Happy Birthday Josh!! Our Visit to Sitges, Spain!

Saturday was Josh's 35th birthday.  Not having been in Spain long to really get a feel for the shops and not having much room in our apartment for more "stuff", I decided that I would take Josh on our first trip outside the city to the seaside town of Sitges.  And we would go sin niños.  So after securing a babysitter for the day/evening, Josh and I headed down to the train station to take the Renfe about 1/2 hour south to the town of Sitges. 

And it felt sooooo good to get out of the city.  I don't think we realized how contained we felt being in the same "town" for almost 3 months now.  There is still so much for us to explore here but can you imagine never leaving the town you live in?  Yeah, me either.  So we enjoyed the scenery on our way out of the city - it was slightly foggy but we definitely got the idea of what beautiful vistas there are to be had here just outside the city.  Gorgeous mountains that overlook the Mediterranean sea with quaint houses with red tile roofs, just the way I pictured it in my head, but better. 

We arrived just after 1 in Sitges and it was a sight to behold.  As Cristy had put it, if you combine Provincetown with Newport, you'll get Sitges.  And she was right. From what we understand, it's a very artistic town and also tends to draw many gay people.  I really didn't see a lot of evidence of that though we wouldn't have cared either way since we were there for the food and the views - we actually saw tons of people, mostly families.  Cute restaurants dotted the coast where there was a boardwalk for us to walk along.  People playing volleyball on the beach.  Tons of adorable stores to shop in (I held back, you'll be proud to know!).  And this breathtakingly beautiful church that abutted the sea and honestly I can't even describe how amazing it was - and I only wish my pictures would do it justice but they don't. 

We strolled along for a while and then went in search of a restaurant that was recommended to us for the best paella around - El Vivero.  It was on the other side of the church where we found even more restaurants and shops.  And this restaurant had an amazing view of the church from it's terrace, again I only wish it had been a little less foggy for the pictures but you'll get the idea.  I can't say it was the best lunch I had ever had given there was one thing on the entire menu that I liked, mussels, and they came out cold.  But we were here for Josh's birthday and so I continued to drink my vino tinto (red wine) and my sangria (I've become a big fan) and suck up the fact that I was starving.  I did, however tell him, that it had better be the best paella ever given how hungry I was.  He told me it was up there... it better be!!

We walked around some more and hit up a few more bars after lunch.  The perfect day!  We headed back to Barcelona around 6:30ish and were in town by a little after 7.  I was still hungry but nothing here really opens before 8 and I was not in a tapas mood which meant that we had to wait.  So we ended up at yet another bar (this one an English pub that served tapas) for more drinks and then we headed out to a cute little Italian place for dinner before coming home around 9.  All in all, I hope it was a great day for Josh and a welcome to his official mid 30s.  I know it's a place we will definitely go back to in the future - Josh has already said he wants a summer home there - I say let's try to visit at least one other town before making that decision!! 

The next two weeks are bound to be busy which is great.  We've been bit by the travel bug which we had hoped would happen once we got settled here.  This coming weekend we will be taking the kids on our trip to Valencia to the City of Arts and Sciences / the largest aquarium in Europe.  And then today we booked a semi-spontaneous trip to Paris for the following weekend and to Disney Paris.  We knew we wanted to go somewhere for the long Easter weekend and had been trying to come up with a location for the last few weeks but couldn't settle on something.  Then one of Aidan's school mate's mom suggested that to me today and we just jumped on it.  As you can imagine, we are all very excited for the next few weeks!!

Walking along the streets of Sitges.  The signs for each street appear to be handmade and are stunning!

View of the church from the right side of the town.  Street view near the water.

Old old cannon up by the stairs to the church overlooking the sea.  Ward off intruders perhaps?  And a side door to the church - the stairs have red rose petals all over them - there was a wedding here today!

View from the church to the other side of Sitges.  And on the right is the restaurant we went to - El Vivero.  Notice it is literally built on the edge of a cliff!!  You have to walk around the front (the sea side) to get into the restaurant - it drops down pretty steep!

Me taking a picture of Josh taking a picture of his "famous" paella.  The right is the room we sat in for our lunch, again you can see the side of the cliff that the restaurant was built into - above the rock wall are plants and trees.

View of the church from the restaurant and then walking towards the church.

The area behind the church as we walked from the restaurant.  There were a few little kiosks with local merchants.  I bought a scarf for 5€ trying to support local crafts - when we went to dinner that night I happened to notice a Made in Thailand tag on it.  Oh well, I tried!

Josh outside the church.  Me on a bench outside the church overlooking the sea and wearing my new 5€ scarf ;)

The only sign of any gay life here that we saw... sorry you can't help but laugh at this poster, gay or not... 2 men carrying a bear???

On that note, I'll sign off for the night!

Julie

Tour of Barcelona, Naked Man on a Bike, Intercambio and my 1st Successful Spanish Conversation - All in one day!

One of the best ways to see this beautiful city is by foot.  I've been exploring since day 1.  Almost every day, weather pending, Liam and I walk somewhere - anywhere.  I have yet to go into any of the museums I've heard so much about, mainly because I think it will be difficult with Liam who will have no interest and be stroller bound - I may need to leave those for the fall when he heads off to school with Aidan.  But we explore the sights around us - visits to the beach, to interesting neighborhoods, parks, etc.  This past week we met up with my friend Jami who lives down on the Raval near La Rambla.  She's not that far from the beach and in a very historic area which she kindly gave me a tour of.  My descriptions are probably not completely accurate and I tried to google some of these items but had no luck.  So I'm going to trust my memory and go with the flow...

First, a little history.  Barcelona was actually founded about 2000 years ago.  Yes, it's that old.  It wasn't always called Barcelona but Barkeno.  It's city limits were not the same as they are today but contained more to the old city that we now call The Born, Barri Gotic, Ciutadella and the Raval.  I believe there may be more in there, but those are the ones that I know.  Feel free to add or make corrections.  For an actual history check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Barcelona.  The city had a wall built around it, the use of which was obviously to keep enemies out.  As the city expanded the wall was taken down in many areas, however, parts of it still exist. 

