Estoy aquí....and so are the fannie packs.

This was the email I sent some people the other day when I arrived. Couldn't send it to everyone because I did´'t have access to my email address book...
----------------------------------------------------
TODAY (Wednesday 9/22) I LEARNED:
1. That European men ages 17-34 dig the fannie pack. While in America this is strictly an accessory for the mom jeans, the dudes here think it's hot shit and tote them like massive cod pieces. It´s kinda intimidating....
2. How to turn on my bathroom light. It's OUTSIDE the bathroom door....go figure.
3. That I'm not in Kansas anymore....yipe!

----------------------------------------------------
Whoa, even the keyboards are different here! There are upside-down question marks where the dashes should be and instead of ¨del¨ it says ¨Supr¨ (for suprimir)...plus a host of other surprises. CRAZY!

Okay, so it is very different here and it kinda sucks not knowing the language. People think you're a moron...but I´m making headway already! I will dominate the heck out the this language, yet!!!

My roommates are cool. They are in fact of completely different origins than expected. Olivier and Virginie are a French guy and girl in the same program with a bunch of other French students in our apt. building who have been here a month. They´re studying at some private business school here for the semester, unless they can score killer practicums/internships this winter, in which case, they´ll be here longer. These 2 have been my lifelines today, so pray that they stay! Pavel is a hot guy from Chile who is ridiculously nice and patient with us foreigners as we wreak havoc upon his language (mostly me and Virginí; Olivier´s pretty good with the Spanish and some English). Pavel´s also hard to understand because he has a South American accent going on. Then there´s Maria, our only Spanish roommate who I have seen for all of 2 minutes, but she said I had a good accent, so we like her. She´s also ridiculously beautiful. Actually, EVERYONE here is beautiful....including me :) We are 5 hot roommates.

So today I traveled for 13 hours without more than an hour´s sleep (can´t get comfy on planes) and 5 minutes after I arrived, Virgenie and Olivier invited me to Parc Güell (It took me FOREVER to figure out how to get those 2 dots over that u!). Sean Higgs told me about this place and I had seen it in the movie L´auberge Espagnole, but nothing is like seeing the real thing. It is all mosaic and carved into the hills and you just keep going higher and higher until you´re overlooking the entire city out to the sea. It was supposed to be a whimsical high-priced community, but plans went sour, and Gaudí´s work became a park. Unlucky for him, but lucky for all of us poor people. It was amazing.

So, I have like 8 minutes left on this computer. yeah, no internet in the apt. but it's only 1 E (still can't figure out how to type the Euro sign....) for an hour at the nearest locutorio or telecommunications joint. I would call it an internet cafe, but there's no cafe part. Anywho, gonna jet and email important info to my parents.

Nos vemos!