Last Sunday we had a great playdate with Aidan's friend Ashay and his little sister (Liam’s age) by l’illa mall. Of course the mall was closed but the playground was one of the better ones I’ve seen since I’ve been here. The parents were incredibly nice and spoke wonderful English which was helpful. The mom also has been here for 9 years and knows all the kids and parents in the class (she’s the class mom) at Aidan’s school so I think she will be a good friend and resource as time goes on. We got to talking and the subject of travel over the holidays came up since Semana Santa (Easter Week) was coming up quickly and we really wanted to go somewhere in addition to Valencia which we had already planned.
She made a wonderful suggestion of DisneyLand Paris and as soon as we got home I jumped on the computer to look more into costs, reservations, flights, etc. In the end, our Spanish ISP kept messing things up for me and it kept translating the website for me so Josh took over while I joined Aidan in an exciting game of SuperMario Wii (we're so close to beating it - we're on Bowser's final castle!!!).
So anyways, long story short, we're going to Paris - next week!! We did have a little bump in the road where when I went to look thru our reservation I realized that Josh booked our flight for one week and our hotel for a different week. So that took some time to fix (and money of course) but we're good to go for Easter weekend in Paris!
This will be our first time travelling outside of Spain since our arrival here and it got me to thinking about language. I've been spending a lot of my free time studying my Spanish here so that I can converse with others, express my needs, and in general communicate. It's important to me that I know the language of the country I live in. As Americans I find that the general public and I know this is a generalization, but they always say if you are going to live in the US then you should know the language. I don't necessarily disagree with this. You can't expect someone who lives in Spain to know English. It's a bonus if they do but I can't expect nor do I expect for them to do so. So I do my best to learn their language and hope that by the time I leave here I will be at the very least conversational if not fluent (I can only wish). I know it will take time.
So back to my thinking... I'm now going to Paris where guess what? I don't speak French! So it made me think about the fact up until we moved here to Spain, I had that entitled attitude that I have to say most other Americans have (sorry but it's true) where I figured that there would be enough people who speak English for me to get by - on vacation. Let's just put it out there that I never believed that for living here - I knew I'd need to learn for long term abroad. But for a vacation I always figured if I went somewhere, why would I stress about the language because you know, "everyone" speaks English, right?? So not true and a very narrow minded way of thinking of things.
I'm very interested in seeing how travelling to Paris changes my perspective on language once again. Will I be more introverted because I don't want to admit that I can't speak French when going into restaurants or stores? Or will I be "that" tourist that just starts speaking English? I would like to think that I would be more open minded and considerate than that entitled person, only how do I do that when I don't speak one word of French? I know in Disney the employees will be multi-lingual but what about when we leave the park which we hope to do? Definitely something to consider and I'm sure it will be a part of my posting next week - stay tuned!
Julie
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Fashion in Barcelona
With each day that passes, I can absolutely say to you that my confidence is growing. The things that intimidated me a week ago, a month ago, 3 months ago no longer do so. I'm sure there will be things that still scare me for a while - the phone for instance. But for the most part, progress is being made and that's a good sign. I'm not so fearful to put myself out there and to make a mistake. My Spanish is slowly (and I mean slowly) getting better and by default, my ability to communicate thereby reducing my fears of the unknown. One of my fears that I still need to conquer - shopping. Believe it or not, shopping for clothes makes me anxious just reliving my experience with the 2 hours to shop for one pair of shoes!
The spring is slowly arriving here. Though it's kind of felt like spring in New England all along here. Other than a few random days, it's been in the 40s, 50s and even touching 60s here since we arrived. Lots of rain which is on par for New England as well. Though in the last few weeks I'm seeing posting from friends back home about beautiful 70 degree weather which we have yet to have here and I'm jealous!! I thought part of the reason we were moving was for the beautiful weather. I'm waiting Barcelona - bring it on!!! However, with spring comes spring fever and with that, the desire to shop! And for those that know me, I'm a shopper at heart. Josh keeps telling me how much we are saving with no Target, Toys R Us or Baby Gap here - the plus to that being that we can do trips like the upcoming ones to Valencia and Paris. The downside - I love to shop!!!
I have to say one of the things I love and admire about Barcelona is that it is a complete melting pot of fashion. While I have seen many people that I have referenced as having a style like the 80s threw up, I admire their confidence in themselves to just pick the first three things out of their closets and just throw them on, matching or not. For me, a Type A personality, that's just not realistic no matter how hard I try. Things MUST match!! No mixing black and brown here much less contrasting colors and patterns! Though I did dare wear black and brown one night and felt like quite the rebel. Sad, I know... I promise to improve my rebelliousness and maybe mix a few patterns in there or something sometime soon! It's just the preppy in me.
