The first two days all the students in the API program (who are all very nice and extremely fun) stayed in the Hotel Barcelona where we had different speakers talk to us about what to expect in Barcelona and what sort of things we would encounter on our stay. We also had both a walking tour around downtown Barcelona as well as a bus tour that took us from the sea to the mountainous region of the city. At one point on the bus tour we stopped and were allowed out to take some photos and I have to admit the view is quite beautiful!
During our stay at the hotel I celebrated my 21st birthday! Sadly I was sick so I wasn't able to go out and really celebrate it but my roomie Chase was such a sweetheart and announced to our whole group that it was my birthday and even brought me a present!
On Wednesday, Chase and I met our host mother Ester (who prefers to be called Ethel) and she took us to her home that we would be calling home for the next three and a half months. All I can say about my host mom is that she is one of the sweetest women you will ever meet! On Wednesday afternoon both Chase and I were feeling quite homesick and were just laying in bed crying when Ethel walks in and says "son tristas?" then leaves the room and comes back a few minutes later with a plate of strawberries drizzled with chocolate and chocolate squares to help us feel better. Can you say amazing?! We have dinner with her and her daughter Monica every night and I feel that that is when I get the most spanish practice in. Although it can be frustrating trying to get information passed I realize that I am learning more by having to think and rethink ways of saying something so that she can understand. I definitely made the right decision in choosing to live with a host mom :)
So Thursday was Chase and I's first day of being on our own and being responsible for getting to our meeting place using the metro and our maps and oh boy was it an adventure. First of all the alarm that I thought I set never went off so instead of being woken up at 8 am for our 10:30 meeting we woke up at 11:15. We rushed out the door and onto the metro where we had no problem finding our way to the station we needed to be at, but once we got back up to street level we realized we had no idea which way to go. To cut a long story short we ended up walking around the same few blocks for 45 minutes until we finally found someone who spoke English and could point us in the right direction! We did manage to get to the meeting, but we were a little over 2 hours late haha oh well! :) So after the failed meeting we received a tour of the University that we will be studying at this semester. To me it definitely looks more like a museum than a University and Chase and I decided it had many similarities to Hogwarts, which I have to say is awesome! haha! Also, another great thing about this University is that there are a lot of stray cats that walk around the grounds :) YAY! The rest of the day was spent walking around the city, grabbing some lunch and getting to know one another.
Today we had to take a placement test to determine which level of Spanish we would be taking this semester. Thankfully Chase and I's alarm went off and we were right on time to meet up with everyone! The test, well what can I say, I have no idea how I did on it, and I will just have to wait and see where I was placed. Once again after the test part of our group made its way over to Starbucks (yes I know they have a Starbucks!!! Thank goodness!!) and preceded to walk around the city some more. Today we decided to venture out towards the sea and it was very nice, but very cold, definitely not time to take a dip.
Now I wish I could say that it has been nothing but smiles and good times for me, but I would in fact be lying. I will admit that I was EXTREMELY homesick for the first couple of days and even today I still get a twinge of it every once in awhile, but thankfully I have two VERY supportive parents who believe in me and know that I can do this! To those two individuals I want to thank you because you always have faith in me even when I don't have faith in myself! I realize that my journey during this semester is going to be a tough one, tougher than I first believed, but like my mom said "once you show yourself that you can do this, you can do anything" and that is a statement that I find so true!
So for now I will just have to take each day as it comes and try to appreciate the small things that bring me joy during the day!
Love and miss you all very much!
xoxo Caitlyn
Pictures look great, I love reading about what all you're doing!!! Keep posting! xoxo Ash
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