Cinco meses

Today we skipped down to Pl. España and walked through tumbled terrain and danced up outside placed escalators, into park Montjuic. The last week's tonsilitis, broken washing machine and no work floating off us like the steam rising from the Magic fountain, the bailarina's dancing was an added bonus.. December is flying along! And we will soon be preparing our return to the fair body of land that is Eng. We will also be hosts to a Mexican stowaway. Although only for a week. News Flash: Syd has been very ill this week but is feeling better; The weather has been gorgeous but turning chillier; My new sister had a birthday; Our landlord gave us our deposit back; I got a part in a play in January; Syd learnt how to cook a beautiful bountiful bechamel sauce; Our choir gave its first perfomance last week; I visited a lovely little town called Vic with friends from Kids&Us; 2 friends had birthday parties which were very enjoyable and .. I'm sure theres more but I am, at present, unable to recall. I hope that this is not a recurring trait, memory loss that is, as I seem to have landed myself with a ridiculous amount of lines to learn in a very short amount of time. So my good friends and Syd's good friends and both of our families, I bid you adieu and bon nuit and such jazz. Besitos.

A walk in Montjuic

It's been a while

Dear family and friends in England, how are you all?

Here are some pics I took today on the beach. For those who don't know Barcelona, the funny looking building in the picture below that looks a little like the top of the Eiffel Tower is in fact a cable car which goes from the beach to a nice hill where there is a grand palace and wotnot. Lovely.

Finally feel like I'm settling in here. For the first time I'm learning the value of money and time. Time is money, baby. I broke the washing machine door handle off. All our clothes are stuck inside. On the brighter side, we found a really nice and cheap Greek restaurant close to our flat.

Work is interesting. I work many hours Monday to Thursday but I have a three day weekend which makes up for it.

My Spanish is coming on slowly but there's definitely progression being made and that's the important thing. I only really have the time and energy for one lesson a week. Nonetheless, Immy speaks in Spanish to me and so do the Mexicans (although I don't understand nada of what they say).

Haven't really been out much recently. Partly because it's autumn and everyone sneezes on eachother. I live above a salsa club but I haven't managed to go to it yet. I'm always asleep by the time it opens.

I've been to some other salsa clubs though and they're really good. Muchos amazing live bands playing which makes a change from England. All the clubs stay open until at least 4 or 5 in the morning and are packed the whole night. There's also this band that play on the beach. Today they were playing Cuban Rumba with congas and cowbells and the whole shebang.

See you soon

moving day

We move today! September is away laughing on a fast camel and tomorrow's scorchio octoberness welcome us. I taught my first lesson yesterday- 4 small catalan boys whose shouts and laughter rang out through the brightly coloured corridors. "You are a very dynamic teacher" is code for: I wasn't expecting you to cause so much chaos. I'm procrastinating against packing up our room but the day is long.. right? I want to make lists. Lists are beautiful. Coffee bubbles through me and I'm excited about life. Arepa's tast yummy and I love tomatoes you can slice with a breadknife.

SCORCHIO!

Dear friends and family,

The butterflies here are huge, seriously.

BUM

I don't know what this shop sells. All I know is it's my favourite shop in Barcelona.

sea job hog

As I sit in a local library typing speedily as the clock ticks down my available hour, I ponder the anitcs of our Peruvian mafia friends. "sin conexcion internet" awaits me at home. However, only 3 days till moving day and I have to say I will miss our Swedish and French friends. Last night we swam in the twilight hours, the lights of our new city reflecting on the silken waves. Syd´s training days are flying by, with him slaving away and me cooking English delights and hanging out of the balcony to watch his return. Not for long though as I start work tomorrow! Its a shame in many ways as I have enjoyed cooking, my current read about the happiness of a Viennesse house matron whose origins in a suffragette household did not dissuade her from her true vocation of whipping up strudels and light scones at a moments notice, pushes me on to try new treats. I exagerrate, the book is wonderful but cookery is not a vocation for me and my real work with finger painting, dolls and stories begins. A new stage of barcelonionian life! We look forward to it with eagerness and I'm giving the next post to Syd because I am a blog hog and no one likes that. I shall have to change the name BARCELONA OCTUBRE!! I want to learn catalan. imogen out.

wet dry sun

This is what the beach at Barceloneta looks like with cries of COCOOCOCOOO and masaje? massaje? and lovely warm clear water. but tonight it was anything but hot n sunny, it was MONSOON rains. I swear, we ran through the streets laughing and dripping, almost unable to see as we swirled past hapless festival goers crowding under parapets and balconies. The metro station stared at us with wild eyes as they imagined the cascades we must have faced to reach its dry and humid sanctuary. Mercé is fun though, we glimpsed Swan Lake performed by St Petersburg ballet company through our precarious positions crouched behind a palm tree, barcelona is beating madrid 5- 0 and a documentary on Cuban trumpetists beckons.

358 PPL DRA

This is our new flat we're going to move into on the 1st of October. It's a big room, given to us by a few Peruvian gansters, in the heart of L'Eixample (pronounced ayyyshhhammpl.) next to ice rinks, hostels, chinos, havana clUbz, private parks, butchers, bakers, candlestick makers and FORN DE PA and bicing bike racks. Although we dont want no bicicletas we iz wantin' da real ting- SCOOPY! please research "honda scoopy" because they are amazin'

нет niet nie

Wednesday the 21st of September:

we got up at 6am, went to the police station, queued for 2 hours outside (!!), went inside and got a ticket number, waited for 2 hours, saw a lady who stamped our form, went outside to the bank to pay for it, inside again to get another ticket for the 3rd queue, few hours later and a man stamped our form and it was done. All in all ; 7 HOURS to get our NIE, I am now a extranjero/a living Spain. Before the computer told me; I never knew!! However, I shouldnt complain because the queue for the non-EU internationals was horrendous and a thousand times worse than ours. And now with this number we can get jobs, get our social security, get bank accounts etc.