1.26-1.27

Yesterday was extremely busy, but it all paid off. My Tuesday/Thursday classes are long, but I enjoyed it.

I had class from 10:30 until 1:15, but my spanish teacher complimented me and said I looked tan. That made me happy! After those classes, Peter and I went back to the gym and I did a water aerobics class. It was soooo hilarious. It was me and 3 older women. I don't really think it did much, but I had fun swimming around. After that, I had my impossible spanish lit class, and it went well. My teacher isn't able to make it to one of our classes and was trying to make us come in another time for the class, but I was like ummmm why don't you just cancel it? Whatevskies. After that, I went and talked to the housing coordinator and she found me a place. I will be living with this other couple in a 3 bedroom apartment. I'll have a single, and the pictures made it look nice. I have no idea where it is, but it sounds like I will need a metro pass. Oh well. I just cannot even explain how happy I am to have an apartment locked down. I am so sick of moving around and inconveniencing everyone. The only problem is I cannot move in until Monday, but I'm in Venice and Milan all weekend, so I guess I wouldn't be there anyway.

Last night, we attempted to make dinner again, but it was mostly a fail. The pasta was not good. That's what we get for buying it in a bag. Pete and I have been re-watching the last season of Lost on my computer, and we finished it last night. I am so excited for it to start next week!! Last night, we just took it easy, and for the first night in awhile, I slept through the entire night.

This morning, I woke up and took Lou on a walk. Got Peter some coffee (which he is trying to like) and myself a donut. YUM! Saw the landlady I was renting from that kicked me out, although "kicked out" is a rough term, I guess she did. Rude. She sucks. Anyway, saw her walking to work this morning and ran the other way. I hope she saw me and felt guilty. Class went well today, and then I came back and did some work this weekend. Since it is supposed to snow in Italy this weekend, I decided to invest in a winter coat. The sales in Barca are awesome!! Everything is like 50-70% off. So I got a super cute khaki trench coat for the rain, and a darling red winter coat! I am soooo excited to wear it all weekend. Like it is so cute! I showed it to Karly earlier, and even though she couldn't see it, I know she thought it was cute! (Shout out bc I know she reads my blog! haha)

I also got to talk to KC! So greeeeeeat to hear her voice.

Now I am just hanging out, glowing in my happiness about my new coats! I'm so European.

Other news, I got unlimited calling anywhere in the world from my skype to any landline! Such a great investment already haha. I love it. Oh and the guys' landlady met Louis today, and she absolutely loved him. I know my Spanish is getting better because I held an entire conversation with her about cats and dogs and homesickness. Although I must say that I am not more homesick right now. Considering the strange twists and turns life has thrown me, I thought I would be dying to go home, but strangely, I think I just really love it here. Maybe I'll never leave....well that's a lie because I would miss Imos, the Cardinals and Mizzou too much, but still. Tomorrow, I'm a nerd and I'm excited for my photography class because we get to use our cameras! So hopefully I'll learn some cool techniques to use this weekend in Italy.

I have decided that I really do miss my siblings. I just feel like I never get to talk to them, and it is weird. I wish they could come visit. I know they would love it here.

I'm excited for tomorrow because I can say "Tomorrow I'll be in Milan."

Besos!

1.25

First off, it has been an entire month since Christmas. That completely blows my mind.

Secondly, today was a better day than yesterday. Woke up and had one class today. It was a rainy icky day but oh well. After class, Peter and I went to work out. It was a bummer that my ipod was dead, I forgot my contacts and my socks were wet. Oh well. So I did my global training class blind and it was all in spanish! I think I did pretty good considering. Then I went to CEA to talk to the housing lady. She was so sweet, and she said she would try to figure out something by tomorrow. Please please please.

After that, I spent the rest of the afternoon watching Cougar Town. Love that show. And reading the most impossible book in the world..."La Niebla."

It's all in Spanish, and it's all about existentialism...a topic difficult to conquer in English, let alone in Espanol. Yikesssss!

Tonight, I went to the volunteering orientation, and I am really hoping I get to volunteer at the hospital here. This hospital hosts lots of sick children, some terminal, and I would be able to go there once or twice a week for a few hours and hang out with the kids. I really hope I get that one, but if not, there are so many other places that need help.

Then Peter and I made a delicious dinner...I was impressed with us considering neither of us can cook really...pasta, caprese salad, and bread. It was no Wolfgang Puck meal, but it was good for us.

It's formal chapter tonight at Kappa, and I'm not there. I want to cry. I cannot believe I am even existing without Kappa. Yeah, I'm a freak.

Off to bed soon hoping for some great news tomorrow about housing.

Besos!

1.19-1.24

I am almost glad I haven't blogged the past week because it would only be a sad post after a sad post. Last week was extremely stressful. I spent hours and hours stressing out about finding an apartment. Finally, last Wednesday, I found the perfect apartment. I booked the apartment for the next day and was anticipating my move!

