I just realized it’s been over a week since I last posted. I can’t say that anything very exciting has happened which leads me to believe we are starting to settle in. Now that doesn’t mean we are actually feeling settled, just that the chaos of life and change has started to become the norm.
Last Friday Liam and I went to Aidan’s Carnaval parade which included the entire elementary school. I honestly teared up because I thought it was so wonderful to see the school, parents and kids all coming together for a community activity. They even had drummers come in from another school to perform with the children. All in all a festive time! Aidan's class was dressed as Franklin the Turtle as they had just finished a Franklin section in school. I had a few minutes to chat with Aidan’s teacher and with some other parents that I had met once or twice. A very nice couple who has been doing international relocations for 15 years now (god love em) started at the school at the same time we did and we were chatting again and it turns out they live near my friend Brenda. They said that perhaps during Semana Blanca (Feb vacation) we could all get together for a bbq at their house (FYI I have yet to hear from them beyond their intro email and then my response back). Soooo nice of them! And it would be nice to see what the suburbs are like since we have yet to see them. I also ended up meeting Max’s mother – Max is a little boy that Aidan had some slight conflict with a few weeks ago, a misunderstanding between the two. I didn’t make the connection til I had been talking to his mum for a good 15 mins. Very very sweet woman who has been here for 3 ½ years and before that Paris (which is where they are from originally) and before that NYC. We exchanged numbers and Aidan and Max had a blast playing while we waited for the bus.
One of the cool things about the buses for BFIS is that the parents get to ride them. I had not gone on the bus til now primarily because I don’t want to encourage Aidan who once he knows I can ride it will want me on it every day which isn’t reasonable. But also because the driver and the monitor speak only Spanish and I didn’t know how to ask if it was ok since sometimes the seats fill up. But the monitor saw me and motioned me over so instead of taking the looooong way home (3 different forms of transit – 1 hr) we hopped on the bus. There I met another mom, who turns out to be the mom of the boy who punched Aidan in the penis in his second week of school. Nice huh? She was very nice though and so it made me a bit sad that her kid is a bully – even she admitted that he can be a trouble maker on the bus! I have to say the one thing that made me sad about the bus ride was I found that the kids were very disrespectful to Conchi who is he bus monitor. They would say things to her in English that she wouldn’t understand or kind of push her a little if they didn’t like what she said to them. I can only hope that Aidan realizes that that kind of behavior is unacceptable and I was very tempted to say something to these kids but I also have no idea where my boundaries are in this situation.
Saturday night was a treat here. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe down in Placa de Catalunya. It was a treat mainly because (a) it was American food and we've been craving it and (b) the prices are ridiculous for things such as a burger at 16€ each. However, we all thoroughly enjoyed our meals and it was nice to just eat something from home!! The picture below is of Liam checking out the drink menu - he seemed quite engrossed in it. Hmmm...this child bears some watching apparently...
Valentines Day was on Sunday and I feel terrible that I didn't do anything for the boys (or for Josh). I just didn't have it in me I guess. I don't think it would have mattered except that Josh surprised me with a beautiful flower arrangement and so of course Aidan said, "where's my gift?". Sorry buddy!!
As is the norm for us here, it rained a lot this week and so Liam and I didn’t venture out that much anything on Monday or Tuesday during the day. On Monday, Josh was out and we had a power outage and this one was not caused by me running the washer and dryer at the same time. This is a perfect example of how something that is not a big deal at home in my comfort zone can completely throw me off to the point of an almost paralyzing fear. The first outage was only about 10 mins (by the way this was around 9PM so pretty dark out and rainy). I didn’t realize that I was not the cause of the outage and when I saw that I hadn’t tripped a circuit I started to freak out about how to get the power back on. I tried to call Josh…no answer. I tried to call Cristy figuring maybe her husband would know what to do…no answer. So now I have no power and no one to call to see if I’m the only one with an outage and no way to get it back on. The hallway outside our apartment had lights on, though they were dim – down the street had lights. Finally they went back on. However, the second outage was for 40 mins. I honestly couldn’t really move from the couch once I realized it wasn’t something I could fix. Freaked me out a bit. I wouldn’t call it a meltdown – there were no tears or absolute freak outs or need to go home (want not need) but just an emptiness of what I’ve left behind and what I’ve got to slowly progress thru here.
