one month later, one month left

Yikes, it's been exactly a month since I last wrote in here! I've just been very busy, and a little stressed recently - and the more time passed, the more ground I had to cover - which made me want to write an entry even less. But it's a rainy day and I don't have much to do at the moment - there's really no good excuse not to update. So here I am! I probably won't get to it all but I'll try to cover the important things.

One of the major happenings has been my change of homestay, for sure. The old one went from bad to worse after that last entry. The two major catlyst events, to make a long, unhappy story short were 1) Noa, the daughter, biting me on the face and then my getting reprimanded by my senora for holding her wrist too tightly while I was telling her not to do it again, and 2) a night where the parents were fighting/Noa was crying until the wee hours of the morning with the senora at the door threatening to leave and all kinds of nonsense, God help me if I knew what they were fighting about - I think it had something to do with Noa never sleeping in her own bed, but if it's difficult to understand Spanairds as is, it's even moreso when they're angry.

These two things along with the parents general and constant fighting, plus Noa stealing something from my room literally every day (and lying about it, until the parents and would find it hidden somewhere in her room - most evil four-year old ever, I'm telling you!), hitting me, kicking me, et cetera - basically just made it not a very pleasant environment. They've had students before, apparently, but I felt that they were going through a rough spot, and I was an added stress - not to mention that they were seriously stressing me out. I never looked forward to being home, and once I was there, ended up staying in my room with the door shut so that Noa wouldn't cause problems.

I wasn't even sure I should move but after talking to friends, family, and then my advisor, I realized that I shouldn't have to look back at my experience here and think "Well, it was great! But my homestay.......(fill in the blank)"


So, I switched - last Tuesday, actually. Having to tell my family that I was leaving and then packing up all my stuff was probably one of the most awkward experiences of my life (and I can be pretty awkward, so that says a lot), but it has been totally worth it. My new homestay is completely the opposite of my old one. I adore my new family - it's much more like I had originally hoped it would be.

I now live with Victoria, a high school math teacher in her sixties, who is one of the sweetest women ever! I practically wept tears of joy at her feet when I first arrived because I could just tell she was going to be so much nicer than my past senora... She lives in a very pretty little apartment in a much nicer area than before, just two blocks from Passeig de Gracia, one of the most emblematic streets of Barcelona (two of Gaudi's most famous houses are located there). She is a fabulous cook and loves to chat - I feel like we've talked more here in one week than I would have in at least two weeks at the other house. She has a daughter my age and a son my brother's age. The son lives in France now, and the daughter lives in Barcelona but mostly lives with her dad (my senora is divorced). I'm pretty sure the daughter primarily lives with her dad simply because he lives closer to the center of town and she has a little difficulty moving around because she was in a motorcycle accident several years ago. But she comes over frequently during the week to eat with us, and is also super nice.

My only regret now is that I didn't move earlier... oh well. We'll call it a learning experience.

I have to go to class soon, but I'll update later tonight or tomorrow with details on and pictures of my trips to Ireland and Madrid during October, and some other random stuff. I have trips to Prague and Rome planned for the upcoming month. I can't believe it's almost over....!!! And that I'll be graduating. Sheesh.


Much love! Miss you all.