Pick-Pocketing and some random thoughts

Hola familia y amigos,

Jaja, wow, mucho tiempo ha pasado desde la última vez que escribí aquí. Lo siento. Es que no he hecho mucho este mes... no viajes, no adventuras, mucho de nada. He mejorado un poquo en mi español, especialmente porque he aprendido todos los conjugaciones. Ahora, estamos aprendiendo como usar subjuntivo (presente de s., pretérito imperfecto de s., y pretérito pluscuamperfecto de s.).

Haha, wow, it has really been a long time since I last wrote in here. Sorry about that! I just haven't done much this month... no trips, no adventures, and a whole lot of nothing. I've been here for just over 5 months now! I have improved in my Spanish, especially because I've learned all of the possible conjugations. Right now, we're just learning how to use them, especially subjunctive. Any of you who have studied Spanish know how complicated subjunctive can be. Other than that, I’ve just been in the steady routine of taking care of the kids, school, and more kids. I will admit that I am getting a little weary of this schedule, especially since it allows for so little free time to take advantage of living in such a cool place and to do what I would like (hang out with friends, exercise, play the guitar, explore the city, meet new people, go out at night, etc…). I think it all comes down to the disadvantage of living so incredibly far away from the main city (45 minutes on the train). If I lived closer, I would waste less time commuting to and from the city and could take advantage of the all-night metro service and taxis to get around when meeting up with friends. Anyways, I am SO ready for my upcoming vacation with Linnea. In a week, we’ll spend ten days touring Paris, Chinqua Terra, and Rome. It is a much needed vacation for me. I can’t wait!

So, I was thinking about what I might write in here and the only thing I could think of was one crazy night that I had about two weeks ago. It was a Friday and some friends from the English speaking church had invited me to see the fountain/music/lights show at Plaza España (Plaça Espanya in Catalan). I requested the evening off from taking care of the kids and around 7:45 pm, I met up my friends and a friend of a friend who was here just as a tourist for the weekend. We were really enjoying ourselves while watching the fountain show (called Font Magic) that had some of the most random and weird music (a collection of classical, 80's, and opera) until some strange events occurred. Two of the girls from our group had a guy come up to them with a napkin telling them that they had something on their clothes and he wanted to help get it off. The two girls waved for us to come over and help them and get the creeper away, so the group shifted over to where those girls were.

Now, this commotion left the tourist gal sitting by herself on a concrete median between two walkways. During the distraction caused by the first guy, two guys came up behind tourist gal and one tapped her on one shoulder while the other grabbed her purse and ran. The poor girl didn't know what to do and ran after them, tripping down the stairs of the bridge and losing her shoes in the process. When she came running back to us barefoot, shoes in hand, out of breath and close to tears, we had absolutely no idea what had just occurred. She explained, pointing and screaming at the robbers running away with her purse. One of the guys with us intelligently suggested that they walk in the direction of the ladrons to see if they had dumped the purse after taking everything that they wanted. While the group was walking in that direction, a kind man stopped them and explained that he had seen the police catch two robbers who had gone running in that direction. Because of that tip, the group found the police who had in fact caught the robbers with the purse. The purse had everything in it plus a shampoo bottle containing a yellow mixture that exactly resembled the gross junk that had been spilled on the two girls' jackets. The gal got her purse back and then had to spend an hour in the police station filling out a witness form to help in the future court proceedings against the two robbers (only two of the three were caught). She was very lucky and blessed to have such a happy ending to what could have absolutely ruined her short weekend vacation.

Apparently, this sort of robbery happens all too often: a group of three work together, distracting parts of a group while the others steal purses and wallets. This is especially a common occurrence in touristy places such as Placa Espanya during the fountain shows on the weekends. People here tend to prepare themselves not for if but when they will get robbed/pick-pocketed. I have been incredibly lucky to not have had anything significant (purse/wallet) stolen from me since I've been here (knock on wood). I credit that partially to luck and partially to my caution. Before coming to Barcelona, I had done some online searches on the city. Every website I visited stressed the importance of caution with one's valuables because Barcelona is notorious for pick-pocketing and robbery. What is interesting though is that most of these incidents occur without the victim knowing and without any physical harm done. Because of these many warnings, I was actually quite scared to come to Barcelona and during the first few weeks, I walked around everywhere (even in the safest of areas) paranoid and clutching onto my purse for dear life.

