We've had three full days here. Although we've spent most of our time trying figure out how to feed ourselves, how to get somewhere, or how to catch a nap I've managed to notice a couple of things I like (me gusta) and a few I don't (no me gusta). I'm sure all this will change shortly depending on what stage of culture shock I'll find myself in. Also, some of this may just be sheer ignorance, forgive me. The jet lag is brutal, but I figured I could muster enough creative energy to generate a list for you.
Me gusta
1. The weather - it's mild and sunny most of the day, getting just a bit hot midday.
2. The slower pace of life - you don't see folks rushing about and it's contagious.
3. Facebook and I have become friends, I sort of snubbed her all these years before.
4. Tons of family time. The last month before we came was filled with rushing to get things done and lots of goodbyes with friends and family. Now that we are finally here we have time together to laugh and play.
5. The beauty of the sound of the Spanish language. Perfecto.
6. Outdoor dining - many of the town centers in the villages of Sant Cugat have courtyards bordered by shops and a couple of cafes. Within those courtyards you nearly always find mini parks surrounded with low wooden fences so you can keep an eye on your kids while you enjoy the a leisurely meal or a cafe con leche. This is in fact how we've decided where to eat, which 'park' looked the best!
7. Menu de dia (menu of the day) - For one low price usually 8-10 euros ($12-$14) you can get an entire three course meal, wine and dessert. You choose from a selection usually found on the chalkboard at the entrance of the cafe.
8. Gazpacho! This is a Spanish cold raw vegetable soup usually containing tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, onion and seasonings. So unique and delicious. It will be one of the first things I learn how to make.
9. Walking to the market to pick up the produce we'll need every couple of days. So so different then the Costco mentality. So so fresh tasting. The tomatoes are amazing!
10. Beautiful history and architecture everywhere you turn. So this is where all those pictures they put on cards are taken.
No me gusta
1. Feeling like an outsider, not sure what's going on or what people are talking about.
2. The smell of sewage noticeable near open water sources, not as bad as Korea. Oh, Washington you are so so clean.
3. I haven't driven yet since we arrived. I miss my independence! My role has been navigator and child management coordinator during our adventures. I'm pretty intimidated about driving even a small mini van on the super narrow streets. I know I'll jump in eventually.
4. On that note, I don't like not having a real mini van where the kids are feet behind you instead of inches. Call me a terrible Mom and gas guzzling American if you like but I've grown accustomed to not hearing the kid's bickering at my ear. On second thought maybe it's just the fact that they are stuffed in the backseat shoulder to shoulder with scarce enough room to buckle their seat belts.
5. Spanish breakfast. I know everyone thinks all Spanish food is amazing. But their idea of breakfast just doesn't do it for me. Particularly unappealing are the 'sweaty meats and cheeses'. These Spaniards love their cured meats. We've found the trays of cheese and so called salami heavily marbleized with fat that have been sitting out at room temperature for hours (thus the sweat) less
than appetizing. This is the second hotel we've stayed at in Spain with a breakfast buffet, same sorta spread. This topic may be deserving of an entire post. I'm finding I'm more passionate about it then I suspected.
6. Learning the hard way when it comes to ordering food. Lets say I've eat some items lately that I wouldn't of had I known more Spanish. Enough said.
7. Doing dishes by hand, our apart hotel is a little less well appointed then we were led to believe. I know poor baby has to do her own dishes... and everyone else's.
8. Spanish red tape, disorganization, lack of communication. Just when it seems we've met their list of demands they throw a few more at us. Oh we also need a letter from your country of origin's consulate stating x, y and z, another scanned copy of your passport and five other items. Then we may consider sending you what is yours anyway. I'm particularly upset that the 'air freight' shipment containing the kid's school supplies and clothes won't be arriving any time soon.
9. Mosquitos. Okay so I already disliked them, but I wasn't expecting there to be so many bugs after me here too. As always I'm the only one who gets bitten and it's always my legs completely covered in bites. I don't exaggerate. Two evenings out at dusk and I've got 20 bites to prove it. Anyone got some preventive ideas?
