Normal life

August 18 – 21, 2009

The rest of this week has been pretty uneventful. The glamor of vacation has melted away and the reality of a life in Barcelona has become more evident. What I mean by that is, this week I had plans, a schedule, places to be, etc. Nothing exciting and wild but, a glimpse into Catalonian life nonetheless. Pretty much my schedule has been: wake up at 8 am, breakfast on the terrace, bike to the beach, swip laps, relax for a few hours, come back home for lunch and get ready for school, then I have school until 7 pm and after that I’m pretty much exhausted from the heat!

I did get together with Alejandro and Ana twice this week. They’ve been so gracious. Last night we went to the movies, luckily the movie was in English with Spanish subtitles! I also re-connected with an old friend, Brian Guidry. Brian has been living here for the past six years. It was so great and interesting to see him..I don’t know that I could sign up for a permanent life here, it just seems so far away from family.

The low points of the week were that I found myself in the emergency room, TWICE! Unfortunately, I have some sort of bladder infection and I was given the wrong medication the first time around so I had to go back…Trying to navigate a foreign medical system with a language barrier is definitely not an easy feat. I started my new meds today and am hopefully back on the mend!

I’m a little bummed because I was supposed to go on a day trip to Figueres and the Costa Brava today with an organized tour from my school and had to miss it to head to the ER. Mostly, I’m disappointed because I haven’t actually met that many people here and was really looking forward to the opportunity to make some new friends. Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally loving the solo time and have no problem exploring alone but, it would definitely be nice to have a friend to call for cocktails on a Saturday night.

I’m going to head out tonight for a little date with the big city. Not sure where I’m headed yet but, I definitely need to get out and be social. And, I’m excited about it!