When I was younger I always wanted to be just like Harriet the Spy. Not only am I a notorious eavesdropper and people-watcher like Harriet, more than anything I envied her dedication to her notebook. Try as I might my past is littered with half-filled journals and haphazardly discarded diaries. My excitement about continuously writing in my new notebook would quickly dissipate and leave me feeling guilty. More on this later…

As a plucky third grader I also idolized Pippi Longstocking. I mean, her hair had killer volume, she paid for everything in gold coins and she could lift a horse above her head. Just sayin’

Consequently I ended up falling head over heels into journalism. Despite my failed efforts as the Editor in Chief of the “Fourth Grade Times,” I stuck with news writing through high school and into my college education at Drake University.

While I still can’t lift a horse above my head and I’ve never snuck into someone’s house through the dumbwaiter, I’ve come a long way since my pathetic attempts to connect with my notebook; in fact, now I never leave home without one.

*A snippet from the blog I kept while studying abroad in Barcelona

Today I started my siesta semester internship – I know up until now I’ve been fairly scant on the details so here goes.

For the next four months I’ll be working with BCN MES (check them out!), a monthly newspaper about everything cool and unique that Barcelona has to offer. The publication includes articles in English, Spanish and Catalan – which I think is pretty cool, even though I only speak two of the three.

Today my intern duties included distributing over 700 (yikes!) copies of the new issue throughout El Born, one of the older Barcelona barrios. The area is gorgeous and I definitely want to go back to explore when I’m not pushing a cart filled with 400 newspapers.

Among the things I learned today…

1) I am very very thankful for Chicago’s grid system – Barcelona is a maze of streets and alleyways that disappear or sporadically change names.

2) Pushing a cart on cobblestone is much harder than you would think.

3) And finally, tripping over your feet in front of a large group of people is always embarrassing, no matter what language they ask you if you’re alright in.

In some ways it feels like I just got here and in others, like I’ve been working out of my tiny cubicle forever. I’m starting to get comfortable answering my phone, “Newsroom, this is Megan.” And the thought of calling people I’ve never met doesn’t seem quite so terrifying anymore.

I’ve written a ton of stories (which I’m working on getting up here soon) and embarked on some pretty awesome intern adventures.

In the past two months, I have…

• Extinguished a fire and pretended to be a firefighter for a day with a local Fire Ops program
• Attended a dog wedding, complete with Milk Bone wedding cake and doggie tuxedos
• Helped a 104-year-old woman celebrate her birthday
• Tagged along on a murder investigation
• Had two stories picked up by AP, and one on WGN morning radio
• Learned how to work my Windows 95 computer without crashing the system…most of the time
• (Almost) flown in a hot air balloon
• Interviewed CSI (and “Forrest Gump”) star Gary Sinise
• Chatted with the first man to reach 10 million frequent flier miles

And lots more! Keep checking back for updates on my most recent adventures as a summer intern.