First Day of School

Okay so for those of you who know me (which I'm going to assume is most of you if you're reading this), you must know that the combination of my brain and my mouth produces an infinite supply of words and conversation and that there has not been a single period of time of over 10 minutes of my life where I have been quiet. Brace yourself for what you're about to read, I think you'll be shocked. My school day today was from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and I would estimate that the total number of words that came out of my mouth was around... twenty? How is that even possible? I'll tell you how... go to school in Barcelona when the extent of your knowledge of the Spanish language are simple phrases like "where is the bathroom" and "I would like a sandwich, please."

Even though my host sister and I are the same age, she is in the grade above me so we separated at the very beginning of the day. I felt pretty comfortable though because I had met a few girls at the previous day's orientation and they welcomed me right away. I sat in the classroom and waited for something to happen. The energy level of the kids in the classroom was pretty similar to what it would have been in the states on the first day. The teacher, Mercedes, walked in at around 8:05. The first thing that shocked me was how we address teachers by their first name. That's considered to be extremely disrespectful back in the states and I would never dream of calling a teacher by their first name...well, to their face anyway. So the teacher tried to get the attention of the students and nobody listened. Kids were still running around, laughing, yelling, hugging and doing the typical teenage conversational thing. After like, 3 minutes (I'm not even exaggerating, and 3 minutes doesn't seem like a big deal but it really is), the kids finally took their seats. I'm assuming she told the class about me because at one point she asked me to introduce myself. So I stood up and said these exact words. "Um... hello. My name is Alexandra. I live in the United States and... well, I don't speak Catalan. Or Spanish." And then I sat down. Everyone laughed at me so that's a good sign. Mercedes preceded to speak in Catalan for the next hour... I only understood one word. She kept repeating "vale" at the end of her sentences, which is the equivalence of "okay" in English. I think. I hope, because if not then I understood no words and that's pretty pathetic. My next class was math. I really expected a Mean Girls moment here where "math is the same in every language" but apparently not in Catalan!! The teacher explained some things to the class and I didn't understand any of that either. (Notice the pattern here of me not understanding anything?) From 10:00 to 10:30 there is a break (called "pati" ...YAY I'M LEARNING) and everyone goes outside and talks and hangs out. So basically recess. I got to associate with a lot of the girls and kind of wormed my way into a little friend circle. Luckily, most of them are pretty good with English so I was able to kiiiiind of make friends. The bad part is that I only remember 2 of their names... (Actually this is the case for everyone. People would tell me their names and I would ask "que" (what?) about 3 or 4 times and they would repeat themselves just as fast so then I would give up and just say sí. Oh and several of them have already added me on FaceBook so we are officially friends.) The next classes were chemistry (I got a worksheet but pretended to do it), Latin, and Spanish and I won't go into more detail about how I didn't understand because it's basically the same story. I have to say, Spanish and Catalan will definitely be the most difficult classes. They're learning intense grammar things and I don't even know how to say pencil. (Just kidding it's llapis, I just looked it up.) We ate lunch from 1:30 to 3:00 and I was really glad because I was super hungry at this point. But just kidding again, the girls like to hang around and talk outside before lunch and we have to wait for the little kids to finish eating. So we sat outside and at this point of the day I was already completely exhausted and overly frustrated with myself. I watched the little toddlers play on the playground and I honestly just wanted to go play with them. I didn't understand their language, but they didn't even understand their own language. The only language they understand is see-saw and crayons. I was so tired of having people repeat things and having people explain things to me. There comes a point when people are helping you too much and you just feel so utterly helpless that you'd rather them stop. That's exactly what I felt. This is kind of strange but I noticed a tiny little Asian girl sitting by herself just people-watching and smiling at everything but not talking to anyone at all. I realized that's probably what I look like, minus the being alone part. Also she was adorable and I'm also pretty adorable. I ate lunch (chicken, salad, potatoes and beans, bread, a pear, and water- not horrible but not great, exactly my expectation from cafeteria food) and went inside earlier to meet with Mercedes. (I know I'm writing so many little side notes but this one is funny... I got lost on the way back inside the building so it took me an extra 10 minutes to find the courage, and remember the vocabulary, to ask someone to help me.) She went into the teachers lounge and told me to wait outside. I took out my sim card-less iPhone to check the time and one of the teachers started to talk angrily at me. I nodded my head for a little and then said "uhhh no hablo español o catalan..." He nodded knowingly since I'm the only American in the building and told me about how mobile phones were only allowed outside. I thanked him (I seriously thanked him because I was too shaken to remember how to say sorry) and went into the bathroom. At this point I was so overwhelmed and I guess that little incident was my breaking point. I ALMOST CRIED. I haven't cried at all since I got to Spain so this is a big deal. I finally collected myself and went back to meet with Mercedes. She was so nice and understanding, I could tell she was really trying to help me and explain things. She's also my English teacher and lived in Britain for 4 years so her English is near perfect. She kept apologizing for how bored I must be and for how sorry she is that there's nothing else she can do to help me. I realized that I'd been stubborn all day and way to much of an over-achiever. I should have expected that I wouldn't understand anything and that the day would go like this. When we finished speaking I thanked her and sat in the classroom alone for about 10 minutes. It was probably the most refreshing 10 minutes of my life. My next class was English with Mercedes and since they're only allowed to speak English I participated a lot and it was nice to understand something. My last class was history which I obviously didn't understand any of... then I got to go home. I'm keeping a positive attitude. I can't say the day was wonderful but I will keep learning and soon I'll be blabbin' away in three languages!

