Como se dice...

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The first week with the fam:

As I may have mentioned to many of you, I opted to say with a family when I came to Barcelona. Unfortunately, there was a communication problem and I wound up in the lovely apartment which I already overly-dramatically described. Luckily, the folks at CIEE are very accommodating and immediately started working with me to get me in a homestay. Each day I was given an offer which sounded something like “We have a home for you now, but if you wait we can get you a much better place”…after about 2 weeks I was presented with an option right in the heart of town with a family who has never had a student live with them before and I took it.

I hadn’t taken my stuff out of my luggage for the entire two weeks so when they sad the word all I had to do was zip them up and call my cab. The cab approached the center of town (arc de Triomf area for all you geography inclined) then kept going, and going...with each block my face pressed harder and harder against the window. In all reality I can still walk to class and my location is nothing to complain about AT ALL…but when I was told I would live riiiight next to the Arc it was a little let down that lasted about 15 seconds.

I get out of the cab and call my family, utter about 80 percent of the 10 words (that's 8 words for all you mathematically inclined) that I know in Spanish and am answered with a hodgepodge of phrases traveling at approximately 3 x10^7 mph. Of them, I could pick out “Diez minutos” which was pretty much the only information I needed.” After a while of standing outside this building with 2 big bags two glass vases (gift) and a backpack, my new family shows up with 2 shopping carts, their baby and the dog. Please use your imagination and picture how entertaining it would be to watch that much stuff make its way up to the 3rd floor of an incredibly tight European apartment building…WHILE both parties attempt to coordinate eachother and don’t understand a word coming out of each others’ mouths. Eventually I got everything in my room and returned to the living area to make a pathetic attempt at conversation. After a handful of awkward silences Francisco (the Dad) had the take the dog for a walk and I asked to tag along.

Bull. There is a reason the dogs name is Bull. He is a mix of pretty much the largest and strongest dogs that exist. To be exact, he has approximately 15.6 times my muscle mass. At the core however, the dog is a big lover, so much so that he likes to come in my room (yes he can open doors) in the middle of the night and licks my face until I wake up. Still, I love having a dog here, sometimes you forget how therapeutic having a big loving pup keeping you company and breaking awkward moments can be for your sanity.

Lucia. Lucia is my 3 month old adopted niece, and by far the cutest baby I have ever seen. If she does cry in the middle of the night I can’t hear it, as a matter of fact I have yet to hear her cry at all…she’s always so happy and smiling and she LOVES when I speak English to her (probably because it sounds like jibberish to her). Carolina and Francisco (her parents) actually encourage me to speak English to her as much as possible but for some strange reason it feels very awkward speaking English in this house so I can’t do it as much as I probably should be.

Carolina. At first Carolina was very shy and very much the third wheel when Francisco and I would have a conversation (conversation= Francisco talking very fast and me praying that whatever I say after he is done is in some way related). I always ask to help with everything and try and help her with anything that she’ll let me, but for the first couple of days she was extremely distant. About a three days into living here I bought flowers to fill the vases which I gave them as a gift the first day, and a week into it I decided to insist that she let me help with something. Eventually, she let me help her cook dinner. Needless to say I had an incedible conversation with the woman while peeling potatoes and making a salad and ever since she has been incredibly energetic outgoing and oving to me.

Francisco. I love this guy. Not only is he packed full of energy but he loves having deep conversations with me despite my limited Spanish (which he doesn’t mind helping me with at all). Thus far topics include, but are not limited to, the Chinese Economy, Spanish immigration, and the effects of African businesses on the home improvement sector of Spain. My favorite thing about this guy however, is that he sings…at the top of his lungs…all the time….and he is by no means a good singer. A perfect example is when I gave them one of my DVDs to watch and when he heard a Dido song playing in it he shut off the tube and finished Didos song for her…while I sat in my room laughing my ass off.

While living in a Spaish household is a great way to learn Spanish, its incredibly challenging seeing as they do not speak one word of English. Well, that’s a lie, Francisco always says “Minutes” instead of “minutos” to me…kind of his way of showing that he’s making an effort I think. There are times when I’ll start talking and then realize that I have no friggin clue how to finish the thought in Spanish…and if I can't struggle through it with sign language or similar words, the conversation just kinda of dies…again I say this without a pessimistic connotation, but rather a hope that you see the immense humor in picturing me sitting like a deer in headlights across from two people who are wondering why the hell I just stopped talking out of no where.

Unfortunately, both parents are chain smokers…which just kills me with a baby in the house. Luckily, smoke doesn’t really bother me at all…although its not the nicest smell an apartment can have. I would love to say that I am trying to muster up the courage to ask them if they’d stop with the baby, but I know that they realize how terrible it is and can tell that each cigarette they take kind of pains them in a weird sort of way. They never smoke in the same room as the baby, always in another room, but the entire apartment smells of smoke and I can’t imagine there’s anyway it’s not harmful to Lucia.

My room is cozy enough. There is no desk yet but they are planning on getting one in here soon. My window looks into the laundry room, which actually works out just fine for allowing me to sleep no matter what time of day it is. My family is not very well to do (which is standard for most people who take in students for the extra income) but they are incredibly funny and loving people and I’m very lucky to have gotten them. Since I am their first student it’s kind of like we’re both trying to figure this thing out at the same time…which is fun.

Burrr. Damn it is cold in this joint. Understandably, energy is very expensive and I hate to even mention anything…but damn. There was a couple of days when I first moved in that I didn’t shower at all. Finally, I caught Francisco when the topic was on the tip of my mind and asked him to show me how to light the gas to heat the water (since I wake up far earlier than him in the morning). With the water heater on it is much better, but the tile apartment wakes you up with its chill and the water doesn’t get that warm. I finally gave in today and signed up for a gym which most students have done in my program and had my first hot shower in the past 2 weeks….it was easily one of the top 5 best experiences in my life. Hands down.

When the sun rises however, the weather here is gorgeous; about 50s to 60s mediodia…and a little warmer at the beach. Makes me wonder why I voluntarily went to school somewhere where it is -10 right now 😊.

For anyone who made it though this terribly long rant, I am incredibly happy with my living situation. It is perfect and I can already tell that its going to be extremely hard to leave it.

Love and miss you all, please continue to keep me updated on how you're doin.

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Comments

[Subprime]

Excellent
1.) You are a homo: "Thus far topics include, but are not limited to, the Chinese Economy, Spanish immigration, and the effects of African businesses on the home improvement sector of Spain." 2.) Be careful with this one...you saw what they did to Donovan, and all he did was kick it: "the dog is a big lover, so much so that he likes to come in my room (yes he can open doors) in the middle of the night and licks my face until I wake up." 3.) Francisco back home: I am downloading all the Dido songs I can find, and rehearsing them for a grand performance welcoming you back to the United States.