just a little lame update

It’s been a while since my last update and a lot has happened but not much has happened, all at the same time. After my trip to Paris, I have really just enjoyed Barcelona. Who would’ve thought one would ever need a break from jet setting all around Europe? Definitely not me, but I do feel that way a little bit.
During Semana Santa I went to Mt. Tibidabo and got an insane sunburn on the beach – it was so bad that it hurt to wear clothes for a day. Barcelona is just about a million times better, if that’s possible, when it’s sunny.

Tibidabo was really cool, if only for the amazing view from up there. There’s an amusement park and a church there, and nothing else, so if you’re not going for the amusements, there really isn’t anything to do there. Either way, it was cool. Supposedly, this is the mountain where the devil tried to tempt Jesus? I read somewhere that there’s a part in the bible or something about that and the devil says something to Jesus in some language, and one of the words is ‘tibidabo’ and that’s how the mountain got its name. Cool story, bro. Anyway, there’s a cool old tram that takes people halfway up, if you’re so inclined. I walked but I saw it, and that is the tram that hit Antoni Gaudi, and caused his death 3 days later. Damn tram!

Other than that, I just hung out with other people that were in Barcelona for the week, which wasn’t very many because almost everyone I know went on vacations somewhere during the week. We had some great times at our favorite bar, Amsterdam, including buckets of beer. Literally, buckets filled with beer. The very first time we went to Amsterdam, they had a deal going on where you could get 4 beers for 5 euro and they came in a bucket filled with ice. Well, we asked Jonne if we could get that same deal again, you know, a bucket of beer. He thought about it for a minute, said “I’ll see what I can do”, and came back a couple of minutes later, having interpreted our request in his own way, with a bucket of beer. Not bottles.

Yesterday, API took us to Costa Brava, the last excursion of the program. We went to Cadaques and Figueres, and it was a day filled with Dali. Cadaques is the town he lived in and if there ever was a perfect place to sit quietly and create something, it’s there. It’s surrounded by mountains on all sides but one, which faces the ocean. The water was bright blue, all the houses were white, the sun was shining, it was just gorgeous. We didn’t actually see much of Figueres, but we went to the Dali museum, which is so odd. Clearly Salvador Dali created the museum because the entire building just oozed Dali-ism, from the inside out. There’s a courtyard in the middle with an odd statue, an old Cadillac, and a boat suspended above it. It’s meant to be as if you’re underwater, and if you look in the car, there are snails and plants growing. So weird, but it all made sense at the same time.

We got back around 8 with just enough time to run home, run out and grab a kebab, and then run over to Amsterdam in time to watch the Clasico; the much anticipated game between Real Madrid and Barca. I actually found myself being extremely nervous for the game before it started, which was odd. I’ve definitely become a much larger futbol fan while I’ve been here, but I’ve never felt anxious for a game before, like I did last night. The bar was packed, we ordered a bucket to split, and because there was 8 of us drinking it, it was gone very quickly. We had decided beforehand that we would do shots everytime Barca scored, so when Messi did, 8 shots of tequila were lined up on the bar. And again when Pedro scored the second goal. Our boys won the game 2-0!! How amazing! Someone in the bar started the infamous chant “Olele, Olala, ser de Barca es, lo major que hay!” and everyone was singing along, even if they didn’t know the words. Today I’m left with not much of a voice, and my throat feels a bit raw. It’s worth it for the amazing time we had last night. It was an odd and different mixture of people in our group, because there were people there that usually don’t go out together. Brittany and Chelsey usually go to clubs and things but they came out with us last night and it was so much fun!

Right now, Brittany and I are both in our respective beds, nursing hangovers and watching movies. Margarita and Cristina are in the living room playing board games, which is something they do very often. Because Margarita works for API, they invited her and Cristina to come to Costa Brava with us, which was awesome. Cristina is such a fun girl, and I really enjoy it when she comes over and hangs out. At first, and for a long time, she would never really speak to either of us but now it seems she’s no longer shy and she cracks jokes and gossips, and seems really comfortable. She even added me on facebook! She speaks to us in Spanish, of course, but she speaks a lot slower than Margarita, and it’s actually practice on both sides, for us and for her, because she doesn’t actually speak Castilian very well, or often. She speaks Catalan and is extremely proud of being Catalana. So when she has to talk to us, she’s practicing too.

The countdown is apparently on, since mom commented on a photo of mine on facebook yesterday, saying there were 40 days until I’m home. Today there are 39 days. I’m still very conflicted and not sure how to feel about this fact, but I guess I’ll know when it gets closer.