With the first half of my work assignment wrapping soon (less than 3 weeks until I am home to Jessica!), things are becoming a little more "normal" in my day-to-day and work life in Spain. There are many things that I certainly will never fully adjust to, but I feel much more comfortable on a daily basis interacting with the people here and living a regular life. Once I get a better understanding of the Spanish language, I will feel even better (although each day is tough being here without Jessica and Berkley, and that has not gotten any easier!).
This week, the European Soccer Championships started in Poland and the Ukraine. While only a spectator from afar, I have been looking forward to this tournament ever since I knew I was coming to Spain. I envisioned the whole country gearing up to watch all of the games and cheer on their national team, but I've found things quite different.
Here in Barcelona, most of the soccer fans do not care nearly as much for the Spanish national team as they do the Barcelona club team (interest in the tournament as a whole seems very low). In fact, some actually seem to DISLIKE the national team because they would prefer to support only Catalan teams and not the rest of the country. Without getting into a complicated discussion on why this is, I will just say that as a result, I am certainly the most excited for the tournament in my entire office!
Yesterday, I ventured into the city to watch the games at an Irish bar called Scobie's. While "Irish" bars exist everywhere, this one was run by actual Irish guys (including my bartender Seamus) to give it more credibility. I had a few Maker's and gingers with a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, and enjoyed the experience other than watching my top pick in a Euro2012 pool (the Dutch) get upset 1-0 by Denmark. The place got quite crowded, mostly with German fans, although there were a few from the Netherlands as well. I'll certainly go back here to watch more games.
Before the games, I participated in a nature walk with my company, Grifols. The Environmental group set up the walk to celebrate something (Earth Day maybe, I'm not sure) and over 150 people participated. The walk was at a local park and included a 4 km section, then a quick (and delicious) sandwich break, and then a 5 km walk to finish. I modified my route, and instead of walking the 5 km section I ran the 4 km section back to the car.
Overall, the landscape was gorgeous through heavily wooded areas, open fields, and small trails cut through the hills. Most surprising was the herd of sheep we encountered through the hills... never before have I walked THROUGH a group of 100+ sheep but the others with me didn't think much of it. I was a bit scared (I'm not really sure why!) but I calmed myself and made it through safely. The sheep (and their herders) looked at me more as an inconvenience than anything else. Fortunately, I did not run back into them on my way back to the start!
Starting tomorrow, I have only three Mondays before I'm back in Clayton. At different points, the time has flown by and crawled, but these past two weeks have taken FOREVER as I get closer to seeing Jessica, Berkley, my family, and my friends. Staying in Spain has completely altered my perspective on so many things, but most of all it has given me a better understanding of the important things in my life and the proper way to value and appreciate them when I can. The next 18 days will seem to take ten times that long, but it will be well worth it when I get to RDU Airport and Jessica is there to greet me!
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