Feeling the love

I'm not going to lie...I've had a lot of hard days since I've been here.  And honestly, I think it has more to do with having two toddlers 20 months apart then it does with living in a foreign country.  Some folks are just born jugglers, and can roll with chaos.  I'm calm, most of the time, but require a certain level of organization and structure to function (VIR-GO)--neither of which are currently present here in Spain.  I had life down to a science at home in the US.  I ordered 75% of our stuff online--clothes, toiletries, diapers, dog food-- you name it, I had it delivered to our door step.  Anything I could do to minimize shopping with my children, I did.  I had sippie cups filled in the fridge the night before ready to go when the kids woke up.  I had frozen waffles and Elmo on TV (yes, my kids watched TV, a necessary evil when you have two so darn close together).  I had an abundance of family members ready and willing to help,  watching the kids while I grocery shopped for the ENTIRE WEEK, and had a schedule so tight nothing could break it.  Naps followed lunch, eaten at noon, and bedtime was 6pm sharp.  If Mia woke in the middle of the night, I had a microwave to heat a bottle of milk, and within minutes she was back down.  The children had sound machines, and we could practically throw a keg party downstairs after they were in bed--they would never hear a thing.  Oh, and the dog.  Walking her involved opening our front door.  Half the time we would forget she was out there, and find her, 30 minutes later, emerging from the marsh covered in mud.  That was the hardest part of the day.  Figuring out how to clean the dog.

Now strip all of that away.  The kids sleep a stone's throw from where we sleep, and if we even step foot outside our door before they are up, they hear it and wake up.  We are in a city, so even though we live on a pedestrian street, it is still loud and there are people talking, kids playing, trucks unloading fruit, motorcycles racing, and dogs barking.  And we hear it all.  I can hear the people above us flushing their toilet for God's sake.  The sound machines were fried day one due to a faulty plug converter, so there went those.  We have no TV, so the second the kids wake up, it is all me and Chris to keep them happy and entertained while we make breakfast, which no longer involves popping waffles in the toaster.  Cheerios exist in a far away store not worth my time or effort to go to (a story for another time).  Then there is the issue of shopping.  I get bread from the grocery store, cheese from the cheese vendor, turkey meat from the fresh market, fruits and veggies one block away, and fish from a market down the road, toiletries across the walk, and baguettes from the natural market.  You get the picture.  No joke, I hit maybe 8 stores a day--yes, they are all very close to my house, but it is still a lot.  Much to Molly's benefit, she requires actual walks now, either to the dog park or the big park by the beach, so there is no half assing there either.  It took me a solid 3 weeks to find good quality dog food (I'm a dog food snob, anything I can do to prolong her life, I'll do) which requires a metro ride and an hour out of our lives to obtain.  The upside is that all of us, Molly included, are a much slimmer version of ourselves after all this work.

