Lost in Translation

Hello Lovies:

Sorry it has taken me some time to update the blog! I have been busy with school. And this is not a joke. They weren’t kidding when they said this would be an intensive course. It’s great but the time at school and lesson planning and back to school has definitely cut into my exploring Barcelona. But fear not – I have still been having fun. Even if it’s in the classroom by making “That’s what she said” jokes at really inappropriate times just to have Anna crack up…and only Anna crack up…And yes, we are the 2 oldest students in the class. Are we surprised?

Anyhu, I really have been enjoying teaching. I can’t stress how much these students WANT to learn and enjoy whatever crazy lessons I present them…So the latest lesson I taught was for the intermediate class (which, remember is a bunch of adults) new vocabulary. So the lesson I had to teach was regarding film and all of the vocabulary that correlates with movies. So the one film I knew that my students and I would have in common is Vicky Christina Barcelona. Even though the subject of the film is a little risqué – I decided, after clearing with my instructor, it would be a great base to start the class in debate. So the class is going along really well – everyone is discussing why the movie is wonderful or horrible and totally understanding the vocabulary I’m introducing until I get to…memorable movie quotes! So I explain how in the USA everyone LOVES to quote movies. So they are rather confused (I can tell by the looks on their faces) so I go – Let’s play a game…I am going to say a quote from a movie and you will tell me what it is - “Toto, I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore.”

SILENCE.

I repeat the quote. Que?! I am clicking my heels. They are laughing... “I don’t know that movie…” So I go, WIZARD OF OZ! Still – I get blank stares. Yes, that is right – Spaniards are in the dark about one of the greatest movies of all time. So when I quote the Godfather – they all got that…Good thing the Fascist regime didn’t keep gangster movies away from these folks. Anyways, I ask for famous quotes and the first one I get it “Yes we can!” (Love for Obama over here). So I ask for a movie quote and this one girl tells it to me in Spanish… “I don’t remember the name of the movie, only in Spanish. But the quote – it ends the movie. It’s about eating…Or starving…Or…” So I freak out – “AS GOD AS MY WITNESS, I WILL NEVER GO HUNGRY AGAIN?! GONE WITH THE WIND?!?! YOU KNOW A GOOD, CLASSIC MOVIE – woo!” So they loved the English translation & had me write it on the board so they could go home and I guess tell their husbands/wives their English lesson for the day… So yeah, maybe it’s not something as effective as perfect present tense but it definitely is more entertaining!

Now as for my lost in translation moment: I decided that in between all of my partying I needed to go to church – as a good, Catholic (Spaniard) does. So I picked a beautiful cathedral in the El Borne area – about a 10 minute walk from my apartment. I walk in and the heat and smell hits me – I forgot that these ancient cathedrals do not host central AC… It was miserable. And, because it is voted one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the city, tourists kept coming in during mass and snapping pictures. Even though there are millions of signs in millions of different languages stating – NO PICTURES DURING SERVICE. People are idiots sometimes. Anyways, I settle in, expecting to follow the mass and gather some of the phrases with my basic Spanish knowledge. Wrong. It would have been easier if the mass was in Latin…Since they did this mass in Catalan! Catalan is the preferred language of Barcelona and it is a mix of Spanish, French and Portuguese. Then you add an intense lisp sound and wahla. In other words, I have learned one Catalan word since I have been here and don’t know if I will master more than 10 as it is very difficult. So I’m still on the search for a church in this very Catholic city – I will keep you posted.

Okay, so for those of you that have skimmed the past two monster paragraphs regarding school and church, I will now share the fun stories…Nights in the BCN!