These pictures are of actual crypts that date back upwards of 2000 years old.  From what I was told they ran along the road on the outskirts of the city as a bit of a warning to those who may dare to invade Barcelona - this may happen to you!  The bricks are obviously new, but they just renovated this area into a park of sorts.  Notice in the 2nd picture that they actually go under the building - parts of the city were built over the old crypts.

On the left is what is supposed to be the oldest stone in Barcelona.  How do we know this?  I have absolutely no idea but this is what I was told.  I googled "oldest stone in Barcelona" and came up with squat.  If you can find more, please send it along.  It is actually the center stone, not the entire thing.  And notice that part of the stone is actually broken which apparently happened in the last few years.  You can walk all over this stone - this is not like Plymouth Rock where there are barriers all around it.  It is on the street and you walk over it in order to get into the Temple listed on the right.  This building contains columns from the end of the 1st century BC - yes, over 2000 years old. 

The sign outside the door where the oldest stone is - has a little bit of history on it.  And the columns shown are the ones from the 1st century BC.  I will saw I was absolutely in awe getting to see something so old where the construction has literally lasted over 2000 years.  Absolutely amazing! 

As I mentioned above, this historic area is also home to some of the original wall that surrounded the city centuries ago.  You can see that newer buildings have been built upon the old walls.

More walls that surrounded the city.  On the left you can see that very little of this original wall still exists but the city does it's best to incorporate it into the buildings of today.  Look at the detail at the very bottom.  On the right, the area with all the trees is part of the wall.

After dropping Jami off at home, Liam and I continued our walk down to Barceloneta beach.  There we were thrilled to see that spring is here and sand sculptors are out!  He was absolutely fascinated by the artwork they created in the sand.

He was so fascinated that he had to get his bucket and shovel out to try to create his own sculpture.  I think he may have a way to go but great try Liam!

                          

We spent a few minutes digging our sand castle and then decided to head towards Villa Olimpica figuring perhaps we would take the train home from there (we actually walked the entire way home instead - probably walking at least 4 miles that day).  While walking along the boardwalk I will admit to being a bit shocked at seeing a naked old man riding his bike.  Now as I've said before, public nudity is allowed here in Barcelona as long as you have a permit.  But I guess I figured the odds of me seeing the 1/2 dozen people who actually do it outside laying on the beach were relatively low...not to mention it was only perhaps a balmy 50 degrees out (notice Liam is wearing a fleece), not exactly naked bike riding weather if you ask me.  Anyways, I wish I could have gotten a picture to share with you all but alas, I was in such shock that I couldn't whip my camera out fast enough.  Not to mention, while the man is obviously an exhibitionist, I still would have felt like I was violating him in some way by taking his picture.  But let's just say he was naked, he was old and he was riding a bike - ewwww times 3!  

Liam must have wanted to shield his eyes after that because he stuck the bucket on his head right after that.  Just kidding - he actually said he was Darth Vadar and started to run around the boardwalk like this - he never even noticed the naked guy.  The bad part being that the kid couldn't see anything and kept bumping into people left and right - I must have said lo siento (I'm sorry) a hundred times!

                                                      

As we made our way home fromVilla Olimpica we came across this building which to me looks like a stadium of some kind.  Someone told me they think it was designed by Dali.  I have no idea.  Feel free to add some input if you know what it is.  I just thought it was absolutely beautiful and the eggs on top had so much detail that just couldn't be captured by my camera. 

                                                   

So that was just my DAY on Thursday and it's already been a fun and interesting time!!  Thursday night I finally made it to my friend Kara's bar for English intercambio.  Kara, I'm putting your name in the blog - you told me to let you know when I do it... I'm doing it!  Anyways, Kara's bar (O-Bar ... giving you a plug too!) does this English intercambio - an intercambio is when a group of people get together to improve upon their language skills of the given session.  As above in this case, English.  However, every now and again they would revert back to Spanish or their given language so while it wasn't a huge skill building session for me since I got to primarily speak English it was a great chance to meet some very nice people and hear all about how they ended up here in Barcelona as well. 

My goal is usually to make it to the train by midnight (the last train during the week) but I was having so much fun that I didn't make it in time.  So I grabbed a cab.  I gave him the intersecting address closest to us since our street is so small and obscure it usually requires them taking out a map, etc etc.  He was a very nice driver and when he asked me a question I had to tell him that my Spanish was not so good but that I was studying and practicing.  Well, he gave me a great opportunity - he was the nicest cab driver EVER!  This little old man totally spoke slowly to me (as you probably know the Spanish speak quite rapidly which can make it a little hard to understand) and asked me very simple questions (how many children do you have? why are you here in Barcelona? how long have you been here?  etc etc) and I was able to answer all of them plus chat a little bit about the economy (amazing) and travel.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure I screwed up a lot of my words, pronounciation and tenses, but he understood me and we were able to go back and forth the entire cab ride.  This is the moment I have been waiting for since we arrived and with it came such a feeling of accomplishment.  I know there is still A LOT of work ahead of me as far as my language skills go, but I also know that this is a sign that I can do it and that I will be able to communicate here in time.  I feel like I have now gotten on the right path and I need to continue along this way.  I hear three months is a turning point here where things become less of a struggle every day - that's not to say I won't have days of struggle, but more that there will hopefully be more normalcy in my every day life.  I feel like this past week was definitely that turning point.  I'm making progress and that's all I can do... as they say here in Barcelona, poco a poco... little by little.  It will happen, all in good time.

Julie

Things Start to Fall into Place

We've now lived in Barcelona for 2 1/2 months.  I can't say that it's been the easiest 2 1/2 months but at the same time if I had to gauge where I would be at this stage of transition, I'm not disappointed by how far we have all come.  That's not to say I hadn't hoped we'd be further along in some areas than others but overall, I'm pretty happy with how we are all adjusting.  And it wasn't like I had an official timeline of where we should be at this point either.  The breakdowns are getting further and further apart, Aidan no longer tells me "I hate this world" when he gets off the bus, and in general, we're getting into a new groove in our lives full of new routines, new friends (though we miss all our "old" friends) and new places. 

