Merce

An incredible piro musical.....

La Merce is over......Can't believe it!!! I'm still trying to figure if I will do 2 posts for this or one but let's see. You might be seeing mostly pics but what an amazing festival/holiday that was!!!! Never seen anything like it. For 3 days and 4 nights we partied, walked around, saw concerts, experienced amazing (and crazy traditions), got caught in huge crowds, got almost smashed in crowds, made some extra leg muscles from standing and walking and dancing, and enjoyed ourselves tremendously!!!!!

A concert stage

It was an unbelievable experience! Some old traditions are kept, some new ones added. So many tourists (as if the city doesn't have enough....) flocked for the festival...There were so many venues (by this I mean stages set up on squares and plazas :), artists, cultural events of all kinds and they started in the mornings and continued until the very early hours of night. 

      

The giants that represent every neighborhood and town  

   

Then there were the "castelleres" -- the human towers which are an amazing tradition!!! Imagine a plaza packed with so many people  that you can't even breathe and then these people come dressed in different colors to represent the different neighborhoods and compete against each other.  The towers start building up in the middle of the crowd and you can see how freaking hard it is! By the time the little boy or girl goes all the way to the top you are barely breathing....The tower starts wobbling and the people on the bottom start shaking. You don't want them to go down but you can see (and imagine) the weight of the whole thing. One by one they start going down from the top and then the crowd explodes clapping! It didn't crash and they did it!!! And then they start again!

A different type of tower

Lovely huge flowers in the park

One of the big and nice parks in the city had all kinds of events, including this quite interesting band :). Two people bike and move the whole wheel and the three musicians sit back and play. The music was quite good too. 

Also a very interesting show in the air which was a pleasure to watch!

The night of "correfoc" or running with fire. Can you tell that I'm wearing glasses, long sleeve, and a scarf trying to cover my face?! There is a reason...Even though I didn't do the exact running with fire (due to the fact that you have to be completely covered -- head to toe; sandals do not count) I was still there and all the sparks flying around did not make me feel very comfortable. It is a crazy tradition though! The "gates of hell" are lit and open up to let all kinds of dragons and devils go through. Then these people that are completely clad light up fireworks on tall sticks (are imagining fireworks that can't shoot up in the sky instead ate attached to a stick thus spread sparkles everywhere????) and start running through the crowd following the dragons! If you don't want to run with them and keep your clothes, hair, skin untouched better move to the back...Oh and did I mention that all this is happening on one of the big streets in BCN!?!

And the gates of hell open up....

The last night was a wonderful and amazing ending to this festival -- piro musical at Pl. Espanya. A combination of life songs, the fountain and fireworks! And with a good company what more do you need?!?! We got there earlier and sat on the street (closed for traffic of course). Had brought some wine, beer, bread, cheese and chips and voila -- we could wait very patiently for the show to begin :). Once it started I didn't want it to end....So beautiful!!!!

The circle of trust

Who's going to be follower #21?! :)

Festivals

Barcelona seems to have tons of fests! :) What better that this?!? I figured I have to tell you about one last week before we get into the biggest one this week...

So last week there was a festival in one of the neighborhoods by the beach. And we wouldn't have found out if it wasn't for my new B friend, Mila, who found out about it thanks to her landlady :). This is how exclusive to locals it is....We started walking on the nicely decorated street first which was full of vendors selling jewelry, pastries, leather goods, etc. What's not to love?

From there we got close to the beach where we mingled with tons of people and kids enjoying rides, eating cotton candy and churros (these extremely healthy and good for you fried dough pastries). 

  

    

By the way, while I'm doing this I'm also chatting with 3 friends at the same time and my mom is going through all my clothes and shoes in BG on skype. She is showing me every single piece and I tell if I want her to bring it to me or not! Fun! Some of the clothes I can't even remember....It feels like I'm shopping in a store and picking and choosing :). Except that it's my stuff and nothing new....

OK, back to the fest. The kids in us got churros, went on a ride and then off to the beach to see fireworks! Being a person who'd lived in DC and had watched many 4th of Julys (and also loooves fireworks), I was a little skeptical about a fireworks show at first. Imagine my surprise! A great show with wonderful fireworks!!!

