January 4

It's late, I just got home, am half drunk, and have to wake up early tomorrow because I didn't finish most of the work I should have done today. I guess life is getting back to normal.

Had a two-hour, three course lunch and an amazing seafood dinner. It was fun hanging out with people from the department. I am gonna get so fat....

When I went in to work this morning, there was a little kid in the entry way of the building. I'm a little more receptive to kids here than in the US because my language skills are about at their level. He said "Como te llamas?" [What's your name?]. I said "Me llamo Samantha." [My name is Samantha.] He looked bewildered and said "Como?" [What?] I repeated "Samantha" and he said "Samantha?" and I said "Si" [Yes]. He frowned, turned his back on me, and asked someone else's name. I guess Samantha doesn't go over well with Spanish kids.

January 3

I'm spending way too much time and money at El Corte Ingles. (It's the Barcelonan Macy's.) I've been here for three days and the only site I've seen is a park near my apartment. But it's hard to do touristy things when your shower's broken and your blowdryer keeps overheating. I think I'm almost settled though--I just need to find some toilet paper that's soft and doesn't come in packs of 12 or more rolls. Oh, and speaking of toilets, one of the good things about my apartment is that the toilet doesn't have a display plate. Whew.

Speaking of things that stink, Spain apparently outlawed smoking in nearly all public places as of January 1. Except bars and restaurants. I noticed there were No Smoking signs all over the Barcelona airport; it reminded me of being in the Madrid airport a few years ago where everyone was smoking and ashing and stomping out cigarettes on the floor. Yuck.

Anyway. I went into the department today and now have an office and an internet connection. And a TON of lecture notes to prepare. One really nice thing about my building is there are coffee machines everywhere. The coffee is pretty good, given that it comes from a vending machine and only costs 50 cents. So far the course I'm teaching fits the stereotype of Southern European disorganization. The software we're planning to use isn't available on any campus computers and won't be available until the first day of classes at the earliest. Some of the homework problems are only available in Spanish and others are only available in Catalan. Organizing big classes is hard enough without having to do it trilingually. This should be interesting.

One of the furnishings in my apartment is a wine bottle with an orchid-type flower in it, and the writing on the bottle is in Cyrillic. I think it's Serbian Cyrillic not Russian, because there are j's, but still I'm choosing to take it as a good sign.

January 2

Not to be all melodramatic, but I am completely alone right now. The very few people here to whom I have any connection are still gone for the holidays. I have no phone. I don't even have regular internet access. I don't mind being by myself, but I am looking forward to going into the department tomorrow. I think I think too much when I'm alone.

Anyway. I spent way too much money on a new bedspread. But I didn't like the one that came with the apartment and six months is too long to not like your bed. Plus the new one is warmer, which is important given how friggin' cold my apartment is. I broke my shower today, so until I can find some superglue it has no mount and I have to hold it. The hot water comes and goes, and there seems to be no way to shower without getting the floor all wet. I used to say I didn't feel like a real New Yorker because my apartment was too nice and too easy to find. I guess I'm making up for that now. It's fine, really, but definitely lacking some conveniences.

And I think maybe I live in Queens: easy enough to get to, but definitely not a destination and still kinda industrial. There are a few bars on my street that look like they could be in Northern Michigan. I kinda like that it's gritty, though. And two people asked me for directions today, so I must not look like tooo much of a tourist.

I like that the posted prices here already include tax. And alcohol is really cheap, although water is kind of expensive. The tap water in my apartment smells a little funny--I doubt it would make me sick but I'm not excited about drinking it. The subway is cheap and easy to figure out. The stations have screens that show you how long until the next train--one of my favorite advances in transportation. I love the NYC subway, but that's only because I'm a total sucker for New York.