Hello world!
Well its Saturday night and I've had a great few days that I have neglected to report so here goes the readers digest version....
Thursday night I went with James and his girlfriend to go seem some fireworks at the town over ( I know...a little bit of a third wheel but I was invited damn it). It started around 11 and we got there a bit early and had a beer or two on the beach and talked....well I talked to James in English and she talked to him in Spanish so it was like a conversation. Anyway the fireworks started and it was a great show! I was expecting just kinda a local town show but it really could have rivaled any 4th of July back home. It wasn't quite as long but there were some effects I had never seen and it was an all round great show, by the end it was so bright I had to close my eyes and so loud I should have covered my ears. An interesting note is that here there is kinda a finale but you really know the whole thing is over when there are three evenly spaced and very loud BOOMs. (I have firework pictures....coming soon)
So Friday at work was interesting...there is defiantly a Friday mentality where everyone is still working hard, but yo can tell they are all checking their watches every half hour. We got alot done, and really it was kinda a slower day at the loft because we had to go find sails to work on instead of having a pile to do. I took alot of notes and helped the seamstresses with sails alot. The last half hour everyone is so pumped for the weekend it is no longer subtle how they are watching the clock and me and James actually spent about 15 mins "going over notes", which did involve checking the notes I had taken but also doing our best to come up with words for me to learn which included ever cuss word we could think of. On our way home we noticed it was pretty windy and I mentioned that I was planing on going to the beach. After some not so friendly back and forth between Elena (James' girlfriend) and James he said he would meet me there and bring his kite (apparently they had planed on going shopping which I think he actually still did, but she was still kinda mad....go figure). So we met up and headed down to the beach a bit late. In case you were wondering about the whole kite thing...its a 12 meter kite-boarding kite that can very easily get you airborne and is used with a harness. It was a blast, although I got dragged along the sand which is like 90 grit sandpaper and bled a a little, but was still so much fun and I can't wait to do it again (also got some great pictures that are yet to come). I headed home after that to get dinner and have a drink and relax. I met Camille's boyfriend who is in town visiting and a very nice guy who does indeed speak very good English. Also that night I actually was productive and managed to finally unpack and move in a little bit which is a nice feeling but also makes the whole thing a bit more real.
This morning I slept in, which was glorious except for the kids yelling at like 9 through my window which was way before I had planed on getting up. I managed to fall back asleep but was woken again by James asking if I was about ready to head out to Barcelona like we had planed. I of course said I was ready and threw on some clothes and grabbed my camera and headed out the door to meet him. After about a 20 minute train ride we arrived in the middle of the city and I got the grand tour by the always hospitable James. We walked up and down seeing different public squares, and some churches and cathedrals. The main street called "Las Rambles", is home to tons of shops and malls, and restaurants and anything you could ever want. We made our way down, stopping for some tapas, and...a drink I can't remember but its basically espresso and cognac, which will put a spring in any one's step. So I saw the amazing Barcelona Cathedral which has a different saint every 6 feet and a cool courtyard in the middle. We also checked out a few of James' favorite bars and talked about...well everything...Barcelona, our families, I told him a few choice college stories, and just had a good time making our way from bar to bar, shop to shop all the way to the beach. At the beach we walked through the harbor there and made our way to a little beach bar/restaurant and had what was basically a chicken ceasar wrap, but was very good and it was nice to take a break and hang by the very crowded beach for awhile. After that we headed back up Las Rambles seeing some new things like alot of living statues, a few open air pet shops, and alot of local artists. One of the highlights was visiting James' favorite bar, who's name translates into "the black sheep" and having a beer and I spotted...yes you guessed it....FOOSBALL! So after we got our beers I asked if he wanted to play and he said he played ofter so we headed over. (This isn't really big enough to warrant its own paragraph but this one has gotten long).
So I guess I played down the fact that I've played foosball a bit but James soon found out I new what I was doing. However, the tables here are very different, the people look like little action figure soccer players and actually have two separate feet. On top of that the whole table slopes into the middle from both sides so its a bit harder to control the ball. However, I figured the whole thing out pretty quick and managed to win the first game by one point which warranted a rematch....To James' disappointment however, the second match was quicker and I only gave up one point. After such a beating James asked if we could sit in the smoking section and I said sure and grabbed two more beers.
After a good chat about work and politics and life in general we headed back to the train to head home after a long day of walking. I finally made it home in time to watch about an hour of tv on the internet and get an invite to dinner with the Frenchys (Camille, her boyfriend, and his friend). They made a great dinner that I was very grateful to have and we had another conversation that spanned many topics and languages, and I tried to throw in the very limited French I knew which they thought was great. After dinner I did the dishes and thanked them for the meal and now I am here at my computer once again chronicling my adventures before I forget them.
