May 31st - Arriving in Spain

    We landed in the brand new terminal, and you could immediately tell that this was a different country.  If the language wasn't enough of a give away, then the whole bizarreness of Europe certainly would have.  For example, the do not have moving escalators, but moving sidewalks on an incline.  Rather than using all the space they could to provide for the greatest efficiency, the airport was full of long corridors with random courtyards of trees and seats.  After finally arriving at customs and immigration, I waited in a very long line to get my passport stamped and to finally step foot of foreign soil.  After talking with both the security guard and the tourist information desk, I decided to go with the most convenient and expensive option to get to the apartment rather than the cheapest.  Though this would typically be my first inclination, I didn't want to have to catch a shuttle, board a train, and walk the rest of the way to the apartment through the middle of Barcelona, by myself, carrying all my luggage.  The drive itself was rather pleasant.  A few things of note.  First, the cars are the same make that we have in the US, but they look like slightly mutated versions.  As a general statement they all look to be rounder, shorter, and smaller.  Looking back, I don't think I saw anything that seated more than five people.  All I could think of was Top Gear.  What I did see was an unusual number of mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles.  They were everywhere!  (Including parked on the sidewalks.)  Another big surprise was that Catalan was much more common than Spanish.  Though both are considered official languages, I'm pretty sure Spanish is only there because Barcelona is considered part of Spain.  For all intents and purposes the official language is just Catalan; how the people speak, all the signs, maps, everything.

    In total, the taxi cost 30 euros and dropped me off at the curb right in front of the house.  (Taxi's here have one standard rate and based on a meter; no negotiating, but on the plus side no manipulation on their part either).  Luckily someone was home to let me in when I rang the buzzer.  So now a few things about the apartment/living in Barcelona.  The doorknob is in the exact middle of the door just like a hobbit hole.  The light switches are all about knee level and tilt up and down.  The outlets are circular holes in the wall.  The toilet does not swirl, but instead crashed straight down.  All told, a nice, if small, apartment with a couple bedrooms, a bathroom, living rooms, kitchen, and balcony overlooking the Calle Aragon.  This very first day I found a metro stop and purchased an unlimited three month pass for 105 which works on all metro, bus, and train.  Lucky for me because to get to the consulate requires that I take both metro and train both directions.  That's 20 tickets a week just for work!  I spent the rest of my rather uneventful day unpacking and trying to figure out Skype with everyone while trying not to fall asleep too early.  Oh, and I had shrimp for dinner -- welcome to the Mediterranean.