Big decisions.

Lately, I've been busy contemplating what I'm going to do with my life.

Several weeks ago, I received an e-mail from the university in London saying that tuition had increased by 500 pounds per credit, changing the cost of attending the university dramatically. After reading that, I began to panic. Even with the 10,000 dollar scholarship that I had received, I still had to take out a 6,500 dollar government loan to pay tuition. Now that the tuition of the university increased so much, I had no idea how I was going to pay the extra 500 pounds per credit.

So, of course, I became determined to figure something else out. I told myself I'd live under a bridge in Europe before I ever came back to Texas. I had worked much too hard to go backwards. After looking through my options, I talked to Albert's family about attending a university here in Spain. I knew that Albert was studying business for practically free, so I thought maybe attending a university here would be cheaper than for me to attend an American university in London. I was completely right. After many phone calls and several meetings with the local government, it turns out the cost of attendance will be 1,000 euros per year at the University of Barcelona, or at any other Spanish university, which is about a 20th of the cost of an American university. They also have apartments and dorms on campus, which only cost a little less that 200 euros a month. All, very affordable when I'm working here.

So, after a little thinking, I decided this was my best option. I love Barcelona so much. It really feels like a home to me right now. Staying here for the next few years would be really nice. Of course, after I graduate, I want to travel more and live in many different places, but Barcelona is a wonderful place to live now.

I cannot start at the university until February. I will be put through an intensive language course by the Spanish government until I begin at the university. I will also be working. Although Albert's family has offered for me to stay with them for as long as I need, I plan on moving out this autumn. I have been looking at many apartments here, to share with other university girls, that are all very affordable. I've made many friends here, it would be nice to share an apartment with some of my best girl friends.

About ninety percent of my classes at the university are available in English and the a few only in Spanish. Luckily, these classes are the last classes that I have to take. The university said I should have no problem studying in Spanish after living here for two years and going through intensive government courses. They also said that the professors here would be notified that Spanish was not my first language.

I will also be able to do a study abroad anywhere in the EU for one semester/one year for the same price as attending in Barcelona.

So, as complicated as it sounds, I think the choice is pretty simple for me. I think this is what I need to do now. Going back to Texas would definitely not make me happy. But also, having so much debt after I graduate from London wouldn't make me happy either. I'm excited to study here: to improve my Spanish, to study at the same university as my new friends, and most of all, to begin a new chapter of my life here in Spain. It all sounds pretty nice.



Tomorrow, I leave for Albert's summer home on Menorca for 15 days. We will swim, snorkel, scuba dive, surf and spend all day on the beach. I know his mother will cook lots of seafood every night. I'm excited to spend an extremely relaxing two weeks in Menorca. Below is the picture of beach in Menorca, nearly all the beaches look this way (at least, that's what Albert says).

I'll write again when I get back on the 20th.

Ashley

I know it's been an extremely long time since I've wrote, but I've been feeling a little overwhelmed and busy lately.
Last Thursday, I arrived home from a week in Oporto, Portugal. I really enjoyed my stay there and am already missing the perfect weather of Portugal. The high was about 60 degrees, which felt wonderful, but a little chilly during the nights. The city had so much history. We frequently passed signs stating things like, "This building was the main center for trade during the 1300's." Also, the moment we arrived there, it felt like we had stepped back into the 1960's. Many people didn't own televisions and if they did they were old, black and white models. The homes were so old and many of the people dressed in an older style of clothing, as if Oporto was about 20 years behind the rest of the West. I really loved visitng the city, it was so different than anywhere I've been before.
Here's the link to see my Oporto pictures: http://ashleybox.myphotoalbum.com

The weather is miserably hot today and has been for the past two days. The news said yesterday was the hottest day in the past 6 years in Catalonia. I believe it. I guess this is what you get when you live just right above Africa. But gosh, life without an airconditioner is sure hard.


Besides that, I have only been working and enjoying life here in Spain.
I will update again soon. Hopefully I'll something exciting to write about then!
~Ashley

It's been so long since I've posted because I've been so busy.
I've been studying Spanish everyday and now am able to have basic converstations in the language. I also have studied most of the verb tenses and conjugations and now am able to use them when I speak. It's nice to finally be able to speak to Albert's mother and father and to be able to understand what is going on around me. Of course, I can't speak well yet, but I'm learning quickly.

