falling in love.

mannn this is the last thing on my to-do list but i feel like i'll never get to it if i don't do it now =p.

So... i miraculously arrived in Barcelona, totally unprepared and lost and had no idea what in the world was going on. but somehow, managed to call Stephanie (after the phone ate 4 Euros and then cost altogether about 8 euros) and subwayed my way from the airport to their house with one 32kg luggage, a 25kg carry on, a backpack and another bag. i'm grateful for all the random nice people who took pity on me and decided to help me on my way up and down these CRAZY barcelona subways that DOESN"T have ESCALATORS. like... WHAT? o.O. lol. anyway. coudln't believe how few people spoke english here and how little i understand spoken spanish. *mad wails* so as soon as I found Steph and heard English.... and they still had a free room, I decided to move in with them. =D. LOL. So glad they took me in. Apparently Steph remembers me from "good comments" that I made back in a first year class that we had together. LOL.

So where we live is quite a bit out of the way of central barcelona, but it's SO convenient anyway. I LOVE this lil place (once I actually got brave enough to venture out a lil bit). It's like a lil town hidden away in a corner of Barcelona with a lot of old people. lol. and it's on top of this huuuuge hill that overlooks the city. it's AMAZING. i love the quaint lil streets and small shops and ahhhhh just the atmosphere of it all. Clear blue skies are SOOOOOOOOOOOO beautiful against the Spanish red roofs. love love love. Europe is SO different from China and Canada and I'm starting to love it more everyday =D. I don't even mind being far from central barcelona, it's nice and comfy and i'm happy =].

also loving the housing situation. again i have a small and crappy room with a "loft" single bed on top of the wardrobe. but i really dont' mind it. i'm just glad to have a roof over my head and relatively inexpensively =) flatmates are also amazing. perfect balance of frienship and privacy, and nicest people in the world. very very very happy =D. I'm SO glad I found them =)

Getting to school. so apparently.... i hadn't been checking my ESADE email for the past term that I was in beijing cuz... obviously... no one reminded me. LOL. so i completely missed out on orientation and an intensive 2 week spanish course -_-. everyone already knows each other so i'm a lil out of the loop and behind on meeting people. but it's all good. i'll survive and i'll get to know ppl soon enuff =). ESADE's new campus is 25 minutes train ride outside of barcelona and then another 15 min walk from the train station, so it takes most ppl about an hour to get to school. but i don't mind it. i love the train ride out, and how it give a view of Barcelona's suburbs/countryside (i'm not quite sure which yet), and it's beautiful. I've also been wandering around the lil town of Sant Cugat, and love the small town feel around campus. The campus itself consists currently, of one building that is... 95% complete and another that is... 70% complete? lol. apparently desks were put into classrooms the Sunday before classes started on Monday, and there's still final touch ups everywhere. it's also uber high security, we get these electronic student cards to get in and out of the building and caf and even classrooms. it's insanely high tech and really? ... completely unnecessary -_-". classes r classes. i think i enjoy the ride to school more =P

Spanish culture is mad strange. there's siesta between 2 - 5pm so all the shops are closed o.O. and then dinner BEGINS at 9pm at the earliest. like.... say what? but all the shops close at 10pm leatest -_-" but i managed to go grocery shoopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =D the closest mini-grocery store is a minute walk from our house =) and WINE is cheaper or about the same price as milk and juice. LOL. all other alcohol seem relatively inexpensive as well. no wonder everyone drinks all the time. haha.

i'm loving this time on my own to just... explore and get to know the place a lil. i've yet to see central barcelona//where all the tourists are and all the famous things r, at least not above ground, lol, but i'm saving that for 2 weeks later when Cat comes to visit and later when Cari comes =D.

this weekend: Switzerland - Geneva & Interlaken =)
we're DRIVING from Geneva to Interlaken. it's going to be absolutely insane. looking forward to it.

things are good. better than good. things are amazing and better than i imagined possible really =].

so it's true. i have to admit it.

... i am falling in love with this place. =)