So it's really hard to describe the fashion here because it's so ecclectic but to me it reflects the easy going people here, they don't look like they tried to hard to get ready and yet they walk with such confidence you would think that they were sporting the next new styles to walk the runway. Are they just being creative, stretching their budget, being fashionable or just simply have bad taste? I have no idea, but I see this as an opportunity to break free of my preppy self and explore the world of trendiness. I have definitely felt more confident about the fact that I can't screw up so to speak - fashion in the US is definitely very different than it is here and while there are days I definitely feel like I stick out like a sore thumb, I think with effort I may be able to fit in yet. If I can't speak the language, then I will at least dress like I belong here. Ok, attempt to dress like I belong here.
On Tuesday Alefiya came to watch Liam and off I went down to Passeig de Gracia which is a big shopping district. I had 2 stores in mind for my shopping. Zara which can be compared to Gap and Massimo Dutti which would be more like Banana Republic. Zara was immediately across from the metro station so that is where I started. Now I'd like you to keep in mind that I have really not even been inside a clothing shop since arriving almost 3 months ago (I know, seriously how am I functioning at this point???) - just some window shopping. 99% of the time I have Liam with me and I know that initially I need the ability to focus on sizes, styles, etc.
So off I go into Zara and it is a huge store with I will say a limited selection. Though I like seeing the same thing in 10 different colors, I was rather surprised to see that here - maybe not the variety of colors but of patterns. Same shirt, different pattern. I saw very few smalls - all were medium and large and Xlarge - and they had labels that showed it was this size in the US too (yeah the mediums were def more like a US small). I sorted thru the best I could and took about 10 items into the dressing room. First off, being an experienced shopper I should have dressed more appropriately. Skinny jeans are the in thing here - I should have worn mine instead of my green khaki pants with my navy All Star sneaks. Because honestly none of the shirts I tried on looked good with those pants which makes sense since I would never have worn them with those pants. I considered trying on jeans but the one pair of skinny khakis I tried on made me never want to try on pants here again - too tight, too long and just too tight. Did I say too tight twice? Yeah, too tight. And I have lost about 7 lbs since arriving in Jan so I think it might just be the style. Who knows... it's Spain! However, not all my efforts were in vain - while the too skinny pants wouldn't fit me, I did find a great spring jacket which I also needed and I bought 3 tops. Am I in love with the tops? Not necessarily but I also couldn't leave without buying more than the jacket. That's just me. I think that's a trait that Josh doesn't particular care for - that I just had to buy more than one item and couldn't be satisfied with that one nice jacket. I had to buy 3 so-so shirts to make myself feel like less of a shopping failure.
But I'm not a failure. You see, I went into the store. I looked around. I picked up items to try on. I managed to get a dressing room AND I bought stuff. That felt good. It was like coming back to the land of the living again! However, I also realized that wanting to look cool and having the ability to look cool are 2 different things. Apparently I must shop with a cool partner who can help me out in that department. I can compromise with that.
I spent a good 2 hours in Zara just poking around. Never made it to the other store but that's ok. There is plenty of time. And my hope is that I can dress up some of my existing wardrobe with some accessories - more jewelry and scarves - everyone here loves scarves (I bought my first one on Sat). Still on my agenda for the spring - short boots. Apparently no one wears flip flops here which means I'm screwed because I think I brought at least a dozen pairs and I live for flip flop season. I guess they wear short boots with sundresses. I may need to buck that trend... not sure I'm ready to give up my cute LL Bean flip flops quite yet! Maybe the American way isn't so bad after all...though when I come home in 2 years, you may be surprised just how trendy I've become!!!
Julie
The spring is slowly arriving here. Though it's kind of felt like spring in New England all along here. Other than a few random days, it's been in the 40s, 50s and even touching 60s here since we arrived. Lots of rain which is on par for New England as well. Though in the last few weeks I'm seeing posting from friends back home about beautiful 70 degree weather which we have yet to have here and I'm jealous!! I thought part of the reason we were moving was for the beautiful weather. I'm waiting Barcelona - bring it on!!! However, with spring comes spring fever and with that, the desire to shop! And for those that know me, I'm a shopper at heart. Josh keeps telling me how much we are saving with no Target, Toys R Us or Baby Gap here - the plus to that being that we can do trips like the upcoming ones to Valencia and Paris. The downside - I love to shop!!!