Scaaaary!!!!!

A great night which goes down in the BCN diary. Stay tuned for Merce (I can hear the soundchecks....)! It will be wonderful next few days with probably little sleep :).

    

Catching up

The Palace at Pl. Espanya

 OK, no comments on the previous post -- still thinking you guys are reading...Right?! Gained a follower! My brother :). It was time.....Again if you are reading by any chance, do click on the""follow" link under my pic!!!  Anyway, trying to get back to regular writing. I really like it plus want to keep you updated on general life in BCN and mine too (for those that are curious).

Where do I start? Teaching! It has been a joy and a pain. Anyone who didn't expect it?! Maybe me. I have to admit that it's mostly fun and doesn't feel like a real job yet (or maybe I've found that desired job where it doesn't feel like work...). Or maybe it's that initial feeling which I really really hope will not change! My kids' groups are fine. Still struggling with the boys' group even though the "good" kids in the other one were little devils yesterday. It's fun and challenging.

Fountains at Pl. Espanya

  Teens....Hmm different story. The early ones (13-15) are fine. Besides the fact that we are still playing girls and boys teams :). The older ones (16-17) are something! I wish somebody could tell me if this is how we were at that age! You think you have the best discussion topic for class and they will be interested and then....You get 1 sentence from each. Barely. What discussion? :) They are cool though. Joke around, talk in class (sometimes that is), have interesting ideas.

My adults -- a few in the higher level -- fine. We talk, have nice conversations, study. My beginners -- funny! They teach me some Spanish (and the dictionary helps a lot) and it is really cool to see their progress! Lots of fun! My boss is cool, my peers are fine. So far everything is fine with the job. Trying to pick a few morning/noon hours so that I can make a little more money (that apartment is not cheap) and then it will be cool...

Plaza Espanya

I also have a friend from DC in town! A party girl (Albena) who came during my craziest time and I've managed to see her only twice but hopefully again before she leaves. We had some good times in BCN including finding a BG restaurant by chance and getting involuntarily involved with 2 Bulgarians...Long story, not really worth mentioning more about it. 

Going to the roof top at a friend's place (Krissie, it was too beautiful!)

I seem to stumble upon BG places without even looking for them. First it was the above mentioned restaurant, then a BG banitsa cute little shop! Of course I had to try one and the spinach and cheese was delicious!

More festivals and big fiestas are coming to BCN this week. It's actually the biggest fest of the year and I get my first official paid holiday on Friday! :) Tons of activities, concerts, parades, etc. And all for free!!!! Getting ready for 3 days of partying here and am very excited! Pictures will follow. OK, maybe this post will get some comments from you. Hasta luego! 

Many things

I haven't lost any followers yet...Thank you! I know I have been MIA not only from here but facebook, skype, email and all possible communication channels. Still alive and more importantly -- sane! Was about to lose my mind this past week but miraculously not only did I get through it but I did pretty damn well! :)

So for your patience I will give you a long and detailed account of what's been happening and stay on top of things from now on (I think I said that before but things should be getting very close to normal). Wow, I can't believe it's been more than a week since I've last written. It actually feels like it's been ages.....

OK, after my last post I moved to my extremely patient and nice friend Iva who helped me tremendously!!!! Thank you again (and it is still not enough)! I wasn't able to connect my laptop thus you didn't hear from me. She graciously lent me her bfriend's small notebook which did the job for apartment search and email. Basically the week consisted of: get up early and look for an apt online; maybe go to see one; rush to school and try to prepare 3 lessons in no time; come back around 10:30pm; look for an apartment till 2am; get up in the am; Ivka calls around and speaks Spanish; maybe go see an apartment if they don't call me to let me know that actually someone just took it and repeat......What sleep? What life? What stress?

If you think that apartment hunt in BCN is hard, multiply this by a hundred. No exaggeration. Three big problems -- I don't speak Spanish and most people don's peak English; I work from 5:30pm and most apartment viewings are after 5:30pm; most of the apartments are Crappy (with a big "C"). Oh and did I mention a fourth problem that my extremely nice friend is very very busy finishing her PhD so taking a few hours from her time to call around for me felt very wrong?!?!  Again, thank you!

