State of shock

Well it was one of these days were you don’t expect something bad to happen to you. In the morning I woke up, got dressed, had breakfast and left for Girona with Ines, my host grandmother. We spent an hour looking in some beautiful home and clothes shops. Then Ines dropped me off at the train station. Everything went well, I bought my ticket and looked up at the screen for my train – it was delayed by about five minutes. Not a huge deal. I then had a sudden urge to go to the toilet and while I was there I heard an announcement that my train was arriving on platform one. I rushed to the platform and forgot to zip up my bag while doing so.

Sometimes you are so focused on being somewhere that you don’t think anyone is watching you. A lot of people were getting on the same part of the train as me. I noticed that someone was brushing past me, but didn’t think anything of it. I got on the train and tried to find a seat, and then I checked my bag. But my purse was gone! I couldn’t believe it my purse had gone! My money and cards were in it, I had no money anywhere else – not in my pockets or anywhere!

Thinking quickly, I jumped off the train just before it departed. I had my phone in my jacket pocket and I whipped it out and phoned my friend explaining what had happened and told her I wouldn’t be able to meet her. Then I phoned my host family and explained the situation. My host mother immediately left the house and travelled to the station. I had explained to the station what had happened and they told me the best thing to do was to go and report it to the police.

I waited nervously for my host family to arrive. As soon as I saw Marta, her husband Alex and daughter Julia come in I jumped up, ran to her and started crying from shock. She calmed me down, we called the banks cancelled the cards and immediately went to the police to report it to a very kind female police officer.  The police officer shook my hand, told me everything was going to be alright and asked me if I was calm. After we left the police station, Marta took me to a café and we shared a white wine together. Julia, her daughter almost took my wine! But I laughed in spite of the bad situation.

I returned home with the family, the important things been done and the situation handled. Ines then took me out to a lovely seaside town called Platja d’Aró to help me take my mind of what happened.

In future I will be more careful and every time be extra vigilant to those around me. Take care and guard your possessions when out in a public place. Even though I never thought it would happen to me it did. I’m just thankful I was able to contact my host family and my real family are so relieved that I am okay. It’s not going to put me off travelling to other places though.  A lot worse could have happened….

My 25th Birthday

On Monday (February 8^th) it was my birthday. I turned the ripe old age of 25. I woke up pretty groggy as I had stayed up to finish watching a documentary and also my mum messaged me on Whatsapp to remind me of the time I entered the world. I got dressed and then made my way to the kitchen for breakfast. My host family were running about getting ready for school and they wished me a happy birthday. Soon I was on my way to school where, upon arrival I was greeted by my colleague Judit who wished me a happy birthday. I swiftly grabbed a coffee to perk up and we went to our first class where the children were learning about animals in the garden.

The morning past and then it was time to go home for lunch. I was pretty hungry by this time. As this was a special day we also had Coca Cola and lemonade to drink, instead of water. I can’t remember what we had exactly for the main course, but for dessert it was my favourite: strawberries. I made a smiling face with the spray cream and Julia kept reminding everyone that it was my birthday. It was really sweet.

After lunch, Julia and Alex went to their grandparents’ room where the keyboard is. Alex tried to play Happy Birthday, but I had to remind him of the melody! They sang Happy Birthday in both Catalan and English, which was really enjoyable.  I also spoke to my aunt and uncle on Facetime plus many different family members and friends wished me a Happy Birthday throughout the day.

It was time to go back to school and part of my afternoon was being stuck with two misbehaving boys. After that I was with the same class helping them with arts and crafts. Their teacher Anna told me I could finish early and the whole class sang Happy Birthday. I left school and Marta was waiting outside for the kids, I talked to her for a few minutes and made my way back home.

This year was similar but different to last year. Unlike last year, I am living with a host family so I always have someone to talk to when I get home. This is the second year that I haven’t celebrated my birthday at home with my family. However the family I stay with here in Spain are so kind and lovely I feel like they are. They have treated me like own of their own and made me feel so welcome. They are also pleased with how I take an interest in helping their children learn English which is part of my job description, but of course I really enjoy doing it.

After school finished I had a snack and watched Shrek with Julia. Afterwards I spoke to my mum via Facetime and then it was time for dinner. We had a special meal to celebrate with chicken and I also had some salad (you have to be healthy after all!) We were all talking and laughing, Julia showed me videos of the minions singing ‘Happy Birthday’ and birthday songs being sung in Spanish and Catalan.

I then spoke to my mum on Facetime and introduced her to the host family. It was fantastic that they finally got to meet. Technology is great. My dad was out playing football, so unfortunately he wasn’t able to talk to them. Once I’d finished talking to mum, the host family told me that I was getting a surprise! They presented me with some lovely gifts – a warm fleece, leggings and two beautiful pieces of jewellery: three separate blue and silver bracelets which can be worn together and two necklaces which can be worn together or separately. One of them has ‘February’ written in delicate curled writing and the other one is my birth stone, the purple Amethyst.

If not only that was enough, I was presented with a beautiful chocolate cake which had a flashing ‘2’ candle and a red ‘5’ candle to make up my age: 25! It was a wonderful evening, we had so much fun and laughed so much.

I’m looking forward to what my 25^th year has in store for me!

With my host siblings Julia and Alex. The cake was delicious! 

Opening parcels given from my very kind host family

This was a crown made for Julia's birthday and she let me wear it for mine! 

Dijous Llarder

Around the world people celebrate carnival, which happens in February every year. It is a celebration before Lent and people do some crazy partying and dress up. The first day of carnival is on a Thursday and in Catalan is called ‘Dijous Llarder’ (Long Thursday). This is the last day that the Catholics are allowed to eat meat before abstaining from it for six weeks. On this day, some schools in Catalonia particularly FEDAC Anglés go on a walking trip to the nearby towns. The day started with the students talking about Dijous Llarder and singing a traditional Catalan song related to the day, while the Carnival King came out and shook hands with the children.

At half past ten, all of the classes set off on their trips. Judit and I were with the two oldest classes, which sometimes can be difficult as some of the students aren’t so well behaved. Not to worry as it was a trip and kids can get very excited when they’re out of the school. The children did behave well throughout the day, but it was exhausting trying to control them sometimes. The weather was very hot and when I looked up at the sky, it was a beautiful shade of blue and not a cloud in sight. From the school we walked along the old railway line, which led us to a little town called La Cellera de Ter. In this town there was a play park, but it looked more like a gym as there were signs telling people how to use the equipment. The kids were like monkeys, swinging and jumping from the handle bars. Then we went on our way to El Pasteral, which was our final destination. On the way we crossed a rather questionable looking bridge, saw a flowing river and passed a farm with many different animals including sheep, ducks and ostriches. Finally we made it to El Pasteral. We stopped and had lunch, after which the kids ran around playing a game called ‘War’ where they had make shift weapons out of twigs. Judit and I sat on a wall talking and enjoying the sun, before moving to the field where I lay down, put my head on my backpack and looked up at the sky. It was glorious.

After lunch we made the journey back to Anglés and with the mixture of the sun and the kids, I felt really tired by the end. Once I got home I slept for about three hours before having dinner. All in all it was a great day and I can’t wait to discover more of the Catalonian countryside. In the meantime enjoy the photos.