a day of exploration

Since Mondays are my day off, Imke dropped me off in Sitges around 10 this morning and I've spent the past 6 hours enjoying coffees, sandwiches, and croissants at internet cafes and doing some window shopping. Mom & Dad, you'll be glad to hear that I have yet to make a clothing purchase here in Spain (mostly because the prices at the stores in Sitges are so inflated because of the luxury tourism industry which is especially busy in the summertime). I also had a chance to wander around the historic churches along the beach. Anyway, a few pictures from my morning..

the coffee shop where I am sitting right now..

Spent an hour or so listening to Mumford & Sons on the beach. <3

on the menu: burgers & fries. duh

walking around, I've found the Spanish men to be very aggressive. I need to figure out a politely dismissive response to "Hola, guapa!"

Because the protests in Berkeley had to follow me to Spain!

had to take a shot of the anchor for my Delta Gams..

La Esglesia

And a little bit of edge for my hipster friends..

starting to get a tad homesick already! :( everyone, let's skype!

xoxo

Blog post, part 2

After writing up this post, I met up with Aida at the Sitges center. We spent about an hour chatting on the beach, then headed to the row of bars to meet up with a few of her friends who were bartending. Met some new people: Hannah, Alessio, Pierre, and Miguel. Hannah is from Norway and told us about this awesome national tradition they have where all of the high school seniors spend their last month of high school wearing these red or blue overalls (depending on field of study in HS, there are wars between the two teams) and have to do crazy dares to add patches and quotes to their pants. They can't wash the pants for a whole month, and the entire thing ends with a huge party on Norway's national day. Why can't we have something like this in the US?

I got a little Spanish practice in with Miguel and Pierre, but I was mostly lost in translation and therefore conversation. Then I had my first taste of the pizza in Spain, which was delicioso, and Aida drove me home around midnight.

A few pictures from the park today...

This afternoon Lou and I hid in my closet together. He was perfectly comfortable and able to sit upright in there, while my knees were up against my face

Imke let Lou play with the leftovers from our Thai lunch.. this picture was taken right before he tipped over the bowl and sat in the rice. Let me tell you, sticky rice is a joy to clean

I was planning to go to Barcelona tomorrow to meet up with Alex Hebels, a great friend from Berkeley, but he JUUUUST told me there was a mix-up with his flight, so I'm hoping my host family will give me the afternoon off on Thursday so I can move my trip. I'm also going to explore the Barcelona nightlife on Saturday night with Aida, Sheena, and a few others... will keep you all posted!

bubblegum & fútbol

Last night, I decided at 8:30pm (aka 20:30) that there was no way I could be in Spain when FCBarcelona was playing for the Champion's League cup and merely watch the game on TV from home. Ludovic helped me track down the one taxi driver in town not already watching the beginning of the 20:45 game, who said he'd wait no longer than five minutes before leaving to enjoy the game. I threw on a dress and flip flops and shoved money, chap stick, house keys, and my camera into my purse and off I went. The taxi dropped me off along the beach, and I used my broken Spanish to ask directions to a bar called La Pura Vida, where I met Aida and Sheena, two other Sitges au pairs. Watching the game at the bar, I was inspired by the passion of an entire town gathered to (loudly) cheer on the fútbol team. After an exciting victory, we joined hundreds of people in the streets to set off fireworks and chant "¡FORÇA BARÇA!" in a beautiful unison.

We then wandered the crowded streets to find a restaurant terrace where the family Sheena is staying with was having some drinks and tapas and chatted for an hour before entering the heart of Sitges and its sensational row of bars. It was great being escorted around by Sheena, Aida, and Michel (a German friend of Aida & Sheena's who we picked up along the way), who knew all of the bartenders and many of the bar-goers as well. Michel's English is not as good as Sheena and Aida's (Sheena is from Scotland, and Aida learned English in high school in Germany), and when I began speaking fast, Michel told me my words sounded like bubblegum. Huh? I obviously had to keep making fun of his English throughout the night...

Sheena sporting her Barça-themed nail polish

Me & Michel

Sheena, Michel, and me.. missing Aida!

The music they played at the bars was almost exclusively American music, and I loved watching the dancers go wild when songs like "Paparazzi" and "I've Got a Feeling" came on, as if they were newly released songs. Everyone loved asking me questions about California, and I often heard "Ahh, you are so lucky! Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch are so cheap in the US!!".

Unfortunately, I had to be up at 8am today to take care of Lou, so I had to bid the still-energetic night adieu at 4:30 and head home. All in all, it was a fantastic night, and a perfect introduction to Spanish nightlife. I can't wait to meet up with my new foreign friends again soon :)

Today, Lou and I went back to our cute little park for a few hours, before he requested to sit in his stroller where he immediately fell asleep. On my walk back, I noticed that there seems to be a mass inability of the people of Spain (or Les Roquetes and Sitges, at least) to pick up those stinking presents that their dogs leave behind. But the poop couldn't stop me! Even with a heavy stroller, a sleeping baby, and huge handbag, I took on the challenge and dodged each piece rather artfully. Voila!!

a little more city life

I'm starting to grasp how much work it is to take care of a little child- Lou literally requires constant attention. He's napping now, so I'm taking advantage of this quiet time while I have it to post some pictures!

The family makes fresh-squeezed juices every

morning and evening.. Lou always tries to help but usually ends up eating the fruit right after it's cut.

We went into Barcelona a few days ago to pick up some things at Ikea. As usual in Ikea, we ended up spending hours jumping on the beds, opening and closing all of the drawers, testing each couch, and finally enjoying a nice cup of coffee and some Daim cakes.

Of course, Lou thoroughly enjoyed putting lots of things in his mouth to taste, so we ended up having to purchase a few things that weren't on our shopping list. Lou especially loves one of our purchases- a mini chair!

Some pictures from an afternoon in Vilanova...

Vilanova has vagabonds with their dogs, just like Berkeley!

SF Bay, oh really?

Lou, the stroller, and I had a nice little walk out of the gated neighborhood and into Les Roquetes today. We found the cutest little park across from a nice cafe. Un cafe con leche, por favor!

I have yet to really explore the city of Barcelona, which I'm really bummed about. But when Imke gets back from her half-Triathlon on Sunday, we're planning to go into the city for a day. While there, I'm going to meet up with Alicia and hopefully Katie and spend a night in the city. WOO!!

Also, more good news: I've made a friend here! She's an au-pair in Sitges, and she and I are also trying to coordinate a time to get together outside of working with the babies.

Learning Spanish is going pretty well. Imke gave me a few books that have English on the left hand side and Spanish on the right. I just started reading Sense & Sensibility, or Sensido y Sensibilidad!