Lists

Anyone who has known me for more than a minute probably knows that I love to make lists. What's not to love? They help me gather my thoughts, they're organized, they're a great time waster when you're bored - I just love a good list.

In the spirit of list-making, I thought I'd share with you the latest two that have been running through my head:

Things That I Miss from the United States

- my family & friends (duh)

- air conditioning

- smoke-free restaurants and public places

- outlets and appliances that work

- beaches where taking off your bathing suit top is NOT acceptable

- free water at restaurants

Things That I Love About Barcelona

- Every time I'm walking around, on a bus, or in a taxi, I see something new or beautiful or exciting that I can't wait to go back and explore.

- Living within 20 minutes of the beach

- my Senora, Rafaela. She's so cute, cooks us great food, and is helping us with our Spanish.

- (almost) everyone is so friendly and willing to work with the language barrier when I need something

- All of the couples you see in the streets are SO in love. The PDA gets a little intense sometimes, but besides that it's so cute to see couples of every age holding hands, showing their affection, and just looking in love and happy.

- The legal drinking age is 18.

- They play American music in all the taxis and at the bars and clubs

- I've met some really cool people from all over the United States through my program

That's all for now, but I'm sure that I'll be adding to that list a lot as the weeks go by!

Yesterday Maggie and I went shopping for a little while and got some great deals. While I was paying at one of the stores, the Black Eyed Peas song "Meet Me Halfway" was playing, and the cashier was singing it, word for word. I spoke to her in (broken) Spanish, but she must have heard me talking to Maggie in English because she asked me if I could explain to her in Spanish what "meet me halfway" meant. I wish someone had videotaped the two of us trying to explain it to her using our little Spanish vocabularies. I think, translated, I told her, "If I want something, and you want something, we go to the middle." She was probably more confused after that than before she asked!

The language barrier cracks me up sometimes. At dinner tonight I think I told Rafaela that I cried every night we were in Madrid, when I meant to say that it rained every night. Oops! And then, we couldn't figure out if she was telling us to stop eating and leave some for tomorrow night, or keep eating so we don't have to eat it tomorrow night. Hopefully by the end of this Spanish class I'll be able to actually say the thought that's in my head correctly as well as understand what people are saying to me!