I've come to the conclusion that while for the moment I'm not as intimidated by as much as I was a matter of weeks ago, that doesn't mean things are easy here.  At home I go to one grocery store to get everything I need - hell, I may even go to super Walmart and get not just my groceries but also all my errands done.  That's not the way you do it here.  My shopping which I do almost every day, requires me to go to at least 3 stores, all by foot.  Playdates do not happen the moment you get off the bus - they are scheduled, often a week in advance.  Leaving the city requires planning when you don't have a car.  We have yet to do it but making our first trip this weekend to go a half hour outside the city and I'm honestly a bit of a nervous wreck.  That's like going from Attleboro to Easton and yet it's cause to make me panic.  But it's all a part of the adjustment - we'll do it once, get over the hump and the next time it will be even easier.  And that's the way I'm looking at it - we just need to do things once and then it will be easier.  Going to the grocery store is 10x easier now than it was a month ago.  I know what brands are in what store and what the process is for leaving your cart, packing up your groceries, etc.  I know who takes credit cards and who only takes cash.  So while everything here is a process and time consuming, it's no longer something that causes me complete and utter paralyzing panic.  And it's things like this that I look forward to showing everyone when they come to visit.   I want everyone to see the differences of life here compared to home, not just the beauty of the city and the history - life here is completely different than my life in the US. 

So last week, to me was a sign that things are starting to fall into place.  Life was complete chaos and other than one small breakdown I made it thru relatively unscathed.  That's progress to me.  At home those barriers - a snowstorm and sick kids - not a big deal.  And really other than some panicking about how to get the kids home last Monday when the trains stopped running, I was in complete control and did not have a meltdown upon my arrival home.

No, no meltdown with the snowstorm or the puking kids.  Want to know what brought on my one small meltdown?  The Food Network.  Yes, you read it right.  I was watching the Food Network on our slingbox and hadn't had dinner (because I'll be honest, I don't really like the food here in Spain but that should be no surprise) and all I saw was all this super yummy looking stuff that honestly I probably wouldn't have eaten at home but the point was that it was American food and I wanted it.  And it was a catalyst for many tears that night - for at least an hour of just sobbing.  But I got over and moved on and now try not to watch the Food Network when hungry. 

So one minor meltdown in a week?  Not so bad.  AND we had a great weekend.  Things are starting to happen with that too - our weekends are starting to fill up.  I'll be the first one to admit that I often overscheduled us at home and it was kind of nice to not have a lot going on for a while here, but I think we were all getting a little stir crazy and looking to have some company for at least a few hrs here and there on the weekends.  And the best part of this weekend is we actually ended up with spontaneous plans with several people along with plans we already had - that means we're starting to make friends!!! 

We hit the zoo on Saturday (again... going to become a regular place for us I can see) but this time met up with new friends Cal and Leigh and their little munchkin, Emma.  Then my friend Kara met up with us as well with her son Oliver who is the same age as Liam!  The kids had a great day and while we didn't see many animals everyone played and relaxed.  While at the zoo we also met a family from the US that has a playgroup not far from Josh's work with kids ages 0-8 that are English speaking.  We gave them our email address and I've already received an email about their weekly group - not sure if we'll do it, but it's nice to have an option. 

Saturday night was date night!  Great way to end a fabulous day!  We had no particular destination in mind and just walked around Gracia.  We found ourselves in this fantastic jazz bar in a hotel not far from us.  And the best part for me is that they had martinis!!  Martinis are hard to find here - mostly wine and cava (cava is like a champagne).  I'm rather sick of wine and cava these days.  So a martini was a welcome sight!  Our favorite restaurant Da Greco (see our discovery trip notes from Nov) was about 3 doors down from the jazz club (good to know as I had no idea it was that close).  Unfortunately it was booked for the night so we went to our other standby Italian place and the best part was that they knew who we were!  Second time there and we are regulars.  Yup, falling into place.  Haven't been a regular anywhere since before the kids came along...

And we even had plans on Sunday!  A playdate for Aidan - he was so excited!!!  We had his friend, Isa, over.  She's in his class at school and they have become fast friends.  She wasn't here quite 2 hours but they had a great time and we look forward to more playdates with her in the future.  Bonus is that she lives relatively close to us too.

This week has been ho hum too - no breakdowns and it's Wednesday night.  Wouldn't it be so nice if I could get thru a whole week?  Aidan and I have been intensely playing Super Mario Wii - we're on the last castle and trying in vain to beat Bowser.  We'll get the job done this week - we're determined!  I took a bike ride down to the Mediterranean today and rode along the bike path.  Nice ride - windy, but good exercise!  I even got a few photos in before heading home (have yet to download).  There is no doubt that this is a beautiful city. 

Another sign that things are starting to get back to "normal" is that I'm able to focus on Liam and his potty training.  In just two days we've made a huge amount of progress and I'm excited that we are very close to being diaper free!

We're really looking forward to the next few weeks and I think that helps keep us with a positive outlook.  Josh's birthday is this weekend and we're heading to Sitges for the day/evening on Saturday to celebrate.  We've got a sitter for the kids and it will be our first trip outside the city.  It's only a 1/2 hr train ride and yet I'm a little intimidated by leaving the boundries of the city.  But I'm really looking forward to it too - hopefully so is Josh!  Sunday we have another playdate for Aidan with his classmate Ashay (who also has a sibling Liam's age).  And then next weekend we're off for our trip to Valencia!!  Finally we're trying to find somewhere to go over Easter - we figure if we're going to be here, let's explore Europe as much as we can! 

Julie

The Barcelona Blizzard of 2010

Now you probably thought two things when you read that heading.  1.  It snows in Barcelona?  2.  A blizzard is a lot of snow...just how much did they get?  To answer your questions... it rarely snows here.  From what I've read, other than the occassional snowflake here and there, "significant" snow only falls maybe once every 4-5 years.  I'm not 100% sure what they mean by significant snow because today's snowfall was approximately 2-3" and completely paralyzed the city.  As in completely paralyzed the city to a point of chaos that I have not heard or seen since the Blizzard of 78".  I read an article that stated they have not seen this kind of collapse of the highway/roadway system since 1985 - that's a long time.  And of course, it's during our 2 year stay here.  Why we wouldn't be here in year 3 or year 6 is beyond me, no, we need to be here in years 4/5.  I'd also like to point out that in this article it said that they had 19 plows out maintaining the city roads.  Seriously 19?  For an entire city???? 