This is a picture of me after the long day of school.

HOLA ESPAÑA

Unnecessary Introduction

Well, here I am!! This is my very first blog post from Barcelona, Spain. Just as a warning, it will probably be pretty long seeing as how I currently do not have the ability to differentiate the important events with things that hardly matter... Another warning, I feel like my English is becoming worse and worse since I've been talking in such short fragments all the time, similarly to how the Spaniards talk to me so excuse me ahead of time.

New York City to Zurich

On Wednesday at about 2 p.m., I arrived at the hotel with my family. We lingered around for a little while because I didn't need to be checked in until 3 and after check in you are not allowed to see your family. I think I regret not spending the full last hour with my family. I was so anxious to get going that I forgot to think about how I wouldn't see them for ten months.

After check in, I met up with some friends whom I had already met over Facebook - I loved them even more in person than I did over the internet! We stayed overnight in the hotel and the next day was orientation. After the orientation, at around 5 p.m., we left for a short bus ride to JFK...and waited in the airport for hours. Okay seriously the 3 days before arriving to Barcelona were the longest 3 days of my life. We FINALLY boarded the plane and headed for Switzerland where I would have a two hour layover in Zurich. Here are just some pictures (some of which Swiss airlines should really consider using for advertising, my photography skills are pretty swell). And if you are wondering what the fifth picture is, it's the high score I got on my mini plane tv on Tetris. Pretty cool, I know.

 

Some Swiss chocolate!

Surprisingly delicious sandwich from the plane...

Zurich to Madrid

Yup, more traveling. I bet you're wondering if I will ever get to Barcelona? Don't worry, I'm wondering the same thing at this point. So we arrived in Madrid at around (American) dinnertime and it's already HOT HOT HOT. The first thing that I noticed was how room assignments were co-ed. I know that if my mom is reading this she'll probably be having a heart attack reading this. We gathered in a circle to play some ice breaker games. Typical American ice breaker games are sitting in a circle and trying to remember everyone's names or "two truths and a lie." Well not in Madrid! So everyone was assigned a number or a letter. One lucky person would sit in the center of the circle and call out two numbers or letters. Then those two people would run to the center and race to give a kiss on the cheek to the person sitting in the center, physically attacking the other person to try and win. The winner would return to his or her spot and the loser would take the place of the person sitting in the center. In America, this would be considered something along the lines of sexual harassment and no schools or groups would probably ever even consider playing this game. Me, being the ridiculously obnoxious, outgoing teenager that I am, and being assigned the popular letter Q, got really into the game and got to participate a lot. I thought it was one of the most fun games I've ever played... One hour in and I already loved Spain. We attended another orientation where I met more friends from all over the world and were given some packets of information. One of these packets had a student AFS card or something in it... well I took mine out and looked at the picture of they had me. I was confused for a little because I don't remember ever being a blonde. In other words, I got the wrong picture. It was probably one of the funniest things that has ever happened to me. Actually it's not even that funny but keep in mind how sleep-deprived I was at this point. After this we had dinner. So imagine going to a really junky camp with no air conditioning and where half of the toilets are broken. You'd expect nothing less than plastic for food, right?! Absolutely not. The food was great. The campers sang and danced until about 2 in the morning, but I went to bed a little earlier since my group left at 8 a.m. the next day.