10. Stingy hotel staff - my requests for a couple of extra pillows to bolster the flat pancakes they left on the bed were met with "I don't think that is possible." Apparently, I'm not the first to ask, since he said, "They are too flat?" Yup. Too bad.
Monday, August 29, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The first 24 hours
I think I'm putting too much pressure on myself to be eloquent and witty in these posts. Thus the reason they've been slow going to start. Today I'm forgoing the well written post for a post.
This morning we woke up in Philadelphia and packed our bags, again. This is no easy feat when you've got 15 pieces of luggage. We had a few hours before our flight so we stored our junks with the helpful Marriott Bell Hops. (Usually I like to travel light, so I was sort of embarrassed by the massive amount of luggage we had and felt the need to explain that we were moving and this wasn't just extravagence). Then we walked the six blocks to stand in line to see the famous Liberty Bell. With the way the kids were whining about being so hot and thirsty you'd think we we'd walked 6 miles. I had to chuckle when I realized our friend's Nat's advice to stick the the tourists zones was spot on. I'm no Nervous Nelly but I found myself tightly clutching our children. Seattle and San Fran's downtown have nothing on Philly. Let's just say I was glad our stay was brief.
After a quick viewing of the famous bell we hiked back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and hop on the shuttle to the airport. We paid the shuttle driver his overpriced fee, rented a couple of luggage carts and shuffled to the ticket counter. There upon we realized that our passionate middle's brand new favorite water bottle was left in the shuttle. Horrors! We dried his tears and took our newly lightened luggage load toward our gate. The flight was uneventful, thank you sweet Lord. The kids picked at their food (the flight attendant let us know that next time we can order kids meals when we book the tickets - good to know), watched Rio and fell fast asleep. They woke to breakfast being served and a quick and easy landing. We sailed out of the airport and made it to our rental 'van'. Not much of a van by US standards, but bigger than most cars around here. We worked the jigsaw puzzle until we were able to fit all the suitcases, backpacks and the jogging stroller in. The kids looked like a little row of sardines in the back seat with all available space being consumed by our gear. One more piece and someone would have been riding on top.
By far the most difficult part of the entire trip was navigating from the airport to our accommodations. Read me + unfamiliar gps navigating tool = not good. The "Tom Tom" as it's called is just not as user friendly as my iPhone. I'm a bit spoiled when it comes to hi tech tools and it shows. Since At&t wants to charge us a year's wages to use my phone aboard, we continued on with the guess and check navigating. Problem was there is no where to pull over on the freeways and the Tom Tom was not nearly as reliable as his Native brothers I assume he's named for. After a brief period with high tension including excited kids singing too loudly, wrong turns, blame shifting and an emergency bathroom search we found our way.
Our temporary housing is a cross between a hotel and and apartment, called a aparthotel. We'll be here until we get the go ahead to have our effects shipped here. Legal mumbo jumbo, stuff. It's a tidy little apartment with a loft bedroom above the living area that DH (dear husband) and I share, and a separate bedroom for the kiddos downstairs. We settled in, unpacked again and then went in search of food for fear that we'd miss the window of restaurants being open... It can be tricky feeding yourself around here, particularly on the weekends. Lucky for us there is an restaurant and an open fruit market within walking distance. (More on the closing of Spain in August in a later post). We had a lovely meal and picked up some fruit and vino for later tonight when the little ones are fast asleep. I write to you now from the patio / sun porch lounger while the kids inside happily take in Baby Looney Tunes in Spanish (hey, it's educational) and DH recovers with some much needed zzzs. Much Love from Barcelona.