I could go on and on, but don't want to sound like I'm whining (even though I am).  Of course, there are parts of living here that are easier too.  The laid back lifestyle, the proximity to outdoor space, the abundance of great fresh food, Chris walking to work, the pharmacies (a blog entry in itself--I'm obsessed).  I could go on and on.  The point is, everything that was mindless at home now requires energy, time, and effort here.  Finding a book.  Getting a haircut.  Going to a doctor.  Ordering meat.  For now, it's just harder.   I know there will be a time when it is easier, and overall life here will again be seamless, but it doesn't change the fact that there is a breaking in period, and we are in the thick of it.  Then, there is this issue of the language barrier.  I won't lie, it totally sucks.  Not because people are rude, or you can't get what you need, just because you want so badly to talk to people and connect with them...and you can't.  You have these moments, all the time, when people on the street smile at you when they see Molly or notice the kids doing something cute, then say something to me...and I have no idea what they are saying.  I always smile and say "si, si"  because I have nothing else to say.  Chris and I laugh about this constantly, he does the same thing at work.  Just praying that saying "yes, yes" will hide the fact that you are totally clueless.  For all I know they could be saying, "get control of your kids, you American idiot" and I'm just smiling away, agreeing.  I tried my hardest to get some kind of Spanish foundation before I came, but planning a move to another continent completely zapped me of any excess energy or time I had to devote to Rosetta Stone.  Or maybe I was just being lazy.  Regardless, I had taken exactly three months of Spanish in 7th grade, and then it was all French from that point forward throughout college.  I.  Knew.  Nothing.  Yet, in four weeks I have to say, I have surprised myself.  I can order turkey.  I can order fish.  I walked into a salon, and asked if they cut children's hair (I'll admit, there was a significant amount of cramming with google translate beforehand, but I got my point across and Evan looks great).  People will tell you that you'll "pick up" a language just by being immersed in it.  I think that is bull.  In order to learn, you need to make a serious effort to learn, and that means classes, lessons, tutors, and practice.  Hence, Spanish class for me begins next week, two nights per week.  But, I will tell you that in three weeks, I understand a hell of a lot more now than I did when I got here.  More and more, I am actually understanding what people are saying to me, and I find that when you RELAX, loosen up, and stop panicking--you hear a lot.  It is hard initially not to freeze up when you know someone is about to ask you something and you won't know what to say back, but lately I've been focusing very hard on just listening.  They won't start hitting you if you don't know what they are saying, and eventually the point will get across, so there is no sense in worrying about it.  Since I've realized this, I've made progress.  I went to get lunch at a local take out place, and asked for grilled calamari...the owner then said "with rice or potatoes?"  and I knew what he said  (P.S., this amazing lunch was 4 euro!!!)  Not a big deal, but progress.  Similarly, the other day I took Evan into the cafe with me to get a coffee, and the owner started talking to him.  After a few minutes he looked at me and asked, "does he understand?" and I knew what he was asking me.  Again, nothing major, but that is progress for me.  I also spend a lot of time listening to the other mother's at the park.  There are times when they approach me and start talking, but again, since the language barrier exists, the conversation doesn't go too far and I'm left alone again.  That is when it makes me sad, and I can't wait to just speak Spanish already.

But this is the amazing part of living here: there is ALWAYS a silver lining.  And not just a silver lining, but a brilliant, stunning, stop you in your tracks lining, that brings you to tears.  To put it in simple terms, I feel the love here.  I feel taken care of and looked after in a way I didn't expect.  This comes from both the Catalan people, and the ex-pat community, and it is amazing. 

Today at the park...It was 6pm, late for us to be out walking, but I took advantage of the beautiful weather and sun and kept going.  We passed by a playground Evan particularly loves, so I tied the dog up, and let the kids run around.  Now, Evan had not napped today, so I knew he was tired and generally that can mean trouble, but he was in great spirits having a ball so I just went with it.  At one point there was a spinning ride/toy he wanted to use, but some older kids were using it going too fast for him to join in, so he had to wait his turn...on a normal morning that wouldn't have phased him, but at 6pm with no nap, that means sadness-->anger-->push Mia-->run in opposite direction.  I could see this nice late walk deteriorating fast, so I attempted to wrangle the troops to head home, except it was too late.  Evan was pissed, and no longer willing to walk nicely beside me, and Mia was feeding off the vibe, and pitching a fit refusing to get back in the stroller OR carrier.  I looked around to see how many people were staring at this ridiculous scene of me stepping on the leash to keep Molly close, holding Evan in the stroller with one hand, and trying to strap flailing, screaming Mia in the carrier with the other.  Yup, defiantly stares.  The cynical Bostonian in me gets angry, assuming people are judging me for being an incompetent mother.  Or maybe it's just me, and I blame it on Boston.  But no, there was no judgement.  The same two women who were staring, then came over to me, slipped the shoulder strap of the carrier on my shoulder, fastened the back snap, and put her hand on Mia's head smiling at her.  "Que pasa?"  she said, in the sweetest voice, as Mia looked back at her, silent with her tear stained face in disbelief like, "will you be my mother?"  The woman then put her hand on MY back, smiled at me, and walked with us to the street.  Everyone was silent.  Beautiful, amazing silver lining. 

