I found out in class today that two of the students will be leaving after tomorrow; the girl from Russia and the girl from New York. After 9 days of class with them, I am used to them and will be sorry to see them go. Most of the rest of the students have been in class the whole time I have, but two or three others came later. One just dropped in on Tuesday. I think you have to be pretty flexible in this situation, both as a student and as an instructor because the class make up can change from day to day. You have to be able to jump in and catch up with whatever is going on.
While I was out walking today, I thought it might be interesting to tell you about my experiences walking along the streets in my neighborhood in Barcelona. A lot of people walk, a lot of people ride bicycles, a lot of people ride scooters, mopeds, and motorcycles, and a lot of people drive cars and trucks and buses. It is just very busy all the time. As you walk down the sidewalk, you always have to be careful because someone will also be riding a bike on the sidewalk, or someone might ride their moped/scooter/motorcycle onto the sidewalk to park. Another thing you have to watch out for is parking garages. You will be walking along and a car will appear right beside you! When I walk to school in the morning, it is not quite so busy, but the thing I really have to watch for then is dog "do-do." There are a lot of dogs in Barcelona and most owners pick up after them, but the fact that the "do-do" is worse in the morning makes me think dogs run wild after dark, or their owners are less diligent in the dark. Whatever, keep your eyes down in the morning!
Barcelona drivers are pretty good about stopping when walkers have a green walk light, but if you are walking across a two-way street with a green walk light, drivers turning on to your street have a blinking yellow light. If no one is in the crosswalk, they can turn. It seems to me that earlier in the day, they are very diligent about stopping for you if you are anywhere in the crosswalk. The later it gets in the day and the more traffic there is, the less patient they are. Then they are right at the line of the crosswalk edging forward as you pass by. At least that is how it seems to me! Walkers in Barcelona don't seem to pick any side of the sidewalk to walk on; they are just as likely to walk on the right side or the left side or in the middle, no matter what direction they are going. It is really fun to watch crowds of people lining up to cross the street along the very busy Passig de Gracia street. They line up all the way across on both sides of the street and when the light turns green, they all take off heading right for each other. It ends up just being a mob of people trying to walk right through each other.
Tomorrow's school tour is of Montjuic, more a hill than a mountain, overlooking the harbor. It was the site of fortresses, one of which still remains. It was once the site of a prison and many executions took place there during different periods of history. The 1929 world's fair was held there. The Spanish Grand Prix was held on the roads facing the city four times but it was discontinued after a 1975 car crash. The 1992 Summer Olympics had several events and the opening and closing held in the 65,000 seat Olympic Stadium located on Montjuic. The tourist bus drove me through the area a couple of times and I wanted to get off and walk around but never did so this will give me a chance to see more of the area. More steps for the pedometer!
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