I have to say one of the things I love and admire about Barcelona is that it is a complete melting pot of fashion. While I have seen many people that I have referenced as having a style like the 80s threw up, I admire their confidence in themselves to just pick the first three things out of their closets and just throw them on, matching or not. For me, a Type A personality, that's just not realistic no matter how hard I try. Things MUST match!! No mixing black and brown here much less contrasting colors and patterns! Though I did dare wear black and brown one night and felt like quite the rebel. Sad, I know... I promise to improve my rebelliousness and maybe mix a few patterns in there or something sometime soon! It's just the preppy in me.
So it's really hard to describe the fashion here because it's so ecclectic but to me it reflects the easy going people here, they don't look like they tried to hard to get ready and yet they walk with such confidence you would think that they were sporting the next new styles to walk the runway. Are they just being creative, stretching their budget, being fashionable or just simply have bad taste? I have no idea, but I see this as an opportunity to break free of my preppy self and explore the world of trendiness. I have definitely felt more confident about the fact that I can't screw up so to speak - fashion in the US is definitely very different than it is here and while there are days I definitely feel like I stick out like a sore thumb, I think with effort I may be able to fit in yet. If I can't speak the language, then I will at least dress like I belong here. Ok, attempt to dress like I belong here.
On Tuesday Alefiya came to watch Liam and off I went down to Passeig de Gracia which is a big shopping district. I had 2 stores in mind for my shopping. Zara which can be compared to Gap and Massimo Dutti which would be more like Banana Republic. Zara was immediately across from the metro station so that is where I started. Now I'd like you to keep in mind that I have really not even been inside a clothing shop since arriving almost 3 months ago (I know, seriously how am I functioning at this point???) - just some window shopping. 99% of the time I have Liam with me and I know that initially I need the ability to focus on sizes, styles, etc.
So off I go into Zara and it is a huge store with I will say a limited selection. Though I like seeing the same thing in 10 different colors, I was rather surprised to see that here - maybe not the variety of colors but of patterns. Same shirt, different pattern. I saw very few smalls - all were medium and large and Xlarge - and they had labels that showed it was this size in the US too (yeah the mediums were def more like a US small). I sorted thru the best I could and took about 10 items into the dressing room. First off, being an experienced shopper I should have dressed more appropriately. Skinny jeans are the in thing here - I should have worn mine instead of my green khaki pants with my navy All Star sneaks. Because honestly none of the shirts I tried on looked good with those pants which makes sense since I would never have worn them with those pants. I considered trying on jeans but the one pair of skinny khakis I tried on made me never want to try on pants here again - too tight, too long and just too tight. Did I say too tight twice? Yeah, too tight. And I have lost about 7 lbs since arriving in Jan so I think it might just be the style. Who knows... it's Spain! However, not all my efforts were in vain - while the too skinny pants wouldn't fit me, I did find a great spring jacket which I also needed and I bought 3 tops. Am I in love with the tops? Not necessarily but I also couldn't leave without buying more than the jacket. That's just me. I think that's a trait that Josh doesn't particular care for - that I just had to buy more than one item and couldn't be satisfied with that one nice jacket. I had to buy 3 so-so shirts to make myself feel like less of a shopping failure.
But I'm not a failure. You see, I went into the store. I looked around. I picked up items to try on. I managed to get a dressing room AND I bought stuff. That felt good. It was like coming back to the land of the living again! However, I also realized that wanting to look cool and having the ability to look cool are 2 different things. Apparently I must shop with a cool partner who can help me out in that department. I can compromise with that.
I spent a good 2 hours in Zara just poking around. Never made it to the other store but that's ok. There is plenty of time. And my hope is that I can dress up some of my existing wardrobe with some accessories - more jewelry and scarves - everyone here loves scarves (I bought my first one on Sat). Still on my agenda for the spring - short boots. Apparently no one wears flip flops here which means I'm screwed because I think I brought at least a dozen pairs and I live for flip flop season. I guess they wear short boots with sundresses. I may need to buck that trend... not sure I'm ready to give up my cute LL Bean flip flops quite yet! Maybe the American way isn't so bad after all...though when I come home in 2 years, you may be surprised just how trendy I've become!!!
Julie
Sunday, March 21, 2010
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!!
Julie
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!
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
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
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
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
Monday, March 8, 2010
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
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
Friday, March 5, 2010
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
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
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