These moments  happen almost every day.  When you think the world is out to get you, and nothing can go right, you are reminded of the beauty and kindness of the people here, and your whole perspective changes.  The elderly man on the metro who INSISTED that I take his seat while I had Mia in the carrier...I sat down, and as soon as the seat next to me opened up, he sat down in it with his friend next to him.  Periodically, while he was talking to his friend, he would turn to Mia, smiling and cooing at her, reaching out to touch her hand when she reached for him (she was obsessed with this guy).  It melts your heart to see a 70 year old man, out for a ride on the train with his friend, so taken with a 17 month old little girl.  Now, I can imagine this all sounds weird to folks at home (I can hear my sister Mer now, screaming at me to be careful).  Americans, or at least this American, generally don't tolerate other people touching our kids, or getting in our personal space, but here is feels totally natural.  It could have something to do with the fact that there is practically zero violent crime in Barcelona, or that I live in a very family oriented neighborhood, but it feels like everyone is just looking out for you here.  It feels nice, especially when you are away from your actual family.

And it doesn't stop with the locals.  When we found out we were moving to Barcelona, one of the folks at Vistaprint's HR office gave me the name and number of another wife of a Vistaprint employee, moved here early in 2010. I remember emailing her for the first time, nervous that she would be annoyed to hear the same questions I'm sure she has heard many times over.  Imagine my shock when I received a long, warm, welcoming email in response...full of advice and support. She didn't even know me, but literally held my hand throughout the moving process, took us out to dinner with her husband when we were here for our house hunting trip, and listened to me vent my first week here over dinner.  The ex-pat community is intense...you know you need each other, you know there is limited time to know eachother, so there is no beating around the bush.  Yesterday was the perfect example.  I go to a certain park in Poblenou quite frequently.  It has a fence to contain my little wanderer, Mia, and is usually filled with young kids under 2 in the mornings.  I like going there because Mia can play with other kids, and I can eavesdrop and try and learn some new Spanish words.  So yesterday, as I went to save Mia from walking in front of the swings, I caught the eye of another mother, who then said, "Hi".  WHOA.  English hits me like a sledgehammer these days, because I never hear it.  She was the first English speaking mother I'd met in my neighborhood, so this was huge.  Now, being the usual sketchball I am, I said, "Hi" back, but didn't ask where she was from, and just followed Mia as she toddled away.  But this woman would have none of that.  She followed me and asked me if I spoke English, to which she followed with, "what, are you from New York or something?"  I liked her immediately.  Within four minutes, she had my name, phone number, email, and was already adding me to her email list for her playgroup.  It was like speed dating for ex-pats.  She had been here for four years, and once I told her I just got here, she was in full on "get under my wing" mode.  I loved it.  She even called that night to apologize for being on the phone while we said goodbye, and emailed the name of someone she met last week from Canada for us to connect.  And it doesn't stop there.  There has been on outpouring of folks, mostly through Vistaprint, learning I'm new in town and offering to meet up.  Now, I'm not one to make new friends easily. I don't consider myself mean or rude, I'm just on the shyer side and I'm not great at approaching people.  To come here, has been a whole new world.  I think that alone can change you for the better. 

Looking Back

This may be a little backwards, but I wanted to post some pictures that have captured the last few weeks/months.  The beauty of having an iphone, or any phone with a camera, is that you always have it with you to capture life's moments that are unexpected but important.  As I was going through my phone looking at the pictures yesterday, I was pretty amazed at the story they told...From when I was pregnant with Mia, until yesterday at the park, we have every important moment captured, even if just with one picture.  So here is a little slide show into our lives...

