Friday, February 22, 2013

This week in barcelona

Ola!

Esta semana voy a la escuela espanola! For you Americanas this means - "This week I am attending spanish school!"

David and I enrolled in a two week intensive spanish class for beginners at a wonderful, and small, language arts school called "Version Orginale"

This is a very clever name for a school, because here when you are looking to see an American film in the theaters in English, you look for the words "Version Original" which means, the film is not dubbed, but rather the sound plays the "original version" or as we say in spanish "version original" and then there are spanish (or in some cases here - Catalan) subtitles.

Our teacher Christina is wonderful and I can not get over how much we have learned in one week. We are attending classes from 10am-1:30pm. In Spain, people have lunch anytime 1:30pm-3:30pm. Most stores are closed 1:30pm-5:30pm. Most restaurants are closed 3:30pm (or 4pm) till 8 or 9pm when they reopen. So you can imagine, that is the part that has taken the most getting used to. Restaurants in the U.S. are usually open for dinner 5pm-9pm or 10pm (the latest during the week in pgh). Here, they are closed 5-9pm.

This is a picture of our neighborhood. It is called, Eixample. See how big it is?!?



Below is a more detailed image and you can see how each of the "squares" in the photo are a "block." Each block in Eixample is built using the same plan: a square with an empty area in the middle. 



In addition to attending school, David and I are both trying to get work done. David started teaching his classes this past week. He teaches on Monday and Wednesday afternoons/evenings. 

I am having a harder time getting work done in the apartment during the day, as Travis and Julie are using the living room/dining room as their classroom. The good news is starting March first I will have a small office to go to during the days, so that I can EDIT THE MOVIE!  


You will all be happy to know that Travis is doing really well at "school."His tutor Julie is very patient and kind and he seems to be learning a ton! Everyday they have science and math and reading, but they are also focusing each week on a special topic. 


So far, he has had one theme week on Gaudi and this week's focus was Egypt. He will update his blog with info about Egypt this weekend. Next week is the Middle Ages. They have been doing experiments in Science and reading a great deal and playing interactive games on the computer related to his theme each week. 

Travis also attended a movie making "after school" class this week, at the American School of Barcelona. While it is a bit of a trek to get there - a 20 min metro ride + 20 min bus ride, the faculty and administration there have been so welcoming to us and Travis LOVED IT. So we enrolled him. It will be once a week, so a nice chance for him to connect with other kids, learn something of interest to him, and hopefully make some friends too.  The teacher is a nice british guy and Travis was recruited into a group who are making a 5 minute film called, "Larry Potter" - so this feels like a recipe for success. 

Well, that is about all for this week's update. We love you all. And are ever grateful for this opportunity to unplug from our everyday, and experience this different and beautiful place and culture, and de-stress a bit from our regular work and school lives. 






Monday, February 11, 2013

Sabbatical Journal - 1

One finds oneself doing things, one had not imagined, on sabbatical. For one, there are no clothes dryers in Barcelona, it is not the custom, so while working on my feminist film about women presidents, most days I find myself hanging my little boy's underwear and sheets on the line to air dry, becoming expert with clothespins as I look out at the other seƱoritas, each of us on our terraces in the morning sun. I find it oddly meditative.


Also, this makes me wonder about U.S. energy consumption. I can't help notice that the dishwasher and laundry machine use less water here then in the states. And of course, then there is the air drying laundry....we have a fourth floor apartment with a small terrace that we thought we would have our morning coffee on, but honestly serves as our humble laundry room. But that's okay because really we are in Barcelona, right?

Boulangerie (bakery) located WAY too close to our house
While our carbon footprint may be diminishing - our CARB consumption is significantly expanding. All of my vows of a carbless existence hit the pot when each block has no less than two boulangerie (bakeries) and it seems like a national insult to walk by without getting our daily baguette...and a bottle of wine...and chunk of cheese, of course to go with it.

Like other times when we have rented a house - on the vineyard or on vacation - the first week has been filled with constant trips to the grocery store as we realized what we "must" and "don't" have - from the exotic (hearts of palms, olives, pate) to the old standbyes - milk, oj, cereal, yogurt - and all the million other things in between - toilet paper, soap, hand soap, laundry soap, shampoo, fabric softener, oh how many different kinds of soap one family needs to stay clean! And we need hampers, and paper towels, and hangers, and ketchup and you see it really all adds up fast!

I am not complaining, just wanted to give you a clear picture of sabbatical life. So far. School for Travis began today and he had a great first day. His tutor Julie is smart and creative and energetic and so they seem well matched. They had a very productive first day filled with science and math and art and reading and they both seemed quite happy (and relieved) that it went so well.

Someday it will be warm enough to wear these...
Barcelona is a curious city in regards to weather. Most days it is beautifully sunny with the clearest blue skies one can imagine. But the wind is also fierce. Perhaps because it is a port city. So the sun and the sky and palm trees make me think it is a beach day. But the wind chill in the 40s reminds me otherwise. As you can see, I did not have room in my luggage to pack many winter clothes because i had other packing priorities...:-)

We are having fun though doing things like....sleeping in. Incredible! I think jet lag had something to do with it, but week one we gave ourselves permission to "be on vacation" and we all stayed up late and slept past 10:00am and wow what a difference this makes in one's world view.

Hospital St. Paul located around the block, quite beautiful.
This week as we begin school mode and work mode things are slowly moving back to a regular time schedule. Travis's home school schedule beginning, David's class schedule beginning, and me back to working on the film. Though time is a crazy thing here too. Most stores are open 9am-1pm and then open again 6pm-9pm. Or if it is a restaurant, they are open 1-3pm and then again 9pm-midnight. So, it took some getting used to, but we are slowly getting the hang of it.

Most people here speak Catalan with a little spanish. We speak English with a little Spanish. But hand gestures and large expressive eyes seem to help break the language barrier. David and I begin spanish classes next week for real!

View from the top of Casa Mila
The public transportation is WONDERFUL. Travis is already an expert at the metro and we are all learning our way around. It is a great city for kids this age because Travis (and his tutor) can get around so easily without the need of a car at all (and us too). The metro system here is very clean, safe, and efficient and so are the buses. Next week we hope to connect Travis with some after school classes (and classmates!) at an American School here.

So, all in all, expat life is really wonderful and such a great experience for us as a family. Already Travis seems more independent and confident and the journey seems to be very good for him.

More soon...Heather
















Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Barcelona - Week One


Casa Milla
Hello friends and familia - we are now safe and sound in beautiful Barcelona. It is not quite hot here...yet (it has been in the 50s all week) so we still need our coats and gloves. But it is also very sunny. So, we have winter coats and sunglasses on most days. Travis has been adjusting very well to our new apartment and new city and his new tutor/travel nanny Julie. Here are some photos from one of our first outings, to Gaudi's Casa Milla. 
Casa Milla Roof

As you can see, it is quite beautiful and has the most wonderful many leveled roof with sculptures all about. Each fixture actually serves a critical role in the building - as exhaust for air, or fireplaces, or some other ventilation need. Incredible!




Our visit here was Travis's first request and it did not fail to delight and impress us all. Check out Travis's blog next week for a report on Gaudi and the Case Milla. His blog is at www.travisworldofwow.blogspot.com but he told me to tell you he will be updating it next week as he is "still doing research." Ciao! H, D, & T