Spanish Service

Okay: Foot in mouth. Service here is continually worse. Phil and I tried to go to my "new favorite" cafe tonight for the second time (because it's somehow always closed when we try to go. So we went today, at 7:00 PM on a Tuesday, where it is not a Sunday, not the afternoon, and not their "Closed Monday for employee rest". But, it was closed. Ugh. So we went to a different cafe and bought a cafe con leche (with milk) in which the cafeteria then closed twenty minutes later. Finally we found a cafeteria accross the street from my apartment that is actually owned by Anabel's brother. That was great! It was downpouring rain the entire time that Phil and I studied but we sat outside under the overhanging roof, nice and dry. After a coffee and a hot chocolate my mind was super-focused (caffeine and sugar high).

I was able to chat with Micah tonight and he had a great time in Paris. However, his flight was canceled and so he took a train from Barcelona to Paris, but got there.

Thiago turned off my computer for the fourth time today. He also grabbed my razor, rubbed it on his face and then put it in his mouth. There is no controlling him. He then played with the tacs on our posterboard. When he is doing something wrong he isn't spoken to by his parents, either yelled at or spanked, how can he learn? Also, he doesn't have coloring books and isn't really taught anything. His mind can't really get engaged. To get a rest they just have him watch something like a Mickey Mouse show or others. I am a bit disappointed by this, but maybe that's the culture. I let him write with one of my pens on a white sheet of paper and he loved it. Imagine if he had 12 crayons and a drawing to fill in.

The next 8 days will be pretty stressful as I have 4 exams, but I hope during the next couple days I can prepare well. I won't let the upcoming exams spoil my 48 hours in Barcelona (even though we're pulling an all-nighter Saturday night and two of the exams are Monday :) )

Aust