Jump back to November 29, 2011, our house hunting trip here to Barcelona.  These pictures of Chris and I are taken at the Zurich airport, our layover on the way to Barcelona.  It was after a very long overnight flight, so we were a little giddy and out of it at this point, excited and nervous for the 5 days ahead of us. 

 Chris and I enjoying the fact that we are in Zurich, alone, in front of two really good beers.

We spent five days in Barcelona, and toured 4 of the neighborhoods we were interested in.  After looking at close to 20 apartments, we decided on a winner.  We loved everything about it.  The trip itself was a little more stress filled than either of us expected--we missed the kids and we were totally exhausted mentally and physically.  But overall, the trip was a success.  We met up with some other Vistaprint families during our time here, and felt good about our new home. 

View of our apartment from the outside patio

Meat counter at the fresh market

Before we headed back to the US, we managed to quickly run through the XMAS markets that had just started here in Barcelona that weekend.  It is a huge outdoor market filled with vendors selling handmade crafts, ornaments, wreaths, trees, and jewelry.  It was fun to see all the decorations, and shop from the local vendors for some family souvenirs before jumping a cab back to the airport. 

XMAS markets

Giant cathedral located just next to the XMAS market

Chris's snack at the airport: ham flavored potato chips...the pig leg on the front doesn't seem appetizing to me...

View from the plane on our way back to Zurich to catch our flight back to Boston

The next two months were, how shall I put this...freaking stressful.  The original plan was to be out by January first, but after deciding on an unfurnished apartment, we realized we needed to ship all of our furniture which was going to take at least six weeks if not longer.  We braced ourselves for the months ahead of packing, planning, organizing, and of course, filling out more paperwork. 

I found this one day in the office and had to laugh, even the stress had gotten to poor Dolly.

Through the packing and planning, we managed to have some fun, and keep our sense of humor.  This was a fun way of using the many boxes all over the house, and letting our imaginations run wild.  We had a ball, and the kids LOVED painting each other.

December was drawing to a close, and more than anything, we just focused on enjoying the holidays with our families.  There were so many celebrations...dinners out, a surprise party, and low key days and nights spent with family and friends in the weeks leading up to our departure.  Although it was a busy time with the move and the holidays, we were so thankful to have our family and friends there to support us and wish us well.  I do have pictures from many of these gatherings and events, but can't seem to find them at the moment.  But a big thank you, again, to everyone who took the time to be with us during our last few months in the US.  We felt (and continue to feel) very loved, and were so happy to have had that time with everyone. 

The months flew by, and before we knew it, it was February and time to get going.  Our last week in the US was spent packing and having some last goodbyes with our parents.  Here we are out to dinner the night before we left with Nannie (Judie) at a local Irish pub. 
 

Miss Mia loving her hoodsie sundae!

Much to his excitement, we had an early birthday cake for Evan in the house before we left.  He's 3!

At dinner with Nannie Judie before our departure to NYC the next day

The morning of our move...poor kiddos watching Sesame Street on the floor :(  Note the Cheerios all over the place, I did NOT feed them off the floor, we did still have bowls at that point!

Our last day in our house was a long and busy one, but pretty smooth...The movers were gone by 4pm, and our house was completely empty by 6pm.  We did one last walk through, taking in the fact that we were leaving our first home.  I admit, I cried and wondered if we were doing the right thing.  That house symbolized starting our life together...when we moved in, I pictured our future inside it with kids running down the halls and a dog laying on the porch.  It was everything we imagined it to be, and was something we were so proud to have purchased together.  It was hard to leave...even though we knew the buyers would love it just as much as we did, they are a young couple about to get married, just like Chris and I were when we bought it. It was a great house, but it was time to move on.  So, we gathered up the last of our stuff, packed into our rental car, and headed down to NYC to check into our hotel.  We stopped at Chili's for dinner on the way, and made it to NYC just around midnight.