I will say that while my trip this afternoon was complete misery and at moments, almost terrifying because of the chaos, I'm glad I was there.  You see, I had to go up to Aidan's school for Liam's entrance exam (exam for a 2 1/2 year old???) for nursery school.  If I weren't up there for Liam, Aidan would have had to deal with this all by himself and after our escapade on Thursday where he was lost on the bus, we would have had no choice but to pack up our bags and move home because there would have been no way this kid would have stayed here if he'd had to hack this alone today.

I noticed a few stray snowflakes this morning but didn't make much of it.  Yeah, it sucks that it's snowing in Barcelona where the average winter temparature is around 50 degrees, but like most of you, this has not been your average winter and I guess today just exemplifies that.  When Liam and I headed out of our apartment around 2, it was starting to come down more consistantly but not sticking to the ground...yet.

We got to school just before 3 and it was starting to stick, but we were also at a much higher elevation which is what I chalked it up to.  Little did I know what was in store for us just 45 minutes later.  I believe that Liam aced his entrance exam (whew!) and we went to grab Aidan from his classroom.  One of the administrators told me that school was already canceled for tomorrow and that they were suggesting parents come early for their kids.  I was only 15 minutes early to get Aidan but figured might as well get him and take the bus / commuter rail / 2 trains home rather than having to wait another 45 minutes to take the school bus.  So off we go to get Aidan and wow, it's slippery now!!  And I'm so not wearing appropriate shoewear but at least I have my winter coat on, as does Liam...and I did bring a hat and gloves for Aidan - way to be prepared (I say this because I brought no beverages or snacks so really I wasn't all that prepared)!!

Aidan's school is on a steep part of a hill.  So steep that we needed to walk on the grassy area (ok muddy area) to get down because they don't have salt or sand at the school to make the walkways less slippery.  So far, not a great sign.  In the hour since I've entered the school, we've now got a bit of accumulation going.  And no signs of stopping...hmmm...how odd for Barcelona...

Being a New Englander at heart, this snow isn't that big of a deal.  Yeah it's no fun in a tropical paradise but it's a little taste of home and isn't that great?  It would be if this little bit of snow didn't bring an entire city to it's knees!!  Since we wanted to get ahead of the storm, we figured we'd hop on the #30 bus which is pretty much across the street from where the school buses pick up the kids.  We stayed under the little hutch (similar to those in the US) for a good 20 minutes freezing our asses off, getting covered in snow and just plain old soaking wet and freezing.  If I'm freezing and can't really feel my toes, I hate to think of how the kids feel.  I'm debating walking downhill to the FGC (commuter rail) stop - but it's a steep downhill and given how the schoolgrounds were, I'm unsure of a stroller with a 2 year old and my 5 year old walking downhill like that.  So I stick it out for a bit.  Finally feeling like we're getting no where I tell Aidan (who's in tears and just wants to get home - if only he knew what was in store) "let's go get on the school bus, at least it will be warm". 

Liam is also now hysterical and they are cold and tired and I can't really blame them because I feel the same way.  He cries on the bus for a good 20 minutes before he settles down for a nap (which he had missed due to his "interview").  The bus sits waiting for another 1/2 hour, well past it's usual departure time of 4:15.  Around 4:30 we finally head out... to where?  No where, that's where.  We literally went around the rotary and it took us a full hour.  Yes, an hour.  And then the bus just stopped (on a very tiny overpass over the highway).  I wish I could have taken a picture of the traffic below on the highway but the windows were just caked in ice and fog and it wouldn't have come out well.  But the traffic below was a nightmare - not that there were so many cars travelling on the roads, but that the cars that were travelling... well they weren't travelling any more.  They were all spun out and people were walking on the highways, essentially abandoning their cars in the likes of nothing I've seen since the Blizzard of 78 (though sounds similar to last winter's huge storm at home where everyone's commutes were something like 4-5 hours). 

After an hour on the bus, the driver has now shut off his engine (in the hopes of saving gas???) and it's getting chilly.  I'll admit, I'm a little panicky... we're on a tiny overpass and on a huge bus and my neurotic thinking is going something like this "how long can this overpass hold this bus?  It's used to vehicles in motion not constant heavy weight".  Now I'm sure this makes absolutely no sense and I'm sure any psysicists out there will gladly tell me why this theory is wrong but it doesn't really matter - in my mind, this bridge is going to collapse out from under us during this crazy storm.  But I must stay calm for the children...right?  And of course I keep my neurosis to myself and I'm sure that unknowingly, they are thankful for that. 

Some of the older students are calling home and there is one other parent on the bus.  She tells me she is taking some of the older kids down to the FGC station.  I tell her I think I want to go too.  But of course I'm not fast enough with my two small children (that and someone is borrowing my cell to call their parents) and so she goes on ahead of me.  Armed with a plastic shield (thank god I bought that a few weeks ago!) for Liam's stroller, the three of us head downhill.  In hindsight, shouldn't have bothered with the school bus.  It was much closer than I realized (I'd always taken a city bus up the hill to the school) and because the snow was accumulating and apparently Barcelona doesn't believe in shovels, sand or salt, the traction was actually not too bad, though a little tough pushing the stroller in. 

However, what I saw on my way to the FGC station is only something I would have seen at home with an insane amount of snow on the ground, again like the blizzard of 78.  People wandering the streets.  Cars abandoned.  Others getting together to push cars up a hill - they would take turns - they would push one up, come back down, push another up, and so on.  Sucks that there are so many hills here in Barcelona huh?  Your little tiny eco friendly cars aren't getting you far now are they?  Don't you wish you had a big 4-wheel all terrain SUV?  Yup, bet sales for those go up tomorrow...

