Barcelona 2013

Firstly, I´ll tell you briefly about my arrival. I arrived to Barcelona Prat on the 14th of march when weather started to be getting nicer. I was very excited about hearing Spanish all around me as I was used to it in Panama. There are lingual differences in pronunciation and use of words so I thought it will be very interesting to hear them. Also Barcelona is a capital of Catalonia region, where they speak Catalan. Throughout my stay in Barcelona I have been in many situations where I found myself confused with the language for example in my dance school ESCOLA LUTHIER where my dance teachers and friends spoke half Catalan half Castilian. I have been visiting this school for 2 and half months every other day and worked hard on Simmonson and Horton techniques which helps dancers to focus on their bodies and strengthening it by using the muscles in natural, relaxing and repetitive ways. In july, Casa Luthier was closed because of summer holiday so I started to get more and more work opportunities to try and get as much experience I could. I have also moved to a new flat which is 5km far from the centre. A nice place called Esplugues de Llobregat where I found myself a lot calmer than in a rushy street called Comte d`Urgell in the centre of Barcelona. After I moved in, which was at the start of July I started to teach 2 Peruvian girls English not far from where I live, in Esplugues. I have been teaching them English for more than 3 months and at the start of September I was looking after them in the mornings and taking them to school. I really enjoyed the time we have spent together talking about how is English important to learn nowadays and what is it useful for etc.

While I was teaching English I was also cleaning several houses to earn enough money to pay my rent and living costs.  At the start of June I was still seeking for more job opportunities so I went to an interview in INDITEX, Spanish Fashion Company, which distributes work to different kinds of clothes branches like Zara, Poul&Bear, Berschka, Stradivarius etc. I got the job! I have worked in Zara Diagonal for more than 2 months. I had to deal with different kinds of problematic situations with my co-workers and customers. I definitely felt the language barrier at the start because I have never used certain terms or words (slang) like “perchas” or “pistola”. Zara Diagonal is located in the Centre of Barcelona on Avinguda diagonal, which is an area always full of tourists. Many times I have saved my colleges from difficult situations by using my language skills.

So I had 3 jobs; Zara, Teaching, cleaning properties. During this period it was hard to find some free time but when I had some I spend it with my boyfriend who came to visit me. We used our bikes as transport most of the time so we came to know Barcelona reasonably well. I have also started to translate several books because this is a perfect way to get ready for upcoming last academic year at the University of Chester where I´m going to be studying among others the translation techniques.

In the middle of August I decided to leave Barcelona at the end of the month to have September free to have time to relax but I had an amazing opportunity….

One day we went out for a meal somewhere close to the beautiful Espanya Square. We found a really nice place, good prices so why not check it out? After having eaten the best of the best pizzas we had a little chat with the owners. David was from Macedonia and his fiancé Anastazie was half Ukraine half Russian. Both were speaking Spanish, English, Russian, German, Polish, Albanian but we were speaking Spanish all the time because it was the most comfortable for all of us. They gave me the opportunity to work in their Pizzeria. I decided to take it and stay in Barcelona till the end of September because I found this work interesting and useful in terms of using my Spanish skills. I was looking after the girls in the mornings, taking them to school and then going to work at 4 until closing time around 1 or 2 in the morning. I have had an amazing time learning how to manage a bar, speaking many different languages, having great and interesting conversations and obviously earn some money.

Now I am looking back on the time I have spent here and I can tell I have done so much in the past 6 months. I have learnt about new dance techniques, I have worked in one of the most well known high street stores in Barcelona, I have been teaching English and looking after kids, I worked in a restaurant and few times a week cleaned an office or a flat and while doing all this I was speaking mainly in Spanish but also in Polish, Russian, got some basics of Albanese and I was also having some short conversations in German which I studied in past. I came to the realization that all the languages coming from the Slovenian roots of history of languages are really similar and it was surprisingly easy for me to understand and speak it as well. I am a bit tired now as I am writing this down but it was all worth it and the effort and ambitions I have put into this practice makes me smile. Now I am going to get ready for my last year at the University of Chester. I can´t wait to get back. And I will certainly get back to you guys as well in my next blog.