All packed up and ready to go!  En route to NYC, our first stop before flying out he next day to BCN

Dropping off rental car at the JFK airport, waiting for our cab to the terminal

We had an absurd amount of luggage...

Happy as clams with lollipops at the luggage check in...it was an hour in line, so I was thankful we had treats ready to go...

Our plane!

Burning some energy before boarding...they were running in circles around the terminal laughing...they entertained the rest of the passengers for sure

Mia loved jumping off the window sill, so proud of herself

 The flight to Barcelona was pretty good, all things considering. The kids had had a crazy week of missed naps, sleeping in pack and plays, and movers in and out of the house leading up to the flight out.  The night in the hotel in NYC wasn't exactly the most restful, we had to wake them up at midnight to get them in the hotel, then spent all day getting ourselves to the airport and checked in, so that meant no naps, but they held it together pretty well. I was especially impressed with Evan... He just smiled through it all, enjoying the adventure.  Miss Mia was a little more, how shall we say this...pissed off. She is a girl that likes her beauty sleep, and to stick to her routine.  She also likes to be able to run whenever and wherever she wants, so the day in the airport was tricky, but we made it. I decided to bring the carseats on board, which was a pain to drag through the airport, but totally made it worthwhile when, just as we taxied down the runway, both kids were completely passed out and stayed that way until we arrived in Barcelona. Chris and I exchanged relieved glances, clinked mini-wine bottles, and breathed a sigh of relief. We were on our way. 

The boys snooooozing away...about halfway to Barcelona!

 We got to Barcelona at 7am in the morning, and decided to head right to the apartment.  We knew our furniture hadn't been delivered yet, but we just wanted to get inside and see it again.  At the time, we had delusions that we would just stay there without our furniture--Chris's co-worker had nicely arranged the delivery of our beds from IKEA the week before, so we all had someplace to sleep.  But once we were there, I knew we needed to just check into a hotel.  We didn't have towels, soap, nothing we needed...regardless, we set up the pack and plays, and put the kids down for a nap in their new rooms as soon as we arrived, and Chris and I laid down on our mattress in our new room.  Dazed, a little shell shocked, and pondering what to do next, we drifted off to sleep using our jackets as pillows.  When we all woke up, about 3 hours later, we headed down to the beach to have some lunch, and plan the next move.  We went to a fabulous cafe, called Cafe Blu--the best salad and pizza EVER. 

We made it!  Our first lunch in Barcelona, enjoying some pizza and salad in our new neighborhood, Poblenou

A little tired...

Walking down to the beach, hitting the playground on the way

Determined!

At the end of La Rambla, beach ahead of us! 

Evan playing with the other kids on the jungle gym

Loving the beach

Evan, in deep thought as he stares at the Med Sea

 After lunch, we decided to check into a nearby hotel to wait until our furniture cleared customs.   We headed back to the apartment, gathered what we needed, and grabbed a cab to the hotel, about 5 blocks away. 

Tired and a little grumpy...waiting to check into our hotel in Barcelona

Jet lag is setting in, day 2 in Barcelona

 After two days in the hotel, Chris managed to use a little brute force to get the customs agents to hand over the goods, and on Friday we were in our apartment, with all our stuff!  We had a lot of unpacking to do, but we were HOME.

Our shipping container arrived!  Evan is reunited with his first love...his train table.  He hasn't seen it in two months!

Toys!

First lunch in our new house

 Friday evening, we got another wonderful delivery...MOLLY!  We had used a pet relocation service to ship Molly, who had flown out mid day on Thursday.  I was worried all day Friday, thinking about her and hoping she was OK.  She flew on a great airline, Luftansa, that actually had a pet hotel at her layover site in Germany where we was able to go for a walk, eat, and drink before heading on to her final destination in Barcelona.  I received an update at 4pm that she had arrived in Barcelona, and was waiting to clear customs.  At 6pm we got a knock on the door, and there she was!  Wagging up a storm!  We were so happy to see her, and very thankful she arrived safely. 

Molly is here!

