Life in Montblanc

Montblanc, the capital of the Conca de Barberà, is a beautiful medieval town. It's surrounded by an old wall, and I always feel a little bit like I'm living within a castle or something. Inside the wall, everything is calm, peaceful, and very...I don't know...quaint, I guess. It's the closest I've ever felt like Belle in Beauty and the Beast. I sometimes just want to belt out, "Little towwwn, it's a quiet village. Every daaaay, like the one beforrrreeee!" Hee hee! Most of the streets are cobblestone or brick, and although cars are allowed inside the wall, it seems like awkward driving to me (minus the main roads). There are mostly small shops and flats (apartments), and every flat has a small terrace where you can look out and either hang your laundry, or as I always imagine people doing, gawking at your neighbors (but they don't, honest :-)). There's the Plaça Major, the main square, as well as several other plaças. Outside of the wall, life is a bit busier. There are more cars, bigger stores, and more noise. Nothing like Cincinnati or even Morelia, Mexico, but you can tell right away that the area is newer. The bigger supermarkets, Caprabo and Día, are my favorite places to shop for food, mostly because it feels like stores in the US. :-) I'm slowly going to more of the traditional smaller shops (the most popular being for meat, bread, and fruit), but the other ones feel a little more...well, sanitary. :-D

There are about 7 thousand people in Montblanc, and it's definitely a town where everyone knows everyone else. What really amuses me is how many teachers live in Montblanc, both in general and from the Zer Conca. Anna María and her husband, Oscar, live about 1 minute away from my flat, and Javi and his family live about 5 minutes away. Several others from the ZER live there as well. It's great! So even though I'm living alone (which, to be honest, I actually really like :-P), I feel like I'm surrounded by friends and family. The teachers are always sharing me on the weekends, and I've gone on several excursions and sight-seeing trips with several of them (stories which I hope to discuss one day!). I spend the most time at Javi and Cati's house, and I actually feel like they're my host family (minus the sleeping part). Paula, the 16-year-old daughter and I get along really well, and quiet 8-year-old, animal-loving Sergio is slowly warming up to me as well. They also speak Spanish at home, opposed to the common Catalán, and Javi´s been going through Spanish lessons with me. I get free homemade meals when I come over as well (yes!), and I've also started having English conversation classes with Paula and another teacher's son, Josep María (14) at Javi and Cati's house. More about that some other time!

The library in Montblanc is really nice, but the hours are a little strange. They're only open Monday-Fridays from 4-8pm, and then on Wednesday and Friday mornings from 10-1. There are two librarians who are always here, and they are quite the "traditional librarians" that you imagine. If kids start getting noisy, you can hear them harsly whisper a "SHHHHH!" that echos throughout the building. :-) But I love it in here, and there's a nice selection of travel books and linguistic dictionaries.

Montblanc is an ideal place if you like walking. Everything's in walking distance, and if you get lost, you pretty much just keep turning down different streets until you're once again in a place you recognize. It's small enough to not be overwhelming, but it's big enough to be interesting. For a not-quite-country-girl and not-quite-big-city girl like me, it's perfect.

And the view! There's a place you can climb, called the Pla de Santa María, where you can look out and see all of Montblanc and beyond. Anna María took me there one day, and it was breathtaking.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading!

Sarah