I wish I had taken some pics of the few places that I saw. Few because most of the appointments I had made got cancelled. Let's start with a place with no windows. Heard that right. Don't ask me how and why anyone would build such a thing but they exist here. Places that are so old and dirty that you'd have to give it a major face lift just to be able to live there. Old furniture or no furniture -- let's just say that finding a job was a piece of cake compared to this. Oh and the agencies! You can very rarely get a place from a "particular" (private person, owner) which means that when you search the local equivalent of craigslist and specifically choose "particular" rentals, 99% are agencies. You'd think that an agency is good and might help you (kinda like a real estate agency in the US). Think again. The answer is NO.

They charge you a lot (at least 1 month worth of fees which you don't see again) and can show you the apartment only when it is convenient for them, i.e.  forget it most of the time. When I asked one if I can give them my criteria and they can look for me or at least tell me what they have, the answer was: "No, go on our website, find a place and then call us to schedule an appointment."

On top of the agency fees you have to have money for your first month plus at least 2 months of deposit (which you are supposed to get back after you leave assuming the place looks decent). So you either have at least 4 months handy (monthly prices for a studio or small 1-bedroom start from around 550 eu up; some furnished some not) or you can forget about it.

Very miraculously (maybe because I had started losing it and was on the verge of losing my mind) we found this guy who was the owner of a small but cute, clean and renovated (very very rare and important) 1-bedroom attic. By this time, I had met a very nice BG girl through Iva who knows Spanish and was more than nice not only to take some of Ivka's "responsibilities" (calling places and so on)  but also to come with me to translate and see places with me.

We got to the apartment (2 more lined up that day), saw it, talked to the guy, liked it very much but had to go see another one. We literally walked 100 meters and made a U-turn -- why do I need to see another place (which was with an agency) when this one is perfect and someone might take it?! Made an appointment with the guy to sign the contract the next day, gave him 2 months of deposit and got the keys on Friday! :):):) What a joy it was!!!! The biggest hurdle in BCN so far and ...it's gone!

From there it was moving my heavy suitcases, going up the stairs (did I mention I live on the fifth floor with no elevator? Who needs a gym...), going to work, IKEA the next day and of course a house warming party! IKEA was just for a few little things since the place has everything including all kitchen stuff, cleaning supplies and so forth. I feels great to empty the suitcases completely (at least for a year), get settled and of course invite some friends over! :) It turned out to be a little bit DC style party, i.e. wine, snacks, cool people, party till the early hours. Translation: lots of fun!!!!!:):):)

OK, will leave you now. Thanks for reading if you've gone so far and tomorrow more about the place and other stories.

Crazy week

This is going to be a very short post as I have to move again and might not have much access to internet....So stay patient!

What a week this was! Busy busy busy! Spanish in the mornings, preparing for teaching and then classes at night. Love my students!!! Right now I have 6-7 groups (can't even count them any more lol). All are pretty much different ages and levels. The kids are the hardest! Especially my Tues and Thur group! Seven boys and a girl all 6 years old. My classroom management this week with them -- zero! They are pretty wild but I have some ideas for next week so let's how it will go. My teen groups are fun. All are upper-intermediate and we can talk about teen subject (don't remember when I was 15...). And I also have a beginner group. A complete beginner group! With 4 grown-up men (I mean older than me) who stare at me and repeat "I am.....". Good to practice a little bit my Spanish because there is no other way....

My boss seems pretty nice. After the first week gave me a raise! Not a big one but, hey, everything helps. :) So I can report that the first week was a partial success. Especially when I had to come up with a lesson yesterday 15 min before the class...Don't even ask. But it turned out pretty well.

Today is Catalunya's National Day (about Catalunya and Spain -- later) and everything is closed! But I'm sure there will be some partying tonight :). OK, gotta go and move and will try and keep you posted as soon as I can! Thanks for following and reading! :):):)

P.S. And I have to say that I haven't forgotten Sept 11.......................

First teaching day

The school (first building)

You must be waiting and wondering how my first official day of teaching went :). Well, great but of course it can always be better (the perfectionist in me talking here...). I had 2 classes today -- one with 6-7 year-olds and one with 12-15 years old teenagers. When I got to the school I had to print some materials and of course the printer was out of toner..After the initial panic of "Oh crap; what do I do?" it turned out that an extra one was coming ASAP. Phew! Big sigh of relief!

