MIA – Chasing Spain

Hi! I haven’t written anything in a bit. It’s only Tuesday, but this week has already been hectic. I am currently taking an Intensive Spanish Course in Barcelona, so that has been taking up most of my free time. Ingrid is also in Rome this week with her students. I’m super jealous since Italy is one of my favorite places. I’m trying to fill her place by making (simple) dinner at night and helping with the kids. Between that and studying for class, I haven’t had much time to write. I guess this post is to show that I’m alive and will be writing something more substantial soon….hopefully.

Here’s a quick breakdown of last week.

Tuesday: I did a two hour language exchange with a women in Mataró. We spoke in English for the first hour so she could practice for her upcoming proficiency test. The second hour was spent in Spanish so I could improve my conversational skills.

Wednesday: I was graciously offered by the teachers at Adria and Ona’s school to spend a couple days helping and presenting in various classes. I spent time with every age group. From reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar to crazy four year olds to repeating “no, I don’t have a boyfriend” to the 12-year-old girls, I experienced it all. I have to give credit to the teachers. It’s not easy teaching a bunch of rowdy kids inside a classroom where everyone is melting from the heat. One of the classes made me a bunch of pictures filled with Catalonian traditions and many compliments. I loved all of them!

After school, I went to lunch at the kid’s grandparent’s house. We had endless amounts of pasta, cheese, and fruit. I could hardly move after. I also was able to speak some Spanish with Ingrid’s mother, which was fun!

We returned back to the grandparent’s house later to celebrate their grandmother’s birthday with the whole family. Ona and I baked brownies for the occasion, which were a hit! There was a feast of different cheeses, meats, fish, and bread. Plus some wine and cava! If I thought I was full from lunch, I don’t even know how to describe what I felt like after dinner. I couldn’t stop eating because all the food was so delicious.

Thursday: Was basically a repeat of Wednesday except Ona had a choir concert at night. It was exciting to see her up on stage singing!

Friday: I switched back to Ingrid’s school. If you remember, I went there last Thursday and did presentations for the class. This time the class presented to me about Catalonia, including the culture, language, history, food, and all of that good stuff.

Later in the day, I went to the beach with the kids. We frolicked in the water, threw sand at each other, and stuffed our faces with watermelon and popcorn. I also went to dinner with my new friend Nuria, who has the world’s cutest puppy named Naola. She introduced me to clara (beer mixed with fanta) and some more new friends!