In Spain in the Membrane

Sorry about the title, y'all. But I just can't help myself.

WELL. The cliffs notes version before the more "interesting" stuff. Arrived safely, homestay is awesome, my family is great, location is sweet, Spain is very cool, my roommate is nice and we shared a mutual gladness that the other wasn't a crazy lunatic drunk ass. So, yes. I am finally in Barcelona, and have been since about 8:45 am September 1st. Jet lag has worked it's unfortunate magic on me, and now I have absolutely no concept of what time or day it is. Also they use military time here, so that's even more confusing. Basically I have no idea what's going on half the time. For example, a story:

Soooo today was the first day of Orientation. The sheet and the IES guy were very misleading, and I was under the impression that Orientation lasted from 9:00- 3:35 today. What a long Orientation! I thought, but then dismissed it. I mean, this is a foreign country and stuff. Okay, that's not unreasonable or anything. So at about 8:45, my roommate Kendall and I mosey on down to the bus stop across the street. How convenient it is to have a bus stop right in front of your homestay! Please note that we soon learned it is not so convenient that you can waltz down there 15 minutes before Orientation and expect to get to your destination in less than a half hour. Anyway, so we roll into the study abroad center, quickly look up which classroom we were supposed to be in and jet towards our respective rooms. I slid into a desk near the door. It took a minute or so for the woman at the front of the room to see that there was a new kid in the class. She welcomed me, even as I apologized for being so awfully late, and handed me a guide book and a sheet of paper to write my name on and fold over on my desk so everyone could see. That's nice. Getting to know my new class! As soon as she finished giving me all the stuff she had to give me, she sat down and continued from where I had interrupted. She basically outlined everything it said in the pages of the book, sometimes pausing to ask or answer questions. Mind you, she was doing this all in Spanish. The kids in the class were asking questions and making comments that were long and well put together, using words and tenses I don't know. But I continued to nod and look like I understood what the hell was going on. I looked around the room. Was I seriously the only one who was missing large chunks of information? I mean, what kind of ridiculous 2 semesters of Spanish did THESE people take?? I can't be the worst person in the class! Several people were staring off into space. How were they doing that? I was hanging on every word said, quickly translating it and trying to keep up with what was going on. I looked over at this guy named Juan who was telling a joke in Spanish. Why is someone named Juan in an Intermediate Spanish class? I guess he's just trying to fit in with the locals or something. Whatever, Juan.

About half hour later it was over. The dude next to me confirmed that we were done for the day. Okay, sweet. I met Kendall in the hallway. She's in an advanced language class, and so I asked her how it went, and then mentioned something about it being entirely in Spanish. She looked at me. "Mine was in English." What? That's weird. "Adrienne, I think you were in the wrong class." No, no, no, man, I read that piece of paper, I know when I'm supposed to be places! This evening I discretely looked at that sheep of paper, and... I mean... oops.

So after that very relaxing and informative Orientation session, Kendall and I walked around for about an hour. All of a sudden, I looked up and BAM! WAS THAT YES IT WAS THAT. Gaudi's Casa Batllo. CAN YOU SAY SAY WHAAAAAAATTTTTT. I spent the rest of the walk making up Gaudi puns in my head (I'll spare you). We met Kendall's mom for lunch in this little cafe, and it was like exactly the lunch I needed. I was kind of feeling a little blue (probably from the lack of sleep and food. Plus that was one draining and slightly depressing Orientation session, and frankly I really really miss my boo) Not that the food was especially good or anything, but because we just talked for awhile, and  I made them laugh and that was something that I just needed to do. Make SOMEONE laugh, and that laugh meant that they understood the joke, the things I was saying, my humor, and we shared a background, experience, and knowledge of the same familiar culture. Kendall's mom was super sweet and helped me get oriented in the city, and after we all shared stories of already missing home and the US, I felt a LOT better. And then I finally figured out how to get the internets in my room, so things are looking up for Aidy.

Sorry if this is way too long, there's so much to say it's hard to trim down. Maybe more tomorrow?