So here’s a great one: 2 Saturdays ago Anna, Casey (presh boy from our class) and I went to a beach outside of Barcelona. It was about a 20 minute train ride and was great – very serene and much cleaner beaches compared to the city ones. It reminds me a lot of LA when I went to go visit Beans – the waves were intense and super cold. Anna couldn’t even get in or she would have been washed away as I almost was knocked down. At least this time, if my top flew off (as it did in Cali due to some mean wave) I would have fit in with the locals. This did not happen and I still do not see the need to go around topless – it’s just weird. So what if I have tan lines…At least I can see progress with becoming tan. Okay, so that night Anna and I decided to go to some bars around the area – have a chill night, right? So we are walking down our alley and we hear music coming from one of the side alleys…We walk over and find ourselves in a side square next to Barcelona’s Cathedral (not Sagrada de Famila). Sitting on the church steps are a bunch of people around our age…All very alternative and a big mix of nationalities. So we kind of stay back and watch these gals and guys jam it out on their guitars and bongos and tambourines and sing these great Spanish songs. They are dancing around and this one girl is leading the group – she reminded me of Maria from West Side Story - her voice is perfect and everyone is harmonizing – it was nuts. So we are about to walk away when the leader of the pack – this Rastafarian dude calls us over: “Come join us. Sit with us. Sing with us.” So Anna and I walk over and then he points at me and is like “Sing!” – I’m like – Uhh…No hablas espanol…But I’ll listen? So he laughs and they all start… No Woman, No Cry. It was awesome! This led into a 2 hour music session with these street musicians – all super talented, taking turns playing the guitar, singing a Spanish song here, an American song there (Sympathy for the Devil was my favorite moment of the night) – it was a very hippie-esque evening. I even got serenaded…by the drunk Spaniard that looked like Cheech from Cheech and Chong. He also tried to serenade Anna with some song that started off how he wanted a little Vietnamese girl (okay that leads to a whole nuther story regarding everyone in this city’s fascination with Anna’s nationality…it’s rather hilarious). All in all – such a fun night. Very European, very surreal… More reasons for ya’ll to come visit!

And if that didn’t convince…We found a place to go salsa! We decided to have another chill night this past Saturday (why do we say this? It never is!) and go listen to some jazz. So we checked out this club called Harlem Jazz Club. And there was a Cuban salsa band playing. It was the best! We were sambaing and being nuts and busting in some hip-hop here and there to keep it real. Promise to take you there if you come visit.

Another favorite thing of mine here in Barca is Park de Ciutadella. It’s like the Central Park for the BCN but is more of an Audubon Park feel and yet even prettier. It is right across from Arc de Triumf and is simply gorgeous. There are a bunch of maze-like trails thru-out and Anna and I have been going every afternoon to run. It leads up to the zoo and also includes this cute pond with paddle boats. The only issue I have (and this isn’t just in the park) is the amount of PDA I witness while getting on my fitness… People in this city love to make out, make out, make out. I mean, I run into people on the street because they decided to stop and do it in the road. It’s just crazy. I really am not one for PDA – in or out of a relationship, drunk or sober…It’s just not my style. And I don’t plan to pick up this trait when I return to the US – so no worries there. At the same time, this city is all about the love. I have found myself becoming even more sappy and leaning back to my hopeless romantic views on life. It’s a great date city so all of my friends that are married or engaged or about to be engaged (like, 90% of ya’ll) – you should really come visit. I already have a list of places that look super fun and romantic…Of course, I’m saving it for when my matador takes me out.

And yes, speaking of men…The language barrier is insane! Besides leading on the deaf boy (I see him everywhere) and making friends with hot Spanish bartenders or Gelato scoopers – I haven’t really had any exciting options come my way! Of course, when and once and if I do – I will let ya’ll know pronto!

As for other things – I booked my flight to Paris for the 2nd week in August. I’m super excited and glad to be touring the city with a “local” that is all about food and drinking. I can’t wait to report back on that trip (no pressure Scott). Also, big news – Anna and I found our apartment for the year! It’s super cute and in a great neighborhood area of BCN – no more drunks and protests and protests led by drunks outside of our window! Woo! Also, we get our own bedrooms and our own kitchen! You don’t understand how excited this makes me. I GET TO BAKE!

I am going to get back to some lesson planning – teaching them how to politely say something negative about a person (I kid you not). More updates to come and in sooner time than before. Promise!

Also, as I can’t see any indy American films in Spain – I am going to recommend a few films that are coming out that I am DYING to see and can’t see and wah wah – you heard me complain about this stuff before. Also, going to recommend some songs that I can’t turn off of replay right now – hope you likey.

Miss you all. Start planning your visit to Barcelona. I’ll keep on my search for my matador…

Linds

MOVIES
(500) Days of Summer – Almost had the chance to see this at Sundance but it wasn’t out until the week after we were there. It looks adorable and lovely and all good things that make a movie wonderful.
Adam – Also another film I wanted to see at Sundance. I ended up seeing another film about a man with Aspergers disease but this one looks a bit lighter than what I saw. And very, very sweet.
Away We Go – I DID see this and loved, loved it. Sweet and quirky plus John Krasinki makes it top in my book. Soundtrack is amazing which leads me to…

SONGS
Wait – Alexi Murdoch (Away We Go Soundtrack)
Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ – The Velvet Underground (Away We Go Soundtrack)
Hard Sun – Eddie Vedder
Candy – Paolo Nutini
Crooked Lines – M. Ward