We arrived to the FGC a little after 5:30, now 2 hours into our journey home.  And we've made it now about 1/2 mile or so from the school.  Fabulous!  I figure it might be a little more crowded than usual but we're on our way to being inside for the duration of our travels home up til those last 5 blocks, but that we're good - we're at the light at the end of the tunnel.  Oh how wrong could I possibly be?

First I'd like to say I've never in my life seen so many people in a train station before.  Shoulder to shoulder practically.  It's a decent sized station (by Barcelona standards - we're talking 1/4 the size of Back Bay probably).  I wanted to take a picture of it, but my hands were completely frozen at this time (nor could I feel my feet at all which was a little worrisome) and I didn't want to let the kids out of my sight long enough to grab my camera.  I will honestly say that looking thru this station I could completely see how a stampede could happen.  There is no doubt in my mind that it could have. 

We head towards the stairs (with my stroller in one hand, Liam's hand in the other and Aidan holding on to my jacket) where people are not quite pushing their way down to the platform but not quite being gracious either.  Thankfully a woman helps me with the stroller so I can help Liam who's hysterical in the crowd - apparently slightly claustrophobic. But we only get maybe about halfway down the stairs.  There are people crowded on the platform that are sholder to shoulder and I'm amazed that no one has fallen off into the rails.  This is no rush hour crowd either - this is absolute evacuate the city, armagedon is here, kind of a crowd.  Now I'm definitely feeling a bit anxious.  I'm not much of a crowd person as it is - don't like clubs or places where I can't have some personal space.  I see where Liam gets it from apparently... I thought I took a picture of the crowd but I must not have saved it well on my phone.

Alas I knew we were in for a long haul.  How long, one could only guess.  But it didn't help that after standing on those stairs for 10 minutes with Liam crying and Aidan hanging on to me for dear life when all of a voice comes over the loudspeaker and all of a sudden the people start moving off the platform towards the stairs and up the stairs.  What the fuck is going on???  Why are these people leaving and what does this mean for us?  Fortunately the woman behind me spoke English (and became my new BFF for the afternoon) and explained to me that they were closing the station and we all had to evacuate.  Evacuate?  To where?  There's a storm out there!!

Thankfully we only had to evacuate into the station.  Not sure what to do, we just kind of hung out amongst the crowds.  I wasn't sure I could brave the elements with both kids for a 3 mile walk home - if it were just me I'd suck it up and deal with the elements but I can't do that to the kids.  So now I'm feeling pretty stuck.  And by now it's after 6PM.  We've been on the go since 3:30.  Susie, my new friend, offers to call a cab for me but I had to laugh.  It was very sweet but honestly if a cab showed up without a fare outside the FGC there would most definitely be a stampede for it so please don't waste your dime on that call. 

Another 1/2 hr or so goes by and Susie says she heard they are going to be running trains towards Placa de Catalunya but not towards Sant Cugat.  Thankfully we are heading in the direction of the former.  So we make our way to the stairs once again.  We stand on those stairs for oh let's say another 20 minutes.  I really have no idea how long.  All I know is eventually we snuck our way down to the platform and found a little spot that was by the edge (not nervewracking at all with 2 small kids) but it was a dry spot that the kids could sit on which at that point was what we needed.  Oh and Liam needed a diaper change - hey you do what you gotta do.  Poor kid was probably freezing...though to backtrack a little bit - Aidan needed to pee on our way to the FGC so I just told him to whip it out and pee in the snow on the sidewalk - hey I knew we weren't going to find a bathroom any time soon and I was right!!  Good thing he went! 

But I've strayed from the story... we found our little spot of heaven - dry concrete and about 2 feet of personal space.  Turns out there was a reason why we had that space...because we were on the wrong side of the platform.  But the good news is, most platforms have a train that comes on either side and so we just had to shift to the other side - no need for going up or down the scary stairs again.  However getting to that side was not as easy as it looked.  While waiting for our train we had a few other trains come thru but what was weird is that they were kind of eiree... they never stopped to pick up passengers.  They were completely empty.  And they travelled very very slowly thru the station.  Aidan was calling them ghost trains and I have to agree, I could totally see them being haunted.  Hell, our day was haunted! 

Finally, a train arrived!  But like I guessed before there was a total stampede and me with my stroller and other small child just couldn't push thru.  I was too afraid of losing Aidan in the crowds that I hung back a bit.  And actually I'm glad.  I don't know how the trains could even move with all those people on it.  They were bursting at the seams.  And you know what, if the people had just been a bit more patient, they would have realized the next train was really the one to get.  Another 10 minutes went by (the first train took 2 hrs to get to us so very very very glad this one came quickly) and another train arrived.  This one was pretty much empty as was most of our platform at this point.  Now it filled up quickly as we hit other stops but at least we got to sit and it was warm.  We said goodbye to our new friend Susie without whom I never would have made it thru this afternoon.  We've exchanged numbers and it would be cool if this storm brought me a new friend. 

We flew thru the metro stations as we had hoped (at this point Josh was home and said the metro wasn't crowded at all) and by 8:45 - a full 5 hours later, we were home!!  Never before have I been so happy to see my crappy IKEA furniture (oh I still have to post about my IKEA trip - another night!).  Aidan was surprisingly full of energy and hung out til 9:30 to watch some Food Network tv - he now wants to be a chef.  And Liam pretty much went right to bed, exhausted from the whole ordeal. 

But wait folks, it's not over... no, it can't be that "easy".  I'm writing this blog at midnight because I'm up doing laundry.  Why am I doing laundry do you ask?  Because at just after 10, Liam puked up everything he's eaten today.  What a perfect end to a perfect day right?  So Josh and the kids are sleeping, Josh offered to stay up but there is no school tomorrow so maybe I can convince everyone we need a nap tomorrow and I know he has to work... so I'm up doing laundry.  And so far the power has only gone out once.  But that means that while my dryer is taking care of Liam's quilt right now, the washer is silent.  So in another 1/2 hr when my dryer is done, I can finally put in the sheets he threw up all over.  However, the Spanish gods are looking down on me and at least they kept him from puking til we got home - can you imagine if he'd done it in a crowded train station?  Ahhhh I love Spain....

