Barcelona (part 2)

Ok so where did I get to? Ohhh yes Saturday.

I think that I will leave Saturday as it is. Oooo except to say that I got given 5 roses! Aren't I a popular little lady! hehe.

Sunday I went to the parque de la ciutedella, and searched high and low for the zoo there but to no avail. I followed sign posts and everything but I just couldn't find it! Ohh well, I was slightly disappointed though! There isn't all that much more to say really. In the end I sat under a tree and read Harry Potter and the Philosophers stone in Spanish. Hehe, was very good!!!!!

Monday I had classes in the morning because I had asked to be changed, but the class is a lot bigger and the conversation teacher is really awful, though the other one is good. The grammar teacher has a totally unpronounceable name though! Meritxell is her name, or something similar.

Umm I have kind of forgotten most of what went on last week. Crap memory or what!!!!! Ohh I went to the beach on Wednesday I think with a Swiss girl and German guy. On Thursday I went back to the police station to try to report the case of the stolen bag! I waited 3 hours and in the end was able to place my report. Can you say that? Ahhh I can't speak English anymore!!!!! Or French or Spanish for that matter. What am I going to do?! So all that is left to do is to make a claim to the insurance which I am sure will be another lengthy process! But in the police station, I got talking to some other victims of crime. They all seemed to be French! I even acted as a translator between them and the policeman! Clever me! Umm that took up the whole of that day though.
On the Friday, I went home and had a siesta in preparation to go out with the Swedish people again, because I know that otherwise I would get tired and grumpy by about midnight!!!!!! I went to their flat where I got given a few Henrik specials, which really had me rather drunk. Henrik by the way is one of the Swedes. Sofie is another. There are other Swedes but they aren't as friendly as those two! By the time I get home though I think that I will be talking fluent Swede! Although I never understand a thing that they are saying!!!! So after most people had left we then went out to a bar (Sofie didn't come, she decided she was too tired, she was also a not feeling too well thanks to the alcohol. By the time we left the bar it was about 4 am, and so Henrik offered to walk me home. I had been planning on taking a taxi but.......... So he walked me home and then had a rest on the steps outside the apartment building. We had only been there about 5 minutes when another student who is also staying in my family arrived. It was very strange!

But anyway on the Saturday, I went with the Swedes again to the beach. And again on Sunday. There isn't much to say about the beach.....Sun, sand , clear sea. Lovely.

And today we are Monday, and I have a week to go before I go home.

Barcelona

Well things have gotten better since my first day! I did find msn on some computers in the school and also I can go to internet cafes! I will try to provide you with a diary of my days, although it may be quite short due to the lack of money in my purse and the fact that I am sitting in an internet cafe!

Well I arrived last Monday and as you could see was rather bored and didn't have much to do apart from writing on my blog. I had my classes and of course my very boring culture class which was all about a painter named Velasquez, of whom I have never heard of. But then that was the only day that I went to my culture class!
Anyway Tuesday was umm interesting I went walking in Barcelona and visited the Cathedral, which was very nice. I then decided to write an email and chat to people on msn, so I went to an internet cafe, where I had my bag stolen. I had been chatting to my mother and Sarah B, and didn't even notice it had gone until I looked down and there was no bag. I got a bit panicky at this point and proceed to cry silently whilst asking people if they had seen a blue rucksack. Ummmm. But anyway, I lost my mobile phone, the new Spanish sim card that I had bought the day before (so I still have my English sim card and English number, though I may have lost some of your numbers). I lost my camera, thankfully I had told mum that I didn't want to bring her digital camera with me to Spain because she had offered to lend it to me. Ohh and my sunglasses. Umm I was a bit at a loss really, it was going on 8.30 at this point and I had to go home to the family because dinner is at9.00 ish. So I had to politely turn down the nice man's offer to escort me to the police station to make a statement knowing that it would take hours to do so. I got home and promptly had to tell the family that I had lost their keys and that the flats address was probably in the bag! ooops. I did stress the probably although I think that it was definitely in there.
The next day, Wednesday I went to the Sagrada Familia which is a massive temple/church thing that is being built. It was designed by Gaudi over 100 years ago, and hasn't been finished yet partly due to the fact that some of the plans and models got burnt in a fire. But anyway, I went there with school and met some very nice Swede people, of which one is a girl who is called............................sofi!!!!!! Ok strange spelling but still! Anyway, there are huge towers on this church which we proceeded to climb up (using the stairs! I am no Spiderman, well Spiderwoman!) It was free to use the steps but you had to pay to take the lift! Obviously the stairs were better! This was in the morning. In the afternoon I had classes, which were ok, we did the pluscuam perfecto del subjuntivo, and other equally horrid things! Is a lot easier than it sounds! And then that evening the hunt for the elusive police station started! My parents had told me that I should go and make a statement so that I could claim for the phone on the travel insurance. Sarah very much agreed with this, so I asked my teacher where I could find a police station. She gave me a very vague area in whis¡ch to look in which although it reduced the search area made it no easier! In the end I asked a nice security guard and he pointed me in the right direction.I got to this police station only to be told by the policemen on duty that they didn't deal with these things there and that I had to go to the main station, which was I don't know where! I got my map out and showed me where to go, and off I went! I got to the second police station over an hour after having started my hunt for the first one! phew! I strode into this very much larger station and was asked my name. This I gave promptly, and I was then told to go and sit in waiting room. There were quite a few people in this room, and all seemed rather pissed off. I gathered with time that this was because they had all been waiting so long! By this time it was about 7.30, and I decided that I should wait a further hour before having to leave. The time passed slowly, having nothing else to do than read my Spanish text book, which as you can guess isn't the most thrilling of reads! Any way, my hour passed and I found myself having to leave the station because I had to go home for dinner. Umm so that was a waste of time!
Thursday...........................I'm not sure I can remember. Oooooo, I went to the beach maybe or was that Friday? I'm not suretime all kind of jumbles up at this point and gets a bit ´confus` how do u say that in English? Confused that is it. Sorry!
Saturday I spent all day at the beach with my Swede friends. And then we met up in the evening, and went to a bar. I ended up practically carrying one of them home. She had drunk a little too much. It was a strange evening............... But I shall tell you about it another time.

