On Kids, Homework, France, and Rome

Okay, so it's Tuesday morning and I have stuff to do. Weird, right? I have stuff to do! ....even if a lot of it is homework

• Finish reading Nada
• Study linguistics (bleh, I hated this when I took it in English too)
• Go to the bank to carry out official residence card business and then the police station to get my official documentation from the Spanish government (yes! I'm going to be a real person here too!)
• Intercambio at 10 with Vito, the italian dude that's not very talkative. It takes him awhile to warm up, which means that I have to talk for about 10 minutes straight before he says more than a few sentences at once. Great. There's nothing better than trying to elicit conversation from a rock. At least I'll get to have coffee in my favorite plaza in Gracia. I love Plaza Virreina!
• Clean room so the Skinhead Montse doesn't continue to come busting in without warning to check if the floor is clean.
• Start packing so that I can bail on the old bat.

Believe it or not, I'm actually starting to get a life here in Barcelona and it's starting to feel like home. It takes work, creating a home wherever you go.

Tomorrow I have my first meeting with the kids that I'm going to teach English. Yes. I have a small job. One of my friends who studied in this Barcelona program last year gave me the contact to this really sweet woman who wants her two elementary school kids to learn English. I'll get 10 euros an hour, maybe 2 hours a week? Not sure about the amount of time per week, but nobody is going to give me 10 euros or 15 dollars. As far as I'm concerned, 20 euros can contribute to my next flight to Berlin or a nice bottle of wine.

Anywho, I am nervous! I'm sure it will be fine, because I mean, I can talk to kids right? I'll just think about what I liked in third grade and talk to them about it. Right. Okay. What did I like when I was in 3rd grade? Dogs. They don't have a dog, now what? Ohhhh, I'll think of something.

I booked a trip to Paris for Christmas. I'm going to be alone on Christmas anyway, so why not spend it in Paris? I'm taking AirFrance, which I'm super excited to fly because it's a commerical jet that will land at the main airport in Paris. The discount airline that I usually fly would most-likely land me in the backwaters of France where the only thing that smells worse than the sewers is the people, and I would have to take 3000 metros just to get to the center of the city. That's the life of a poor student traveler, and honestly I wouldn't trade it, but since it's Christmas, I am flying a commerical jet.

In the beginning of December I'm going to Sevilla with one of the guys from the program; I found a 20 euro ticket round trip. We have a four day weekend. Thus, the south of Spain. Tapas, wine, flamenco, Spanish guitar, my Canon Rebel and I are going to have a great experience together, I'm sure. A lot of my friends are going to Rome, but having studied there for a month I decided to spend money on travelling somewhere I haven't yet been. Though, admittedly, I can only recall fond memories of Rome. The streets there are such a labyrinth that you lose yourself (even with a map) for 3 hours only to discover that you've just walked in a 10 kilometer loop and you're back where you started. Typical.

More about Madrid soon... It's time to meet Vito for some coffee and Spanish practice.