A New Day In Barcelona

Hola! It's Thursday morning in Barcelona, and since I neglected to post yesterday, I figured I should catch up now. Yesterday was my first challenging day on the trip thus far. I was very sad to leave London, I absolutely loved being there. I made my way to Gatwick in the morning, and by the time I arrived, it was snowing. Nevertheless, we got out on time, and I arrived in Barcelona. Immediately, I was a little overwhelmed by the language barrier. I've had a lot of people tell me that 'everyone in Barcelona speaks english.' Well, that certainly hasn't been my experience, a lot of people speak some english, but not very much at all. After about 30 minutes of walking back and forth, trying to figure out where to buy a ticket, I finally figured out how to get the bus from the airport, and made my way to my hotel. After having to change rooms twice because of cigarette stench, I settled in. I was kind of surprised how freaked out I was feeling, as this was the experience I had come traveling for. I needed to get my cell phone sorted out, so with the help of the front desk, I made my way to Frnca, which seems to be Spain's version of Best Buy. This was another very frustrating experience. No one that worked in the store spoke English, so I had a very difficult time understanding what I was buying. It was very interesting and unsettling to see and feel how frustrated they got with me not understanding them, the same way in which I have gotten frustrated with people in the U.S. that didn't speak english. I did get the cell phone working (I think), and headed out to get something to eat. Much to my chagrin, I found out that people in Spain don't eat until 10PM, so I would have to wait a couple of hours to meet my friend and eat dinner. I did stop on the way back to the hotel and got a couple of slices of pizza, which were really delicious. The pizza had no sauce, and very thick crust. I had gotten in touch with an old friend from New York City, and he had told me to call him around 9pm, and we would make some plans for dinner. When I called him though, he cancelled. I set out to find something to eat, at this point not feeling very great, and found a little cafe that served 'Torrades.' I'm still not sure if I ate it correctly, but it was a big piece of toast with REALLY good ham sliced over the top of it. I sat at the cafe feeling kind of lonely and overwhelmed. When I got back to my room, I decided to just chill and watch a DVD, and wake up with a new attitude, which is exactly what I did. I do still feel a bit lonely and overwhelmed, but this is EXACTLY what I took this trip for. I wanted to have these 'fish out of water' experiences, and I am very excited to be here today. I've spent the morning walking around, watching the hustle and the bustle. And now I'm going to get some lunch (I hope they eat at the noon hour), and just walk around some more. I have plans to be somewhere at 3:30, but other than that, I am just going to enjoy being here, a step outside of my comfort zone. I keep reminding myself that if this is uncomfortable, or out of my comfort with the language and loneliness, Africa is going to be really challenging. Which is a good thing. I do feel much better today already.