I think that that is enough for today! I am going to go and eat dinner now!

Adios, hasta luego

I´m bored, bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored bored. huh
I have been at this school for hours, and done absolutely nothing. I am about to start a culture class which is even more boring, and then I will have some Spanish lessons. I haven´t even met anyone yet cos I am in afternoon classes, so anyone I have met will be studying when I am free, and I will be studying when they are free. grrrrrrrrrrr.
I had better leave u dear friends because I must go find m class room now.

OOO sorry Í didn´t´t say, the most shocking thing is, none of the computers have msn! ahhhh 3 weeks without msn, I will never survive! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Bye! Sophie, who is slowly but surly is becoming mad due to boredom and lack of sleep(there is a main road just outside my window, so I got NO sleep last night!)

Well here I am in Spain, Barcelona. I arrived last night, and all I have seen of the city so far has been street after street from a taxi window,on my way to my host families house. And then the same from a bus window on the way to the language school!
But anyway, I arrived at the school and was promptly asked to sit a test. This was to ascertain my level. Having done this I then had an hours wait before the results were given to us, or so they told us, we arrived an hour later and all sat down in the room. We waited and waited and waited and waited and waited, well u get the gist! It took a further hour for them to tell us what classes we were in!
I am in advanced, which is fine, but I was put in the afternoon, which is awful! That means that I have no reason to get up, so knowing me I will stay in bed for ages, then I have to eat lunch really early because my lessons start at 1.30 and then I have 2 hours before dinner when my lessons end! This means that I will have a very odd eating timetable, as I will have breakfast when I get up, lunch at 1.00, and then dinner at 9.30! ahhhhhh

well that is all for now from me!

Barcelona!

Well hello everyone. In exactly 12 minutes, I will be lugging my bag into the car, and we shall be setting off for the airport. As most of u clever bloggers out there have guessed, yes I am going to Barcelona!
There was a mad panic this morning as I crammed the remaining items into my already full bag! This was promptly followed by the search for the missing guide books! It was like a real cluedo! On the 20th august 2004 the books were last seen in the dining room. However there wasn't a murder to work out, quite fortunately I think! But anyway, we searched the house from top to toe, and found nothing, nada, rien. Then I looked on my book shelves, and guess what I found? yes the guide books. Oooops.
But anyway, I must go now to say good bye to my parents and my brother and sister.
Adios! Hasta luego!

The end of an era

Well for many a reason it is going to be the end of an era for myself and my school friends. The most obvious reason being that we are all going to university if not this year then next year. There is one working in a school for a year, another is learning Italian at an incredibly fast pace, yet another one is doing a cookery course followed by a spell as a chalet girl, and so the list continues! And then there are all of us boring people who are going directly to university! Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Brighton, York, roehampton, the number of places I have been invited to visit friends at, I don't think I will have a free weekend for years!
It is very strange though after so many years together (ok JAGS has only been for 2 years, but I was at the Lycee for 9 years) we should be splitting up so decisively and going to opposite ends of the country. One of my best friends is going to Scotland! It shouldn't be allowed.
Then of course there are all the things that I have had to give up in my life that I have always done and I won't be a part of anymore. No more gymnastics at Tooting gymnastics club. It has been so much a part of my life that I cried when I had to say good bye to people. I wasn't just saying good bye to friends, they are like family. I have taken part in classes there since the age of 7 and been a coach for the past 2 years. And now I am being replaced by other people. It is very strange. It was always me Izzie and Katya but now......... No more displays, running round maniacally changing leotard and running out just that little bit late. Having to move all the equipment round, as well as do all the routines, including the coaches one which no one is supposed to have seen before hand, although Tara always does! But no this year for the first time ever, I will be just a spectator, relegated to watching the display. Of course there is also the chance that I am stuck behind a curtain to do the music, a job which Katherine is trying hard to avoid this year!
The other thing that I am stopping is my paper round. I am not quite as fond of this as of gymnastics but still! It has provided entertainment on a Thursday afternoon. Folding, inserting the leaflets and then distributing. It is what gave me my money. Well I got plenty from gym but that was put straight into the bank account so it wasn't as easy to access.
But am bored with this blog now! So I shall talk to u all soon, bye!