After having so much fun, getting used to concentrating on school work is hard, especially since it is self paced and not in classes with other students. This class isn´t working out like I had planned due to the cancellation but I am trying to make the best of it as I don´t want to stay in Spain another month to take the next class. I had a bit of a funk this weekend, which makes sense after everything I have experienced and done these months. When you are in a country where everything is different than what you are used to it can freak you out sometimes. The food is so completely different, primarily seafood, which normally I like but here they have sardines, snails, squid, octupus, yuck! When I was hanging out with Corey last weekend and he wanted me to try his tapas telling me I would love them I responded no I won´t love them I can´t eat that stuff. In the markets they sell whole sheeps heads with the eyeballs, and the smell of blood from the butcher shops makes me sick to my stomach. So grocery shopping is complicated needless to say. My roommates are great I am glad I live with them, they kept me sane these past few days. Last night Bart made us dinner which was amazing. He is a chef at a really fancy restaurant in Barcelona. He made like ten different appetizers and a main dish, we were spoiled and it was so nice and it was stuff I actually liked. Sunday night we all went to a pub to watch a futbol game. Mark their former roommate whose room I took when I moved in, works at an English pub and so Bart, An and her visiting friend Kevin and I went to the pub. I finally got to try a Belgium beer called Stella, it was much better than the Spanish beer but more expensive of course. Kevin treated An and I to dinner and drinks that night it was such a nice suprise.
I can´t believe I have been missing out on watching European futbol. Man oh man, the game we watched was with Real Madrid vs Sevilla. David Beckham is on Real Madrid, I don´t really think I need to say more. All the players on both teams were good looking! Plus it is a game I understand and can follow unlike American football which I have never enjoyed. I know that is unamerican but is a true statement. Since I have been in Europe I have watched more sports than I ever have in the US. Well besides live games of my niece and nephews, I tried never to miss those when I was at home.
While Kevin was here he had also made a yummy lunch for us on Friday with a Belgium dish called stump, which is similar to mashed potatoes but with vegetables mixed in like carrots, onions and my favorite, garlic. I am going to get the recipe and make it when I go home. I told An he could stay with as long as he would like. I appreciate being included with her friends. I have met two girls at my school who I will probably hang out with it is just much easier when someone lives with you.
I found a Unity church here in Barcelona and went to the service on Sunday. The two ministers are an older couple that are just so sweet. The thing I really enjoy about people in this spiritual path is that they are so kind. They both hugged me and during the service pointed to me and told everyone all my details of why I was in Barcelona. I was having a bit of an emotional day and having these genuine kind strangers of all ages hugging me to welcome me into the congregation helped me. Spain celebrates Mothers Day a week earlier than the US so the service was about Mothers which of course got to me as I won´t be with my mom this year for Mothers Day but I called her later that day and had a nice talk. The congregation isn´t that big it is only around 20 members but there were some girls my age that I will probably hang out with. Twice a month they have spiritual movies after service and next week we are either going to watch The Secret which I have seen but is amazing or Conversations with God. My trip has been about a lot of superficial stuff, how people look, cute guys, partying, etc so getting centered again spiritually is really important to me.
The funny thing was on Sun morning when I was at the Metro station catching my train to church around 10, who do I see coming towards me but my roommate Bart just coming home from partying. It was so funny, he was embarrassed, he asked me where I was going and I told him church and he just shook his head and laughed at himself saying I wish you hadn´t seen me. Little does he know I have done my share of staying out late and partying just not while I have lived in our apt. Now that I am trying to be focused I have stopped the staying out late.
Ok to answer the questions I know are coming yes my two guy roommates are good looking, but I am trying to ignore it, pretend that they are gay or my brothers or something as the last thing I need is to have a crush or get involved with a roommate. I actually am not attracted to either of them in that way, they are nice and I like them but they feel like a family which is a really good feeling. I will let them cook for me and do my hair if they so desire, I don´t want to deprive them of that opportunity! I did some laundry and was embarrassed to hang it out on the terrace to dry for everyone to see, I mean the bras and panties, isn´t that funny so I hung them in my room. I am hilarious. The kitchen is right by the terrace and you stare at the stuff hanging out there. Oh we don´t have a dryer that is why we have to hang them out. Another first for me. The clothes actually smell really good after hanging out in the sun.
Luca said he would cut my hair on Sunday, yippee! I am looking forward to it, I love getting my hair done. Luckily while I was in Sardinia I plucked out my sneaky grey hairs that had sprouted, they only grow in right in front at my part. I feel I am way too young for grey hair yet it still keeps coming back. The other day I was sitting in the living room and I told him how his name reminds me of that old song, ¨My name is Luca, I live on the second floor, I live upstairs from you, yes I think you´ve seen me before.¨ Of course I was singing it to him and he was laughing. So silly. The funny thing is here in Barcelona they play American music everywhere in the stores and the people don´t speak English but they are singing along to the music which I find amusing.
I went and bought some tennis shoes, actually two pairs, how I will get them in my luggage when I leave I don´t know but I was having some issues and retail therapy helped. They make me really happy as I only have had two pairs of shoes for this trip. One pair is black leather with silver stripes and the other is shiny white with pink squiggles.
I am starting to run in the mornings as I need to exercise to release this weird anxiety that has come upon me. I have been working since I was a teenager, babysitting at first, and once in high school at an after school job. It has been so wonderful to have all this time off, in my normal life I always had a million things I was organizing, or a part of, as well as working full time. I hope to keep this more laid back attitude not always be rushing.
When I was in Rome one of the friends I made was from Canada and she at a mere 22 was lecturing me telling me never to date a guy for love, only date guys with money. I have never dated a guy with money, always love and look how well that has worked for me. She was telling me about gifts, trips, etc that her current boyfriend had given her. This subject came up because we were in the Plaza Espana which is a very expensive area and we were going into all the extremely expensive designer stores that lined this area. Gucci, Armani, Dior, etc. I had said I can´t afford anything in any of these stores, but it was nice to look. She had said have your boyfriend buy it for you. I responded well I don´t have a boyfriend and any boy I have dated never had money for this kind of stuff. That is when she told me the importance of men with money. I thought it was funny, but she was very serious and it did make me think about my past choices. Who knows what my future holds that would be great to have someone adore you that had money, but I can´t use someone just for money, and I am a romantic when it comes to relationships. By the way if you ever want to feel frumpy, fat and ugly these designer stores are the answer.
So things are going pretty good now, I got my funk out of the way which is good. I almost died again yesterday on a bus, the driver decided to just ignore the red light and plowed through four lanes of traffic and it is only by a miracle that he missed the cars and no one was hurt. I saw it coming and could tell he wasn´t going to stop and I tensed up, holding my breath and held onto the bar in front of me. I have had many encounters with near death experiences on this trip. On a trolley in Portugal the brakes were going out and they have hills like in San Francisco so that was scary. In the Cinque Terre after my hike I was on a bus at the highest point of the mountain on a narrow 2 lane road and the driver was talking on his cell phone driving while also talking with his hands, a must for Italians, almost killing us many times. In this instance we had two options, tumbling down the mountainside or head on collision. Many times I have almost been run over as a lot of drivers seem to delight in either ignoring the cross walks or they speed up when they see you crossing. Just so you know I am content and ok with the thought of dying, and figure isn´t it so much more interesting dying as you are on a fun adventure in a foreign country than keeling over from working too hard and long in an office for years? On that happy note I hope this finds you well and thank you for your emails I do so enjoy them!
A very Happy Mothers Day wish to all my loved ones that are Mothers.
XOXO Marci
