Three days in.

Wow.  I really feel like I live here now.

Today was the third full day of Catalan class (a crash course that all Erasmus (or foreign exchange or EU exchange student) attend.)  We have 40 hours of Catalan classes in supposedly 10 days, but it's only 8 b/c the regional "day of catalunya" falls in there and we don't have class that day and they cancelled class for the day after it.  

Christian and I book it at break-neck speeds across the town in the morning b/c one of us is always late (and it's not me for once!) and so we arrive 2-5 minutes late and breathless.  We sit in our class of students from Italy, France, Czech rep., Lithuania, Estonia, la región Vasca, Galicia, America (yo), Mexico (Christian), and Poland.  We learn crazy amounts of vocab from 9 until 1:30 and then they let us go.  We have exactly 2 hours to get home, make food, eat it, get back and be ready for more.  Sounds like a long time, but I have never lived a 25 minute (FAST) walk from campus before and been forced to walk it every day (4x).  Needless to say, when we get back to the home base, we whip out food, throw something together and then in our mouths and clean the dishes just in time to book it out of the door again.  Today we felt mostly overwhelmed by the class.  We learn grammar and upwards of 100 new vocab words everyday so far (which I realize is only 300 words or so, but for 3 days, c'mon.)   Retention at this point is not high, which is why Christian and I stopped for a granitizado (think slushie) on the way home and quizzed each other on some of the verb endings and vocab.  He's a good friend and study partner. 

We got home and showed the piso to another Erasmus student looking for a place and right after she left, Pierre, the guy we showed it to during the first break from class called back and said that he was "in" and he was moving in tonight.  So, what happened to Zsuzsanna was that Joan Carles (our International Student Coordinator) arranged for her to live with us and sent her that email yesterday.  Seeing as she didn't have a place to live and wasn't checking her email, she missed the email and found her own place to live- which is fine.  We were doing Joan Carles a favor b/c she had trouble finding a place due to her stay being only 3 months, not the year.  

So, now to list the people living in Comtes d'Urgell 15, 2 o, 2a with me:

1) Mercé Riart Boix.  23 yrs old.  Native of Catalunya (NE Spain) and the one to found the piso.  speaks Catalan and Castellano (Spanish).

2) Christian Vargas Islas.  20 (almost 21).  Native of Guadalajara, Mexico and boyfriend to Mercé.  Speaks Castellano and is learning Catalan with me, but also lived in the US for a year and speaks English at times.

3) Pierre.  23 yrs old.  Native of Sint'etienne, France.  Just moved in and is in his pj's and on his computer at the table next to me.  I had to have him spell his city.  He speaks French and Spanish and can write English, but not speak it.

4) Gina.  18 yrs old.  Native of Ponts, Catalunya.  The same town as Mercé.  She's a friend of the family Boix.  Knows both Catalan and Castellano, but only speaks Catalan.

5) Jairo.  21 yrs old.  Native of Guadalajara, Mexico, and the only roomie I have not met yet.  He's hung up with visa issues and can't come until sometime between the 10th and 15th of September (after all the Catalan classes and beginning of the year excursions.)  Only speaks Castellano.

6)  Melissa.  25 yrs old.  Native of Michigan, USA.  The only American in all of Lleida and the mother hen of the piso.  Speaks English, Castellano, and is learning Catalan.

There you have it, folks.  We, all six of us, are going to have a great time.

Tonight after Pierre moved in, Jessica, Pierre, and I went to the Mercadona for some groceries and made dinner just in time for Christian to eat with us when he came back from his Tae kwon do class at the gym he's joining.  We had great talks over dinner, fun conversation, and good food.

Tonight I did laundry for the first time here and it washed in the soap that I spent way too long choosing from the aisle of unending soaps.  Then I hung it up to dry on the lines out the patio. Fun to do.  That was my first experience washing my own clothes in Spain.  Another "first" checked off the list :)

I also got an email today from a lady named Meredith who wants me to teach English from 5-6 pm two days a week at a school in Lleida.  We'll meet up for coffee (o café con leche o café amb llet) sometime soon and iron out details.  School for her students doesn't begin until September 15th.  I hope it works out with my class schedule.  It would be really nice to have some cash flow around here (in euros, nonetheless.)

Speaking of money, I opened a bank account and the bank associated with the UdL (Universitat de Lleida) so that I can save some money on the "cross border fee" that the debit card I have forces upon me every time I use it.  Also, the charges to take money out of ATMs are ridiculous.

Oh!  I bought a yoga mat and looked up some Yoga poses and did some Yoga tonight.  It was the 2nd time ever doing Yoga, first time alone, but I think I did it well.  I figure that with all the walking, I don't need to join a gym just yet, plus for a mere, one-time fee of 28 euros, I can attend any of the UdL PE classes I want to.  They offer aerobics and ball room dancing!  I'd pay 28 euros to take one ball room dance lesson.  Not to mention, the servei d'esports (or the PE division) is planning a Pyrenees mountain skiing outing for the 9th or 10th of December and you get to go (for free!) if you pay that one-time fee of 28 euros.  Stuff like that and the bike-lending thing I wrote about last post are wonderful gifts from the UdL to me.  I like them.

It's very late, and I'm off to sleep.  Here's what's coming up: 

Thursday (4th) After Catalan class (CC) we're going for a walk and ending up at a place that will serve us all the most typical platters found here in Catalunya, or Lleida, specifically.

Friday (the 5th) After CC we're touring the Gardeny.  I don't know what that is.

Saturday (the 6th) We head out to Barcelona for the day.  Should be great.  All the erasmus students who want to go get to go for free!  Saturday night we (Christian and I) are eating with the Italians at their place and they are making us an Italian specialty.  yummm

And not to fail to mention, my brother-in-law's birthday is today (4th) and my dad's in Saturday (6th) if you see them, give them a big hug for me and wish them a great year.

Last bit:  THANK YOU to everyone who has written me an email recently.  I've read and re-read them and you are wonderful people and I love you and I miss you.  Godspeed.