I went out on Tuesday night with Cristy and got saw her new apartment which is beautiful and would absolutely not fit our needs – tiny elevator, one bathroom, no outdoor space… but for the two of them it’s perfect. It has old style Catalan ceilings and huge gorgeous windows and an amazing view of Rambla Catalunya. Feeling emotionally exhausted from the funk I was in on Monday and Tuesday, we went out for pizza (again) and it was soooo good. My funk for the last few days is now over.
I do think the weather plays a role in my moods here just like it does at home. The winter blahs. While the winter here is nothing like the winter at home, you can only do so many days of rain before you just get bummed out. I’d feel the same way at home with the cold and snow but at least at home I’d be able to get together with people more often and the kids would have playmates and we could jump in the car and just go somewhere, anywhere. I don’t have that here yet and I think that makes it a bit harder, getting out is a struggle in the crappy weather since we have to walk everywhere.
Wednesday I met up with Kara, a new friend of mine that I have been emailing with for the last month or so but had yet to meet. It’s really funny how we met. My father-in-law, who is a textile/fabric rep, knows her best friend. He happened to mention to her friend that we were all moving to Barcelona and she said, “oh my best friend has lived there for 10 years, let me give you her info”. My father-in-law gave me her info and I emailed her. But that’s not the funny part. I’ve also gotten to be friendly with a co-worker of Josh’s wife who just left Barcelona not that long ago. Her name is Wendy. So I email Kara introducing myself and she said, “I feel like I know you, Wendy Habeski has already sent me your info”. Talk about your small world! So I’ve met Kara thru two connections and she is awesome. She’s a wealth of info and has been here for 10 years (originally from RI so a fellow New Englander) and has a son exactly Liam’s age. She and her husband own a bar here that Josh and I are going to next week for a wine tasting / tapas event. I’ll let you know how it goes! Anyways, I had my sitter and so I ended up having coffee with Kara for 3 hrs and it flew by. I really felt that we connected well and I look forward to getting together again and at some point would love for the boys to meet as well.
Thurs was an amazingly gorgeous day which we desperately needed. Met up with my new friend Leigh whom I’ve been emailing with (she and her husband are from the US but were living in Ireland the last 2 ½ years) and her 6 month old Emma. Adorable! We met up at the Arc de Triomf since she was coming from out of the city and there was a commuter rail stop there.
We walked all around Ciutadella Parc which I had only walked the outskirts of – it’s a beautiful park and really the most green area I’ve seen in the city so far and you can actually walk on the grass which you can’t do in most areas (I know, who would think there could be sooo many areas where you CANNOT walk on the grass). It was a perfect day for a walk and so Liam and I did the long walk home as well instead of hitting the metro.
I’m glad we walked because, Friday it rained… again. Liam and I hit the Merkat de Gracia, our local market, for some fruits and veggies and then a little toy store near by. At the market I’ve found that they recognize me at my favorite fruit and vegetable stand. I’m even able to say a few things above and beyond my needs. Poco a poco – little by little. I’ve noticed, mainly because I happened to love a good puzzle…that they are EXTREMELY popular here and every toy store has a huge selection of them. Perhaps it’s because everything moves at a slower pace here and a puzzle is the perfect slower pace form of entertainment?? But it’s a puzzle mecca!