Got my room ready, folders for the students, chalk, etc. (we don't have white boards with markers but the regular black board with chalk -- they are actually green and better than the black). Anyway, time flew fast and the kids started coming. We all have the little ones at first. Put them in the backyard and slowly started asking them for their names. Once I found "my kids" it turns out I have 4 girls and 1 boy. And he was crying! Got some of the teachers to calm him down (sort of) using Spanish and after a little bit --- off we go to the classrooms!

Gave them a piece of paper and asked them write their names with colored pens and then draw something. After a very short time and some encouraging words the boy was smiling! You should have seen the car he drew -  a masterpiece :). First success! The papers went on the walls and are very proudly displayed. Had prepared some games and stuff but the kids are very beginner. So.... change in the lesson plan. Time for the alphabet and some flashcards with animals. Oh and what fun, participation and smiles! :)

After the class was over I went out and met the parents. With my little Spanish I was able to convince them that their kids will learn some ENG. And the kids were happy! What more do I need?!

Second class was a little different. First I had only 3 people and second -- they are early teens. Try to get them to talk! And keep them interested. A little bit slower, less fun but also interesting. Now that I've met them I have a better idea about Wednesday with them.

So far so good! Tomorrow I have another group of 6-7 year-olds (about 11 I believe!) and my upper teens group where I should "show them my iron eastern European fist" -- quote of the other teachers who have taught them. Will get ready for them!

P.S. Another follower! Thanks, Krissie! :)

Sitges

View from the beach

What a day! Went to Sitges for the day and came back home at 11:30pm.....A great town half an hour from BCN with cool beaches, food and atmosphere (for BG people it's kinda like Sozopol, Nessabar; for US people -- hm that's a hard one). So it was about  9 or so of us and we managed to get there around 11am. What is the first thing we did?! Straight to the beach!!!! :) It feels great to have the beach right there and be able to just go, lay and swim. Very much like BG beaches and the Black Sea. Thanks to my 70SPF sunscreen I did not burn at all. Actually it is kinda hard to tell that I spent the whole day in the sun today....But we gotta be careful with the skin and that sun, right? (tan is is really great and who wants to think about skin cancer but....).

Our extremely tasty paella!

Anyway after having laid on the beach for 4 hours it was time for....paella!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :):):) It wasn't cheap at all but was so worth it! Having a local in your Cert group helps a lot. Thanks Alem for taking us to this restaurant! We had some great sangria, an awesome desert and some shots in the end...... Can you guess in what state we felt after that?! Complete food coma! What better thing to do than jump in the sea for a refreshing swim and then take a quick nap on the beach?!

This time it was just four of us (food coma got the rest and they went home) and we decided to go to a different beach. All beaches are nice and very close to each other. This one was separated and hidden by some rocks so we started getting down and what is the first thing I see once we get closer? Nudist beach.....Getting naked? Maybe some other time. :) It's interesting though to be dressed on a nudist beach. 

Having gone through our food coma, we decided to walk around the town and look around. It is so pretty!!! And full of tourists.....We consider ourselves locals of course! What is the must-visit place?! A waffle/crepes cafe! Best chocolate waffles ever! Especially when you eat it outside, chocolate is dripping everywhere and your face looks like the happiest child on earth....

My waffle w/ chocolate and bananas!

Eating

From there it was a nice walk around the town, enjoying the history, views and bumping into tourists! If you didn't know, Spanish people are very obsessed (in a good way) with meats. By this I mean cured meat mostly (kinda like prosciutto)-- close to BG and our "pastarma, sudjuk, etc". So we stumbled upon a shop that sells this great prosciutto! Amazing! First I had to try a little bocadillo (flauta) and then of course had to buy some meat...The meat person in me couldn't resist. Prices are very interesting. For example 20 eu for 100 gr....

 

We finished the night with mohitos on the beach. Nothing better than sitting on the sand, listening to the waves and having a good conversation. Could have stayed there longer but we had to catch the last train back so left beautiful Sitges at 10:30pm. Definitely going back again....