Family Holiday Highlights

This was my 5-day break from my au pair duties. My mum and brother came to visit me in Barcelona, we stayed in a hostel near Las Ramblas (there will be no pictures of the hostel, the Instagram gods were not with me when I booked it) and did as much stuff as we could pack into 5 days with stinking colds and a budget! It was amazing! I've decided to just post some pictures and not to explain every detail of the holiday. Any questions, comment or message me!

Enjoy! xx

Inside La Sagrada Familia

Outside La Sagrada Familia

I don't even like dogs that much but this one was a cutie!

An ancient Roman road with some rich families' graves either side

Santa Maria del Mar with the 4th biggest rose window in Europe and in tradition Catalan Gothic style

More pictures in the next post!

Au Pair Experience is BACK Part 2

Silly me deleted the stuff I said about Saturday which is super annoying because I was just starting to enjoy myself and now this seems like hard work.

Saturday

I woke up a little late but still in time for family lunch in the village. It was nice being with the abuelos again. Honestly, I can barely understand what abuelo is saying but it´s so sweet that he´s always so eager to share things with me about life as he knows it and things about the region. He also offered me the tablet while I was reading a magazine (which I was quite content with), but it shows you how concerned he was for my comfort. So I read a bit of the newspaper the family buys La Vanguardia in Spanish and then went back to ¡Hola! which was trash but Penelope Cruz is so nice to look at.

Abuela also won´t let me lift a finger and reminds everyone to speak Spanish because I have no idea what´s going on half the time. But I don´t mind it, like I´ve said (and so has everyone here) it´s really hard to speak to your freinds and family in anything but your native tongue. She also always makes sure I´ve eaten enough, and with the meal consisiting of soup, delicious barbequed lamb and sausages and bananas, two helpings of the flan she´d made and chocolate croissants, I couldn´t physically miss out on that good eating. 

After lunch I got roped into coffee at this hotel bar with primo, Susana´s niece and their friends instead of being allowed to become one with the sofa. He drove us there which was fine because it was only a three minute drive. I say this because he´d actually said he´s a bad driver and this country roads aren´t a joke. For the first time ever, I opted for Diet Coke because I was so tired and didn´t want to force myself to be awake with more sugar. It ended up being Coke Zero, but it tasted just as nasty. We spoke and two of the girls brought their arts and craft stuff to make their masks for later. I was tempted to ask for one seeing as my glittery one wasn´t really appropriate for the robber theme, but I turned myself into a princess robber instead. 

I got picked up before I´d finished my drink 45 mins later, and then we got ready for the children´s parade. Roger and Gina had done a parade on Friday with school, but I didn´t see it because I was sleeping. They were dressed as a pirate and Pocahontas and all of the children in the class had almost the exact same outfit which I saw picking the kids up from school. I don´t know if they bulk buy it through the school or something, but I wasn´t expecting that because I'd seen Susana sewing some things. I painted a beard on Roger for his pirate look and Susana put some red lipstick on Gina as she was a cowgirl. I only stayed for half of the parade, then went to buy make up and get my stuff ready for later in the night. 

Some of the floats were super impressive, like the Gaudi one above. I don't remember seeing Native American costumes but I do recall seeing a caveman in black face and an afro wig, and also two women who might have been trying to look African in printed dresses, black face and Afro wigs. It's so alienating seeing that, I don't know how the black families who live here feel, their children are part of the parade too, but I really don't see how that's not obviously offensive. There were so many better costumes and concepts, superheroes, animals, an FCBarcelona float with two guys resembling paragliders, Gaudi, Vikings, Ancient Egyptians (there was no black face), even Ludo boards and of course, a truck load of Minions. Europe has a long way to go with cultural appropriation, but it's not surprising considering its colonial history, just frustrating and sad.

