Still Settling In

Okay, I've been to Ikea in Elizabeth, New Jersey when every college-aged kid in the tri-state area is shopping for back to school equipment.  Not even that experience prepared me for Ikea Barcelona.  I should have realized when we needed to wait in line to park that it would not be pretty inside.  Let me tell you, it made Times Square on New Year's Eve seem uncrowded.   We dropped the kids in "Smaland"--C.C. almost didn't make it in because she's too tall, but we pleaded.

Alec and I plodded through, got a few things to make the kids' room fun, like wall decals that kept them busy for hours, as well as pillows, clothespins, napkins, comforter covers....  somehow we managed to spend $500.  Little by little it's starting to feel like home.

We now have cable (400 channels!), internet, and a land line---I'll send you the number later.

And... we are now officially "residents" of Barcelona--one step in a long bureaucratic process that ends in our getting the equivalent of a social security number, which enables us to do all kinds of things like get a cell phone contract.

We bought some decent sheets at the Corte Ingles---the big major department store, and did  our second One big shop in the afternoon at Carrefour---the biggest supermarket they have here---and I think we're done with the basics.  I look forward to being able to do most of our shopping at the local markets.