Arriving

Well we arrived in Barcelona at around 8:15 AM today, a grueling eleven hours after departing from Houston.  The plane ride was fine.  Fine is all I can give it credit for because I think every flight attendant was either in a bad mood or just plain mean.  Nevertheless, we are finally in Barcelona, at the Paseo de Grácia, where my mom and I are currently lounging in our new apartment.  The apartment manager, Pablo (who so graciously picked us up from the airport), was a wonderful first impression of the country!  He makes us feel right at home.  For those of you that know Mr. Malouf, he is his twin brother, I swear.

Since the personal goals I have set for myself during this trip consist of mainly one thing (and that is to speak Spanish), I have enrolled myself in a seven-hour-per-day language school in the heart of the plaza.  It takes approximately fifteen minutes to walk from my apartment to the school, and I begin class tomorrow. Even without taking my capricious decision to attend school into consideration, I think that simply existing in the Spanish environment will dramatically increase my Spanish-speaking ability – I have already attempted using it a few times today!  And although I am at potential risk for showing all of Barcelona that I am the “stupid American” tourist who tries to use broken Spanish, I don’t care, because by the end of this month – when I am fluent – I’ll prove them all wrong.