Barcelona

Wow, finding time to blog has been few and far between for me lately! I just cannot get over how fast time is flying over here. I was in fabulous Barcelona this past weekend with mi amiga, Megan (aka- Tillie), who is there with her grandfather, visiting his mother who lives there. Friday, we went up the mountain with Megan’s grandpa (Avi) and great-grandma (Yaya) to a town called Argentona, which is a small town outside Barcelona where many of their relatives live. The plan for the day was to go up and have a long, authentic, Spanish style lunch with the whole family. The drive up took about 45 minutes and a long 45 minutes it was! Avi, who was driving, had rented a stick shift car to use for the trip and he only kind of remembered how to drive one. That combined with the fact that Spanish people just simply cannot talk without using their hands, had Megan and I holding hands in the back seat out of fear for our lives, and hanging our heads out the windows for fresh air. Once we had safely arrived to Argentona, I met about 10 of her relatives, all of whom were over the age 70 and none of whom spoke English. It was a great day for putting my much-improved Spanish to use. We all sat at a long table where we drank red wine and ate course after course of yummy food, which is typical in Spain since lunch is their biggest meal of the day. Once you’ve had a real Spanish lunch, you’ll understand why they take siestas afterwards. The lunch lasted about 3 hours and consisted of 4 courses, and after 3 hours of speaking nothing but Spanish and eating that much food, I was absolutely exhausted.

One of the funnier parts of the day may have been when one of Megan’s great-uncles was talking to another great-uncle (out loud but in Spanish) about how great my legs were. I could tell he assumed I wouldn’t understand what he was saying by the fast-paced speed in which he was speaking and also by the fact that he wasn’t trying to include me in the conversation. Quite the contrary- I understood everything he said. I started laughing out loud and told Megan what her 80 something year old uncle was saying about me. It was all in good fun though, and as ready as we were to leave by the end of it all, I had a great time meeting her Spanish family.

That night Megan and I went to a tapas restaurant that my friends Jordi and Raul own. They were both on staff of the program I did in Barcelona two summers ago and it was so fun to get to see them again. The food was amazing and they didn’t let us pay for one thing. We hung out with them while things at the restaurant died down and then afterwards, we all went to a club together for some serious party time. Spaniards take their fiestas seriously! It was such a fun night and I was so ecstatic to see the familiar faces of two people who played such vital parts in my unforgettable, summer experience in Barcelona two years ago.

Saturday in a nut shell consisted of my feeling a tad bit ill thanks to Jordi’s generosity the night before (all his fault), walking around Barcelona with Megan, getting my long overdue sushi, and meeting up with another friend for a few drinks. It was such a fun weekend and it definitely made me miss Barcelona and long for all the precious friends I made there two years ago, but it was still so great to be back. It felt a little bit like home to me. I think that city will forever and always hold a little bit of my heart.

This weekend I’m jetting off to Switzerland with Megan for a few days because I have next Monday and Tuesday of classes off. I’ve never been there and am really looking forward to eating some Swiss chocolate….. and to be able to gaze at the beauty of the Alps and Lake Geneva of course!! Seeing as this will be my third weekend in a row to travel, I’ll be glad not to go anywhere for a while after this trip so I can get my feet back on the ground and start hanging out more with friends I’ve made here in Sevilla. Adios for now and I’ll blog again after my Swiss adventure!