The only place in Spain that isn't in Spain

Geography lesson: Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya/ Cataluña, where people speak Catalan as their primary language (or so they say). Their second language is what we would call Spanish (Español), but they call it Castilian (Castellano). Confused, yet? Even more, some people have the opinion that Catalunya is a nation of its own separate from Spain.

In reality, the Catalan language, a blend of French and Spanish, is more a matter of cultural pride than anything. If you walk into a store or stop someone on the street and speak Spanish to them, they will answer you back in Spanish without a problem. I even had someone tell me, after living here for 5 months and seeing things from an outside perspective, that the first language is Spanish, the second is English, and the third is Catalan. So, some of my goals for this year include becoming fluent in Castellaño/ Español, trying to convince at least one local that I was born here and don't understand English (not even close yet), and being able to pronounce a few words in this melting pot of a language they call Catalan. Wish me luck.

Still an illegal immigrant, but no longer a homeless, unemployed illegal immigrant

My first month in Barcelona has been a sharp contrast from my month in Sevilla. To sum it up, Sevilla was a vacation, complete with a pre-picked apartment, a learn-to-teach-Enlgish course each day to make me feel productive, and nights spend hanging out by the Guadalquivir river with laughing with friends and drinking "tinto de verano" (a delicious mix of red wine and fanta). Barcelona on the other hand, has snapped me back to reality. While it's an amazing city, it's an amazing city in which I've had to look for a job and an apartment at the same time with a language barrier and no legal working papers, all while moving between different temporaty vacation rental apartments and ultimately living in a hostal. But even at the most frustrating of times, I've still felt lucky to be here, and I've been able to keep some perspective (with a little help).

But now, the days spent sending out resumes to any teaching place that didn't mention working papers, working a few hours a different restaurants, and searching all over the city and the internet for decent apartments/rooms have paid off. I've been working for two weeks at a language center called Bi-Cultural teaching English to everyone from business professionals to kids to the secretary at Bi-Cultural and her son and family friend. On top of that, yesterday I finally found a place to live that had everything I was looking for, and I can move in as soon as the German girl who's living there now moves out. More about both later, but just wanted to let all of you know that you can cancel the pool you had going of when I would be flying back to the states to stand in the unemployment line and spend my days sobbing into a quesadilla at the nearest Mexican restaurant begging the staff to let me practice Spanish with them. I did it!

Pictures: Before and After

I hate the word "Blog"

It makes me cringe. And I would never flatter myself so much as to think that people at home care about what I ate for lunch this afternoon (pizza with goat cheese and asparagus, it was delicious) or every rambling, tangential thought that goes through my mind (there are a lot). Nevertheless, I need a way to let everyone at home know about my adventures in Spain without sending out an enormous mass email every few weeks that people feel obligated to respond to. Plus, here I can add pictures and we all know how many words those are worth. So after this disclaimer, here's my attempt to document my experience in Spain...