Madre

3/24/09

My moms is here yay! We are having a great time.

She got here on Sunday afternoon which was the day after the concert (which by the way I felt like I was going to be trampled to death in, but was still fun when we moved to the back of the crowd). I left late, ended up taking a cab, couldn’t get into where I said I would meet her, it was a lupe fiasco but we ended up spotting each other through the arrival gate doors just like in them movies and had a teary embrace.

On Sunday we just brought all of her stuff and found the B&B (mistake on my part to take the train and metro which left us hauling the luggage up and down flights of stairs). We found the place right away though, and it’s a really cute apartment run by 2 guys (A couple? I think yes) Kiku and John : Kiku is nice and funny and helpful : We heard John puking last night. Guess which one we like more.

On Monday after my classes we met up and went to lunch at the restaurant with the culinary students that has a nice menu and atmosphere but is still inexpensive because we are the guinea pigs from the students work. I’ll give ours an A+. After that we walked down La Rambla and went to the Boqueria market, a lot of it was closing already, but we saw a lot and bought some fruit from one of the stands. Then I gave mom a little walking tour of the Gothic Quarter (I had just had to give a tour with a group for my Spanish class so I had the info.).

That night Antonia had us over for dinner back at my apartment. Mom actually understood a lot of what Antonia was saying, (that high school Spanish pays off.) and I interpreted the rest. Antonia made the traditional stuff – tortilla de patatas, pan con tomate, fried calamari and a fruit salad. We sat in the living room and chatted and I gave mom the tour of the apartment. (She mentioned my room looked bigger in pictures/on the webcam… so if you thought my room looked small before… it’s smaller). I also introduced mom to Maria on the way to dinner (my friend, the dancer who works at the store on my block) and Marta (the sweet little cleaning lady). Both of them, and Antonia and Chessie said right away that we look a lot alike, especially in the eyes. What a great compliment to my mom.

As we left Antonia told mom some nice things about me (of course who wouldn’t) And I went with mom back to the B and B. Today we walked to La Sagrada Familia, which is incredibly close to the bed and breakfast, and then walked down to the Picasso museum (which is not so close). We had some great Tapas tonight at a little bar, from Kiku’s recommendation. Tomorrow we are heading for a pretty big trek at Montserrat, I have never been there before, but I hear it’s beautiful. 

Jamón Jamón

I saw my second Spanish film today in which someone is beaten to death with a ham leg.

Sitges

     We took a day trip to Sitges on Fer's last day.

El Desnudo

3/7/09

Fer is gone, even though it was fun having her here, I am glad to have some alone time now so I can get some things done. Parc Guell was great, the weather stayed beautiful while we walked around and we decided to sit at the café for a little while and get a coffee. We walked up to what we THOUGHT was going to be the little room in which you order your food and drinks. As it turns out: Men’s Urinal. Woops. Didn’t even realize it until we were too close for comfort and were definitely noticed by everyone inside.

Oh but that was not the last uncomfortable encounter we would have with indecent men that day…

After sitting outside while the sun went down, it started to get a little bit colder, we were both in T-shirts so we decided to walk home. As we were leaving the park I hear a ‘psst psst’ coming from somewhere above me. I look up on the ridge and lo and behold. Naked Man.

I don’t know if I’ve written about it before but this is the THIRD time a naked man has approached me and/or my friends. The first was by Montjuic and the last two were in Parc Guell. I’m pretty sure it is the same guy because he always uses the ‘psst psst’ technique to get our attention. A harmless fellow really, just getting his kicks out of shocking people I guess, he waved at us while standing proudly as we scurried away. I’ll go to Parc Guell again with my mom. Perhaps she’ll get the pleasure of spotting him as well. Always a treat…

Thea and I are supposed to be switching rooms so she can have her own room and I will be moving in with Chessie, as it was agreed upon in the beginning. I’ve taken down all my décor and organized my clothes and stuff for the move, but Thea seems to still just be chillin. Bettah him than me – I’d rather keep the room. I do feel bad for Chessie though, I know she wants to be done dealing with Thea, who rarely emerges from her room. I think we may stop seeing her altogether when/if she gets her own room.

Warning: I start rambling right about herrrrre so feel free to stop reading…

I’m sitting in El Mos right now,  the cheap sandwich place we usually go to, I bought a café con leche simply because it’s one of the cheapest things to buy. Just trying to kill some time before my next class/presentation. I’ve made a to-do list for myself, but of course left all of the supplies needed TO DO the list at my apartment. I did book Sevilla tickets for me and mom for a weekend she is here, which I am excited about because I have been really wanting to see the south of Spain. I need to get on booking my Greece hostel as well. Spring Break 2009 WOO ((SB shuffle))

I got a ticket for Girl Talk (A DJ) for this Friday night because he is coming to Razzmatazz (the biggest night club in Barcelona, one of the biggest in Spain). I’ve been to one of his concerts before at Iowa and it was crazy so I’m sure this one will be even more so. It was only 12 euro, which is a great deal considering Razzmatazz usually costs 12-15 Euro just to get into on a regular night anyway.

I think the pigeons had some sort of game going amongst themselves today to see who could make me flinch the most. (It was a tie amongst all of them for the win.) A while ago I decided I would not fear the pigeons in Plaza Catalunya, I would walk through them with confidence and they would make a path for me and sometimes they would all take off in a swirl around me and I would feel like some sort of deity. But todayyy they were NOT havin it. They were literally flying right for my face and would swerve at the last second. I’ve ducked in panic at least 3 times today so far. Embarrassing.            

Nietas

Blanca and Lucia, Antonia's granddaughters. Don't mind the oversized chin bandage, there was a minor bump.