intercambios, catalan, el nit bus
yo yo yo,
having a good day. I have an intercambio, Javier. He's a 23 year old engineering student and we get together once or twice a week after my 5 pm class and talk over coffee and pastries.
p/s I was talking to my parents on Saturday. They went to see a Peter, Paul, and Mary concert up in Providence and they were going to dinner beforehand. "What time?" I asked. "5 pm," my dad said. I almost died. 5 pm!!!!!!!!! I eat dinner at 9:30 pm here. Just last week, I found myself hurrying home at 8:45 pm to make it home in time for dinner On my way to the metro, I thought, "What is this? It's 9 pm and I'm going home for dinner... and it's normal."
So my intercambio is really nice and hanging out with him is fun! Some people have really bad intercambios that give them the creeps or are socially awkward or are 30 years old. Today Javi and I talked about classes, being late for things, sailing, and Disney movies. I drew a diagram of an FJ (the boats I sail) for Javi and labeled all the parts. He was so enthralled. I learned that tiller in Spanish is "timón." Later when we were talking about Disney movies, I was like "Timón is a tiller and he's the little animal in the Lion King!" It's okay because Javi is as dorky as I am. (in a good way.)
My Catalan class is so ridiculous. It's with only Columbia kids and for some reason all the boys from Columbia on this trip are goofy with only a hint of intelligence. So Catalan ends up being a big joke. Today we designed the houses of our dreams. My dream house was actually really great.
In all seriousness, I'm learning some Catalan. I find myself mixing Catalan words into my castellano speech. This past weekend, I said a number in Catalan instead of Spanish and the waitress was like, "queeeee?" Another time, I was talking with a Catalan friend and I was explaining my middle name (which is my great grandmother's last name) but I used a Catalan word by mistake and he just looked at me like, "What the heck did you just say?" and I was like, "Oops! Catalan! It's poisoning my brain!"
Also, I was once lost and I asked for directions and the man answered me in Catalan and I understood! I think that speaks volumes for how much my Catalan has improved.
Another exciting thing is that I took the night bus for the first time this weekend. I have a problem in Barcelona. The metro stops running at 2 am on the weekend and it starts up again at 5 am. So I used to either go home at 2 (lame), stay out til 5 (which takes stamina and skill), or take a cab home in the interim (which is expensive). Between 2 am and 5 am, night buses run throughout Barcelona but you have to know your number and where to catch it. Well, I finally figured it out and took the night bus this weekend! It only costs a metro ride and it took 20 minutes to get from the center of the city to my house! Heck yeah! I feel so liberated. I also feel like Harry Potter, sticking out my wand to catch the Knight Bus.
My parents arrive this Friday! Mis padres llegan este viernes. Els meus pares arriben aquest divendres. (english, castellano, catalá)
ciao - Carolina
having a good day. I have an intercambio, Javier. He's a 23 year old engineering student and we get together once or twice a week after my 5 pm class and talk over coffee and pastries.
p/s I was talking to my parents on Saturday. They went to see a Peter, Paul, and Mary concert up in Providence and they were going to dinner beforehand. "What time?" I asked. "5 pm," my dad said. I almost died. 5 pm!!!!!!!!! I eat dinner at 9:30 pm here. Just last week, I found myself hurrying home at 8:45 pm to make it home in time for dinner On my way to the metro, I thought, "What is this? It's 9 pm and I'm going home for dinner... and it's normal."
So my intercambio is really nice and hanging out with him is fun! Some people have really bad intercambios that give them the creeps or are socially awkward or are 30 years old. Today Javi and I talked about classes, being late for things, sailing, and Disney movies. I drew a diagram of an FJ (the boats I sail) for Javi and labeled all the parts. He was so enthralled. I learned that tiller in Spanish is "timón." Later when we were talking about Disney movies, I was like "Timón is a tiller and he's the little animal in the Lion King!" It's okay because Javi is as dorky as I am. (in a good way.)
My Catalan class is so ridiculous. It's with only Columbia kids and for some reason all the boys from Columbia on this trip are goofy with only a hint of intelligence. So Catalan ends up being a big joke. Today we designed the houses of our dreams. My dream house was actually really great.
In all seriousness, I'm learning some Catalan. I find myself mixing Catalan words into my castellano speech. This past weekend, I said a number in Catalan instead of Spanish and the waitress was like, "queeeee?" Another time, I was talking with a Catalan friend and I was explaining my middle name (which is my great grandmother's last name) but I used a Catalan word by mistake and he just looked at me like, "What the heck did you just say?" and I was like, "Oops! Catalan! It's poisoning my brain!"
Also, I was once lost and I asked for directions and the man answered me in Catalan and I understood! I think that speaks volumes for how much my Catalan has improved.
Another exciting thing is that I took the night bus for the first time this weekend. I have a problem in Barcelona. The metro stops running at 2 am on the weekend and it starts up again at 5 am. So I used to either go home at 2 (lame), stay out til 5 (which takes stamina and skill), or take a cab home in the interim (which is expensive). Between 2 am and 5 am, night buses run throughout Barcelona but you have to know your number and where to catch it. Well, I finally figured it out and took the night bus this weekend! It only costs a metro ride and it took 20 minutes to get from the center of the city to my house! Heck yeah! I feel so liberated. I also feel like Harry Potter, sticking out my wand to catch the Knight Bus.
My parents arrive this Friday! Mis padres llegan este viernes. Els meus pares arriben aquest divendres. (english, castellano, catalá)
ciao - Carolina