Julie

How the school lost Aidan...and the most terrifying hour of my life.

Some of you have seen my posting on Facebook about how Aidan was lost on Thursday so I thought perhaps I should update the blog with some info for both my readers as well as for me to remember this day in our experience that is Barcelona.  Thursday was a regular day like any other here.  You know, if you can call them regular days.  But what I mean is the day was pretty non-eventful.  Liam and I went for a stroll, I did some work, practiced some Spanish, caught up with my mom on the phone.  Just a typical day.  That is...til I went to pick up Aidan from the bus stop.

Now that I have this google maps thing down, let me show you where the bus stop is in proximity to our apartment.  It's not that far - maybe a 5-7 minute walk. 


View Larger Map

I always try to arrive between 5 and 10 minutes early for the bus.  You  never know if city traffic was easier on one day more than another.  Aidan's bus comes at 4:50 and I'd say 7 out of 10 times it is on time.  The latest I've ever seen it come is 5:00.

So it was a surprise to me on Thursday afternoon to look at my 5:10 and realize that the bus is actually 20 minutes late.  I emailed Josh to let him know and so that he would know I was concerned.  I wasn't in a panic but a little worried about it being so late.  The first thought that went thru my head was that I had emailed Debora who is in charge of the bus earlier in the day to state that Aidan would not be riding on the bus on Monday afternoon since I had to be at the school for a meeting.  Is it possible she might have mixed up the days?  So now I'm wondering, did he stay at school because they told him I'm coming to get him?  I don't have my wallet with me since I'm just running to the bus stop so if I have to get him I'm going to have to detour back home.

A few more minutes go by.  I make a call to my 14 year old babysitter who goes to the school but does not ride the bus (but used to ride it).  I asked her if almost 30 minutes late was the norm.  She said, no it is not.  Ok, so now I'm very concerned. 

I called the school - knowing that my contact for the bus has left for the day, so just hoping that I can find someone else to help me.  I just need to know, is he at the school or is he on the bus and if he's on the bus, why is he not to me yet?  The woman that answers was not very helpful - she said that there really wasn't anyone there and she didn't really know how she could help me.  Ummmm... you can go look at the elementary school (the school is Nursery thru grade 12 and the elementary has it's own building) and tell me if he's there.  There are 500 students in the entire school, the campus is not that big.  Our elementary school at home is bigger than the entire campus for this school so it's not hard to look or make a call.  She took my number and said if she heard something she'd call me.  I find that hard to believe.

So I wait another 10 minutes, send Josh another email.  Nothing.  Just nothing.  I've called Cristy to see what I should do because now, now the panic is setting in.  I CAN'T FIND MY CHILD!  And I can't find someone who can help me.  She said if he wasn't there shortly to call her and she will come stand with Liam at the stop in case Aidan shows and I can take a cab to go to the school to look.  I call the school again.  Same woman answers.  I tell her that I still have not seen my son and that I am VERY concerned.  He's now close 45 minutes late.  This woman had the absolute gall, the nerve to tell me that she was with a family (she was an admissions person) and she would contact the bus in a little bit?  I'm sorry did you just say that you would contact them in a little bit????  Are you fucking kidding me?????  No, I'm sorry... you need to call them NOW!!!!  And you need to call me back immediately with a result of where my child is.  And I still don't know - is it possible he's on campus because I have yet to get an answer to that one either.

By now, I'm not just in a panic but absolute terror.  I can't get a hold of anyone with intelligence at the school, I can't get a hold of Josh whom I've been emailing and calling (he was in a meeting and there was no one at the reception desk to go get him and his cell didn't work in the building).  I can't get a hold of the bus either.  Where is Aidan?  Where is my son??  Is he ok?  Is he scared that he can't find me?  Because I'm scared that I can't find him.  What's going thru his mind right now?  I just don't know what to do.  I want to remind you that I'm still at the bus stop at this time.  I've been standing here for an hour now - because I was 10 minutes early to the stop and we're now about 45-50 minutes late. 

Finally I get a call from Jane who is probably the person I know best at the school.  And it was her extention that I actually kept trying to reach but couldn't get thru to for some reason.  Jane has gotten a hold of the bus and Aidan is on it - thank god!!!  Ok, so he's safe.  Big sigh of relief.  Ok, so tell me what has happened and when will he be here because as far as I'm concerned we are not home safe until he is in my arms. 

What Jane told me just pissed me off.  It wasn't her that pissed me off but what she said.  Apparently the bus driver, who was a sub (as was the chaparone on the bus - the 3 buses for the school have chaparones because they cover grades Nursery thru 12th grade) didn't know about Aidan's stop and neither did Aidan (hello, he's 5 and has lived here for 2 years and oh the driver speaks Spanish and to my knowledge, Aidan does not).  And so the driver didn't know where to drop him.  Thank goodness Jane had gotten a hold of them because what were they going to do with him at the end of the road so to speak?  I know they wouldn't have just left him somewhere, but where would they have taken him?  I'm now at a point of livid that I haven't experience in quite some time. 

Josh just happens to call at this point and a torrent of words and tears come out.  I'm swearing and yelling in the middle of the sidewalk and absolutely freaking out.  And by the way, still no Aidan.  Though at least I know he's on the bus.  Finally after 15 more minutes of waiting, the bus pulls up at approximately 6PM, an hour and 10 minutes after it's regularly scheduled stop.  Aidan gets off the bus and I embrace him like I never have before and we both start to cry...not just cry but sob.  He was terrified.  He didn't know what was going on.  He told me that he noticed that they missed his stop (the bus never drove by me) and he told an older kid who spoke to the chaparone about it.  I'm so proud of him for doing that!!  So very proud that he realized something was wrong and took charge as best that a 5 year old can. 

The driver and the chaparone both got off the bus and in their broken English apologized.  Honestly it turns out it was not their personal fault - but that of the school and the bus company.  This was a sub driver following his instructions.  And those instructions he showed me, did not have Aidan's name, his bus stop or my contact information.  So they did not know that he needed to be dropped off at this stop.  So now, I'm just plain bullshit - they didn't know because someone hadn't updated the list???  We've been at this school for 2 months now!  He's been riding the bus for 2 months and they don't have updated info?  Are you serious?? 