Playing on La Playa

Hola! Anna and I have completed our first week here in Barca and I just need to share some of my insights on living abroad in this crazy, beautiful city.
Buuut before we start with the fun I might as well get the bad (but oh so funny) over with. I am going to have to throw in a few complaints. I know you are thinking – “Lindsay…Seriously?! Shut the F up! You are in Barca. You are always on the beach or drunk off of Sangria or both. WHAT is there to complain about!?” Well, you know what… I’m an American and I have the right to freedom of speech…even if it means that my form of speech includes bratty statements. So that being said – here are my ONLY complaints for living abroad/in Barca:
- Hi, Mr. Uuber Euro-Man that is standing thisclosetome on the metro. Yeah – next time you want to be up in my space, can you please consider some deodorant? That’s right…Antiperspirant will really help a man like you out in a really hot city. At least a little soap never hurt anyone.
- I can’t watch the last final episodes of The Bachelorette. I think I already complained about this one but seriously – I am calling American-based hotels in Barca to see if they get ABC as ½ of the American girls I meet here are just as obsessed as I am and want to see these last, crucial moments! At least ihategreenbeans.com gives a great recap…It’s good but not as great when I could stare at the man of my dreams: Ed.
- It is hot. And there is no AC. Our room, by evening (when we are finally going to bed) is in the high-80s. I think it’s safe to say we all like a little cool air for decent sleeping, si?
- The food. Okay, this may shock most of ya’ll but besides one amazing restaurant (which will be discussed below) Anna and I have had a string of bad luck with food! First off, everyone runs on starches and fried food here. I kid you not. Most tapas consist of fried potatoes, fried chicken nuggets mixed with fried potatoes, scrambled eggs with fried potatoes, fried potatoes topped with fried anchovies annnd… olives.
Okay, so not too many complaints, huh? And they are totally legit. We are talking hygiene, American Reality Television (yes I DID capitalize that), weather and food. Now on to the sweet stuff…
- Boxed Sangria. I love you so. You are only .80euros and one of you gets Anna and me drunk in record time. You taste delish and you make me giggle.
- THE BEACH! So after these past few days – I have officially decided I need to move somewhere that has the beach at my fingertips. We go to school and when finished, cross the street and bam – we are at the beach. I get a nice little glaze to my tan, I drink my boxed Sangria, I play some mean beach volley-ball, I people-watch like woah (I would like to take this moment to thank all European men for being so self-centered and taking care of their 8-packs) and I thank God that She blessed us with such a beautiful, stress-reliever. Nothing can calm me like lying on the beach when the sun is going down (PS – doesn’t leave the sky until 9:30PM) and the breeze is picking up and the ocean waves…Okay, I’ll stop. Also, it encourages some really philosophical conversations between Anna and me – haha.
- The people are so friendly here! I love em (except for the nasty, old Italian men that make kiss noises in my ear on the metro – I don’t like it). Everyone is so willing to help you out and, as my Spanish is muy horrible – I am constantly being corrected but in a very kind way, not a –Oh, you stupid American. They are wonderful to party with too. And, this city is full of people from all over the world – so not only are the people from Barca great but so are all of our new Brit, German, Irish, Dutch and South American friends. If you were near us on the beach yesterday you would have heard such a wonderful mix of accents – and yes, mine went a little high and more Southern with every glass of Sangria I downed. It’s a problem that I can’t fix. Sorry.
- The FASHION! The women here are so confident and I love it. They rock some outfits that personally I never could/would but I admire. It’s very bohemian here – very little makeup, vintage-style dresses (OBSESSED!) and crazy beach hair. Now, on another note – I have noticed a few short-alls being rocked so Meesh – I really hope you come visit…Since now you will know what to pack ;0)
- Cervesara Cataluña and Gelato! Gelato! Gelato! – the two best eating establishments (that we have discovered thus far) in Barca. The first is authentic Cataluña food – all tapas, all fresh and all delicious. Anna and I went there for my birthday dinner and had some of the best white wine, sangria and various other appetizers ever. Plus, the head chef is muy guapo. We made a point to be some of the last people in the restaurant (um, this would have been around 1:30AM) so we could chat it up with him. Gelato! (x3) is a little, trendy Gelato shop that is literally right across the path from our apartment door! It is the best gelato I have ever had and is super fresh. And we also befriended the hot Gelato-scooper too! Rafa es muy, MUY guapo and sarcastic. I may be in love. Plus they always play great dance music in there so Anna and I are the two ridiculous American girls bopping around waiting for Rafa to serve up some yummy sweets!