Molly's first trip to the beach, SOOOOO happy

Making doggie friends

Some more random photos...

Evan playing at the playground on his birthday

Making crepes for breakfast...a new twist on his old favorite, pancakes

On our morning stroll down la rambla in Poblenou

Mia got sick the second week we were here...here she is watching elmo on the laptop, trying to cheer her up!

Not a good "Spain day"

I have found, since arriving here in Barcelona, that each day can be classified as one of two things: a good "Spain day", or a not so good "Spain day" (I don't want to say a bad "Spain day", since, like pizza, even when it's bad it's still pretty good). The good days are amazing. These are the days I find a new Spanish treasure, have a short conversation in Spanish, and enjoy the day with my family in this incredible city. Yesterday? Not a good "Spain day". Unfortunately, our time here will not always be filled with delicious tapas, palm trees, and Gaudi. Some days are going to be frustrating, tear-inducing messes. And if I write about the good, I should also write about the bad.

I had the false notion that once we arrived, the days of errands, to-do lists, and day-to-day toddler drama would somehow be replaced by leisurely lunches, park runs, and collecting fresh food for dinner that night. Kind of like when I thought my maternity leave with Evan would be like a 3 month vacation...hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Not so. As much as we tried to avoid it, we still have a laundry list of unfinished business back home. Stuff like putting all the house stuff to bed, canceling accounts, changing addresses for important accounts, finishing my NP recertification application, etc. etc. Nothing that won't be gone in a month or two, but still, added to our to-do list here, it seems excessive. And now that we are in Spain, the fun-filled immigration paperwork hasn't ended: registering with city hall, NIE cards, finding doctors/vets, all culminating with a trip back to the US for me next month to get my visa, which oddly enough took EIGHT WEEKS to complete. If anyone is ever curious about the process of moving to Spain, just watch this video, it pretty much sums it up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXWZ3uAEKsw The Spanish folks are lovely people, but the red tape and bureaucracies are semi out of control.

We are mostly unpacked, but still have artwork to hang, clothes to wash, housewares to buy, etc. Right now, as far as extras go, we are pretty bare bones...no TV, no washer dryer, no microwave, no coffee maker, no toaster, no cell phone (for me), no house phone. We just got a dishwasher yesterday. Basically we have places to eat and sleep, and computers. So, each day I sit down and decide what is realistically going to get done that day, what absolutely needs to get done that day, then make a list and make a plan. Most days, it takes all day to find and purchase food for lunch and dinner, and make sure the kids are fed, dry, rested, and happy. And until yesterday, I was OK with that. We haven't found our groove or routine yet, so I'm trying to just go with flow for a while until life resumes some kind of normalcy. It actually reminds me a lot of right after you have a baby, when life is just total chaos for six months, then suddenly you know what you are doing and can function again.

Yesterday, I decided that, no matter what, I needed to go to the local mall to buy some much needed items. Chris and I discovered a rather large indoor shopping mall within walking distance last week, full of stores we needed including FNAC (books and electronics) and Media Markt (sort of like Best Buy). Walking distance is key--I had stupidly attempted to take the metro alone with the kids and stroller last week. The metro system is easy enough to figure out, the problem was that there are about 50 little staircases inside the metro between connecting trains. It took me an hour of sweating it out, carrying Mia and the stroller, while simultaneously holding Evan's hand walking up and down the staircases. By the time I got to where I was going, I was so tired, I just wanted to go home. I filed that one under "never again", and vowed to only take the metro with Mia in the Ergo, and Evan walking. With Chris and I both there to carry the stroller, it isn't bad, but with one person it is just not worth the effort. So, knowing this, I had decided to hit up the local shopping mall that, thankfully, is within walking distance from our house. About 1-2 miles away. 

