Almost two weeks already?!

Truth be told, I should have started this blog about two months ago. I had great intentions of chronicling this entire process of moving from start to finish, but I honestly just did not have the brain power. I still don't, but I refuse to miss any more of this experience, so it is time to start writing, taking pictures, and fire up the Spanish lessons again. Foggy brain or not, we are here! It may not be the most eloquent, entertaining, or grammatically correct blog at this point, but I want to share the daily challenges and experiences with our friends and family, and to remember what it was like during these first few months. So here it goes...

So here we are...day 11 in Spain. The first 11 days have been a complete roller coaster ride. Some of it expected, some of it very surprising. I think the hardest part for me is making the move with two young children in tow. Moving to a foreign country is sort of sensory overload at first--new sights, sounds, smells, tastes. Everything is new, and everything requires 10X more thought and effort than before. Now add into the mix two young children with jet lag who are hungry and tired and looking to have their needs met. It's been a bit much. And although, overall, I have been so impressed with Evan and Mia throughout this entire process, it doesn't change the fact that they are 1 and 3, and their needs come first. Thankfully, I know there will be a point when we find our stride, and get into a routine again. Things WILL get easier, and I know that once we find our new normal, our "Barcelona normal" will be much more enjoyable than "Rowley normal" was. We just have to survive until then!

It is always sort of an internal struggle with me...Half of me craves change and adventure...I think I was the one who wanted this relocation more than anyone. Yet, the other half of me craves order and calmness. I need routine, and I need to make sense of things, which seems to completely contradict the adventurous side. It feels like I'm always making huge life changes, then finding ways to cope with all the change! This experience is no different.

What we have found and learned this week...Well, for starters, the "landing" here was not so smooth. We learned quickly that urgency is not a word in the Spanish dictionary. As much as we planned to have our arrival coincide as closely as possible with the shipping of our US goods container, we found out soon after we arrived that between the shipping company and customs agents, the delivery of our furniture (and all household goods) may not happen for an additional week. We checked into a hotel--lugging the two pack and plays, and three suitcases--and tried to figure out what our next move should be. Thankfully, after two days of living in the hotel, we managed (well, Chris managed) to get the customs agents to cough up our stuff, and we moved into our new home last Friday--just in time for Molly to arrive.

Our apartment is amazing. Completely not what I expected to find living in Barcelona. We are on the ground level, so our front door opens directly out onto a pedestrian street. It is two levels--the first level is one huge open space that includes the living area and the kitchen, and opens out onto a little back yard area with a patio, little area of turf, small garden, and little swimming pool. Upstairs we have three bedrooms--two little adjacent rooms for the kids with huge windows that look out onto the back yard, and our room which is slightly larger and has a loft-like feature of looking out onto the first floor. There are lots of stairs and ledges which made me nervous moving here with two small children, but overall I've been pretty impressed with how quickly the kids have learned to navigate around here. Evan can now go up and down stairs completely unassisted, and is very mindful of the ledge downstairs. Mia has had some bumps along the way, but is learning. Our landlord very kindly roped off the pool, and installed a baby gate at the top of the stairs, which has been helpful. Once we are completely done unpacking, I plan to post some pictures.

We live in Poblenou, a very family oriented, mom-and-pop shop, old world kind of neighborhood. Sort of like the North End is to Boston. No one speaks English to you here (which is a good thing) and our street is lined with every shop you can imagine. A store just for olives. A store just for shoes. A store just for cheese. Bakeries, butchers, dog food, frozen food...every store is so specific. We have a huge Mercat (fresh market) just behind our house which is pretty amazing...It is a huge building filled with vendors selling everything you can imagine. Fresh meats, cheeses, breads, fish, fruits, veggies, prepared foods. Inside that building there is also a large grocery store (Mercadona) which is like our usual Shaws or Stop and Shop. Except MUCH smaller. It kind of cracks me up walking through and thinking about our stores in the US...in America, there is an entire cereal aisle. Here, there are about 10 cereals to choose from. Same with things like yogurt, juice, milk, and cheese. You have 3 or 4 options. Not 50 options. The one thing there is MORE of here is cheese. And ham. The Spanish folks love cheese and ham, and there is every kind you kind imagine. At first, I walked through, and couldn't find much of anything I needed. But everyday that I go, I find more and more...leather wipes, aluminum foil, etc. They just start popping out at me...same with the specialty stores. Yesterday I found a store just for toiletries that had all kinds of stuff we needed, and the day before I found a fabulous fruit and veggie stand that had a self service olive bar and seafood market inside. Score.

The kids have been great so far. Barcelona is made for children. It is interesting, they don't have a lot of the "kiddie" paraphernalia here. There are not a lot of kid oriented foods, or marketing for kids with TV shows or movie characters. There are no kiddie menus, or sippie cups. You see kids as young as 18 months or so, walking--not in strollers. Kids are not babied here...However, there is a HUGE emphasis on play, and I love it. There are playgrounds EVERYWHERE. Every 100 yards or so, there is a new play area for kids in this city. Even on the beaches, there are climbing structures for kids. The playgrounds here are packed. Filled with children all day long, and you see kids playing in the streets and in the parks with just a soccer ball or a bike. Even the stores here always seem to have a little slide or bike for kids to play with. Along the same lines, Barcelona is extremely pedestrian friendly. Where we live, along the beach, the walkways for pedestrians are bigger than the roads for the cars. There is a system here in Barcelona called Bicing--bikes that are available for use all over the city, you just use a card to unlock the bike, take it where you need to go, and leave it at that Bicing site for the next person. I love that there is so much green space here--parks, boardwalks, walkways, dog parks, children's playgrounds. There are little stone lounge chairs at the beach to lie on. This city is about enjoying your life. Quality of life.

And the dogs. They have it pretty good too. I wish someone had told me how dog friendly Barcelona actually was. We had heard it would be hard to find a dog friendly apartment, and that there were SOME dog parks here and there. Well, here in Poblenou, there are dogs EVERYWHERE. There are no leash laws, and everyone loves dogs here. I get stopped everyday by someone wanting to pet Molly. I brought her with us to the playground one day (mind you, dogs aren't allowed to step foot on playgrounds at home in the US), and had her tied up out of the way so she wouldn't bother any of the kids. An older woman came over, and I immediately thought she was going to yell at me for having a dog on the playground...well, she starts speaking affectionate words in Spanish to Molly, and turned to me saying, "Awwww, why don't you take her off the leash? Let her run!" Wow. Ok, not what I expected...but again, it's about quality of life around here. Dogs included.

There is so much more, but hard to write an entire 11 days worth of experiences in one sitting. I want to write about learning Spanish, the Catalans love of children, Chris's new office, our daily adventures, our recent trip to Park Guell, meeting new ex-pat friends, etc. etc...There is so much already to catch up on, but I guess I'll get there eventually. I'll get to specifics in future posts...with pictures too. But I had to start somewhere. It is Sunday today...everything is closed, supermarkets included, so it is a day of family and rest. We plan to head over to the beach, have lunch, and just relax today...and of course, keep up with the Spanish lessons. Oh, and we are meeting with a potential babysitter tonight so Mommy and Daddy can have some of our own adventures in the city at some point :)

Until next time...