Hola

I've finally arrived in barcelona after what seems like an eternity on cars, buses, trains, and planes. I think I've taken every form of public transportation known to man in the past 24 hours or so. To be honest, I don't even know how many hours it took me to get here with all the time changes lol. I haven' t gotten the chance to do much of anything yet since I didn't get here until 8 last night. The airport lost both of the suitcases I checked in so all that I'm left with is some electronics, paperwork, and my passport (at least I have that). They say they should turn up within 48 hours but who knows at this point. Until then, I'm left just waiting for them to show up on my doorstep.

Besides that, after I arrived and finally got out of the airport, I headed straight to my host family's house by bus and then cab. I've only spent less than 20 euros so far which seems pretty miraculous. Anyways, the entire way to the house, my face was glued to the window. I can not even to begin to describe how beautiful the city is. I haven't seen more than the main stretch yet but I already can see a little bit of what I have to look forward to. I don't have any pictures yet but once I get the chance to go out and snap some shots, you guys will understand too.

I called my host mom when I got out of the taxi and after some initial difficulty talking with her, the husband jumped on the phone and asked me in english where I was (thank god for that!). Her name is Dolores but she prefers Lola. Her husband Pablo and her have 3 children between the ages of 10 and 13. Lucille is the oldest followed by Elena and Enrique. They are all extremely welcoming and extremely helpful. I had some difficulty keeping up with them at first but in no time, we were able to carry on a full conversation. My roomate Alex who's from Denver was already here and very grateful for my arrival. She's having an extremely rough time speaking spanish so having someone to translate when she doesn't understand she says is a big help. We share a bedroom together (pics to come!) at the end of the hall which turned out to be just fine. I seem to have lucked out again as far as random roomates go so I'm very grateful to have her.

As soon as I walked in, I felt welcome. They all gathered in the front hall to meet me and introduced themselves one by one. I'm really looking forward to getting to know each of them better. I'll have to get a picture of them to put up here so you can see how cute they are. Lola made me something to eat no longer than 10 minutes after I arrived (rice with some sort of meat plus a side of bread). After dinner she made sure that I had a fresh bowl of fruit sitting infront of me so I could have a piece after eating (they eat fruit after every meal). Pablo, Lola, Alex and I probably talked in the kitchen for about an hour or so before everyone headed off to bed. The kids were reading in their bedrooms when I jumped into a much needed shower. I think that was at about 11pm or a little later (they stay up late here even on weeknights because everybody gets a nap or siesta during the day after eating lunch). After my shower, I headed to my bedroom in some borrowed pajamas from Alex and some disposable underwear from Lola lol. The girls laughed and were all embarassed when she pulled them out but to be honest, I'll take a pair of disposable underwear before jumping back into the ones I wore throughout my trip. Alex and I talked for a little bit, wrote in our journals, and went to bed at about midnight. I didn't sleep all that well because I kept waking myself up thinking in spanish (I can't believe I'm doing that already) but it was nice to get some sleep laying down in a bed.

The whole house was up by 7:30 (maybe earlier since I didn't bother crawling out of bed any sooner than that) and Lola rushed the Lucille and Elena off to school all while preparing breakfast for Alex and I and getting ready herself. I jumped into the same clothes I wore yesterday having no other choice but I'm going out to buy something to wear later since Lola assured me that the airlines will reimburse me for anything I have to buy on account of them losing my bags. After putting on some makeup and blowing Alex's voltage converter with her curling iron (oops!), we sat down for a breakfast of cereal (at least I think that's what we were supposed to do with it... it looked like oatmeal with raisins and dried fruit), toast, orange juice, espresso, and more fruit. I'm pretty sure that it was the most healthy breakfast I've had almost ever and you should have seen the set up. The coffee cup had a little saucer to sit on as well as the bowl I used for cereal and we used cloth napkins. I don't know how else to describe everthing like the house, the family, and the things we've done so far except by saying they're adorable.

After breakfast, Alex and I got our things together, said goodbye to Lola as she left for work, and headed to the subway which is conveniently just downstairs with Pablo and Enrique. They walked with us down into the subway to make sure we got the right tickets and everything with no problems and then went back up and out to get Enrique to school. The subway looks cleaner than the Chicago El and it's faster too. I think me speaking english to Alex (since she wouldn't understand half the things I said in Spanish) on the train gave us away as Americans because we got a couple glances but it did make us a friend... another girl in the same study abroad program as us named Irene. We all walked to the center together and met two other students too on the way named Filipe and Tony (Filipe just so happens to also go to Loyola... small world). After getting to the school, I checked my orientation time and will go back at 3pm today. Alex and the other 3 had to stay for theirs at 9am while I made it back to the house still looking around amazed at the city. Getting back was not a problem at all and I think I blend in well alone since nobody really did a double take when they saw me. I used my keys to get in and now am sitting in my room while the cleaning lady tidies up around the house (that must mean that they have money). I'm just waiting until noon when I'll leave to meet Alex after her orientation to go shopping until mine starts at 3pm. I'm picking up essentials to get me by until my luggage turns up (which I hope is soon if at all).

Lol... I just went to go see what the chirping sound was that I've been hearing since I got up this morning. I thought is was a weird alarm clock but it turns out that they have a bird... good to know.

More updates soon if not tonight! Love you guys!