There were a few items I felt were easy enough to carry home in the stroller, and would make life a little easier at home: a toaster, a coffee maker, and a no-slip bathmat. We are a big toast family in the morning, and after two weeks of unsuccessfully trying to toast bread in this oven, I needed a toaster. You would think it is simple to figure out an oven: bake or broil. No. There are about 8 different hieroglyphic-like symbols to choose from on our oven. No words, just varying configurations of squiggly lines, straight lines, and dots on a turn dial. I've tried them all, and I'll be damned if I know what any of them mean. So yes, I needed a toaster. And as much as I love our local cafe and the delicioso cafe con leche it serves, I don't love having to get dressed and leave the house for coffee in the morning. I'm the kind of girl that sets the coffee maker the night before and hits it first thing in the morning. So coffee maker was also on the list. And a bath mat. Sounds trivial, but...we have no tub. I have to strip my children down, stand them in the shower, and point the shower sprayer at them hosing them off like prisoners as they shriek and scream (Evan laughing, Mia usually crying). After two weeks of having to hold one of their arms so they don't slip and break their neck during this fun process, a bath mat was in order.

So, that was the plan. Drop the laundry at the laundry mat (I'm so missing a washer right now), go to the mall, get those three items, and be home in time for lunch and nap. Sounded do-able, and I was determined. 

The day started off well...Mia napped in the morning while I got Evan and I dressed and cleaned up breakfast. I loaded up 1/2 the double stroller with all the laundry, and got my cafe con leche from across the way. Chris headed to work, and I waited for Mia to get up. Once Mia was up, I popped her in the Ergo baby on my back, got Evan in the stroller, and headed out. We managed to get to the laundry mat without any of the mammoth sized laundry bags falling over onto Evan's side of the stroller, yet, in our usual circus-like fashion, we busted through the tiny doors of the mom-and-pop shop laundromat...laundry bags falling all over the place. I put on my calmest face, smiled at the shop keeper and said "Hola". The owner of this shop is this adorable Catalan woman...tiny, little 4ft lady, with a gray bun and friendly eyes. She is sweet, speaks not a word of English, and will often shake her head mutter words I don't understand, usually along the lines of "muy grande" as she takes in how much laundry I have brought her that day. Today, there was another older woman just hanging out in the Laundromat. I've noticed this happens a lot around here. People just hanging out in stores chatting it up with the owner. Like, for hours. Another thing that happens a lot, which is completely endearing and wonderful, is that old Catalan women will stop all the time to look at the kids and talk to them, which is super cute, even when I don't even know what they are saying. They LOVE children here. Well, this patron who happen to be there today, turned to Evan and started her endless string of Catalan, likely talking about him being cute and sweet. Except this woman was very loud, a little scary looking, and was talking so fast and so long she scared the be-jesus out of Evan. I can't really blame him...if a strange person started yelling gibberish at me, I would probably freak out a little too. So Evan burst into tears, and I smiled, unloaded the bags, said "Adios", and headed out the door.