My goal right now is to just get Aidan home.  He's safe, he's shaken up, but he's ok.  But do I let this rest?  Should I just say ok, I've got him back so let's just move on?  Yeah...no!

I wrote an email to the principal of the elementary school last night and copied Debora (the bus contact at the school), Jane (who had finally helped me), Jessica (the elementary school guidance counselor) and Josh.  I told them about how unacceptable this situation was and that I expected them to clear time in their schedule to meet with me this morning.  I did not ask them to clear time - I told them.  This is my child and he was lost and the school is responsible. I'd paste my email here but honestly it's a repetition of what's already been said above but more concise.

Thankfully (for them) I got a response within a 1/2 hr last night that they were deeply apologetic and that of course we would have a meeting first thing today.  So this morning I pack up Liam for our long hour trek to the school (which is really less than 3 miles from here but yes an hour to get there) to the school.  I've got my speech all set in my mind.  Did I use it?  No, of course not.  I'm met by the head of the school when I get there which I wasn't expecting at all.  But pleased nonetheless that they consider this situation to be that serious that they are involving him.  He was a very kind, soft spoken man who gave no excuses as to what happened, only stated how apologetic they were that this happened and that they were taking immediate measures to fix the situation so that it never ever happens again.  By the way, you should know this is the first time they have ever lost a child which is slightly reassuring except for the fact that they did actually lose mine.  Why does mine have to be the one child the school has lost?  He told me that the person that I spoke to on the phone would be reprimanded (to what degree I don't know and I wasn't sure of my boundries here about saying I think she should be fired) and that they were going to put in place some kind of emergency system.  Ok, that sounds good to me - at least a start.  And that after my meeting he was actually holding a larger meeting at 11 to discuss plans to put that emergency system in place and discuss the bus contract (the buses are chartered here - not big yellow town school buses of which I have seen not one in the city), etc etc.  He has promised to keep me in the loop and we will see how that goes.

My hope is that there is a happy ending to this story.  There certainly is as far as the fact that Aidan is safe and sound and hopefully no worse for wear.  However, I hope that the school does take this situation seriously and implements the plans that they told me they are discussing.  I want to spare any other parent from wondering, "where is my child" when they should be safe on the school bus.  I have put trust in to the school that from 7:50AM until 4:50PM Mon-Fri that he is in safe hands and I hope that I do not regret that.  I'm lucky, he was lost for an hour - I can't even imagine what other parents who have truly lost their children have gone thru and my heart goes out to them. 

The weekend is upon us - yea :) and so hopefully some more positive blog entries because really other than this incident (though a big one!) this week was a good one, I think my first full week where I didn't cry, I didn't look up flights to go home and I looked forward to waking up the next day with what adventure lays ahead of me. And while we have no specific plans as a family yet for the weekend, we're hoping to go up to Tibidabo where there is an amusement park - it opens this weekend for the season.  But we're supposed to get rain (again) so not sure if that will come to fruition this weekend or not.  Tonight I'm venturing out to IKEA with Cristy - that will get it's own blog entry believe me...

Thanks for reading...

Julie

La Festa de Sant Medir

Wednesday I awoke to rain…again. Shocker I know! But not going to let that get me down, no way!! Alefiya was coming again and so I needed a game plan for my 3 ½ hrs of freedom. First off I needed to run an errand for Aidan’s school and then secondly, I needed to book a hotel for our trip to Valencia later this month. I’ve been procrastinating this hotel booking and why I’m not sure. But more on that later. Anyways, before Alefiya showed up, I happened to look out the window of my office and what did I see??? Horses! Yes horses! About a dozen of them just lined up on my street.

Need I remind you that I live in the center of the city so other than the occasional police horse that I might see in a park, horses are not commonplace where I live. For a look at where I live in the city:


Ver Carrer de Ventalló, 12 en un mapa más grande

It turns out that today is the Festa de Sant Medir – the sweetest festival in Barcelona. It is considered the sweetest festival for the 100 tons of sweets they give out to the people of Barcelona.  Now when I say give out, I really mean throw at you with all their might.  I'd be surprised if there aren't several emergency room visits during this festival for eyes poked out with candy!  However, the daytime version of this festival is much more low key as far as the whipping of candy, it is more of a tossing for the young children in attendance.  The one benefit to the rainy weather is that the umbrella made a really good oversized catchers mitt for the candy being tossed!  We actually attended both the daytime and evening versions of this parade yesterday. 

Before I go into the experience of the festival I should probably mention why it is that the people of Barcelona, and more specifically of the neighborhood of Gracia, celebrate Sant Medir with this parade full of sweets.  From what I've learned on the web (because that's where we learn everything these days, in this case http://www.barcelonayellow.com/), the legend of Sant Medir is about a farmer who became a saint during the persecution of Christians.  The parade started with man in the 1800s who when he fell ill, vowed that if he were to become better he would make an annual pilgrimage to the hermitage of his patron saint, Sant Medir.  When he became better and wanted to make his annual pilgrimage known to others he would beat his drum and hand out candy.  Every year more friends and neighbors would join him and before you know it, he had started an annual parade. 

Very excited about seeing the horses Liam and I decided to run outside to see what was going on.  And lo and behold a parade was in the making.  There were some horse and buggies, some horses with riders (many of whom were smoking cigarettes while riding - interesting...) and lots of music - marching bands galore!  But the best part for Liam once it got started was that candy, or caramelo as they called them.  It took him a bit to figure out what in the world was being tossed at him but once he got it, he was all about picking that candy up off the street and putting it in the umbrella.  We didn't stay very long for the daytime parade since it really started raining heavily while we were there so off we went for home.

Left:  This is what a float looks like in the parades I've seen thus far.  Right:  Liam checking out some more horses at the end of our street.

Left:  The "other" end of those horses he was petting.  Right:  The horses leaving our street - we are now on the main road across from our street to give you some perspective.

