Spain, One Week In
[This post is coming out of chronological order, but hey, at least it’s here.]
I’m writing this on Friday night, late. I’ve finished my first week here and I’m pleased to say that after the key incident, things are going very well.
I’m really enjoying the group of people that I work with. They all are talented, friendly, and hard working. An enjoyable combination to be sure.
Outside of work, I find myself walking...a lot. Barcelona is an extremely pedestrian friendly city, and a beautiful city as well. No wonder many locals spend their evenings strolling along the streets, enjoying the Mediterranean climate, and watching the people pass by. Quite a different world compared to home...not really sure which I prefer at this point, but things are certainly different.
Another major difference is the daily schedule here. It seems that things happen a bit later here than at home, meaning work starts at 10 AM, lunch is at 2 PM (and can last quite a while...depending), and work ends at 6 or 7 PM. Then people seem to go home, or out for drinks and a walk, and then dinner happens around 10 PM or so. Surprisingly, I’m adapting pretty well to the schedule...the late wake-up time is certainly helping.
For the sake of brevity, here are some other observations from my time here:
- This town is a lot like Las Vegas...seems to be a popular place for conventions and bachelor and bachelorette parties. Of course, the bachelors and bachelorettes tend to be British. Which leads me to my next observation...
- Drunk British guys like to sing...often poorly, but with great gusto. It’s actually impressive as it’d be hard to find a group of American men who would all know the same song well enough to sing it as a group. However...
- I’d be pissed off if there were people of any nationality running around Denver drunk, singing at the top of their lungs. I’m sure the locals HATE the drunk Brits.
- Bicing, Barcelona’s public bike program is amazing. More on that in a later post.
- Dog poop. Everywhere. I think it has a lot to do with all the dogs in this city. I have yet to step in poo, but the chances of me keeping this streak going are minimal. I will let everyone know when there is poo on my shoe, stay tuned/
- It’s usually easy to pick Americans out of the crowd because they are either wearing baggy shorts (guys), or trying waaaaaay too hard to look like a Spaniard (girls). Although I shouldn’t talk...I might as well a neon sign that say foreigner in this place.
- High school Spanish may actually be paying off! Some of the vocab is coming back, but not enough to sound any smarter than your average Spanish
4-year-old2 year-old. - I am washing some clothes right now...it’s talking over an hour to wash one load (an hour and forty minutes to be exact)...what the heck is up with that?
- Someone dropped a strawberry on my head from a building one night. I was unhappy when I got hit in the head, but when I smelled strawberry, I thought, “hey! a strawberry!” Funny how that works.
- Everything is more expensive here except for beer and wine.
- There are hardcore pornographic commercials on TV after midnight, but I swear kids are still up here at midnight. Not sure how that works for parents.
And finally, I miss my peeps back home! Hopefully I’ll be able to hook up with people through Skype when I move on Sunday, but in the meantime, much love to friends an family. Hope all is going well.
