Saturday, January 30, 2010

Scatter Joy











Tarrega life has again settled into a rhythmn. I've been back in school for the last 3 weeks and it really has just flown by. I make small goals for myself each week, focusing on my philsophy exam Monday and then my economy exam Friday. Once I get through the long days of school I have the free and blissful weekends to look towards. They're the times I cherish most, filled with late and lazy mornings (example: today I made the wonderous discovery of Spanish oatmeal - avena - and I made a very lovely, large pot adding some walnuts and blueberries, then proceeded to read the paper in the sunshine, simply amazing) Spanish cinema, which I am becoming quite fond of, vueltas around my town with friends and on occassions going to Big Ben discoteca...all I can say is everytime is just crazy. Discoteca's are such a huge part of young life here in Spain and you may think 'Oh just hundreds of teenagers clubbing, smoking, drinking and getting into trouble' but in all honesty, they truly are responsible partiers. The music is great and Big Ben is quite famous, consequently bringing in artists and dj's like Inna, Basshunter :) David Guetta...always lots of high energy and fun times. I have definitly been extremely lucky in seeing some pretty great music set ups and famous artists these past 5 months, it looks like it'll keep going even brighter too because about 3 weeks from now I will be going to see Vampire Weekend and then Florence and the Machine about 3 weeks after that! Both are very talented muscians who have singles that are on my top playlist on my ipod! This has been pretty exciting for me here.




I was starting to get Barcelona withdrawls last week, not going for about 4 weekends in a row so I caught the train and spent the night back in the city with some AFS friends Mack and Emillll. It was a weekend of delicious international cuisine! Saturday night we ate at La Rosa Negra...a funky little Mexican bar and restaurant in the beach and ramblas district. It was so great to have some neon colored walls, bustling waitors and a young ambiance...the first tacos and quesadillas I've touched in 5 months were amazing, I'm not going to lie. The next morning we crawled out of bed and had the idea of crepes for breakfast, so at 1pm with our impecable navigation skills we tracked down the most parisian chic creperie. BEST BARCELONA DISCOVERY. From the absolutly enchanting french music, to the slogan 'crepes and cocktails'...from the 2 page long menu listings, and crystal chandeliers; Barcelona Crepes was amazing. Leaving with full tummies, smiles on our faces, several business cards and a lot lighter purses and wallets we found a really cool art gallery/collection. It was mainly composed of pop and modern art, which I have grown to appreciate more and more here in Catalunya. Of course Barcelona is a city known for the unparalled art of Gaudi and the unique Art Nouveau, which I adore...apartment buildings embellished in wrought iron work and beautiful colored sketches! Gorgeous! Each time I go back to the city I simply loose myself in the architecture, street culture, people. It's a place that is always filled with surprises and for me never gets dull - it's all about how you perseve situations and deal with them. I missed my train Sunday afternoon after running 4 blocks to catch the metro to Plaza Catalunya (the biggest square in Barcelona) where I ran through hundreds of people, only to still miss it by about 3 minutes. I could have stressed and called my host mom to help me, but I'm so much more confident and comfortable with myself now. After 5 months living here you come to realize life throws you surprises and you just have to run with them. I got to play a very ridiculously worthless game of Spanish Trivial Pursuit, bought an organic smoothie in the Barrio's Gothico and got to hang out with Mack and Emil more. A rather quiet and low-key weekend, but great fun all the same.
This was my last week of Cross running :( My scheduale has just become way to booked with 2 classes of Castellano, and 2 classes of teaching English a week plus the rigerous homework...don't worry! I couldn't imagine living life without running! I just plan on making my own training plan and hopefully joining a local gym...who know's maybe I'll even join the F.C Tarrega Futbol team? Anyway, my last day was Wednesday and we share the gym with a group of preschoolers and primary students who have like an 'active' class. I always play around with them after stretching and have become quite close to some of the little ones! After I changed clothes I was waiting in the lobby where Antonio and Albert showed up! The energetic dynamic duo of brothers! With their matching parkas, wide eyes and heart melting smiles we talked for a little while. It actually made me feel good that I could more or less have a conversation in Catalan with two 4 year olds, haha. The two were pretty entranced with my hair and both were pulling at it, also pointing to my eyes and asking about my 'home' :) so adorable. I'm going to miss them...in fact as time keeps going on I'm realizing I'm probably going to miss a lot of things from here. Right now I'm just living, taking for granted some of the daily experiences that come my way just because it's life here. I often wonder what I'll feel like come July. All I know is that it's so important to stay happy and positive no matter what might happen...remembering to scatter the joys that life brings to us. Amorr

2 comments:

  1. Hey,
    I was curious. How many years of Spanish have you had? Because I see your actually able to take part in school tests and such which makes me quiet jealous. Is it really hard? How are you able to do it?

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  2. I had 1 year and a half back in school but honestly that really didn't prepare me at all! It was good to have verbal structures in my head and the simple phrases to get by for the first month...I do go to a private school which everyone says is harder, and yea the material is difficult. Some teachers are nice enough to give me tests in Castellano but my material is in Catalan so I have to translate a lot. I've been participating as much as I can and learning a lot from it. I would have to say the number one reason is I have too. My teachers expect a lot from me, and in turn make efforts to help me sometimes. Its a lot of pressure that I'm still working with, its made the experience very different, but I feel like I have learned some actual school related things! How is your experience?

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