A day for studying

Yesterday I was pretty boring. After taking Nicole to the airport, I just came back to the house and studied Spanish most of the day. It didn't help that my stomach was upset (and still is, a bit) and that my throat was hurting. Too many late nights in loud places I guess.

Tomorrow I have to be at the school at 9am for my Spanish proficiency exam. Apparently, it's very quick - a 10 minute written test and a 5 minute oral one - but we've been told we will all be there until about 1pm. And on Monday, Spanish classes begin. I have heard there will be 10 sections based on fluency, and that you can jump to a higher section if you progress quickly. The top section (#10) has the option of taking the official proficiency exam at the end of the month. If you pass that, you don't have to take any more Spanish and you can get your bilingual degree. Otherwise, you have to take Spanish throughout the first year and THEN take your proficiency exam if you want the bilingual degree. I'm pretty rusty on my grammar so I'm sure I'll test somewhere in the middle, which I don't mind because I like language classes.

I just went to the bank to pick up my ATM card and they said to come back tomorrow. I think I've now been at the bank setting up my account as many times as I was at the Consulate trying to get my visa!

Here are some photos from the top of Tibidabo, where Nicole and I went on Tuesday morning. We walked all the way to the tram station near the top, and then took the tram (called the Funicular) to the very top and had these beautiful views of all of Barcelona.





And of course, one final George picture... from our party Tuesday night.