I spent the evening with the abuelos, asleep on the sofa and then eating bread dipped in hot chocolate (which was meant to be drunk but Spanish hot chocolate is super thick so I opted out) and doing my make up. I felt comfortable in their house and was really grateful to them for having me. Maria picked me up, then primo and she was in a hurry but I was so confused by the whole situation that I probably slowed her down a little. She's actually famous now because of her work (see her picture in the local paper) and sings in a choir. We swapped some idioms like "beauty is pain" (the same for women everywhere, no matter what language you speak) and they say that it rains if you sing badly here (which maybe someone should've done during the dry season that all the farmers have been worried about). 

Dinner was in someone's massive garage and I was really shy at first because Susana's niece wasn't there and I feel like me and primo only got properly friendly after Saturday night. The girls from earlier were there too but they obviously speak Catalan so I felt a bit overwhelmed by the situation. Luckily there was a massive friendly dog who came up to sniff me and grabbed some firewood so I attempted to take it out of his mouth for a bit. More people arrived, including Susana's niece and snacks and beer were passed around. Eventually I needed the bathroom and was introduced to the owners of the house which was awkward for a reason I'm not sure of, but I made sure I was very polite. 

Dinner began and it was a typical meal of ham, bread with tomato and cheese which was perfect tbh. You pass everything round and talk loads and it was really good. Eventually I needed the bathroom again and went by myself (so brave, someone did help me find the light for the stairs though). I spoke to the parents for a little while (wasn't easy because accents) and asked where the cat I'd  seen was. The mum retrieved him for me and omg he was the fattest friendliest kitty in the whole world. Things were no longer awkward. I sat with him for a good 15 mins while the dog got jealous and wouldn't come over for a stroke. Finally my "omg I miss my cat" wishes came true and eventually I wandered back downstairs.

After a while we left for Balaguer which was an experience in itself. I went with some of the girls and we sang and made jokes, it was really cool. Then I really needed the bathroom so we stopped and I fell into someone's farm in the dark praying that they didn't abandon me there :)))) It was very embarrassing and everyone saw me fall :)))) When we eventually made it to the fiesta there was a ton of mud to trek through in my brand new trainers and I would've loved to have avoided that but it's apparently tradition.

I cleaned that tradition off on Monday with a spare toothbrush.

The fiesta was pretty good, there was a live band, 3 beers for 5€ (maybe I have a slight beer obsession now), lots of people and some amazing costumes (sacred Indian gods not included).

Honestly had a lot of fun and everyone was so lovely and funny! I even saw London Girl and I did the happy drunk screaming thing in the toilets. She wasn't impressed but it was fun. Eventually I did get tired and three of us did the fun walk home. It'll be really good to hang out with the village lot again.

Sunday

Sunday was a teeny bit hard. I'd written a note on my door for the family saying I'd be sleepimg until 3pm but if they needed me urgently they could just come in and wake me up. Luckily they didn't and were out most of the time because some hands might've got bitten off, ya know? 

Susana and Jordi got ready for their concert in Barcelona which wasn't really in celebration of Valentine's day but I wished them a happy one anyway. Then it was time for babysitting which was fine apart from having to repeat myself five times to get Roger's attention! He's very much away with the fairies but both of them were a bit ill so I was as patient as possible. I tried calling my mum while I was making dinner but she was busy so I fried the frankfurters (assuming they're good so long as they're hot all the way through) and did myself some onions. I laid the table as I've become accustomed to here - pepenios (pickled gherkins, onions and red peppers) and bread sticks, all the sauces, water and napkins - and it turned out Gina didn't want dinner. So I made her some milk with Colacao and asked her to finish it all, which she did and she ate some bread sticks too. I wasn't worried about it because their parents had said they're not well and if they don't want to eat then milk's fine.

We stayed up until 12 watching Kung Fu Panda and Disney Channel and they were pretty good about going to bed which was a nice way to end a cute night.

Okay the pic is from earlier in the week but look how sweet these kids are!

So that's my week, I hope you enjoyed hearing about it and are as excited as I am for what's to come!

xx

Au Pair Experience is BACK

After my one week hiatus, I thought it might be time to update you all on what´s going on. I´m no longer counting each day because it´s been a month now and before I know it I´ll be back home. Still, blogging is not longer coming naturally to me right now, so forgive me if this post is substandard in any way. My energy is pretty spent lately because I have a social life now (and not just with MF). I saw a lot of this over the summer when I was doing my placement with the Business School analysing expatriate blogs -once you settle in to a new place the normal thing to happen is that you blog less. It might also have helped that I spent most of my free time during the week braiding my hair, but that's not the point!

