Thursday started off at 9am with an orientation at the school for all new families. It was brief but a key aspect was getting your lockers and of course learning how to use their built-in locks. You know you are in Spain when the lockers are located outside. One of their new friends was there who has been at the school for a few years and showed them how she decorated her locker with picture frames and other cool nick-nacks.
As I went to grab water during the orientation, I noticed the cups were metal with a label on it that said, “I am not a plastic cup.” I smiled knowing that was right up my alley. After the speeches I ended up talking to another parent who is from Russia but lived in Dubai the past 3 years and before that lived in Geneva. Her husband is American and they travel for his work. Again, I joked with her about my insecurity from the day before, I am from Brooklyn, I came from Brooklyn….
On our way out, I saw the Dean of the school and mentioned to him how I was impressed about the metal cups and I noticed the night before the forks and knifes were wood vs plastic. He let me know about the a new eco committee that started last year at the school. In the epilogue in The Fast Forward Mindset, I share one of the 3 areas I want to have impact on over the next 30 years is sustainability. So with that focus in mind and his call for us to become active in the school, I asked him if they needed help. He of course said, YES.
The kids were taken to the mall by a parent of one of their buddies where they did shopping for their lockers and other stuff. Kel and I took advantage and headed to Ikea with Jonah to get more stuff for the apartment. I got to hand to IKEA, whether in Redhook, Brooklyn or Barcelona their store looks exactly the same and takes hours to go from one end to other. We grabbed lunch there after waiting in line for 30 minutes…It was a line that just never stopped. Impressive.
As the day was coming to an end, I went home to do some work and Kel picked up the kids from mall. She came back part of at least 4 new WhatsApp groups. Including one cooking group where they get a chef to teach them techniques monthly. Maybe I was a little jealous.
I headed to the gym to use my new membership and I felt more like I was going into a secure government facility than a gym. First an ID bracelet scan. Once that was approved then a fingerprint scan. When that was approved, the think plastic barrier in-front of me opened up just long enough to make it through. Once inside, I headed to the locker room, no locks, you use your ID bracelet to open the lockers and lock them.
Went to the weight room and felt similar to IKEA while everything was in Spanish and in kg vs lbs, the similarity to all gym machines made it easy for me to navigate and get started. I actually had not been to a gym in close to a year, electing for my 7 minute workout 7 month challenge instead. It was nice to get back into the swing of things.
I ended up bringing dinner home to everyone from this cool takeout Wok place. Those who worked there were Indian and spoke english perfectly. When I got home, we had a family dinner out on the terrace. Our goal when we found this place was to live out there and I am so glad to see that coming to fruition. Another full day in Barcelona.