IN LOVE

Of course the one thing I forgot to pack was an electricity converter, so I didn't get to post yesterday as I had planned!

Since I'm already going on my second amazing day in Sitges, Barcelona, let's start from the top..

Flight wasn't so bad, but I probably would have died if it weren't for my quick layover in NYC where a vanilla latte and people watching (man doing a little downward facing dog in the terminal, huddled orthodox jews with their briefcases) provided for some entertainment.

Landed around 8am in Barcelona this morning.

Imke picked me up at the airport- she is BEAUTIFUL. She's so tall and lean, with piercing blue eyes. We went to the grocery store first, where she hovered a good 10 inches taller than all of the other shoppers. The grocery store was nothing like those in America- more quaint with a huge variety of yogurts and fruits especially. It was funny seeing the Special K, Pantene, and Yoplait products with their same logos but with different packaging and all in Spanish.

After the grocery store, we headed on a scenic drive along the ocean to Imke and Ludovic's home. WOW this place is breathtaking. The family lives in a beautiful modern flat overlooking the sea. I have the most amazing view from my little european room (seriously looks like the inside of Ikea in here...), and there's a huge infinity swimming pool with bright

blue water just down the walkway. I've been down there to swim laps twice already, and there's nothing like taking a quick breather to admire the view of the sea.

Lou is the most adorable 18 month old; he's so animated, bubbly, and smart! When we walked down the pool, he would pick up little bits of trash on the ground, say ¨Mol!¨ (trash in German, right Amy?) and proceed to run over to the trash can, reach up onto his tippy toes, and drop it in. He loves playing with balls, toy cars, and his little kitchen set, and he points it out every few minutes when an airplane or bird flies overhead. In the day and a half since I've been here, I've already picked up some tidbits of German, French, and Spanish.

Imke speaks German to Lou, Ludovic French, and they both also speak Spanish and English in the home. I struggled to keep conversation in Spanish with both the housekeeper and the security guard.. more practice necessary.

Today we had a surprise visitor, a lady came to drug test Imke. Since she is a professional athlete, she is randomly asked to do various tests. It was funny to see how seriously the drug test woman was taking her job of pouring pee into various bottles, and my job was to keep Lou from trying to grab at them. He's at that age where he wants to touch and play with everything!

So far, I'm just amazed at the culture here. Walking around, everyone says hello and wants to engage in conversation (which is rough, since Spanish stresses me out). It may just be this luxurious town by the sea, but everyone is so patient, relaxed, and happy. It almost seems like I'm at a resort and everyone here is on a limitless vacation. I often have to remind myself that I'm in Spain (AHHH!!!) and not just on holiday in the US. I'm sure this will change when I start making visits into the city!

At the dinner table, Imke, Ludovic, and I had a great conversation about the American, French, German, and Italian governments and how they differ in their transparency with the people, especially regarding health issues such as radiation from cell phones and additives in foods. Today we chatted about the current situation with the IMF president (and top-runner for the next French presidency) and his arrest in the US. We again discussed cultural differences between Europe and the US. To quote Ludovic: "I think that the only thing we have in common is that both areas are white-looking in majority. Beside that, we live in different worlds and there is absolutely nothing the same about us". Both Imke and Ludovic stressed America's "superficial" politeness and meaningless conversations. I tried to fight a case for America's diversity, saying that it's hard to apply stereotypes to such a huge countries, where the cultures vary largely by region, state, and even city.

Anyway, I just completely contradicted my first blog post in which I said I wouldn't make this a blog for rambling.. Sorry! :)