Citizenship

I live here now.  Officially.

Yesterday Christian and I went to the Ajuntament de Lleida and filed for the first step towards citizenship here in Lleida.  We have to prove we live here (and legally) by showing our passports (and giving her a copy), by showing our housing contract (and giving her a copy), and showing our visas proving we're here to study.

Now that we have our empadronamiento form, we just need to have a copy of our enrollment (which is a run-around: go to the secretariat of my faculty, file a paper, get two forms, go to the bank, pay a fee, get a copy of that receipt, take that back to the secretariat at Rectorat, get a signature, wait a day, get approved, apply for the student card, wait 2-5 days, pick up the card and copy of my enrollment...which we can then take to the police,) and another copy of our passports, 2 pictures, and of course an appointment made via phone.  Then, we'll be here legally for the year.

I'm glad I have Christian with me to do a lot of this.  The first place we went for our first step of this process wasn't the right place and the guy practically bit our heads off for thinking we were in the right place (it was the office of extranjería and that looked about right to us).  I wanted to quit and go home b/c he was so mean and talked so fast.  But, it was Christian's birthday and he wanted to figure it out, so we went to the other location and it was more correct- at least we were within 100 meters of where we needed to be.  The nice man there pointed us to the actual location, which he thought would be closed...but it wasn't!  We went in and voilá: the forms were produced.

Later that day, Christian's birthday, Mercé, Ginna, and I went out shopping for his party and dinner and decorations.  We kiced Christian out to the gym for a bit so we could decorate and make dinner.  We bought all sorts of cheap décor at the "chinos" (stores owned by the Chinese here in town that sell everything at dollar-store quality, but a little more expensive), and we stocked up on groceries for dinner (not at the chino, at the PlusFresh) and gifts in other stores. It was really fun walking around with the girls.  We had a blast stopping in all sorts of stores trying to find whatever struck our fancy to give Christian as a gift.  In the end, we ordered 2 paddle-type things that he wanted for Tae-kwon-do (he's a pro, competes internationally, etc.) and doesn't have these yet.

All sorts of people from the Erasmus group were invited and showed up with more fun and surprises!  Fernanda (also from Mexico) brought a gift for Christian of "comida poblana" which was amazing.  We (Mercé, Ginna, y yo) made a rice salad (a new thing for me) and pa amb tomaquet (told you it was typical of Catalunya).  Laura and Pierre bought Christian a shirt that says "Catalunya" in script that looks like Coca-cola.  Fun.

Jairo, my last flat-mate to arrive, landed today in Barcelona at 4 pm.  Christian, Mercé and I went there to pick him up.  I'm pretty excited to have the piso complete.  It's fun to have him come b/c he's an automatic friend, due to the fact we'll be living together and eating together along with all the other "friends" in our piso, but also it'll be nice for Christian to have another Mexican guy here.  They will be able to hang out comfortably and chat in Spanish without feeling bad about not speaking Catalan (or trying for the sake of Mercé).  Another reason I'm glad to have him come is that I feel like I know a lot about Lleida now.  Well, enough to help him find where he has to go and when and why and how.  You know that feeling that comes with showing someone your "hometown" that really cements the fact that it's where you actually live?  The fact that you can show it to someone, pointing out the most interesting things and where you go for item A, B or C means that you have been there long enough to find those things out.  Also, Christian and I will be able to help him do all the run-around stuff that we are now pros at.  Moreover, I'm glad I got to go to Barcelona again!  We met up with Mercé's friend Anna- who was a doll and a blast to spend time with. 

Tomorrow I'm going to buy my ticket to STOMP.  14 Erasmus/mobility students are going and we're all sitting together and I'm coordinating it since it's on my birthday and I want a celebration!  We're all going to go out to Stomp together on the 28th and afterward go to a pub since we don't have class the next day since it's the festival of Lleida!  Perfect!  13 of my closest friends (here) and I will celebrate together with a musical display of fun.  I've never seen STOMP but I've always wanted to see it (and Riverdance).  The best part is that we don't have to travel...it's right here, right in Lleida!  Nice.

Sidenote: I went to the med center for "urgencias" tonight b/c my eye is red.  I have (drumroll) PINK EYE!  So, glasses and I will be buddies for a few days- cancel that, weeks.  It's only in one eye and it's not that bad.  There's a first time for everything.