On July 13th, I will be traveling to Oporto, Portugal for 4 days. I'm so excited! I was able to find a really good priced packaged vacation there so I jumped at the chance. Portugal has always been on my "Places I Want to Visit" list and I'm excited to be able to spend a few days there soon. I'll take many pictures and post them soon. I also will post many other picturest that I've been taking through the weeks soon. I've just become lazy with uploading, but I'll get around to it soon.

Last weekend was Sant Cugat's (Albert's neighborhood-village) summer festival. The festival consists of activities during the day (like making strange giant human pyramids, which is what Catolonia is famous for) and a huge party until 7am every night. The first night, we stayed out so late and arrived home at 7am. I must say, the city parties here are wild. The beach was so crowded, it was impossible to walk or move. Everyone was drunk, dancing and setting off fireworks. The cities in Spain have 6 or more of the parties each year. The Spanish people love to party and stay out so late. The second and third night, we were way to tired to go out. Both nights I fell asleep by midnight. Turns out that I'm not as European as I thought! ;)

Besides that, I'm just working and spending time with friends here. Tomorrow after I finish work in the morning, Albert and I will go to the beach and spend the day in downtown Barcelona.

I'll write again soon.

Ashley

Today was my first day to make my way alone in Barcelona. I'm so proud of myself. I was able to take the bus, the train and the metro without getting lost. It's hard to remember which bus, train, and metro to take and which station to get off at. It's always a different one, so it gets confusing. There is something so liberating about making your way alone in a foreign country. I tried my best to find my way around with confidence. I think I did a good job. Yes, I almost missed the bus stop on the way home, but I still made it back home without any problems. It was an amazing feeling.

Alone at breakfast-time in Barcelona, I really surprised myself. I also was able to order my breakfast in Spanish from a bakery cafe. Granted, my Spanish is choppy and my pronunciation is poor, but I am still proud of the fact that I was able to do that. I wasn't even planning to do so. I was thirsty and hungry. So out of reaction, I stopped in a bakery and ordered breakfast and a drink in Spanish. It really surprised me. I had never realized that I knew any Spanish. I have never studied Spanish before. I think there is a similarity between Spanish and French (which I'm currently studying) and that must have helped me. Also, it helped that I picked up a little Spanish while living in Texas.

I met with my friend Helena in the next town in the late morning, after breakfast. We spent the morning eating pastries and walking around town. Later, after I arrived back home, Albert and I went out for granizat (iced lemon juice) in Barcelona. Dinner with Albert's family was outside in the garden, where we eat many nights. We had bread, meat, cheese and wine, a very typical dinner. I like the fact that dessert is always served after dinner. I love living in Spain so much. Even the simplest things seem so exciting here.

I'm writing to music. The neighbor plays the violin each night outside in the garden. She plays so beautifully. I love hearing it every night. I'm exhausted and I need to sleep. I'll write again soon.

Ashley

I had a great weekend, but am so tired now. On Friday, Albert and I, along with four of our friends, spent the day at the beach. We played beach tennis and swam. The water was so incredibly cold. After spending about three minutes in the water, all of our bodies became numb and it was easy to swim. Here, the water is crystal clear and so beautiful. It's so different from the Texas coast. The beach was so clean and nice. The only thing I'm going to have to get used to is all the naked and topless people on the beach. It is definitely a lot different than what I'm used to in the US.

This weekend, Albert coached at a basketball camp and I went with him. The camp was in Tarragona and lasted only two days. We stayed in dorms and participated in a lot of activities. Albert was in charge of a team of eight thirteen year old boys, so as you can imagine, the weekend was very tiring! Since it was an all-boys basketball camp, I was definitely the "talk" of the weekend. Everyone was so interested in talking with me, and many of them couldn't speak English. Albert and I had a lot of fun though, but now we're totally exhausted from this weekend.

Today after the camp ended, Albert, his brother and I explored Tarragona. Tarragona was the second most important city, after Rome, during the Roman Empire. There are still many walls and statues standing from the time of the Roman Empire.

Not much else to say. I'll write again soon!

Arrival

I arrived safely in Barcelona three days ago. After having to wait two days later than I expected, I was able to get on the flight to NYC and then the flight to Barcelona with no problems.