Left:  Me and my buddy Liam   

Right:  He realizes that it's candy they are throwing!

"Oh yeah, I'm so all over this Mom..."

Some more of the parade coming down the street

This is in front of my merkat, currently closed when I took the picture, probably so they wouldn't get sprayed with the tons of candy that is now strewn across the sidewalk and street!  Candy everywhere!

However, when Aidan came home I asked him if he would be interested in attending the evening parade (he saw all the candy scattered all over the streets and had inquired as to why there was candy there) which meant staying up waaaayyyyy past his bedtime.  And what do you think the answer was?  Claro, of course!! 

After dinner we started to trek the down to Gran de Gracia where we heard the parade is at it's best and there were supposed to be fireworks at the end.  It's almost a mile to where we needed to go so given I had two small children with me (Josh was working late) we left oh 45 mins before we needed to be there.  Below is a map of where we were going:


View Larger Map

When we got there, 20 minutes early, I was surprised to see that the streets were pretty desserted and was concerned that perhaps I misunderstood the info on the website.  But no, about 10 minutes later all of a sudden there were people amassed everywhere!  But it wasn't so crowed (where we were) that it was overwhelming or any sense of fear that someone may snatch my children.  To my disappointment, though not to the kids, the parade in the evening was similar to the one in the daytime - I had been hoping for some fancier floats.  As you can see by the pictures the floats are basically trailers with a roof on them and people sit in them and chuck the candy out at you.  It was still a lot of fun and festive though.  And since we only made it for about an hour of the parade there is a chance there could have been some other, different, floats after we left.  And since it was still raining I'm not sure if they had the fireworks or not but it is Barcelona and so it would not surprise me - fire, children and festivities all seem to mix here from what I understand. 

Waiting for the parade to start...

Aidan has his bag ready.  And Liam knows what's coming... candy!!

Check out all the candy in here!!!!   On the right is the start of the parade coming down the street.

Left:  This is the man who gave Aidan the bag of candy.  Right: Another float - kids just run right up to it...though not mine, they were fearful of those who were just chucking the candy as hard as they could off the float!

Left:  During a lull in the parade Aidan ran out into the street to get even more candy!  Right:  "Yes, something I can actually eat here!"  I had to take away the hard candy because he was swallowing it whole (I think - it disappeared too quickly to be chewed or sucked on).

Drummers to start off the next section of the parade, though this is when we left so didn't see what came after this.

All in all though it was a fantastic time and the kids had so much fun scooping up as much candy as they could.  Aidan's bag was pretty full by the time we got home.  There was one very sweet man on a horse that saw that Aidan wouldn't cross the barriers (in most cities the barriers mean do not cross, in Barcelona they mean who the hell cares do what you want but do it at your own risk) to get candy and so handed someone a bag full of candy to give to him.  We tried to take a handful and give it back but he told us to keep the whole bag.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - the people here are just very kind to children.

I think we will all be very excited for the next festival which I believe is for the artichoke...yes the artichoke.  I'll keep you posted on that one!

Julie

Starting over (again)...

I wasn’t planning on updating today, but I felt the need to put some positives “down on paper” so to speak. Looking back at my blog I feel there has been too much negativity and not enough positive thinking. We’ve now been here for 2 months and I have been reflecting on some of my time here. You know last week was ok. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great. I think I’ve been a bit depressed which is part of adjusting here - no, I don't think it's a long term depressed thing.  I think it's just a this is harder than I thought it would be thing. And so after much soul searching I’ve come to the conclusion that I can either take advantage of my time here or let Spain beat me down. I really don’t want it to be the latter. Yes, things are hard here. Yes, I get frustrated. Yes, things are going to take time. But I need to take charge of my life and that’s what I’m going to do this week. I’m taking back my independence and going back to the motivated person I was when I first started this journey. The person who listed off accomplishments as minor as finding a dry cleaner as a success. That person is in here somewhere and I need to find her again.


I keep talking about surviving here but what I need to do is to thrive here. Survival is having a roof over our heads, check… it’s having food in the fridge, check… it’s having healthy children, check. I CAN survive here and that’s a realization that is going to help me in the long run. I’m not going to die of starvation or out on the streets. It’s a matter of learning how best to communicate and how to get my every day needs fulfilled. I will not just survive but I will thrive here. Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s bad and it doesn’t mean I can’t do it. I also need to realize that it’s been only 2 months, that’s barely 60 days. It’s not very long when you look at the big picture. I have set high expectations for myself and I need to lower that bar a bit for at least the time being.

The good news is I’m off to a good start this week. Today Aidan went back to school – I think he was as relieved as I was. We just butt heads too much. And we do well one on one but not as much when Liam is here. So Liam and I went back to more of a “normal” routine compared to having it be the three of us. And I accomplished things. Again, they aren’t big things. I found a trash can for my office. Yes a trash can was a big thing – I’ve been looking for one since we arrived, no joke. And unless I want to pay 100€ for a fancy one, I had to search one out. I also was on a mission for a can opener (you should have seen us trying to pry open the blueberry can for the blueberry muffins on Sun with a scissors and knife), some beach/sand toys for Liam, and possibly even a new ice cube tray (since the ones I spent forever looking for are cracked – though Kyle is sending us new ones but I need an intermediary one). I even found a safety lock for the kids’ window in their bedroom so we can hopefully open it with the warmer weather but not worry about them falling out of it (there are no screens here, not that they will keep them in either). And guess what? Got it ALL done!! Yeah, take that Spain!

So my goals this week. Take baby steps. Go back to when we first got here and realize that every day I’m here is an accomplishment and that all the small things I do are a part of that success. That not every day is going to be a good one but that it’s going to be what I make out of it – some days will be good and some will be bad but it’s up to me to make that decision. And that I need to do my best to keep my chin up and keep positive thoughts going. That I’ve got wonderful friends and family that support me. That this is an amazing journey that I get to take and that I really need to take advantage of this time here in Europe. This is a once in a lifetime chance and I will not let the difficulty of communication or general frustration get in my way. I will make this a home for my family for the next 2 years. And finally, I will be happy here!

Julie