Well on Thursday, I hadn't heard from the agency that I book the apartment through. I ended up crashing on Peter and Michael's couch for the night, and finally on Friday moved into my apartment.

When I first got there, the lady was so nice and they had 2 adorable children. I was really looking forward to it. Welllllll, about an hour later, they told me I had to give them ALL THE RENT in cash right away. Peter and I spent the next few hours trying to get money transferred and pull money out from ATMs all over Barcelona. I went back at night and told them that it was impossible for me to get all that money right away. They ended up letting me pay some "grace period" money to cover me for the weekend. After that, I didn't see them the rest of the weekend, until this morning.

Early this morning, I heard a knock on my door, and it was my landlady. She told me that she and her husband had decided that it was best I didn't stay there anymore. When I asked her why, she said many reasons, and wouldn't even tell me. She said I had to pack my stuff up and leave that morning, and she would give me a refund. I quickly got out of the apartment, gave her my keys and got out of there.

Today, I find myself homeless, YET AGAIN, and staying at Peter's and Michael's place. I have nowhere to stay. This is the most insane, outrageous, bizarre experience. I still cannot believe that actually happened. And I am sooooo confused! Literally...in. shock. So hopefully CEA will be able to find me a place to live with them. At this point, that is just the best option and I really hope it will work out. I can't do this apartment hunt anymore. I'm burnt out.

I am trying to figure out why God has chosen to test me on this particular endeavor. I am looking for the silver lining and the lesson I am supposed to learn. I have learned that I am a lot stronger and a lot more brave that I have ever given myself credit for.

Despite the apartment issues, my first full week in Barcelona wasn't terrible. If I can even pretend to block out the apartment issues, I can try to remember what I have done. I've had some good food, good drinks and good times with friends. Tuesday, I have 3 classes, which is rough, but it will be okay. I am excited for my photography class but completely dreading my spanish literature class (it is so hard!) I don't have classes on Friday here, so it is nice only having 4 days of academic classes. Thursday night, we ended up going to the clubs, which are so ornate. The drinks were so expensive, so needless to say, we didn't drink. The next night, we went to a bar close to here and had a good time. Peter and I met this awesome guy who lives in Hong Kong and had a great time talking to him. We then went to a bar called "Catwalk," which was really fun. We all danced and had a great time! Saturday was spent walking around the city and hanging out. Saturday night, we ended up trying to go see the Magic Fountain show in Montujic; however, they are fixing the fountain and it won't be open until February. At least we will still be here! Then we walked around and went to dinner at the only restaurant open in the area. It was crazy how everything was closed. While walking to dinner, we ran into a carnival on the streets and bought some churros and looked at the rides. At dinner, we all had pizza and then went back to the apartment. Peter and I booked a long weekend in Rome for the second week of February. Then today happened. I've slept most of the day away, trying to forget the situation I am in. Hopefully, this week I will have housing settled once and for all. This week should be much better than the last though. Fingers crossed.

Besos.

1.15-1.18

My first weekend in Barcelona has come and gone quickly.

I can barely remember what I did during the day on Friday. That's so sad. That night though, Peter and I went out to a great dinner at El Raco. We had pizza and pasta and wine, and it was amazing. I really enjoyed the atmosphere...and the prices weren't too shabby either. After that, we went to meet up with some friends and go out. This process took unusually long, and we ended up getting lost. At this point it is almost 2 in the morning. People don't eat until 11 on the weekends here. A guy in our program decided to show us the way to this club which had a 15 euro cover charge. Michael, Peter and I were not okay with that at all. That's almost 22 american dollars. So we walked around and ended up finding this bar called Ovella Negra, the black sheep. We went in there for a drink and had a great time the three of us.

Saturday we slept until 2:30 in the afternoon. It was crazy. The rest of Saturday was spent looking for an apartment and buying a straightener at El Cortes Ingles. That night, Peter and I and his 5 other guy roommates all went to dinner at El Reloj. We had great bread, great wine, and great pasta. Everything here revolves around carbs and alcohol. Then we went to this great bar called Dow Jones. It is like the stock market, and each drink is on the screen. When someone buys a drink, it's price goes up and the other drinks go down. Then every once in awhile, the stock market will crash and all the drinks go down in price. It was really crowded, but once we got a table, we had a really good time. After that, we were walking back to our area of town and some of my friends and I needed to find a restroom. We ended up going to a gay club, who turned us 3 girls down and sent us to the bar across the street...Momo's....aka my new favorite place. We had drinks the bartenders and Manuel, the owner. It was such a fun time and the boys ended up coming in with us. Then we went home planning on waking up early to do some sightseeing the next day.

Sunday morning, woke up at 10:45, back asleep at 11, didn't wake up until 2:30 again. Good news is it was pouring outside, so sightseeing wasn't really in the cards for us. Spent the rest of the day relaxing and getting ready for school. Walked around the city with Lou to find my class buildings. Watched "Away We Go"--great movie, and went to bed.

