I got a great nights sleep last night, finally! I went upstairs after I wrote my posting and all my roommates were there hanging out in our room. We all chatted for about an hour and I got to hear a bit of their life stories. The 3 guys that were travelling together are from the US but have been studying in Rome for a semester. They have girlfriends and showed me pics and we all just had a really nice talk. It is great to meet committed boyfriends, it is kind of rare out here. I love being just part of the gang like that. Men are great I love how they interact with each other, teasing and poking each other, it is good just being one of the guys. They teased me about staying out so late and invited me to go out with them, it would have been a blast it is fun to be the only girl, they are so cute and smell good and usually insist on paying for things, it was hard to resist but I told them I had to get some sleep. Good thing because they didn´t get home until 5:00 AM, if I had not gotten sleep last night I probably would have died. I have been drinking when I go out here but never have been really drunk, no throwing up or passing out. Last time I did that was a few years ago after a bad breakup, thank you Laura and Kiely for helping me drown my sorrows and to get through that bad period of my life. Here you drink just casually, not to get drunk, you drink with your meal so the food absorbs the alcohol, it is just part of the culture here. I have felt more drunk from lack of sleep than actually drinking. Sadly this morning it is raining so I am waiting for it to clear up before I make my half mile trek with my luggage to the metro station to my new home. I have gotten a lot of attention since I have been in Europe, I am embarrassed to write about it as it seems a little conceited but it is part of the experience and I find it interesting. I don´t really care about compliments from strangers, I don´t try to attract attention never wear revealing clothes so am always surprised about the attention I receive. There are so many beautiful women here I don´t understand it, plus they do wear really revealing clothes as well. I don´t wear makeup have my hair slicked in a ponytail and random men approach me as I stroll along minding my own business. I haven´t written about even a quarter of the attention. It is funny because here men just express themselves openly, I am sure men in the states may think things but just don´t tell you. Example of daily events, I am sitting in the metro station here and looking at my small metro map to see where the purple line crosses the green line so I can transfer and this cute young guy sits down next to me and asks how I am and if he can help me, I say no thanks, putting on my bitchy face, hoping to prevent further questions and he just smiles and says you are beautiful. I say thank you, and stand up and get on my train. So random, I mean what are you supposed to do with compliments like that? The other night Cory who I met at my favorite restaurant, told me had been a few people back in the crowd and he saw me and wanted to meet me. He said ¨I saw you talking with that couple and wanted to meet you but I couldn´t hear what language you were speaking and I didn´t know how I was going to talk to you if you didn´t speak English as I don´´t speak any other languages.¨ He said ¨I was nervous to come up and talk to you since you are so pretty and were surrounded by people and you were laughing and talking to everyone, but I just went for it.¨ I had thought it was kind of weird that his pick up line was I am glad you speak English but I didn´t really question it at the time. I asked him ¨Are you kidding, you were nervous to talk to me?¨ He said ¨Why would I kid about that?¨ It just made me laugh, what a strange world I live in, you look at yourself everyday and I am really low maintenance, I had come to the restaurant with wet hair and no makeup and to think I would make him nervous is silly, but flattering and it made me smile to myself. There were a lot more compliments from him but really who needs to hear all that. I am happy right now with my life and it does make you light up, probably making me more attractive, the smallest things make my day, I am a simple person. The main thing I have found is it is important that you are happy with yourself. I have found more confidence during my travels not on how I look but my capibilities. It is unfortunate how the critical things that people say to you during your life stick with you somehow more than the compliments. In my job I felt criticized on a regular basis as I had a micro managing perfectionist boss and it feels so good to be my own judge of my life and decisions. I do a lot right and am able to figure things out and in the end it is really your own opinion that should matter in your head. People will judge you and categorize you, putting you in a certain box but we are all so much bigger, powerful, and capable than we even realize. I think this teaching thing will be good for me because I love to encourage others, it is amazing how good it makes people feel, their eyes light up and they try harder. I have had so many experiences with that during my travels, people like positive reinforcement, it is so much better to build people up instead of tearing them down. When you are nice people go out of their way to try and do things to make you happy because you are appreciative. I think a lot of people are unhappy with their own lives and for one reason or another are unable to make a change so it is threatening if someone is choosing a path that will make them happy. When I made the choice to quit my job I got some criticism from those that I felt would be supportive so it taught me that is important to trust yourself and not have to depend on others for support as they don´t really know what is best for you. I have loved being able to only worry about myself, back home I am too quick to try to help out, putting others needs before my own and when I return that is one of the things I need to change. I have had a lot of time to think about my life and it has been really good. OK the rain has finally stopped and the sun is out so I am going to head over to my new home. Next time I will write about Rome as I met some really nice people and saw so much. I haven´t gone sightseeing yet I am waiting until after the holiday when there aren´t as many people here. It is great to know that I have so much time here and don´t have to rush to see all of the sights. It feels really good to know how things work and how to get around Barcelona. We were talking about it last night and everyone struggles to figure things out and Barcelona is a big city. I am so proud that I am able to read a map, and get where I need to, I am sure that isn´t a big deal for a lot of people but it was a challenge for me. Until next time, do that which makes you happy, I know I am.. XOXO Marci