So, we'll run through the week then I have a kind of "Things at Home vs Things Here" post in mind.

Saturday

This was a big night out in the city with MF and a couple of her friends. Couldn't understand one of them at alllll. Imagine someone speaking a different language with a different accent and eating every word he's saying while mumbling. It was that. The bars were fun, especially the free sweets in one and the cute girl I had the typical drunk conversation with outside the toilets. In one bar they played a darts game but I was too anxious to join in (a dart flying through the air and stabbing someone seemed an all too likely reality). Then we went to a club until 6am which was quite fun, especially as everyone was dressed up for carnival, but while MF was wooed by the Italian Stallion of her dreams, short cowboy hat guy didn't impress me so much. It was a fun night, drinks were included in the €10 entrance fee which is pretty good considering the prices in the city.

Sunday

On Sunday I was completely dead. Somehow I managed to shower and change but other than that I was toast. There was family lunch but at home and just with Maria and Pol (tía y primo) and I skipped coffee and went to bed. The paella was good, it was different, more like soup which they eat a lot of here but good. The prawns were a bit scary for me though, absolutely massive with everything still attached, I didn't realise I was squeamish but their huge shrimpy body parts freaked me out a bit. I ate them though (well done me).

I felt a bit bad about going to sleep and I was not expecting a full house when I woke up! I'd heard a few voices but i didnt know another 6 people had been visiting and waking up just as everyone was leaving was so embarrassing.

Monday

Went to the library with MF which was needed because I'd not been study my classes as much as I needed to. Well, the library is actually closed Monday mornings but there was another place open, the cultural centre, where there are study spaces and WiFi. MF was reading a classic and helped me with some stuff I wasn't sure about, then I picked up the kids and their friends from school and as far as I remember, nothing too eventful happened that day. Class is still going too fast for me but I can catch up with some studying.

Tuesday

Made the most of my afternoon off by going to Lleida, though I was so shattered I thought about leaving it. I went with Jan and Abril´s dad, also Jordi (it´s the Catalan equivalent of George and San Jordi (St George) is the region´s patron saint, did I say that?), who works in the city and kindly offered me and lift there and back, any time. We spoke Spanish on the journey there and English on the way back which was all very nice, he told helped me navigate my way around the city and said I could call him if I needed anything (n´aww).

So, I'd had the same problem as when I was trying to find a black hair shop in Valencia - searching for them on Google is useless because you end up at your destination but the shop doesn't exist whether you type in ´black hair shop´, ´afro hair shop´,´tienda africana´or anything basically. After having this happen twice, I got desperate and walked along the main shopping street. Then I spotted a black woman with gorgeous brown twists and begged her, "Por favor, señora, sabe usted donde queda una tienda un que puedo comprar extensiones para mi pelo?!?!?!?!" (If it was in English I would´ve said "Please, Aunty, do you know where I can buy hair extensions?") Turns out her Spanish isn´t that great but her husband explained what I was bothering them for and she called her Aunty who directed me to her shop. We spoke in English for a bit, then they went about their business and I tried to follow the directions I´d been given. Eventually I called Aunty with the shop back and asked her to send me the location so I could use Google Maps. That took a little while, but lucky I´d only gone 5 minutes past the shop.

So, she was waiting outside the shop which was the only reason I knew I was going to the right place. From the outside, all you can see are freezers (full of fish) and rows of seasoning (I was tempted). Once inside, she bent down to a box of a variety of extensions and tried to convince me to take the purple ones but that was a big NOPE. I also bought some Vaseline which worked overnight on my cracked lips (Carmex, Lidl lipbalm, coconut oil, you can all shove it!) but it pained me that a small tub was 5€. Oil sheen spray was also 6€ but she gave me the flat, expired since July 2015 ginger beer for free (lucky me.)

