Blogs and Other Things

Tuesday, February 4, 2025 –

Well, I’m here.

Actually, I’ve been here almost a month, but I managed to hold out on writing this as long as possible. Something about Spain has made me an even better procrastinator than usual (must be the carbs).

So, what do you want to hear?

I don’t really know how to start this, other than by detailing what I’ve been doing in (hopefully) an entertaining way. Let’s start with the first plane ride, where I met an incredibly sweet lady (I forget her name) who claimed to be an introvert yet talked my ear off whenever she got the chance.

I wasn’t bothered, though.

We got along quite well, and we had no one sitting in the middle seat between us (she was in the window, I was in the aisle), which gave us more of an excuse to chat.

Since we were flying to Lisbon, she asked me what my plans were for Portugal, so I told her about my exciting adventure of waiting in the airport for 3 hours before flying to Barcelona.

All jokes aside, I was excited.

Just not for Portugal.

Apparently, she’d been to Lisbon over 20 times, but had never been to Barcelona.

So she might not have been very excited for Portugal, either.

Regardless, I got off that plane, chilled at the airport wondering if I would starve to death while refusing to spend money on food, got on the next plane, flew to Barcelona, got picked up by my host family (after them not being able to find me for 30 minutes as I had no idea which part of the airport I was in nor could I read any of the signs because I was too lazy to learn Spanish before I left), drove home, ate dinner with the family (I couldn’t tell you what we ate), and went to bed at around 11PM Spain Time (aka 5PM Eric Time).

Still with me?

You might think 11PM is a good time to go to bed to get readjusted to a new time zone (I did, at least), but unfortunately, Eric had not slept on either of the flights.

So Eric slept until 4PM.

Around 4:15, after watching the Leafs highlights, I came out of my room (looking my absolute best) to find myself meeting my host mother’s mother (the kids’ grandmother) and her brother (the kids’ uncle). It was a lot to wake up to, given that I didn’t speak a word of Spanish other than si and gracias and they were all sitting in the living room dressed like the Queen was coming; regardless, once they brought out appetizers with gluten-free bread, I was set.

(I’m gluten-free, in case that was unclear. It’s what I’m best known for.)

After that was all done, we had dinner before I went to chill in my room for the rest of the night.

And what a long night it was.

I got to sleep around 6AM (1AM Eric Time – not by choice) and woke up at 10:30 to get ready for my first day of work, which began at 11:15 (thank god). All things considered, it went pretty well, and it’s been going pretty well ever since.

I have Fridays off and I end at 12:40 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is an elite schedule. Only downside is I start at 8:15, which is a time of day I think people should never be awake for, but I’d be a fool to complain.

Speaking of Fridays off, I took my first one to travel around Barcelona as I wanted to get acquainted with the city that birthed Lamine Yamal.

So, I booked a bus tour.

In my head, I often make fun of the people who do bus tours, but once I was on one, it all made sense. You can see an entire city in a day, hopping off and on as you please, which I tried to take full advantage of, as you’ll see below.

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The Zoo

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Ciutadella Park

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Coast / World Trade Center (didn’t know they had one)

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Montjuïc Mountain

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I also managed to see both Barcelona football stadiums (Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, the one they currently play in, and the famous Camp Neu, which is under construction).

That was all I really needed to see, anyway.

The next day, I had planned to hike Mount Tibidabo, but when I woke up, my body had other plans.

The next week was good, my birthday ended up being on Thursday, and to my surprise, my host family got me a cake. I didn’t even know that they knew about it, but they must have found out through the program.

So that was great.

Then came the weekend.

I’ll admit, I’m someone who says they enjoy skiing more than they actually do. So when the family (incredibly generously) offered for me to go skiing with them, I declined their first offer as I had booked the bus tour.

But when they asked again, I couldn’t decline.

And it’s not like I wanted to decline, but in a much more real sense, I definitely wanted to decline.

This had nothing to do with the family; they’re absolutely lovely, and the kids never stop being funny. But I knew myself, and I knew that, 1) I would probably get motion sick from the mountainous drives, and 2) I wouldn’t be able to sleep in on either day, which is crucial for my general enjoyment of life.

But I went.

As I feared, I got incredibly motion sick from the drives and felt nauseous the entire day of what was supposed to be the first of two days of skiing. I also had a couple falls that involved some spinning and some hitting my head, so that probably didn’t help.

But this video’s funny, at least.

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Anywho, once we got back to the village we were staying in (it’s called Plan, if you’re curious), I told the family I hurt my groin, which was only a half lie, but the nausea was brutal and I knew I couldn’t go back out the next day.

I went to bed immediately once we got inside and slept 15 hours (which seems to be a common theme). That day, I thought I was going to have a chill Sunday in the village with the family off skiing, but I woke up to children’s screams.

So I figured that probably wasn’t going to happen.

It turns out the course ended up closing that day due to bad weather, so they stayed home. I spent most of that day dreading the drive home, but I also took some photos.

So let’s focus on that.

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Once we got back to their house in Barcelona, I took some Gravol and called it a night.

Well, almost.

I called in sick first.

If there was a tracker of, on average, how far I make it into a new job before calling in sick, I’d probably never get hired again.

(Just kidding future employers, I’m a perfectionist and super adaptable.)

Regardless, I took Monday off, and just tried to chill out for the rest of the week (apart from seeing a Barcelona Champions League game on Wednesday, which if anything probably made me feel better).

At least I can now say I’ve skied in the Pyrenees (he says sheepishly as many people will never get the opportunity).

Anyways, that more or less brings us to today, so if you’ve made it this far, that’s insane. Get help.

And thanks!

Hopefully none of that bummed you out! I’m sure the rest of these will be much more sunshine, butterflies and rainbows.

Which reminds me!

I’m going to Las Palmas this weekend (an island in the Canaries), so by next Tuesday, I should have some good stories.

Also, please let me know: was this too long? Too short? Should I break these up? Dye my hair purple? Tell me! I live for feedback, especially when it makes me want to curl up in a ball and question my existence.

🙂

Until next time.