Bon dia!
Recently, I moved to Barcelona to help students learn English, after a very spontaneous decision! It has been enriching, fulfilling, tiring, exciting and the most amazing thing I have decided to do.
Why did I move to Spain? Well, life is a dizzying spin of confusing choices and decisions and growing up. I wish I was Wendy in Peter Pan or something, flying off to Neverland and staying young forevs (although, maybe not because the pirate thing is scary). I finished University, moved back in with my parents and had to start the steep hill of job searching. I’m sure you can relate to the scary, exciting and exhausting leap into post-grad life. I’ve always wanted to be adventurous so, after stumbling through the year, I took a risk to be inspired and to give this travelling opportunity to others.
Who wouldn’t love a celeb lifestyle?
Now, i’m so happy! After working in retail, this little child has started assisting adorable four-year-olds and loud and energetic sixteen-year-olds with their conversational skills, in English, and it is lots of fun. I cannot tell you how much my heart melts when tiny Spanish infants waddle towards me and count to ten to show off, before everyone else in the class chimes ‘mira! mira!’ (‘look! look!) a million times to show me they can do the same. It is adorable! Everywhere I go, I hear ‘hello, Emily!’ as if I’m a celebrity walking past the paparazzi and I constantly have small infants attached to my leg or wrapped around me in a hug. I let the fame shower me. I mean, who wouldn’t love a celeb lifestyle? Moreover, the teenagers are just as kind. I was worried about teaching the tall, scary and crazy secondary kids as I remember the students in my school were a nightmare and I look about twelve, so I thought they would not take me seriously. But, discussing Ariana Grande, throwing Spanish footballers into heads up games and listening to them profess their love for Spanish trap turns them into excitable monkeys and I think they like me!
The worst I ate was a bunny! I thought it was chicken, OK?!
As the day goes on, the challenging classes make me hungry. However, at one o’clock the other teachers feed me a huge three course meal and this long lunch lasts until three! They consist of healthy rice, soups and fruit. I do miss bacon sandwiches and a full English and fish and chips and roast dinners and a good cup of Yorkshire Tea… the list goes on. But, I’m not in England anymore. My favourite was paella, of course. The worst I ate was a bunny! I thought it was chicken, OK?! Everyone said ‘si that is chicken’ or ‘similar, si’ and I was confused as the language barrier can be problematic. We all sit around the dining table as they speak Spanish and Catalan; they discuss the pupils, their lives at home, films, murdering people. To be honest, I have no idea. I sit quietly, after I have prolongued a conversation about what I am eating, and let them speak. Slowly, I am picking up vocabulary but it is difficult. I begin Spanish classes soon, with a sweet granddad-like teacher at the school. After all, learning a new language is on everyone’s ‘thirty before thirty’ list, isn’t it?
The view of La Font Màgica de Montjuïc on top of Museu Nacional D’art de Catalunya.
Of course, the best thing about living in Barcelona is that I can explore and be cool. I have met some lovely people at the weekends and have been able to see lots of Barcelona. I have visited charming and strange La Sagrada Familia, the magical Museu Nacional D’art De Catalunya, the breathtaking light show at La Font Màgica de Montjuïc, the hustle and bustle of Las Rambla, the insta-worthy Gothic Quarter, the beautiful beach and many other places. I have been to a language exchange event, which is hidden in a train station bar, and ambled around the cute corners of Barceloneta (a little tipsy, I may add).
However, I do get lost. I spent one night wandering alone like a lost puppy trying to find the restaurant where fellow English people were. I was asking for directions; asking, shopkeepers, friend groups, the policemen… anybody! Once, I caught the wrong train going in a completely different direction for an entire hour, thinking ‘it’ll be my stop soon’. A whole sixty minutes! You have to laugh. I wanted the new people in Barcelona to think I was amaze. But, nope. The uncool me will always shine through. Anyway, I am in my element when wandering around this city that now feels like home. Additionally, I have gorged on Paella, tomato bread, Spanish omelette and Crema Catalana (Crème brûlée- delicious). This weekend, I am off to Nimes and Montpelier, in France, and I can’t wait to bite into a buttery croissant and taste the macarons. Soon, I will be a fashionable European like Em in One Day when she goes to Paris (but, let’s hope it doesn’t end the same. Traumatic).
I may update you more as my time goes on, but this has been a summary of my solo adventures in Barcelona. I expect I will feel homesick at times and that I will hit a point of ‘too tired’ after the long days with little children and rowdy teenagers. For now, I know that i’m growing, I love the job and the city and can’t wait for more exploring.
Adios!
Emily x
freemytime 