MADRID TO BARCELONA!

I can honestly read your mind, FINALLY. I said goodbye to my friends who were headed off to several other parts of Spain and hopped on a bus. I found out that this bus would take me to another bus... We got to this bus station and I said bye to some more friends and hopped on the new bus. Shortly afterward I was told that this bus ride would be 8 hours and I quickly became miserable. It's quite possible that I'm one of the most impatient people you will ever meet so this was bad news for me. Luckily, these buses were super fancy and had tv's so I slept and watched the Pixar movie "Up" in Spanish (it still makes me cry, even when I can't understand anything). Funny story, I was sitting next to a boy from Germany and after I woke up from one of my naps he said to me, "You sleep very interesting..." I asked him how and he said, "well I looked at you and you were like this... ;O" I think that means with one eye half open and my mouth hanging wide open. Don't worry, someone took a picture of me on the plane sleeping like this so I actually do have a picture. So in addition to learning the extent of my almost nonexistent patience, I learned what an unattractive sleeper I am.

Adorable, I know.

When we finally began making stops, we realized that we didn't have an AFS volunteer with us. So on this bus were about 20 foreign exchange students with hardly any Spanish speaking ability and no direction whatsoever, trying to decide which stop to get off at. We somehow made a unanimous decision to wait until the last stop. We all got off the bus, got our luggage, and stood there for a few minutes thinking, "what now..." Nobody had a cell phone since international bills are so expensive. Luckily, we heard some yelling and looked over to see about 10 AFS volunteers coming toward us. They greeted us with the two kisses on the cheeks and directed us to ANOTHER BUS. I wanted to cry. Well not really but it was extremely frustrated. After getting off this bus the volunteers helped us carry our luggage up a large hill. I started to get nervous knowing that my house family was actually waiting for me at the top of the hill. When we reached our FINAL destination (doesn't it feel so good just to read that?) I saw my host sister, Celia, waiting for me with a lovely sign that said "Benvinguda a Barcelona Alexandra" in Catalan. I ran to her and hugged her. Let me just say that the entire meeting process was much less awkward than I thought it would be! Still slightly awkward, considering I can't participate in a single event in my life where I don't do something awkward. I actually stepped on my host sisters foot and tripped on a rock but I'd say that's a pretty big accomplishment. Then I was introduced to my host mother, Teresa, and my host father, Juan. They greeted me with big hugs and many kisses and I adored them immediately.

The first few days in Barcelona

We took a short car ride to the apartment where I'm living. I met Julia, the older sister, and got a tour of the spacious apartment. There are 4 bathrooms, outdoor rabbits and birds, and most importantly, a BEAUTIFUL piano. I have my own room with a lot of closet space and a nice desk. There's also a great view of a park below me!

View from my bedroom window

The family let me have time to unpack my things and settle in. My emotions at this point were wild. I kept finding myself thinking, "is this really happening?" I loved everything about the family, everything about Barcelona, everything about Spain. We ate dinner around 9 or 9:30 (typical Spanish time to eat, a big adjustment from my family's 4:30 meals) and it was fantastic. Every meal since has been awesome. I predict a weight gain of like.. 350 pounds? Yeah that sounds about right. The next day we went to the beach. I felt so lucky, only the second day of being here and I'm going to the beach? I got to meet Celia and Julia's cousin named Anna, and spend some quality time with all of them. They took me to a mountain where I saw the most breathtaking views of the city. The beach was perfect, the city is perfect, everything about this place is perfect.

On the third day, I spent time with Celia at the Plaça de Catalunya and I got to meet some of her friends. They told me about how much everyone will want to meet me at school since I am the first American exchange student to attend this private school. I start Thursday, and I really look forward to it. Today I went to a 25th anniversary lunch of my host father's sister and got to meet more of the (large) family. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming, they remind me of my Greek family back home. It's such a nice feeling to be so accepted into this family. I even had my own table setting! (Also, the food here was amazing...)

Everyone has been telling me how the first few days are always the hardest, I disagree. These past few days have been amazing. I have not yet felt homesick at all or disliked anything about the culture of Spain or this experience in general. It's pretty difficult, since I know hardly any Spanish or Catalan, but I think I'm beginning to pick it up. The first struggle was actually differentiating the two languages at all. Once I start school I think things will pick up. So for all of my family and friends back home, I hope this blog post will put you at ease! Everything here is wonderful, I couldn't be happier. :)