The paella we had was lovely, I even ate the seafood and it wasn't as horrible as I thought. I'm not a converted seafood lover yet though. We had crema catalana for dessert, I was really excited for it. Turns out it's glorified custard with a glazed sugar top (like creme brulée). It was nice though. We also had more coca too. I'm gonna get fat but right now I don't care because it tastes SO GOOD!!! They always make me have seconds too. Antonio has said more than once after he's made me eat more that he doesn't want el Ejército Británico turning up claiming Ellie Laing returned to England malnourished. I have assured him that my Dad is no longer in the army and that I won't return malnourished...anything but!
Tuesday was the official start of my au pairing. The parents went back to work after the long weekend and the children started their holidays. This means I have to speak to them in English and they have to speak to me in English too. It's not as easy as it sounds, for them anyway. That said, they did a great job of trying to only use English and asking me how to say a word or phrase if they didn't know. We took the bus to a park near their school. It's quite far out looking over the city. The park is on a hill, I actually found it more difficult to climb than the mountains last weekend. The girls were really keen to show me round their school too. Luckily, it was open. All the teachers were there as well as some pupils who were helping out taking down displays and preparing for the next academic year. I met some of their teachers and looked round the school which was lovely, some of the views from the classrooms were of the whole city and the sea! If I'd have had that view when I was at school I would've been so distracted! Something else I noticed is how affectionate the teachers are to the pupils, I know they're young and it's part of the Spanish culture but there were besos here there and everywhere. When we got back I found out my uni results had been published online. Somehow I managed to get 83 in my Spanish exam (an average of 3 exams, listening, writing and oral) which I was and still am over the moon about. This has given me an overall grade of 69.75% (unfortunately the exam wasn't worth a lot so it didn't boost my grades up that much). Any uni students will understand that is possibly the most annoying grade ever. The difference between a 60-something grade and a 70+ is the difference between a 2:1 and a First. This means I am 0.25% off a first for my second year (the first year that actually counts towards my degree). I have all my fingers and toes crossed that they automatically round it up to 70. It'd be mean not to.
On Wednesday we went to Tibidabo with the Italians. It's an attraction park on top of a mountain which overlooks Barcelona. The views were absolutely breathtaking. We got a taxi up to the Funicular station (like a train). It was so cheap, in England it would've cost so much more. Anyway, we arrived at Tibidabo and went straight on a 'ride'. It was just a metal basket with 6 of us in which went up really high then came down again, it was very slow though. Boring but with great views. All the big and fun rides were closed, we're not sure why. So we were left with a carousel, a flying plane and small rides for children. I didn't go on much. There's also a huge church that I went in with Manuela and Berta. It was beautiful inside and out. It was so so tall, we had to take an elevator to the top (2euros!!), which turned out to not even be the top. We had climb about 200 more stairs to get to the peak. It was worth it though, with even more beautiful views and a huge statue of El Cristo just like in Rio de Janeiro.
Today we went to the aquarium. It's apparently one of the best in Europe. They're all rather similar to me though and I don't particularly get excited by different varieties of fish. That said, I've discovered a new found love for stingrays upside down, they just look really cute. Tonight we are having a big dinner with the Italians and some of Antonio and Núria's friends. Lots more food I imagine.
When I write my blog, I do make it sound like I'm living the dream. Although I'm having a great time and enjoying the experience, it's definitely not as easy as I thought it would be. I've found it hard coming into a family's home. I feel like their relationships are so different to those I ever had with my parents (not in a bad way, I love my parents). They're extremely affectionate, they shout a lot and the children are allowed to swear. Sometimes I just find myself sitting there thinking about how different it all is. However that's what part of this experience is about, seeing how the Spanish live compared to how we do. Antonio said the other day that the only trouble with me au pairing is that any previous desire to want to have children has now gone out the window! I wouldn't go quite that far, however it's definitely teaching me how much time and energy they take up. And that I probably don't want to teach children...
Only a few days left in Barcelona, we leave for the Torredembarra on Sunday or Monday. Hoorah!!
P.s.The title of the blog is a word I've been hearing all too often. The Italian girls are always screaming, shouting, fighting, generally just being annoying little
No comments:
Post a Comment