We plan to have a beach party tomorrow night. There are tons of bars on the beaches and a lot of people come right after work and stay until 2AM. Really excited about that! Then on Saturday we plan to hop a train to one of the nicer beaches an hour outside of Barca and explore the little towns. Sunday is movie day in Barcelona – everything closes down (very Catholic) except the theaters. So we will be hitting up the films or maybe a museum as we haven’t really started tackling those yet. They have this amazing Art Pass – it’s 20 Euros and it gets you into every art museum (and there are a bazillion) for 6 months. Definitely taking advantage of that one.

As for school – I love, LOVE teaching! I taught my first two classes (this is all for practice) today and yesterday. In the morning we work on ways to teach English along with some other items and in the afternoon, we get to teach an actual class. Our students consist of adults in and around the area that can’t afford classes but want to learn English. They are WONDERFUL to teach as they are all so sweet and really passionate about perfecting their English. The past two days I taught Present Perfect Tense and seriously – I have never seen such excitement over grammar. I enjoy the creativity that teaching allows me that I didn’t have the chance to express in past jobs. Nor have I had a job as rewarding. I am really enjoying myself!

Alright. I’ll stop now before I start busting out some Michael Jackson’s Free Willy Song but I want to send all of my hugs and love your way. I miss everyone so much and can’t wait to see your smiling face here!

Scouring the beaches for my Matador,

Linds

And the Fun Begins...

Ay! Es muy calor! Anna and I are taking a breather from our typical four-hour hiking around the city adventures and chill-laxing before going out tonight to celebrate mi cumpleanos! I really wish ya’ll could be here to help celebrate as birthdays are more cheery with mucho amigos. Okay, so some funny stories for ya’ll…

- So Anna and I went out on our first night in Barcelona and it was quite a trip. We went into the SoHo area of Baca known as El Borne. Totally my scene – tons of tiny bars full of people drinking mucho mojitos and sangria and randomly drunk dancing in doorways – loved it! So we hit up a bar and realized this is going to be difficult- getting a Spanish boy as the language barrier doesn’t help when one wants to use her wit for flirting purposes. Now, with that in mind, guess who was the first guy to hit on me…??? A mute Spaniard! I mean – how hilarious is this? So Anna and I are sitting at the bar (befriending the bartenders is muy importante) and this guy comes up and is pointing at the popcorn (they give everyone popcorn at the bars – Madigans traditions thru-out!) and motinoning that he will catch it in his mouth and then started pointing to my lips – so I’m like, “Okay mime. I can try to catch it in my mouth too.” Well, no – that’s not what he meant. He goes to throw the popcorn and catches it in his mouth and goes in for a kiss. I’m like, “Slow down Cowboy! No sir!” and he keeps doing all of these motions and so his friends started to yell at him from across the bar and he leaves while blowing me a kiss. So I jokingly say to Anna, “Maybe he’s mute.” And sure enough, I look over and there are all of his friends doing sign language with him. Seriously. I can’t make this stuff up.

- I think my favorite boys thus far are the Brits. We have met so many cute ones – That night when we were walking back we made friends with these 2 Brits who gave us some fabulous new slang to use. No longer am I saying “OMG – that’s awesome!” Instead it’s: “That is bloody, fuckin brilliant!” Like it? I, of course, do my horrible British accent with it (they said I sounded like Princess Di – haha). Between them, some Brits we met last night, our flat mates and this hot Brit that lives in the flat above us – I’m kind of in love with the British Boys.

- Okay, non-going out related: Today Anna and I walked to Montjuic. If you come visit me, I promise to take you there! It holds the most absolute beautiful views of the city. It’s in the mountain/cliff area of Barcelona and holds Barcelona’s castle. It looks more like a fort and you can climb all over the roof and take fabulous pictures of the city. You can see where we live as we are next door to Sagrada Familia (Literally) so that is pretty neat. We took some pretty cheesy pictures there as we were inspired by The Sound of Music so I don’t know if these will go on the f-book but we’ll see… Anyways, Montjuic has much more to it – we just took the tram up to the castle and walked around some of the BEAUTIFUL gardens. But there is also the modern museum of art, the Catalunya museum and the site of where the 1992 Olympics were held. We plan to take a day and go hiking all thru out. Absolutely beautiful. Reminds me why it’s okay that I moved a million miles away.