Today was my first day of classes. I had my communication class, and it should be fairly interesting. I'm looking forward to it. It was my only class of the day, so afterwards, Peter and I grabbed lunch at Pans...really tasty, then came back for a nap. He had class again but I slept until 5. Then went to get a gym membership (which I WILL use, I paid enough for it) and school supplies and spent a lot of time at the grocery store wit the boys. I didn't need any groceries as I have no apartment yet (but 3 different leads that I hope to settle tomorrow!) Then Peter and I went to Telepizza and had a great pizza for a super cheap price. Now I'm back, its 10:40 at night, but I am tired.

Tomorrow I have 3 classes, but my first one at 10:30 is right across the street. I love this location. I cannot believe it has been a week tomorrow since I left home. I feel like I haven't been there in forever, but at the same time, I cannot believe I have only been here a week. The rain needs to stop here so I can go sightsee, and so Louis will actually go outside. He's a diva.

Besos!

1.14.10

Today was officially the longest day of my life.

Woke up on the earlier side to get ready for orientation today. I got to take Lou on a walk in the morning. He is perfect in the city. I really love the area I am in. It is busy, but not too much. Once I took Lou back to the room, I got ready to head out to orientation. I grabbed a starbucks....way too much money, and couldn't find the hotel so had to get in a cab. But after that, I finally figured out where I was compared to the hotel, which is only a couple of blocks.

Orientation went smoothly. It was boring blah blah blah be smart blah blah. I went to Cortes Ingles on my break and got toiletries and food for Louis. While I was taking him out again, a Spainard confused me for another local!! It was the most exciting part of my day. I was flattered beyond belief. But I had no idea what he was looking for. So then more orientation. Then finally the tour of the city. Had I known the tour was going to be 4 hours, I probably wouldn't have gone. It was pretty long and boring and I was cold, but it was nice to get an entire lay of the land. It was just a really long day.

Made some wonderful friends today throughout the day, but enjoyed a paricularly great meal with some new friends. It was too early for dinner but we were starving. We found this little tapas cafeteria right in the area and spent hours at dinner. Literally. We had one pitcher of sangria and one assorted tapas. It was fantastic. We spent hours talking about everything, and our waiter, Victor, was a hoot. He gave us these free shots of "creme de catalan." It is made in Barcelona and tastes like melted creme brulee. I couldn't finish the whole thing it was so sweet. I know that will be one of our favorite spots in the future.

After dinner, came back to the room, and due to my lack of technology that is a cell phone, I was unable to meet up with Michael and Peter to go out. But. I figure I have tons of nights ahead of me and maybe I should get some sleep anyway. Tomorrow's to do list: cell phone, new hair straightener, face wash and an apartment. No biggie. I'm excited for this weekend.

Besos!

Lost

Lost is the word of the day.

First of all, I feel lost because I am in Barcelona. I keep trying to be adventurous and wander the streets finding places, only to get lost and have to take a 3 minute cab ride to my place.

Secondly, I find it EXTREMELY hard to believe that today was Wednesday. I left my parents on Tuesday, and got to Barcelona on Wednesday. Peter and I are so beyond confused becuase we have skipped over so many time zones. It feels like just this morning I was saying bye to everyone, when really that was yesterday. SO FREAKY! So that's why the word of the day is also lost....like the show. I feel like that violet light hit the sky and I am transported into the future....seven hours later.

Anyway, all is well here in Barca. Lou and I are all snuggled in bed. Not much happened today besides flying. We had 3 different flights, Louis peed in his carrier even though I took him outside in Paris to pee, Pete and I slept almost the entire duration of all 3 flights, and then we finally got here.

I worked my toosh off to get all this documentation done for Louis to come to Spain on time. Jokes on me....he didn't even need it. Oh well.

Things are confusing here. This city is wayyyyy bigger than I gave it credit for. I feel like I'm in NYC walking up and down the streets, except everyone is speaking Spanish.

My room is absolutely lovely! I feel so safe here. I am all unpacked and Lou and I are really enjoying the room. It even has a balcony onto the street! How cool is that?!

So far I have met some really nice people. A lot of students actaully haven't arrived yet because there was so much snow in Paris and London that flights got cancelled...we were lucky.

My biggest pet peeve so far is not the language barrier (being the loser I am, I love it), but these freekin converters are impossible. I am still trying to understand them.

Tomorrow, I have orientation ALL. DAY. LONG. Boooooo. But after that, I am free to play and apartment hunt all weekend.

Hasta la proxima!

Besos,

Bopeep

2 days left in the USA

I've been working really hard on this blog. Not sure how I feel about the postcard theme, but I am sure I will figure it out.

Now I am just working on making sure I have everything packed. I leave on Tuesday and I won't be back until May. That completely blows my mind.

I'm really excited to go. I feel so lucky. Thank you.