I've come to recognize the places and times to be most cautious and how to always be aware of my belongings. A native Barcelonan advised me to always have my purse on my lap or wrapped around/hanging from my leg in restaurants. This is a great piece of advice because a lot of times, people will hang belongings on the arm of their chair in a restaurant only to have them sneakily snatched by a passer-by. This nearly happened to a classmate of mine and it did happen to another friend of mine just this last weekend. Another very helpful piece of advice I've received is to never use an open topped or easily accessible purse. Just this last weekend, a group of American girls who are studying abroad in Sevilla came to Barcelona along with a friend of mine from the University Chorale at UW (she is the first pre-Spain friend I’ve seen since I’ve been here!). The girls almost made it through the entire weekend without an incident. However, during the last 4 hours of their time in the city, one of the girls had her wallet stolen from her purse. She didn't know when or where it had happened, but we all noticed how easily accessible her purse was (flap top with no clip or zipper). She never ended up finding the purse and had to cancel all of her credit cards. Unfortunately, this happens all of the time. So, if any of you come to Europe, be sure to be incredibly cautious and aware of your personal belongings, especially in large crowds and touristy areas.

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Anyways, I think that’s enough of that topic. Now some random thoughts.

Sometimes I wonder what it will be like to be back in Seattle after having spent some time in such an international city. I absolutely love the fact that I can randomly overhear more than 5 different languages over the course of a day, and the majority of what I hear is not English. I love the cultural exchange that I gain at the language school and the fact that with some people, the only means I have of communicating with them is with our respective broken Spanish. I love learning and speaking Spanish on a daily basis, my international friends, church in Spanish, the easy connection with other extranjeros (foreigners), and the many novelties found by living in a different culture on the other side of the world. If I don’t get accepted into the teaching English program in Spain and end up coming back to Seattle for good this July, I think that I will really miss Spain and Barcelona. I almost feel that life in Seattle will be boring compared to this adventure. I know it isn’t fair to say that and that it won’t be like that, but I can’t help but not look forward to the monotonous daily life of a worker.

At the same time though, I have really been thirsting to get back to the familiarity of Seattle and especially my family and friends. I miss being with people who have known me for years; friends and family who I don’t have to explain myself to, who know my history and who I can laugh with about old inside jokes (Sacagawea, Smeagol, haha). I also really miss Mars Hill Church and the fellowship found in community groups and with my UCU friends. I feel like life here in Barcelona would be perfect if I could just move everyone and MHC to Barcelona. I’ll tell you one thing: with the weather here, no one would ever get SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) again. Haha. Seriously, I have come to the light, friends! There is such a thing as sun during the fall, winter and spring… and a spring that comes on time! :) Haha, to give you an idea of how amazing the weather is here, just two weeks ago when it was overcast and snowing/raining in Seattle, it was sunny and about 23º C (~73.5º F) here in Barcelona. Amazing!!!

Lastly, I have nearly everything in order to apply for the teaching English in Spain program (http://www.mec.es/sgci/usa/en/programs/us_assistants/default.shtml). I will turn everything in this Monday and then have a free agenda to enjoy my vacation without worrying about the application. If all goes well and the program doesn't extend their due date (like they did the last couple years), I should know about my next year's plans sometime in May.

Anyways, I think that I have rambled quite long enough. If you have gotten this far, molt be!! (“good job” in Catalan, pronounced "mohl-bay") I hope everything is amazing with all of you in Seattle (and California)! Only 4 months until I’m home!!

Take care and lots of love from Barcelona,

Linnell