Barcelona!

I'm pretty sure I'm never leaving here. I hope you'll come visit me.

I arrived in Barcelona yesterday and I LOVE it. The city is beautiful and exciting. We've been getting oriented and ready to start classes. The jet lag in addition to the huge amount of information that's being thrown at us all at once is making the past two days a huge blur, but here are a few highlights.

When CIEE, my abroad program, first met up, everyone was exhausted after traveling but also extremely excited to finally be here and meet everyone. After a 'welcome' info session, we broke off into smaller groups led by our "Guardian Angels", Spanish students at the local universities who help us figure out the city and the school. My GA, Marta, walked us around the surrounding area, El Centro (downtown). We were able to see where the CIEE offices are, walk through the shopping district on the street Les Cortes Catalanes, and begin to get to know the city. However, we were all too excited, jet lagged, and a little overwhelmed to really soak it all in.

That night, a group of about 15 us met up to go out to a club on near the beach. At the club, we ran into more CIEE people. All said and done, there were about 40 CIEE students all huddled together dancing and getting to know each other. We kept bringing up that we can't really believe we're here. It's still not entirely real.

Today we had our Spanish language placement test to determine what language class we'll be taking. Remember the subjunctive? Yeah. Me neither. It ultimately turned out fine, but it made me realize my goals for my Spanish while I'm here. Adelante, as they say. After the test, we broke up into our GA groups and went to lunch. It was so great to get to sit down and talk to my group. There are so many nice, fun people here. I'm certain we're all going to have a great semester and come out with some good friends.

The real highlight of the time in Barcelona has been meeting my homestay family. My homestay mom, Nene (a nickname for Virginia) and my homestay dad, Juan Antonio, live in a beautiful old building in the Eixample neighborhood. The inside of the apartment is exactly how I pictured a Barcelona home: beautiful bright colors on the walls, orange brick arched ceilings, and full of interesting art. I unpacked while Nene made dinner for Juan and me. Over dinner we got to know each other. Nene mentioned that she's a huge Rolling Stones fan and that she saw them play in the Olympic Stadium a few years ago. Incredible. After dinner, I gave my family the host gift I brought them, a big box of Jelly Bellys. They loved trying each flavor. However when we came across the toasted marshmallow bean, I struggled to think of the Spanish word for marshmallow. Instead I tried to describe a marshmallow, which also didn't go so well. All I could say was "un dulce blanca que si pone en un fuego, es deliciosa" ("a white sweet that if you put in a fire, it's delicious"). Not helpful, Libby. After dinner we sat and chatted on the couch while Manolo, their ENORMOUS cat cuddled with me. I'm loving my living situation so far!

I'm going to bed (finally at a normal hour!) because I'm getting up early tomorrow to run around my neighborhood and explore. Also, tomorrow is Three Kings Day which is apparently a really big deal here. From what Juan Antonio told me, there's a big parade and lots of festivities and the day afterward there are huge sales. I may have a new favorite holiday.

As I said, I'm probably never leaving Barcelona.

Hasta!