Monday, November 18, 2013

Making the Most of a Rainy Weekend!

Rain, Rain, Go Away! Come again another day! (or another month!)

We've had a very exciting, but rainy weekend here in Barcelona. Friday was Santa Isabel day at school! It was the final celebration of the week. The older kids played games against each other all week, but kindergarten just had fun! In the morning we went to a puppet show, then went to the auditorium for a clown show. The kids LOVED it! Of course it was all in Spanish, but it was still fun. After the show we went to lunch. The school provided a nice meal in the courtyard for all the teachers. It was another great chance to try some typical Spanish foods. The teachers were all telling us what they liked and I actually liked some of the stuff I tried. After lunch we watched a movie, once again in Spanish, but it was a nice break. When the movie was over it was time to go home. After school, some "American teachers" as they call us, rode the metro down to the city center. When we got off we were walking around a found a great doughnut shop! They had a few different choices of homemade doughnuts. Of course we had to try one. It was so yummy! If you know me, you know I love doughnuts so I was very happy! For the rest of the night we just walked around the streets downtown. We enjoyed the "high end" shops such as Prada and Gucci. We also got to see our first Gaudi buildings. His architecture is very famous in Barcelona and also very beautiful! We finished the night off with a wonderful supper at an Italian restaurant. The pasta I had was amazing! 

Saturday morning brought on the rain that hasn't stopped since. Rain and cold weather don't go well together, but we have to make the most of our time here! So, we set out to explore the city more. About 7 of us explored all over the center of Barcelona. We went to an indoor food market that was so neat. There were tons of vendors selling all sorts of different foods. Fruits, meats, candy.. pretty much anything you could want. There was a man in the market making crepes. Sara, Amanda, and I shared one filled with Nutella and bananas. It was delicious!! As I'm sure you figured out by now, I have enjoyed the food here so far :) After the market we walked to the port where we got to see the statue of Christopher Columbus and also the Mediterranean Sea. It was pretty to see, even in the rain. To finish off our adventure we went to Les Arenas. It's an old bull fighting stadium that has been renovated into a shopping mall.  The view from the very top was beautiful and we could see a lot of the city.  After Les Arenas we all headed home to have supper with our host families. I played games with Lucia and Sophia and we all watched a movie together. It was a great day!

Sunday the rain continued! But that was okay, because we had already planned for Lucia's birthday to be inside. 7-10 girls invaded our flat around 11:30 and stayed until 2. They played Just Dance on the Wii and it really made me miss home! My host dad danced with the girls and it was almost as funny as when my mom does! I was thankful for the good laugh. I taught all the girls how to make paper roses and we made bracelets together. Lucia got a pair of Converses for her birthday and she was so excited! I was happy I got to be a part of her birthday party. That afternoon we just relaxed around the flat and then their grandparents came over. They loved talking to me and listening to me speak English. It's funny to me how everyone here is so fascinated by listening to us talk. That night I went with my host family to their Catholic church. It was my first time ever going to a Catholic church and we sat on the front row haha. It was a short service and I enjoyed it. I was glad I got to experience it with them. We came home from church and ate super around 9:30. I've definitely had to adjust to eating supper so late.

Today has been a pretty normal day. It rained again, so the kids were stuck inside the classroom all day. Of course they were wild, but I'm starting to get used to it. That is one huge difference of the culture here from ours back home. After school a few girls and I walked to a shopping area and looked around. I got a nice warm scarf because it's getting so cold here!! I'm hoping the rain will stop tomorrow!

It was a great first weekend in Spain :)

xoxo
Mary Bruce



One of my sweet students. Go Green Team!

Santa Isabel celebration

yummy!

A priceless reaction! Lucia loves her new Converse shoes!

No comments:

Post a Comment