Off we went to the mall, Evan already in a bad state of mind, and us rushing to get there before the kids get hungry again. We make it to the mall, and I remind myself of the plan: Media Markt for a coffee maker and toaster, Chiccos for the bathmat. Except I pass by Alcampo...this HUGE store that looks like Target with one floor of groceries and one floor of household stuff. Thinking I could find some stuff I needed inside, I detour, breaking the first cardinal rule of doing errands with toddlers. Never, never detour. Regardless, I run in, and I find both the coffee maker and the toaster in Alcampo. Good prices, good selection. Then I broke the second cardinal rule of shopping with toddlers. I put the stuff back, and left without buying what I needed thinking I could get it cheaper somewhere else. Instead, I headed down to the grocery store level. Here, I was hoping to find baking products--flour, sugar, spices (oddly enough, I can't seem to find these things at the grocery stores here, or at least I haven't seen it yet). Halfway through the search, the kids start getting whiney and hungry, so I abort the mission, and head to the food court for refreshments. Never a good sign when we've been out for almost an hour, we have nothing to show for it, and already I'm burning more time feeding them. We grab some yogurt, muffins, and a banana for the kids, a second coffee for me, and refuel. The kids eat it all pretty quickly, so I grab my coffee, grab the stroller, and get going to media markt. I soon realize that navigating the double stroller in the tiny, electronic lined aisles of this store is not so easy, so I tuck the coffee cup in the back of the stroller in the netting so I have both hands free. I head right to the kitchen appliance aisle, sensing the limited time I have left...except the same coffee makers and toasters are way more expensive here, and they don't have nearly as much selection as Alcampo did. So, again, I leave empty handed, and head to Chiccos for the bathmat. Inside Chiccos is a little play area with two slides, little bikes, and a little house. The kids see this, and immediately start yelling to get out and play...so I let them out to play as I grab the bathmat and a nightlight for Mia. I let them play, 10 minutes go by, and I am realizing it is getting late, and we still have to get what we came for. So I get Evan back in the stroller and grab Mia, who is now power walking through the store determined to lose me. She screams the second I grab her to put her in the stroller. Out we go, screaming Mia and all, and head back to Alcampo...upon entrance, Evan yells "NO! NO! NO!" (my kids LOOOOOVE shopping), and I put on my happy calm face and grab the first toaster and coffee maker I see, and jog it out to the checkout--finish line is in sight, and damn it, I'm going to get there. Checking out can be tricky here in Spain...it took me a while to figure out all the questions they will ask you in Spanish..."do you need a bag?" (if you don't bring a reusable bag with you to stores, they charge you for a plastic one)..."for here or to take away"...etc. Furthermore, you have to bag your own stuff (groceries included) and they fly through checking people out so you have to bag at the speed of light in order to avoid looking like an idiot and holding up the whole line of people. This time, I had all my appropriate Spanish replies and reusable bags ready to go, but couldn't find my debit card, holding up the line of people as usual, and had two screaming kids in tow. Finally, we paid, and at this point I am flat out sweating. I quickly let down the back of the stroller seat that isn't being used, shove all the stuff in the stroller, and speed walk out of there eager to just get home already. I walk the entire length of the mall, exasperated and tired, but still proud I got what I came for, and stop at the mall exit to get everyone strapped in and organized, ready for the walk home. As I bend down getting my purse from under the stroller, I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn to see someone pointing to the back of the stroller seat, where the coffee I had put in there had tipped upside down when I put the back down in Alcampo, and was pouring out onto the floor. I looked behind us and saw a trail of coffee down the entire length of the mall. AWESOME. 

We made it home, an hour later than expected, and after a quick lunch I put the kids down for nap. As I lay Mia down, I am realizing that she is feeling pretty hot, and flushed...turns out, she has a temperature of 104. Ahhh, that would explain the grumpiness. Poor little thing is just grumpy and clingy and just wants to be laying on me for the rest of the night. I'll cut to the chase here--the day was capped off by Mia throwing up on me, and spending the night by my side in bed in fitful bursts of sleep, punctuated with bouts of crying. Just not a great day. 

I will say, that I know enough to leave these kinds of days where they belong-- behind me. I try not to dwell on the hard parts of living here, and look at these kinds of days as lessons moving forward. Every day that I stumble through a conversation, or arrive somewhere unprepared, I know what to say and do the next time. I look up the words I did not know, prepare myself to answer the questions I was asked, and realize that this is all a learning process. The Spanish have a phrase they like to use when I apologize for not speaking Spanish very well: "Poco y poco" (at least, that is how I think you spell it). It means, "little by little". For me, this is hard. I want everything mastered yesterday. I want to find what I need, speak the language, make new friends, find a work niche here... But, I try to remind myself that this will all take time, and so will knowing how best to integrate mothering two little children into all of it. Poco y poco. I will get there. We all will. It is the challenges in life that truly make life worth living. It pushes you beyond your comfort zone, beyond your own knowledge and understanding, and in the end your life is richer because of it.

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...