After all that, I decided to get back to my tourist roots and do some sightseeing:

Then I made the most of the shopping district and hit Tiger for some hair tools, slippers and fudge and saved my last 10€ so that I´d be able to buy something in the cafe where I had to wait for Jordi. On my way there I spotted the library and figured this was the perfect place to have a break from wandering around. After informing the attendant (who honestly didn´t give a shit) that I can´t read Catalan and need some basic Spanish books pls, I found the language section she´d directed me to and picked up the first book I saw. It was a bit strange, an old man that looks a bit younger falling in love with a 19 year old and the town gossiping about it, even though she wasn´t interested. I also had to define every other word, despite the glossary so it wasn´t as relaxing as I thought it would be. The library was pretty lovely anyway and was actually silent, not like the ones we have in London. True, there were at least 3 floors and the children´s section was seperate, but there were no kids running around screaming either, so it was a nice change.

Once I got home I started my hair and realised that I really didn´t want to explain the ´here´s my afro, now here´s my braids´ thing to everyone in town, so I took out a section of braids, then redid them with the new extensions. Think what you will!

Wednesday

Went to Jan and Abril´s for lunch and still have their mum´s cardigan because it was a bit chilly inside and I was trying to give it back all week but it´s still here. Basketball was cancelled which was a shame but also good because I was tired and needed to do more of my hair. Am I obsessed with my hair? No. But it takes ages trying to live life and do it yourself. I think this was the day when Natalia helped me with it, which was sweet and I was surprised she knew how to do it, but she´d had braids in her crazy 20s too.

Thursday

Finished my hair just in time for school. Went to school and got asked on a playdate which may or may not happen on Tuesday but it´d be cool if it did. The guy who always tells me it´s alright if I want to go into class now (the door is always shut) made a joke with me. I think I have fans now.

Friday

I think the kids and I continued our amazingly silly story on Thursday and started it on Tuesday when they were bored and being fussy at lunch. Susana´s idea, but who knew it was going to get so dark. I won´t reveal it all until it´s finished, but an elephant steps on a kid playing football and a dog eats a cat and they both die so it´s all about wow kids, some active imaginations you got there! In the evening, Roger was very good at drawing it on the story boards I´d printed out but Gina was having none of it (or anything, tbh.) Eventually she got interested in drawing and was also very good at it, but I had to sit at the dining table and do my make up ready to go out because we hadn´t finished when I´d planned and she needed help with the English subheadings.

Then it was time for coffee-not-date which I´d got a bit overexcited about seeing as there was actually not even a hint of it being a date and it was not a date in any form. Still, I put on a pretty grey skirt and borrowed a necklace from Susana (I picked one I was unlikely to break while I was paralytic off beer and that matched my simple outfit) and went to the same bar as last week. We chatted for a bit, my hair was mentioned in a wow you changed your hair, do you do it often? kind of way and eventually race came up. I did say that I didn´t wanna talk about it at all, then I heard him out and his pleas to be educated seeing as he´s more aware and concious of his own unintentional racism now, so I simply said that I was sure we´d learn a lot from each other. Honestly I´d rather just avoid the topic completely, but this is what comes with being a WoC (woman of colour) in this day and age.

Eventually London Girl joined us, then his mate from Barcelona and eventually MF joined us too (but she spent most of the time speaking to her favourite admirer which I will not forgive her for ever, this might even be worse than the olive thing). After a while they all left except for MF and after an hour of talking to her friend and his friend, I convinced her that midnight was a good time to get pizza, not go home. So we ate pizza and had a pretty fun time in Sulk Bar, especially because the bar staff also push this one boy to talk to me in English and it´s terrible, he ended up telling me ´good morning!´as I left. I also wouldn´t let him take my plate away for ages because I was undecided on the crusts and put half the pizza in my bag, in some tissue (LOL pls desperation) and apparently this was very embarrassing for MF (dunno why) but luckily I was extremely subtle and no one in that bar will ever know.

Part two to come and then you´ll get your Here vs There post! xx