Barcelona

1/7

Today I arrived in Spain! Judith had no idea that I was coming and therefore was very surprised when I walked out the doors of the airport and into the parking garage where she and her family were waiting. We then went to her house where I unpacked my suitcases and settled in. After unpacking, I gave them the various gifts that I had brought for them and then attempted to nap for a little bit. I was unfortunately unable to sleep, so I went downstairs and ate lunch with them and then watched some TV until dinner time. After dinner we watched some more TV and had a relaxing night.

1/8

Today I slept in a bit and then we all went to Barcelona to eat lunch with some of their family friends. After lunch we walked around Barcelona for a while. I ended up buying some clothes and a scarf because it was much colder than I had anticipated. Judith and I found a bubble tea place so we stopped and got some bubble tea since she hadn't had any in months. Once we drank our bubble tea and were done walking around Barcelona, we stopped and briefly said hello to "la iaia" (grandma) and then went back to Judith's house. We ate some dinner, watched a movie, and then went to bed.

1/9

Today I didn't do much since we were all pretty tired from walking around Barcelona yesterday. Mostly just spent the day watching the news about the massive snowfall (Storm Filomena) in Madrid and worked on my blog throughout the day. Storm Filomena caused Madrid to have its highest 24-hour snowfall in 50 years, with over 50cm (20in). It shut down roads, highways, caused lots of traffic accidents, and essentially isolated Madrid from the rest of Spain. The airport closed, the trains were unable to run, and the roads were impassable. This meant that people who needed medical attention were unable to get to hospitals, food distribution to grocery stores was halted, etc. People had to spend time removing snow from their balconies, roofs, etc. because they feared that there could be floods once the snow melted, or that the immense weight of the snow and ice would cause structural damage and collapses. However, there is lots of footage of people having snowball fights, socially distanced "parties" in the Puerta del Sol, little kids experiencing snow for the first time, etc.

1/10

Today I did a very quick puzzle with Judith and then worked on a bracelet while she studied. Then we watched some shows, ate lunch (paella with lots of seafood), and watched more shows. I taught them how to play Nut, and Spoons and then they taught me how to play some Spanish card games. Then we ate dinner, watched a movie, and went to bed.

1/11

Today was the first day back at school for Judith and Raul, and Chari went to work. I watched part of a show in French but put on Spanish audio so that I could understand it and then went with Josep to the city center for a bit. While I was waiting for him to run his errands, I found a grocery store where they had lactose free yogurt and "galletas Principes" and bought some because it had been forever since I had eaten them. We then walked back to the house, had lunch and I watched a show with Judith. After the show, she had virtual English class so I continued watching my show in French until it was time for dinner.

1/12

After waking up today, I continued watching my show while working on Chari’s bracelet until I went with Josep to the Maquinista (shopping center) because he had to go to the Apple store to get his computer fixed. Even though it was an outdoor mall, all the other stores (nonessential ones) were closed due to COVID restrictions. We went to Carrefour and bought a bunch of lactose-free food, then returned to the house and had couscous for lunch. Since I had finished Chari's bracelet, I started on one for Josep and then took a nap. After I woke up from my nap and they had finished with work for the day, we went to Sant Cugat and walked around while doing some shopping. During dinner we watched a documentary about Usain Bolt and then went to bed.

1/13

I woke up and then went for a walk to the center to go shopping to buy a birthday present for Chari and some bread for lunch. After I got back to the house, I logged in and joined the COL Rotary club meeting with Judith and then we ate lunch and watched some shows. After they had finished with work for the day, we went to Sabadell and looked around in the shops where I ended up buying some clothes. Then we went back to the house and had dinner and watched a movie before going to bed.

1/14

Today I woke up with a headache so I went back to bed and slept some more. After getting dressed, I worked on a bracelet, and ate lunch. After lunch, I painted my nails and then went with Judith's parents back to Sabadell to return some clothes that I had bought the day before that didn't fit right. We then went back to the house and watched Grey’s Anatomy, ate dinner and then went to bed.

1/15

Today was Judith’s mom’s birthday so we woke up early to help Judith make pancakes and orange juice and then I went back to bed for a couple of hours until I woke up and then went for a walk in search of blue wine and bread. I went to the wine store to see if they had the blue wine but they didn't, and the owner said that everyone he knows who has tried it, didn’t like it. After that, I went in search of bread at their favorite panadería, but they were closed so I went to the panadería that I went to last time because Judith’s family had said it was good bread. After returning to the house, I worked on a bracelet again until lunch. Then we ate lunch, Judith’s mom opened her presents, and then had some cake. After lunch, we watched some more TV like we usually do and then Judith and I met up with her friend to go walk around the city. First, we went to an old/used book store, where we each bought a book. Then we went to a homegoods store to look for some matcha treats that Judith’s mom wanted her to buy. Then we went to another bookstore to check for one of the books that her friend was looking for. After that we stopped at a grocery store to buy some candy and then went back to her house. We ate dinner, then watched a new Spanish TV show called El Desafío, which was supposed to be really good but ended up being pretty boring unfortunately.

1/16

Today we went to Barcelona for the day to visit their extended family. We talked and walked with Chari’s parents then went for lunch at a restaurant on a hilltop with great views. Then we went and talked to Josep’s uncle, and then to talk with Josep’s mom. After that we walked down the Calle Sants, and met up partway with Josep’s brother and his wife. Then a bit later we met up with Judith’s cousin and his wife and kept on walking around the Calle Sants. The street was completely closed off to cars and open to only pedestrians. The stores were closed too. We walked about 5 miles today and my hip flexors hurt a bit at the end of the day because I wasn't used to walking so much. After walking the whole street up and down, we went back to the house, had pizza for dinner, and watched TV.

1/17

Today was another pretty calm day. Judith and I did a couple of face masks and then took down the christmas tree. We then ate lunch and just relaxed for the rest of the day.

1/18

After waking up today, I went to the grocery store to get some bread, and other ingredients that they needed for lunch. In the evening, Chari, Josep, and I went to walk around Poblenou in Barcelona. We walked around the Rambla de Poblenou, around 22@ (which is like the tech district), and along the beach before heading back to the house for dinner.

1/19

I went out for bread again today and bought some chuchos (typical catalan treats) from the same panadería because they won a prize for their chuchos. After returning to the house, I organized my suitcases again and then ate lunch. In the evening before dinner, Judith and I went out with the goal of finding matching shirts. We ended up buying some other clothes as well, but ended up finding matching sweatshirts.

1/20

Today I had to wake up earlier than I had been in order to catch my flight to Madrid. I had some coffee and then went with Chari to drop Judith and Raul off at school. After than, we went back to the house, ate some breakfast, and Josep made me a sandwich to take with me. We went for the BCN airport for the flight to Madrid. I flew to Madrid where I met up with Natalie while we waited an hour for the staff to meet us. Once they met us, we sat on the bus for another 2 hours waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. We then met up with the rest of the group and then took the bus to Toledo. After getting to the Fundación, we got our keys, and dropped our bags off in our room. We were given a tour of the "Fund", had a COVID orientation, unpacked our bags, and then ate dinner.