The Trip to Puigcerda

Hola Amigos!

It has been a very interesting couple of days. Last night was the first night that I have slept more than four hours since like Friday night so I feel much better today.. Maybe it is all of the coffee I have been drinking?

The beginning of my trip:

On Sunday morning I flew without any trouble to Atlanta but unfortunately I had to wait a LONG time at the Atlanta airport (because my flight did not leave until 6pm), by the end of the eight hours or so I was so tired of sitting down that I contemplated doing a couple of sprints but I decided against it:). While I was waiting, my mom sent me an AWESOME sermon by Francis Chan about prayer. Just a huge reminder of how the Lord is able to answer every single prayer we send to him, no matter how small! Please be praying that I find a Christian friend in Puigcerda and please read Psalm 27 and pray that for me, it has been on my heart for this trip.

It was finally time to begin the process of boarding.

Side note: For the past couple of weeks I knew that there was a slight possibility that I would get to ride in first class. But I had not let myself get TOO excited about the thought because I didn't want to be let down if it did not happen.

So everyone was lining up to get ready to board and they start calling names..I suddenly hear "SHEINNKKK" and I quickly rush over to the person behind the counter and I get asked, "window or aisle?" and then she handed me my ticket and I immediately got pretty excited because it said "Seat 2A which I was SURE was first class(technically called "business class" because there is no first class)! And about five minutes later, I was able to board with those in first class. I think one of my favorite things about first class is that you get to board before anyone else and you also get to get off before anyone else!

We sat down and were immediately handed a menu for the flight where we saw what the appetizers were and what main course and dessert we could choose. Also, before the flight began, we were handed a glass of champagne.:)

The food was wonderful and the seats were comfortable, I cannot say a bad thing about the whole thing! But I did feel a little pretentious sitting in the front! haha

That is the appetizer we had: Potato soup and duck breast with couscous..

I had a great conversation with the lady sitting next to me, she was an American whose daughter had moved to Spain with her Spanish husband she had met in New York. She gave me her card and her daughter's email address so I am going to contact her daughter for some advice about what to see in Barcelona!

After arriving in Barcelona I got my baggage but unfortunately my telephone did not work so it took awhile to get in touch with Rebeca. We finally met up and she was so wonderful and warm that I immediately felt at home with her!

The drive to their village was not too bad, the scenery was beautiful but I did not get any pictures because I just didn't think about it (I think I was too tired! haha!). Their village is situated in a valley and there are beautiful mountains all around, I wish I could see them with snow on them! During the drive Rebeca and I chatted about various things. which included the pronunciation of "Puigcerda", the village where they live. It is in the region of Catalan so the language of the area is different from Spanish and sounds pretty odd. The pronunciation is REALLY hard to do, haha it is something like; "poocher'da" (I think). Every time I say it, Rebeca repeats it back to me and I don't feel like I sound at all like her! haha

We had lunch at the "Chalet del Golf" which is a hotel that they manage that is about ten minutes drive away from their house. The great thing about being with the Garces family is that they manage two hotels so we get to eat at either hotel for free! The Chalet is a beautiful and very calming place. The view is amazing and the golf course looks beautiful but not beautiful enough to tempt me to try my hand at golf again;).

The other hotel "Campus Cerdanya" is more active and it is very modern. The hotel is designed for groups to stay and they provide a lot of activities. Rebeca has set it up so I can take the children to the pool, ice skating, or to play tennis. But, if I want to do a class (spinning, abs, pilates, etc...) I have to pay 6 euros.. So I probably won't be taking very many classes.

My room at their house is small but very comfortable. I really like it.

Here is a picture of my windows (which take up a lot of that wall! haha)

The people I have met are very nice and it is apparently normal to hug someone when you meet them and give them a kiss on each cheek! haha

More on the town and the surrounding view whenever I have more time to take pictures and explain them:). Hope you are having a great day!

P.S. In Spain they do the lisp for their C's and Z's.. I have started doing it, but it takes a while to get used to saying! haha and sometimes I cannot understand a Spanish word if they say it quickly and lisp.