#bexcelona

Well hot damn, look at that we only went and won the thing! Mangamore Kopa 2015. 

In year 5 at primary school my end of year report read: “Bex [yes because I was cool and using Bex when I was 10] needs to speed up and worry less.” 

Honestly, I have not changed since then. I’m still a pretty worried person by natural disposition. The skin red raw around my finger tips has served testament to this for as long as I can remember. I pick when stressed; exam time is a mess, dissertation time drew blood, and funnily enough moving to a foreign country and giving yourself only three week’s notice to do so will also cause a little anxiety. 

Stupid sh*t has worried me since my arrival: “What if Alba doesn’t want me on the team because she’s used to being the only female beater and won’t want to share?” 

“What if I can’t find another job to supplement my income? Even though my food and living is covered so I literally have no expenses?” 

“Am I bugging the Eagles with my lack of Catalan or Spanish? Am I being annoying?”

“Why won’t these language schools reply to their emails!?” 

“What if I can’t make friends?”

“Am I capable of actually adulting enough to take care of someone else’s child?” 

“What if I can’t find a school for Spanish!? Then I will lose my next job! Ahhhh!” 

Literally all of these worries have been unfounded. Alba’s delighted to have me, the Eagles are my friends, I have found a class that’s a good price in a small group which fits my timetable, Alex and I are more than fine, I have friends, I have found another job that I really enjoy, and it’s all going well. 

I need a weekend to recover from my weekend! It’s been a good one! 

Friday night I went jogging around Park Güell - famed for Gaudí’s architecture and a UNESCO world heritage site since 1984. (Thank you, Wiki). Though I had been to the park at least three times before (with my parents, on the Hitch, and with Holly Collins last Mustaches) it was great to see it “as a local” as it were. Just sort of jogging around doing my thing (squats, planks, press-ups etc!) without contemplating which site I had to jet-off to next on a whirl wind visit of the city. I went to bed early because...

... At 7:45am I met a new friend, Mara, and her crew at Plaça de Catalunya for her birthday hike in the mountains outside the city. Mara is a friend of Deborah, who is a friend of Leanne my friend from Keele. So it was a pleasant surprise to be invited to an event for someone I met only a few weeks ago. Anyway Mara, a TEFL Romanian who has been in BCN for three years, and her crew, boyfriend Hector, friend Alistair, friend Daniel, friend Albert, and a Spanish girl whose name escapes me, and I took a 2.5 hour train out of the city. 

We arrived to stunning scenery and a fresh climate. We clambered up a very steep hill to a BBQ area. We’d brought a delicious spread of pasta salad, humus and breads, and a variety of meat (I bought soya hot dogs being suspicious of BBQC meat) and cooked on a wood-fueled barbie. Alistair popped Cava to celebrate and it was a genuinely lovely time.  It was enjoyable to get out of the city, away from a pesky toddler, and (hopefully) make some new friends. 

Alistair already has given me a a recommendation for a second-hand bike shop and produce shop for cheaper mixed, dried fruits. Helpful, because quite frankly, 1.20 E for a measly amount of sultanas is no good for my cereal consumption! 

As for today, Sunday, I had quidditch practice in the morning. Chema, the coach, works us hard! But we scrimmaged a fair amount too. I’m struggling to slot into the Eagles’ play style a little bit... we seem to have differing ideas on what’s effective and a language barrier is not helping on pitch! EVERYONE has been very welcoming, however. With people keen to practice their English - although I feel Chema is getting a little frustrated with explaining exercises twice. Although that could just be in my mind! I feel more confident each session in understanding the gist of what’s being said and more keen to practice out my own (rather meager at this point) language skills. 

After training I went to the beach with Alba the Eagles’ captain. Alba seems to be on the only Eagle who loves the beach as much as I do! Thus we spent four hours sunbathing, swimming, having siesta, and chatting. She’s been a huge help to me already - sorting me with a good phone contract and new phone. And generally just being very patient with me, blundering around! 

Today also marks the election for the Catalan autonomous government - think Scottish Parliament sort of deal... I think, though I am not really sure what powers they have. The crunch time is now. If a coalition of pro-independence parties wins they will start the ball rolling on full-blown independence for Catalunya hopefully for 2017. If the conservatives win they will at least push for more rights for the region from the central government. As I understand it, the Catalans have had enough of footing too much of the bill for the rest of Spain as they are most prosperous region by a considerable margin. The central government, again as I understand it from what I have been told, have been cranking up the pressure against Catalunya for some time, with the pro-independence movement really gaining legs and momentum since 2012. 

I have been truly terrible with this blog! Ah! But right now I have a few baby sitting interviews lined up, a “casual business type coffee” meeting with the guy who offered me the job in London with a possible opportunity to work in their Barcelona office, I have found a great “intercambio” language exchange evening (Monday evenings), and I am going to a quidditch tournament the weekend of my birthday. So all in all - it’s going pretty well here.  I just need to sort a Catalan class / Spanish too, and then it’s mostly all good. 

I had Alex for the first time alone today and all went very well! He seemed pretty chilled out with me which was great. He cried when I dropped him at nursery though... which was sad and a little awkward! 

Oh, and last weekend was 11 September - or Catalan National Day. I went to the parade / demonstration for Catalan Independence which was interesting. I’ve never been to something like that before. 

For the foreseeable, I live in Barcelona. With a population of 1.6 million (and now one more!) people, Barcelona is the most populous city on the Mediterranean Sea and is the sixth most populated city in the European Union. The city is famed for having beautiful architecture, including world-famous works by Antonio Gaudi, and three miles of beach.

I’m here because a few weeks ago I was sat at my desk in a world-leading international bank compiling Payment Protection Insurance… very badly. My success rate at cases never rose above 50% and the week I was on vacation my team met their productivity targets for the only time I was there. I was on the brink of being let go… so I figured, why not just go?

I had that thought on Thursday, quit on Monday, put my au pair application form on Wednesday and boom. I move into my host family’s house on the 8th September. I will be taking care of a 22-month-old toddler named Alex three days a week and some evenings, with hopefully some English teaching or something else on the side.

But, I hear you say, why Barcelona? Well the reasons are:

1.       I was coming here already for the Barcelona Moustaches Tournament with The Mighty and Amazing Quercs. I have just decided not to use my return ticket. Simples!

2.       Having already befriended members of the Barcelona Eagles Quidditch team, I will (hopefully!) keep playing my favourite sport with friends.

3.       It’s freakin’ Barcelona. A cool, hip, fun city that is well rated for high quality of life… albeit with a fairly high petty crime and pickpocket rate (but we’ll brush over that for now).

In the grand scheme of things I hope to make myself more employable with improved language skillz, mate. And while Catalan is the primary language of many people in the region with a speaking population of 4.1 million native speakers (or about two thirds the population of London), Castilian is widely spoken and understood.

Right now, I’m here with my Querc teammates enjoying the holiday I was already planning before I quit my job. We’re having a lovely time that has mainly involved board games, the beach, a spot of sightseeing, and general tomfoolery. Earlier in the week was an open Eagles practice, and the tournament starts on Saturday.