Getting settled in Sant Adria de Besos: Our First Day in Barcelona

I arrived in Barcelona on Monday night, and my husband´s family came to pick us up from the airport. Of course, a full carload of relatives came. When we deplaned, my niece, two of my nephews, my sister-in-law, and my brother-in-law were waiting for us in the lobby.

Even though we are traveling relatively lightly, there was no way that all five us of plus all five of them plus our luggage was going to fit into my nephew´s car. So, we split up and I rode home with my niece and nephew and the luggage, and the rest of the family took the train back to my sister-in-law´s place in Sant Adria de Besos, a northern suburb of Barcelona.

Upon arriving in Barcelona, there were two things I needed: cash and an adaptor. I tried getting cash at the airport ATM to no avail. I have two debit cards: Citibank and Bank of America. I wanted to use my Citibank card because my BofA account charges $5 for non-BofA ATMs. With no luck with the Citibank card at the airport, I decided to try and get cash near my nephew´s house. I tried a few banks, but, apparently the ATMs couldn´t access my Citibank savings account, and I ended up having to use my BofA card. There are no charges with that card at Deutsche Bank, but the Deustche Banks are all in the center of Barcelona. The good news is that I finally got my hands on some euros. It was too late to get the adaptor, so we went back home after getting the cash.

The rest of our family ended up taking about two hours to get home from the airport, meaning that they weren´t home until 10pm. This, of course, is a normal time for supper in Spain, so we got some pizza and red wine and ate and chat together before we all crashed around midnight.

I woke up right at 9am this morning, so hopefully this time zone change will be no problem. When I woke up, my sister-in-law and niece had already left for the day, leaving just me and my three daughters in her house. My husband went to sleep at his brother´s house so they could hang out until later and catch up. It´s been ten years since they saw one another. We saw my husband´s sister and her children in Peru in 2007, but his brother was already living in Spain at that time.

My sister-in-law left me a note with the keys, so I ventured outside in search of some breakfast items and the adaptor. I need an adaptor to plug in my computer, as the outlets here are completely different and the plug simply does not fit. In Spain, like in many parts of Europe and Latin America, instead of having Walmarts and Targets that have everything, there are small specialty stores. In search of an adaptor, I went to a bookstore, a paint store, a drugstore, a toystore, and a supermarket. No luck. I then went to an outdoor market and asked in one of the stands, but they only sold hardware for computers. I guess I will have to wait to get an adaptor.

As I was trying to obtain an adaptor, I realized I don´t exactly know how to say: "Do you have an adaptor that allows me to plug in a three-pronged plug into a two-pronged outlet". I think the word I am missing here is "pronged." So, I said: "Do you have an adaptor that allows me to plug a thing with three thingys into an outlet with two thingys?" Some people understood me better than others. This reminded me of many previous trips abroad looking for various household items. It´s not until you get to the hardware store that you realize you have no idea how to say "faucet" or "stopper" or "nuts and bolts." Anyway, no adaptor means I am typing this on my nephew´s computer.

I did have good luck with getting breakfast items though. The first thing I needed was a coffee. I found a corner cafe run by Chinese immigrants. I wasn´t too sure about getting a coffee from a Chinese coffee shop, but I decided to see how it was. I ordered a cafe con leche, and it was delicious. From there, I made it to a small supermarket and got yogurt, fresh cheese, baguettes, and a pint of strawberries for breakfast.

Sant Adria de Besos is an immigrant neighborhood, full of immigrants from Pakistan, South America, Africa, and China. For this reason, the coffee shop was owned by Chinese immigrants, and it is next to a kebab restaurant and a market with Pakistanis selling shoes and clothes. I have yet to explore it much, but I am sure I will have the opportunity.

This afternoon, however, hopefully, we will be moving into our apartment in Sitges. I have reserved a place, and if all turns out well, we will move in this afternoon!