After making a friend on the seven hour flight to Barcelona, I stayed up talking the whole time. When I arrived to Barcelona at 9:30 in the morning, I was so exhausted and slept nearly the entire day. It felt so great to be back in Spain. I love the relaxed, laid-back atmosphere and the wonderful food. The second day I was here, Albert and I walked around Barcelona and then spent most of the day at the beach. The weather is 75-85 degrees all of the time, which makes it perfect beach weather. The Mediterranean Sea is still very cold though. I'm planning on swimming this weekend, but I'll probably freeze to death.

Yesterday, I saw the most amazing magician on La Ramblas (a major street in Barcelona). The tricks he did were all so incredible- so much better than any I had seen on TV before. There are always so many surprises on La Ramblas. After all, all sides of the street are lined with human statues.

I am beginning to work hard on learning Catalan. Today, while Albert was working, I was left alone with his mother (who doesn't speak English). She and I sat on the couch for an hour, with a Catalan-English dictionary between us, trying our best to have a conversation. She is such a sweet lady. She really wants to learn English and I want to learn Catalan, so it works out well.

The food here is absolutely incredible, as always. The diet here is a lot like a typical Mediterranean diet, consisting of a lot of seafood, bread, olive oil and salads. However, they also eat a lot of pork. Breakfast consists of pastries and juice and lunch is usually pasta and salad. Dinner is always the largest meal with a ton of meat (usually 3 or 4 different kinds -both seafood and pork), bread, salad and wine. Dessert is usually fruit with dessert liquor.

Tomorrow, Albert and I will have dinner in downtown Barcelona again. After, we'll meet a group of friends at a bar for drinks. I will start working on Monday, so this week is almost like vacation to me. However, I will only be working 15 hours a week, so I'll still have plenty of time to enjoy Barcelona.

I am already having such a wonderful time here! :) I'll post again soon.
(Yes Grandma N., I'm sure there are lots of grammatical errors. Sorry, it's 3am and I'm too tired to check over what I've written.)

Ashley

Packing

Tonight, I nearly finished packing my bags. Although I've been spending the last month clearing out unneeded clothes and old stuff, I still had a lot of sorting to do. Now, after a few hours of strenuous packing, I am completely exhausted.

I leave for Barcelona on Friday. (As long as I have no trouble getting on a flight with my grandfather's buddy passes.) I will stay in Barcelona until August 24th, and from there fly to London where I will be studying for 2 years to complete by BA. It still seems completely surreal to me that my life is about to change so quickly. In a matter of days I will be living across the world immersed in a different culture and living amongst completely different people who speak another language (Catalan) that I don't even understand. However, I'm not very nervous. They way that I view it is that I have an endless amount of adventures ahead of me. I am so excited about all the new experiences I'll have and the new life that I am creating for myself.

I will be working in Barcelona this summer. I'll be helping to tutor students in writing, reading, grammar and spelling in English to students. The students that I will work with will have a relatively good grasp of the English language, but poor writing and reading skills. I'll be working with a variety of age groups, but mainly with middle-school aged kids.
I will be staying with my boyfriend's family in their guest room for the summer. They have a beautiful house in a neighborhood of Barcelona, located about 10 minutes from downtown. His family is so nice for hosting me this summer. I'm really glad to be staying with such kind people and am so thankful for all that they're doing for me.
My boyfriend, Albert, who is fluent in English, has begun to teach me his first language, Catalan. (Which is a not very well known language used in Catalonia, an area of eastern Spain. Although it's not particularly close to any other Romance language, it sounds closest to Italian.) He will also help me to improve my limited Spanish skills, because Spanish is his second language. I will also continue to study French. Hopefully, I will be multilingual someday!
I have made many friends in Barcelona through Albert; All who are so sweet and so much fun.
I'm so glad to have a group of friends awaiting my arrival!

Although getting around a city of non-native English speakers by myself will be both challenging and scary at times, I think it will be such a wonderful experience for me. Also, living in London will be a really great for me as well.

After I arrive in Barcelona and sleep off my jet lag, I'll write again. I will to try to write in this blog several days a week and a minimum of once a week. I'll try my best to keep everyone updated on how everything is going and on the things that I'm doing!

Ashley