was awesome and we had a really good night dancing and chilling- we finally decided at 6am the next morning to head to bed and found a spot in the forest where Mia and I set up out tent- the most amazing tent ever- you just throw it open and its ready- and small pack too- definitely a must buy when I get home- Marissa being the hippy decided to sleep outside in the nature. We woke at 12pm the next day to the sound of a dog sniffing at our tent and a family walking past our tent looking in at us strangely!
We then headed to have a ‘bath’ as poor travellers do in the lake- we couldn’t find a beach or anything so we asked the information center where to swim- we got told the lake was CLOSED!!!!???? And that we had to pay to use it – we could not believe this- so we snuck in by the side of some rocks and went for a swim in the lake was so nice but everyone walking past stared at us as if we were insane! We then decided that because none of us needed to work on Monday that we might as well stay for another night and travel up north more. We headed to figurers where we went to the Delhi museum- something I had wanted to do since I got here! It was amazing so much better than I imagined and every where you looked there was something amazing- its definitely one of those places you could go time and time again and see new things. After a picnic lunch we headed over to a group of Spanish ladies playing cards and asked if they had any suggestions of where we should go. I love the Spanish- especially the older generation- they wrote down a huge list of places to go/ what to see and we had a big conversation of where we were from etc.
We decided to head to Emburijades a beach town close to roses and Cadaques. We headed there and it looked promising- beautiful ‘moats’ with flash boats lined up all the way on peoples back yards- we then headed into the town and were really unimpressed, the town seemed really seedy and tacky and the beach front was covered in huge ugly apartments- we moved to the beach and had a swim- we then sneaked into the campground had a hot shower – no idea how amazing this was and proceeded to hitchhike our way into the town. We then decided to head to the next town over and find some dinner- we went to roses a really nice beach town- a bit too commercial for my liking but was lively and had lots of good restaurants to choose from. We went to one down a back street- guaranteed to be a lot cheaper and paid 12 euro for a menu of the day including bread/wine/paella/entrée/desert- crema catalan- similar to crème brule. We ate so much and couldn’t fit any more in – so like the poor travellers we were, we wrapped up the bread in napkins and proceeded to smuggle it out of the restaurant and had it for our breakfast the next day. We didn’t know where to sleep for the night so we decided to head to Cadaques and sleep on the beach because it was beautiful night- we were knackered by the time we reached Cadaques and was about 1am- we parked the car and headed for the beach with sleeping bags in tow- one thing we had forgotten about the Spanish is their love for partying! Everyone was awake and partying plus the beach was not secluded so we found a spot where there was no one and got comfortable on the stony beach ☺ we actually fell asleep and awoke 3 hours later by the rain and decided to head back to the car to sleep – luckily enough as a huge thunderstorm came about 10 minutes after we got to the car- we pulled down the seats and three of us slept cramped up in the boot- another 3 hours later we had police knocking on our window- luckily we had Marissa who’s fluent in Spanish and we were told to move so we headed out of town and finally found a car park. We slept there for another little while and headed to a café for a much needed coffee and croissants and then headed home. Awesome road trip!

This Friday we had a school end of year ‘party’ so first of all we headed to flamenco dancing lessons and then to a restaurant for dinner. The flamenco was so much fun and was one of the things I had been wanting to do since I have been here – I was absolutely hopeless of course but was so much fun and we were all in the same boat! It was really cool as we got to meet lots of other people at the school who we don’t have classes with. We then headed to a restaurant and got on really well with another au pair from Germany and she ended up coming with us to a nightclub. We headed to the best nightclub I have ever been to! Yes it beats the 7 story nightlclub in Madrid- mainly because it had a pool! We arrived and there were so many people- it was an outside nightclub and was awesome atmosphere + music – we danced and then went swimming then the foam party started and was insane! Everybody was covered up to their stomach in foam. The music stopped and we realized it was 6 30am- usually we are ready to leave by 5 but this was amazing and we headed to the train station- all soaking wet for the hour train ride home ☹ Best night out so far- I now know what people mean when they talk about the nightlife here!

We slept late then heard our town pool was finally open so spent the afternoon here- I know where I will be everyday as it is getting soo hot!!!
We headed into Barca on Sunday to meet with other au pairs from London and Norway for one of their birthdays- was so much fun and chilled at the park for the day eating lots of good food – then we headed to barceloneta for a swim- perfect finish to the weekend.

It was Laias birthday this Thursday I usually have Volley but I wanted to be with the family for the night and we played games such as hula hooping/ piñata etc was so nice feel like a big sister in the family. When I kissed her goodnight she said to me thank you so much for not going to volley were going to miss you so much… the thought of leaving is soo hard at the moment!

The girls have finished school now so I spend the days with them. We had so much fun dancing in the garden and had pancakes and ate them in our huge hut we made in the garden- I love this a lot more working for the whole day as its so much more relaxed and we have more time to play and genuinely chill rather than when they were at school we would be rushing from place to place and not having anytime to play ☹ perfect job for me really!

Thursday: was the night of Sant Joan- and in order to celebrate it’s a huge party on all the beaches in Barcelona (or catalonia) where there are so many fireworks every where you see people are setting off fireworks- when we first arrived it felt like we were in a war zone. We met up with some guys from our town and chilled at their apartment for a while and went for a swim in the pool- later we headed down to the beach and there were so many people everywhere! There was music and a dance floor in the sand and fireworks everywhere- really good night- except when we went to leave I couldn’t find my bag in our pile of things and after roaming up and down the beach I determined my bag had been stolen while we had been dancing. Not the best ending to the night but I was lucky I didn’t have any cards/ lots of money- very upset about my bikini and watch though ☹ Also my one Havana- these are not cheap sandal’s and to only have one seems like such a tease!
We then spent the weekend chilling after a full on week.

On Saturday we went to the beach for the day with one of the au pairs cousins here and her friends- it was a beach we had never been to and had so much fun! They were really lovely and outgoing- how I imagined the Spanish people to be- I don’t know if its because we live in a small town or because its catalonia but the people here aren’t hugely friendly- until you start the conversation- but these girls were so cool and by the end of the day we felt like we had known them forever.

Mia’s family weren’t home for the weekend so we had an au pair dinner- and after a few rounds of kings cup we headed to the house of one of our friends from here- it was the group of us that went to Sant Joan- we taught them all how to play spoons! Was so much fun- definitely have to do it again and then we headed into the vineyards and hung out here listening to music/ watching the shooting stars- its funny I am enjoying these quiet nights in my town more than nights in Barcelona now cause its so cool getting to know them rather than spending the whole night getting groped by other foreigners and sleazy Spanish guys. When the sun came up we decided we had better head home and then went to Marissas house for the day- whenever we go to Marissas it always involves a lot of yummy food and we spent the arvo by the pool! Before I leave I will add photos of her house- its my dream house!

Only another month here and then I head of on amazing adventures- the blogs might get a bit more exciting!!

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