This morning we woke up in Philadelphia and packed our bags, again. This is no easy feat when you've got 15 pieces of luggage. We had a few hours before our flight so we stored our junks with the helpful Marriott Bell Hops. (Usually I like to travel light, so I was sort of embarrassed by the massive amount of luggage we had and felt the need to explain that we were moving and this wasn't just extravagence). Then we walked the six blocks to stand in line to see the famous Liberty Bell. With the way the kids were whining about being so hot and thirsty you'd think we we'd walked 6 miles. I had to chuckle when I realized our friend's Nat's advice to stick the the tourists zones was spot on. I'm no Nervous Nelly but I found myself tightly clutching our children. Seattle and San Fran's downtown have nothing on Philly. Let's just say I was glad our stay was brief.
After a quick viewing of the famous bell we hiked back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and hop on the shuttle to the airport. We paid the shuttle driver his overpriced fee, rented a couple of luggage carts and shuffled to the ticket counter. There upon we realized that our passionate middle's brand new favorite water bottle was left in the shuttle. Horrors! We dried his tears and took our newly lightened luggage load toward our gate. The flight was uneventful, thank you sweet Lord. The kids picked at their food (the flight attendant let us know that next time we can order kids meals when we book the tickets - good to know), watched Rio and fell fast asleep. They woke to breakfast being served and a quick and easy landing. We sailed out of the airport and made it to our rental 'van'. Not much of a van by US standards, but bigger than most cars around here. We worked the jigsaw puzzle until we were able to fit all the suitcases, backpacks and the jogging stroller in. The kids looked like a little row of sardines in the back seat with all available space being consumed by our gear. One more piece and someone would have been riding on top.
By far the most difficult part of the entire trip was navigating from the airport to our accommodations. Read me + unfamiliar gps navigating tool = not good. The "Tom Tom" as it's called is just not as user friendly as my iPhone. I'm a bit spoiled when it comes to hi tech tools and it shows. Since At&t wants to charge us a year's wages to use my phone aboard, we continued on with the guess and check navigating. Problem was there is no where to pull over on the freeways and the Tom Tom was not nearly as reliable as his Native brothers I assume he's named for. After a brief period with high tension including excited kids singing too loudly, wrong turns, blame shifting and an emergency bathroom search we found our way.
Our temporary housing is a cross between a hotel and and apartment, called a aparthotel. We'll be here until we get the go ahead to have our effects shipped here. Legal mumbo jumbo, stuff. It's a tidy little apartment with a loft bedroom above the living area that DH (dear husband) and I share, and a separate bedroom for the kiddos downstairs. We settled in, unpacked again and then went in search of food for fear that we'd miss the window of restaurants being open... It can be tricky feeding yourself around here, particularly on the weekends. Lucky for us there is an restaurant and an open fruit market within walking distance. (More on the closing of Spain in August in a later post). We had a lovely meal and picked up some fruit and vino for later tonight when the little ones are fast asleep. I write to you now from the patio / sun porch lounger while the kids inside happily take in Baby Looney Tunes in Spanish (hey, it's educational) and DH recovers with some much needed zzzs. Much Love from Barcelona.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
What's With the Title?
Coming up with a unique title for this blog was a bit tricky. Apparently, there are other American girls living in Barcelona who think similarly to me. They stole my clever blog titles! Wait, they had them first. So what's with the title of this blog anyway. I don't even live in Spain yet and I'm already naming things in Spanish? I know, I know. To tell the truth I'm not in love with it either. I promised several friends I'd be starting this thing though. Rather than procrastinating until I created the perfect title I decided to go with Espana Ventana, "Spain Window". I've always had a love of windows, especially old ones with chippy paint. I love the idea of gaining a new vista, or new perspective. God has certainly changed my perspective dramatically in just a year. So as I prepare to embark on this adventure in trust the concept of a view from the outside in seemed to fit! Plus, doesn't Espana Ventana just flow? Oh, the Spanish speak so beautifully. I can't wait to get my Spanish up to speed. But before any of that can happen I've got to hop down to the garage and finish setting up for a major garage sale. This week is all about purging that which we do not love. But I digress. Anyway, very soon I'll be looking in from the outsider view of American Expat in beautiful Barcelona. Can't wait to share more of it with you all.
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