First Impressions

Well, I am finally here: Barcelona. It wasn't a fun journey but after talking with some of my study abroad companions in these first few days, I realize I was lucky to have only a small delay. A few students I met not only had their flights cancelled in London but never even made it to London, instead being diverted to Scotland. London, and much of Western Europe, has been the victim of a cold snap leading to ice and snow. Flying into Barcelona, a local sitting next to me on the flight described his horror at the sight of snow on the peaks of the mountains we flew over (not sure which mountains they were).

My arrival into Barcelona was seamless since I met some fellow IES students and we made our way through the airport with ease. IES did a great job of making this immediate arrival easy as we were given instructions and lots of info in a comfortable secluded room in the airport. Once I left the airport, however, I was on my own. I got to use my Spanish for the first time when I had to tell the taxi driver the address of my homestay. I must have massacred the pronunciation because he had no idea what I had said on my first stab, but on second attempt he made sense of it.

The taxi dropped me off at an apartment building on avinguda sarria, a main avenue in a somewhat ritzy part of town, and I made my way up to the 4th floor, door 3. I realized as I stood outside the door that what lay behind this door would be my home for the next four months and as I pressed the odd doorbell (which made more of a buzzing sound than a bell) I felt a great wave of apprehension.

Within seconds the door opened and a short, dark-haired woman greeted me with a wide smile and my name. "Daniel?" "Sí," I replied happy to know I was at the right door. "Adelante!" She replied welcoming me into her house with dos besos (two kisses) and laughter. Her charm won me over instantly.

Tired but happy to be at my final destination, I greeted me new roomates and got situated in my new room: a tiny room for two people that fits two beds and squeezes in one small desk. The apartment is small but quaint and well furnished. My bed is hard but comfortable...my pillow is hard and not so comfortable. I was so tired, though, that after a few minutes of conversation with my roomates, I slept for four and a half hours.

My first dinner in Spain (served at 9:00 pm) was a heaping portion of linguini with home made pesto sauce and a grilled chicken sandwich. Admittedly this isn't what most people would consider an authentic Spanish meal but it definitely had a certain Spanish aspect to its taste. Our señora, Elisa, did not eat with us so the conversation was mostly English, but she popped in several times allowing my roomates and I to test out our Spanish. Elisa speaks unbelievably fast but often catches herself (or our blank stares) and slows down her speech. When she slows down I find I am able to decipher most of what she says, sometimes all, but my issue is adding to the conversation. I often know what I want to say and could say it in very basic terms, but want to speak with the absolute correct grammar and conjugation or with a specific phrase, which take longer to think of. This back and forth discussion I hope to really improve on.

After dinner and some unpacking, my roomate Pete and I made our way out on the town with no real direction in mind other than to explore the local area. Sarria, the locality, is a more residential place than most in Barcelona so much of our walk was quite dull but we eventually found a sandwich shop/bar to go into. Every eatery in Barcelona seems to have a bar in it! We also ran into a lone IESer who was doing the same wandering as we were and he joined our exploration. There were a few sketchy encounters on a small street that we eventually figured out was home to a few "gentlemen's clubs" but we heel-toed our way away from the area without a problem.

Lastly, this morning was orientation so in getting to the IES center I got my first taste of the metro. The metro itself is extremely easy to navigate and we had no problems making it into the plaza catalunya (the center of the city). Our only issue was finding the "boca" (literally mouth) or entrance stairs down to the subway which are not as clearly marked here as they are in, say, NYC. Orientation was everything I expected it to be and not much more, but being in the IES center allowed me to meet several more people and hear the sweet sound of the English language. Even after just one day of Barcelona, I have found it uncomfortable to be in a place where you can't decipher everything thats going on around you and when you speak your native tongue people stare. But my goal is to be comfortable with spanish speakers around me and to eventually be one of them, which I know just takes time and the willingness to learn). With four months ahead and the eagerness to learn, I know I have both these things.