We should be posting our bazillion pictures on facebook shortly so keep looking. If you aren’t on the book, I’ll also set up an account on some picture sharing site for those who are interested! On my way to shower up and get ready for another night on the town. Hasta luego!
Donde Esta Mi Matador…Or Prince William?

PS – Thank you to everyone who has been sending me emails! I love hearing about your lives and what’s going on. I promise to respond to all of ya’ll soon! XoX!

Linds

Lindsay in Wonderland

Soy Aqui! Seriously, we are here and I can't get over it - all of this preperation and talk and pre-celebrations and now...I'm here! Anna and I made it into Barcelona and we are walking around wide-eyed. Well, more so I’m walking around wide-eyed going “que?!” – This time Anna’s my translator. It’s amazing how fast she has picked up on her Spanish. I’m quite behind and have been trying to memorize a new, helpful phrase each day. I guess my Spanish will come with time.

Okay, so fun stories for ya’ll! Flight and the transfer to our flat was fine – very little problems. So we got to our place and, thank God our landlord's nephew was here as he helped us carry our 70+ pound bags up three flights of marble stairs to our new home. Our room is just lovely. Very Ikeaesque with a huge-ass fridge and, my second favorite part, a great closet! I’m amazed at the closet space – my sundresses are super happy. But the BEST part of our room is THE BALCONY. And our LOCATION is just perfecto! So we look out onto a square (I’ll post these pics ASAP on facebook – if you are not on the book, just let me know and I’ll fwd them on!) that is pretty famous. To the left of us is the Mayor’s office and to the right is the Catalonian Government Building – both gorgeous. Then straight ahead is a side street that leads to Las Ramblas – the main street in Barcelona with multiple restaurants and shops and bars – I adore all of the fresco dining and drinking here – I discovered this style recently in Chi-town and loved it. But the people-watching here is much more interesting...Wow, the fashion is just insane.

So in short we have been exploring the city – we did a little walking around yesterday but I was so exhausted I went back to the flat for a nap. Woke up to a cannon going off…Yes, that’s right – a cannon. There was a huge-ass protest going on right below our balcony: tons of people, flags, ribbons, drums and a lot of catchy chanting. Something about not wanting to work (seriously, this city is so lazy – loves it!) and then they burned a picture of the Catalonian governor or whatever political level this dude is. After the burning and random cannon bursts, they started this acoustic-guitar session which was really lovely! Mainly Spanish guitar and songs but then one girl got up and sang Cranberries “Zombie” (Lils – thought of you instantly) but yeah – one of the most organized protests I've ever witnessed.

Today we got up to start our day and it was raining :( We ventured out when the weather cleared to go get some items and found the best open-air market to shortly after, get stuck in a monsoon. The weather finally cleared and Anna and I went with one of our flat-mates, Adam (from the UK – and yes I try and copy ½ of what he says with my version of the British accent) to go explore. We walked to the Christopher Columbus statue (stupid Spaniards have him pointing in the wrong direction …to Africa and not the US – haha) and caught the TOUR DE FRANCE! It was pretty amazing and I actually got Lance in my one good picture of the bicyclists as they swarmed past. After that we went walking on the beach, went to the Arc de Triumph (did you know that was where the Eifel Tower was to be built?! Again, stupid Spaniards wanted an arc and not a tower – ha!) and watched one of the world’s largest spin classes – it was hilarious! Seriously, all of these people sweating it out to horrible Euro-trash music under the beautiful Arc de Triumph. It was great. But this city is absolutely beautiful - I can't get over the ornate buildings. There are so many similarities to the French Quarter in New Orleans but yet so different. It's funny to walk around in a city and be the minority for once - everyone speaking so many different languages and not understanding one bit. I'm seriously in awe of this city.

Anna and I are going to venture out tonight and toast our arrival the proper way – with mucho, mucho Sangria! I’m sure from here on out I will have many more interesting stories and less of this touristy stuff – which is what ya’ll want, right? ;0)

Miss everyone so much. Was thrilled to find out there is a cinema close by that shows AMERICAN movies in ENGLISH ! You know how this excites me so – especially if they play my favorite obscure indie flicks. On a sad note – you can not stream American television shows here in Europe so Anna and I are in the dark with the last few episodes of the Bachlorette…Also, no Project Runway for us :0( - Oh well, I guess these are the sacrafices we will have to make.

Oh – and the Spanish men…Their cute…Just not sure how I feel about the man-purse that a lot of them rock.

Still on the search for my Matador,
Linds