Barcelona, Spain
Sunday, February 20, 2011
treasure hunting
Sunday, December 26, 2010
trial separation
Edinburgh is fantastic. I can’t articulate how nice it is to be back in an English speaking country, and to be catching up with one of my girl friends from Cadiz. Last Wednesday might have been the busiest day of my life. Being either masochistic or slightly neurotic, or a mix of both, I set my alarm two hours early in order to run through my checklist before leaving for work. The first bullet point on that checklist is my passport. Although I am quite organized, I have this habit of hiding things from myself out of fear of losing them. I write the whereabouts of these things on a note somewhere and then misplace the note, subsequently losing everything. Money, checkbooks, keys and my passport fall into this category, and I hide them in forms similar to the matryoshka doll. Envelope inside of box inside of bag inside of pocket inside of suitcase is where I found my passport. Needless to say my system sucks because my suitcase was the last place I thought to look for my passport. And believe you me, it was stressful. I even checked under my mattress, as if I were hiding a snickers at fat camp. “Nik, you weren’t robbed, you were looking for your passport,” the note I should have left myself for when I return home.
Sporting 5 different layers of clothing and feeling more like a hobo than a traveler, I made my way to work, excited for Christmas caroling with my students. The only problem was that I didn’t coordinate with the teachers ahead of time about which class I would be walking through Barbera with. Thinking it was a safe assumption to meet with ciclo medio (the middle aged students in primary school), I waited at the train station for them to arrive at their scheduled time. Seven trains and forty-five minutes later, I deemed it safe to assume their plans had changed. Unfortunately none of the other teachers gave me a heads up about this change in plan, which really disappointed me because I missed all of the Christmas fun and instead came to the school seeing everyone returning early. Following this let down, I got to help parents and teacher aides put together trays of chocolate and sweets for the students and visiting parents, which was hilarious. The Spanish are really into a drink that they call “chocolate,” which is a sludgy, thick mixture that they also dip sweet breads into. The dessert itself is overrated, but imagine putting together trays of chocolate and sweet bread for 1000 people; chaos. At one point we misplaced a large container of chocolate and thought that the sixth graders wouldn’t be getting any.
Following caroling and chocolate drinking, I went around to different classes, wishing all of the students a Merry Christmas. Everyone was so cute with their matching “Escola Elisa Badia” (“Elisa Badia Primary School”) hats and telling me how they were going to spend their holiday vacation. “I’m going to egg houses,” confided Jorge, one of my rambunctious sixth graders, who ironically spent the previous afternoon with the Director (Principal) of the school for bad behavior.
Then the teachers had their Christmas party. We all ate lunch in the theatre, celebrating the holidays with champagne/cava, beer, wine, and sweets. It was a really fantastic lunch and a lot of fun. I received a naked fireman calendar in the invisible Santa gift exchange, which is the coolest gift I’ve ever received in a gift exchange haha. Marta and I put on a small show for the teachers, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” but in Catalan so I could show off what I’ve learned here in Catalonia. As a prize, Marta gave me a caganer, the figure in the Catalonian nativity scene, of a shephard defecating. Best prize ever.
I left the party early, but in my defense I attended the party for four hours. I ran home to Barcelona to catch a bus to the airport so I could celebrate the holidays in Scotland and I'm not sure that I'll be ready to go back to Barcelona on Wednesday. It's really beautiful here in Edinburgh, minus the persnickety thirteen year olds toting Louis Vuitton handbags.
ITINERARY/RECEIPT - All times are local.
GOING OUT
From Barcelona (BCN) to Edinburgh (EDI)
Wed, 22Dec10 Flight FR6267 Depart BCN at 21:35 and arrive EDI at 23:10
COMING BACK
From Edinburgh (EDI) to Barcelona (BCN) Wed, 29Dec10 Flight FR6266 Depart EDI at 17:25 and arrive BCN at 21:00
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
sticky situation
Monday, December 20, 2010
christmas time is here
This season marks one of the most special times of the year. It’s intimate, it’s warm, and it’s familiar. It’s also very difficult to maintain that intimacy, warmth and familiarity when I’m 5,412 miles away from home. I miss my American traditions; ice skating, listening to the Nutcracker, baking sugar cookies, volunteering, decorating the Christmas tree, trips to the mountain, fires, Christmas parties, ugly Christmas sweaters, carolers, Candy Cane Lane, Christmas lights, gingerbread houses, carousel rides, Downtown Seattle, the Christmas ship, FAMILY, etc…
I am becoming more and more sentimental with time and as I look back and reflect on the past twenty-one Christmases I have experienced, I am overfilled with joy. I may not be with my family this year for Christmas, but knowing that I have family to go back to, no matter what, gives me so much peace. Jimi Hendrix once said, “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” In a world where, despite our own advances we still see brokenness and experience hunger, it is my hope that you are blessed with peace; peace of mind to navigate this rough and terrifying economy, peace in your relationships, peace to overcome uncertainty, in the decisions you make, etc… For this is what I am seeking. Well, that and Sergio Ramos haha.
To my family and friends back home, I love you always, have a Merry Christmas!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Truco o Trato
Saturday, October 30, 2010
what do an old lady, chestnuts, and Eminem have in common?