Friday afternoon I tried to call a doctor to make an appt for a physical for the boys. This doctor was recommended to us thru a co-worker of Josh’s that had lived in our area and had a child. Supposedly this doctor speaks English, however, the support staff apparently does not. I am near tears as I write this because all I want is to make an appointment and I can’t even do that. I google translated ahead of time what it was that I needed – a physical for my children. I managed to get transferred a few times and finally ended up in the doctor’s office that I needed, I believe. And NO ONE spoke English. Though I think I understood that on Monday someone will be there after 4 that speaks English. Fingers crossed as I will have to go thru this painful process again on Monday. It made for a messy Friday evening since I was now in a mood. The good news is that we got our first big care package on Friday and the kids were thrilled at the stash they got! Thanks Granny and Papa! And we know there is another one on it’s way from Nana and Papa – can’t wait!
Saturday we went to go check out a sports club up in the Sarria area near Aidan’s school. The school counselor had recommended it to me because a lot of families from the school go there and that she believed they spoke English AND they have tennis. We figured that even though this place is a haul, it appears that they have many activities here including a full gym, pools, playground, soccer fields, tennis courts, etc. And it’s close to Aidan’s school so we could go once or twice a week and hit the ball around a bit after school. The bonus as I saw it is that if there are families from the school that go there, we could make some “crossover” friends for Aidan that he would see at school and at the club. Win win. So armed with our info, we took the hour long ride up to the club…only to find out that the contact there does not speak English. And when I tried to ask if we could come after school and play tennis just the two of us, she said no. Now I don’t think that is necessarily the case but I’m not spending 80€ a month plus 20€ a month for his tennis lessons and not be able to just hit the ball around with him when I feel like it. And I need to look more into the daycare situation there because if I could use the gym while Liam plays that would be great. Regardless we left there without a membership because we just didn’t feel we got the information we needed. Back to square one on that which was very frustrating.
On the way home from the sport complex we took a long walk thru Gracia and happened upon another open market – it’s about another 10 minutes past ours and a bit smaller. But it was different too – it had a supermarket inside it and more fish than any other offerings. Aidan was especially entranced with the swordfish head and the fish tank. (Aidan took the pics to the left).
Saturday night was date night!! Woo hoo! Alefiya came around 6:30 and Aidan seems to take to her right away which was reassuring for us. We had no specific plan in mind other than to just walk until we found something. We walked around Gracia and went into a bar called Mr. Browns. It was really nice out the outside and we figured it would be equally nice on the inside. Wrong! A haze of smoke welcomed us upon entering. We figured we couldn’t turn back and so sat down at the bar on the torn stools for a quick drink. I will just say that the wine kind of burned going down. That was Mr. Browns.
We passed by a cute looking Italian restaurant during our walk and figured it could be a good option but they weren’t open yet. We continued on for another 15 mins and then decided to turn back to the Italian place. And I’m glad we did. The restaurant, Specchio Magico Barcelona, was fabulous! The service was wonderful and one of the owners waited on us and spoke fantastic English. He was from Italy and had lived in England before settling down in Barcelona 17 years ago. And the food, well the food was wonderful! I had a caprese salad which is one of my favorites – and the mozzarella was very fresh (as it should be in a good Italian restaurant) and for dinner I had the pasta purses filled with cheese and pears in a walnut gorgonzola sauce. Yum!! Josh, had cured ox meat as an appetizer (which he said was fabulous, I passed on tasting) and then he had pigeon, yes you read it correctly. I think he just wanted to have pigeon so he could tell Aidan he ate it. Of course as delicious as it was, Josh has been suffering the consequences of it this AM – no more needs to be said there. Though I do question where they get the pigeons in these restaurants. There are pigeons everywhere in this city – do they pluck them off the street or are they “farm raised” pigeons? Sorry, just have to ask. I’m going to say since this was a reputable place that they were probably farm raised. Two hours later and a great bottle of Syrah later, we were on our way back home feeling much more relaxed. Looking forward to date night for next week too!
All in all, a good week. Today is Sunday, a day of rest here. The only thing open on Sunday is restaurants. We’re trying to convince the kids that we should go out for lunch. So far we are not winning the battle so it may be a day of puzzles, video games, books and toys. Not a bad way to end the week.
Julie
