Barcelona: Day One

Hey everyone,

Well, I made it to Barcelona! I survived the nine hour busride and I discovered that I have an awesome, very friendly and helpful host family. Juan Antonio is our dad away from home and Josephina is our mom away from home. Not that they can replace my parents, of course, but they are going to make this so much easier. Josephina is a cook at a retirement home and Juan Antonio is a guide for their trips. They have two daughters, but we only met Sandra. She works at a gallery here in Barcelona. They also have a cat Lolo. He's cool, very fiesty, but he's already warmed up to my roommate Catharine and I. We watched a super scary movie with Josephina called El Orfanato, like the remake the Orphan in the US. I didn't see it, but this one was really good. Lolo sat on my lap for most of the movie while I pet him. Oh, and we jumped right into speaking Spanish. Although I don't quite understand everything, I feel like I understand what they are talking about, and I know I have learned more in a day than I have in two weeks worth of classes. It was a great start to a what I now truly believe will be a great trip. The other great thing is I have internet in the apartment. I say apartment because houses do not really exist here, and even though everything is pretty small, it is still really comfortable. I will take pictures in the coming days and post them later. I also have to recap on the rest of my adventures in Madrid and Toledo, plus show you all some of the hundred plus pictures I have of the two cities.
Spain is truly a magnificent country. Barcelona, what I have seen of it in the dark seems pretty awesome too! Well, we have an exam in the morning for placement into a language level, so I will say Buenos Noches for now, but updates and photos are soon to come. I love you and miss you all!