Some pictures from Saturday night, celebrating the castañada:
My friend Marine, roasting chestnuts for l'Esplai,
a foundation in Spain that's similar to the Boy Scouts.
Monday, October 18, 2010
the purge
"When you want something, all the universe conspires
in helping you to achieve it” – Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist)
(photos taken from the Mercé celebration in Plaza España, Barcelona)
Searching for a piso proved to be quite an extensive process – emailing and calling people to arrange appointments, traveling by train from Barbera del Valles to Barcelona to see apartments, and walking away disappointedly when an apartment was not at all what it seemed in it’s owner’s photos. I emailed over 50 owners and tenants and I don’t recall how many of those I actually visited, maybe 10. The last apartment I visited, I was reluctant to see, however it’s now where I live.
I absolutely love my students and I’m still trying to memorize all 400 of their names. All of the kids are very affectionate –I get hugs and kisses and pictures and crafts from them, which is so rewarding (although hugs and kisses and pictures and crafts don’t pay the rent). The faculty of teachers and secretaries and the director has been so friendly, and I’ve created a good rapport with everybody. With that said, it is common sense that when somebody sacrifices time in their career and in their home country to travel to another part of the world to teach, that they need a little bit of help. I have been really blessed to meet great people who stepped up when my connection to the school didn’t. I am struggling at the moment to build and maintain a positive rapport with a person at the school who I think lacks essential skills such as demonstrating empathy, mindfulness, and at times, common sense. I can't help but have hard feelings about my rough arrival here and the lack of support from my tutor. At the same time I am not in their shoes and do not understand the circumstances that hindered the growth and formation of this important knowledge, so I am left with the task of evolving this chip on my shoulder into compassion and self control (with my words).
In general, it’s awesome. The city reeks of culture, history, and traditions, and at the same time coexists with a million different emerging cultures that have migrated to this Spanish Hub. The city is reasonably large and the weather now is typical late summer/early autumn weather of Seattle, minus all of the rain.
I am plugged in with a group of friends who live in Barbera del Valles – several of them play on the local American Football Team,, “The Rookies.” How ironic. We meet weekly after football practice at a local spot, CataBaires, a bar created by a couple, the man Catalan and his wife from Buenos Aires. These weekly meets usually end with me running to the renfe train station, in hopes that I don’t miss the last train, leaving at midnight. Barbera del Valles is nice but I don’t think I could live there. The only analogy I have for this is eating and defecating in the same room. Okay, so that’s a slight exaggeration on my part, but just know that there would be a serious inbreeding problem if this very small city were isolated from the rest of Catalonia.
1. El Corte Ingles – there is a super store in Spain that is infamous for selling anything and everything, and is subsequently one of the most successful companies here. In many cities, it is a three to four story building, housing anything from groceries and clothes to atvs, sporting goods, and vacation packages. I think you can purchase caskets here too. And sometimes there is a cinema attached. From the moment you enter the building, the foul aroma of monopoly almost smothers you… and I predict that as a result of the poor economy, the good old Corte will be soon printing currency and operating as a bank.
No. In all seriousness, El Corte Ingles takes away from the many small businesses and “mom and pop” stores that are trying to survive in Barcelona… the places that actually invest in their neighborhoods and get to know their clients at an intimate level. And we all know that El Corte Ingles would receive an economic bail out years before the rest.
2. Train stalkers – I now have an alias thanks to the few creepy men that make my commutes and travels sometimes uncomfortable. My name is Nicolette and I’m from Nice, France… and I’m engaged. I no longer make eye contact and smile, because apparently this small but cordial gesture sometimes gets translated into “follow me,” or “ask for my number and call me until I answer the phone.” My last stalker, Larbe, is a Moroccan man who invited me to live with him in Terrassa. He described this proposition as the result of being a kind man who wanted to show a beautiful rubia (blonde) some place special. Hmmmm, guess what’s not going to happen?
3. Quillos
4. Air drying my clothes. I realize that not using a clothes dryer has reduced my carbon footprint significantly, but I would really like to not have to wear cardboard underwear and sandpaper leggings. I guess this means that I had better invest in some fabric softener. Besides all that, it’s inconvenient and now I actually use an iron – I’m not domestic enough for this.
5. The shower water temperature is significantly cooler, which makes showering less enjoyable. I would consider dating a quillo if he had a really hot shower. hahaha
6. MY BIGGEST AND MOST SIGNIFICANT COMPLAINT: I have an ICD (implanted cardioverter defibrillator) in my heart. With this device I have to be vigilant about my proximity to magnetic devices… for instance, I get hand searched at airports because the magnetic arches are too powerful for me to enter… and I cannot stand for prolonged periods of time in or near smaller arches that are in stores and libraries. Well, some of the grocery stores in Spain are set up so that one stands in these arches at the exact point where the cashier is. Unfortunately, I cannot do this, so I have to announce this to the cashier while standing three feet away from him/her, at the beginning of the conveyor belt / checkout stand, and ask them to pass me the groceries in the opposite direction. Then I quickly hand him/her my credit card and ask that they swipe it and sign with an ‘X’ as I cannot stand in the arches. It’s really quite silly and I always feel embarrassed, but I’m not going to compromise the safety of my ICD for my pride.