First week in Barcelona
I have finally arrived in Barcelona. Trip from my home to my boyfriend´s home took about 12 hours😬 On Saturday we drove from Nõo to Riga by car maybe 4 hours, after that we waited 4 hours at the airport, airplane took 3.5 hours and then we waited an hour in the Barcelona airport for bf´s parents to pick us up. The trip here was really tiring and emotionally hard😢 Leaving home for weeks or months has never been a problem for me before, I´ve never been the one to feel homesick, but this time it felt really bittersweet. I was excited for the new city and upcoming adventures, but it was really hard to say goodbye to my mother. And the whole day I felt like I´m tearing up, I finally gave in to the sadness on the airplane and it took two days for me to really calm down and stop panicking over moving here.
On Sunday morning I woke up and everything started to sink in. The reality of leaving had finally arrived and I felt a little terrified and excited at the same time. I didn´t have too much time to think about anything since there was a lot of unpacking to do and bf´s family was about to arrive in a few hours for a gathering. We had some BBQ and talked about my plans here and played with my bf´s nephews. I was happy to be here, but at the same time felt a bit uncomfortable because of the language barrier and cultural differences. I understand Spanish quite fine, but I´m used to listen to one person at a time who speaks with the words that are already familiar to me. But when we were eating everyone was talking super fast and using two different languages at the same time, so I felt a bit out of place and out of my comfort zone. Nevertheless I had fun and got to try some new foods. My bf´s mother makes a really good potato salad 😋😋 it´s really different from what I´m used to, but sooo good and refreshing.
After BBQ Àlex and I went out to meet up with some of his friends. There was supposed to be like 6 of us, but when we arrived there were only 2 guys, me and my bf. I felt really uncomfortable and thought about going back home, because I didn´t want to feel like the odd one out. For my surprise everything went well and I actually managed to have a good time.😌
On Monday I woke up at 6.30 and went to gym. Àlex signed us up in the local gym, but we go in super early so that he and his friend could work out together. It´s actually better to go in the morning, you get such a rush of energy for the day and it wakes you up real good. Anyway when we arrived we had some problems with entering because I don´t have a Spanish ID-card and the guy at the front desk had his second day working there so we had to come back in the evening to finish up with all the documents etc., nevertheless we still managed to squeeze in a small workout in the morning at least.
After gym Àlex and I went to a little store near the house to find us a small shelf for all the clothes. I also bought myself cute black sandals since all the shoes I have here are mainly sneakers or running shoes. I finally unpacked everything and we organised the room where we´re staying till we get an apartment.
On Tuesday we went to the city center because Àlex had a time booked at the local barbershop and we wanted to visit a sports store to buy a table tennis racket for him. They have this really cool store here called Decathlon where you don´t have to scan the goods, but you put them one by one in a basket at the registry and it scans the goods automatically😲 I have never seen anything like this before, but it really speeds up the queues. Later that day we went out to play a few rounds of table tennis, I had a lot of fun, but my playing skills are not exactly the same as they used to be😬 I was really ready to play when we had finished like 10 rounds, but I think it´s fine since I can´t remember when was the last time I held up my racket. We finished 5-5. Not happy at all with the result, but I can live with that.. At least it was a draw😅
Wednesday morning started as usually with gym and after that we rushed back to the house to get changed and leave for a quick meet up with Àlex´s long time friend. We visited a little coffee shop and Àlex caught up with the latest news. After that we walked to the city center to visit Primark real quick and back to home. In the afternoon we went to a cinema to check out the new Cruella movie. Absolutely loved it!! 😍😍Emma Stone was awesome and perfect for the role.
Later that day on the evening we went out to a pizzería with Àlex´s friends. Pizza wasn´t very good, but I could practice my Spanish so overall it was fine. After that we were supposed to go to a bar for some drinks, but everything was closed because it was the day before San Juan. On San Juan people here go literally crazy.. and the day before too😬 When we were walking around on the streets it felt like a war had started or sth like that💥 There were fireworks, big and small explosions happening all the time, kids were throwing firecrackers and there were these weird twirling fireworks which were moving around. It was really terrifying. I was squeezing Àlex´s hand and jumping every time when there was an explosion. People are absolutely reckless with the explosives here. Kids were lightning fireworks in the middle of the street and grownups were doing nothing to stop them or even helping them to make a mess. It´s like nobody has heard about safety rules when it come to handling explosive goods. Everybody goes crazy like they have forgotten that these things are dangerous. Two years ago when I first saw how locals celebrate San Juan I almost got hit with one of these moving fireworks on the beach😠 I thought that people in the city were a bit calmer.. But oh boy was I wrong! Not leaving the house next year at this time for sure.
On Thursday Àlex took me to visit his father and grandma. We took a bus to a different part of Barcelona and it was really beautiful. I had met his father before but not his grandma. She is so adorable and such a lively lady😍 She has so much energy and could talk to you for hours. Anyway we went out to have lunch at this place next door which had some great sushi and after that returned to grandma´s apartment. She gave me this weird little yellow fruit to try- it was like a mix of a peach and a plum, but it was quite nice. And I got to try this local pastry that they have here on San Juan called Coca. It´s like a cake or a white bread with dried fruits and nuts on top and some have fruits inside too. It was interesting and pretty sweet.
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