It isn't even quite midnight, but after a full day of walking and drinking I'm pretty tired and ready for bed so think its about that time. Maybe tomorrow I'll go lay out on the beach and start the new book I bought in Barcelona...or hell, I might even go back to explore for myself!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Each day gets a little easier
I was exhausted last night and fell asleep soon after watching Friday Night Lights, which is a football show based in Texas! I had never seen it, but had heard about it at home. Anyway, it was the first time I actually felt just a little home sick, just because I recognized things in the show that I don't here...like football, and crazy over the top Texans. I asked Adrien if he had anything like that back home and he said "sort of.....sailing," I laughed but thought that would be kinda cool if sailing was sort of like that.
Despite going to bed pretty early I woke up tired to a really obnoxious alarm on my new phone. I was kind of dragging this morning at work and even took a little nap on a sail during the lunch break. I shadowed James again most of the morning and we put on a UV guard on a genoa which was kind of tedious but at least it was something new. Then James when home early because apparently he hasn't been feeling that well for the last few days and it was getting a bit worse. So with him gone, and Adrien and Bastien in France sailing Camille was the last person left for me to work with and she speaks very little English so it was time to really start practicing that Spanish.
It actually worked out pretty well, she was putting panels for a jib together, which I haven't done but its basically taping pieces together. Camille tried very hard to tell me everything in Spanish then in English, both to work on my Spanish and her English. I'm getting better by the day at picking out what people are saying and so I figured out what she wanted me to do pretty quick and we even talked in Spanish about some other stuff, like how she has only been doing this for about 2 months and learned Spanish from traveling and sailing around Spanish countries alot. Unfortunately...the part about her not doing this very long made for some problems because as happy as I was to understand her instructions, I was equally pissed to find out some of them were wrong and I had to do a few things over. The only one I was kinda pissed about is that I finished taping all the main panels for that jib only to find out the tape I was told to use was a bit to small so I had to go back with a thin tape and fill in the gap. After that though the floor manager came up to me and asked me to do something in real Spanish and to both our surprise I understood her, not only that I knew exactly how to do it! So that was kinda a good end to the day and so now I'm back that the apt.
I had a brief lesson on how to use the washing machine, so that will be exciting to have some fresh clothes AND I get to use our fancy solar powered clothes dryer....ok, its a clothes line, but I've never actually hung clothes on a line before so I am a little excited. It also turns out that I'll be at the apt alone this weekend with Camille and her boyfriend and one of his friends...which should be interesting (I guess the boyfriends means I could have been wrong about her and Bastien...oh well). But also James said he would take me around Barcelona on Saturday, so hopefully he gets better and we can go do that.
Well I'm off to see what I'm gonna do tonight...its 7:25 pm but I kinda think I could still make it to the beach for a little bit...but I have to do laundry....hmmmm, we'll see
Despite going to bed pretty early I woke up tired to a really obnoxious alarm on my new phone. I was kind of dragging this morning at work and even took a little nap on a sail during the lunch break. I shadowed James again most of the morning and we put on a UV guard on a genoa which was kind of tedious but at least it was something new. Then James when home early because apparently he hasn't been feeling that well for the last few days and it was getting a bit worse. So with him gone, and Adrien and Bastien in France sailing Camille was the last person left for me to work with and she speaks very little English so it was time to really start practicing that Spanish.
It actually worked out pretty well, she was putting panels for a jib together, which I haven't done but its basically taping pieces together. Camille tried very hard to tell me everything in Spanish then in English, both to work on my Spanish and her English. I'm getting better by the day at picking out what people are saying and so I figured out what she wanted me to do pretty quick and we even talked in Spanish about some other stuff, like how she has only been doing this for about 2 months and learned Spanish from traveling and sailing around Spanish countries alot. Unfortunately...the part about her not doing this very long made for some problems because as happy as I was to understand her instructions, I was equally pissed to find out some of them were wrong and I had to do a few things over. The only one I was kinda pissed about is that I finished taping all the main panels for that jib only to find out the tape I was told to use was a bit to small so I had to go back with a thin tape and fill in the gap. After that though the floor manager came up to me and asked me to do something in real Spanish and to both our surprise I understood her, not only that I knew exactly how to do it! So that was kinda a good end to the day and so now I'm back that the apt.
I had a brief lesson on how to use the washing machine, so that will be exciting to have some fresh clothes AND I get to use our fancy solar powered clothes dryer....ok, its a clothes line, but I've never actually hung clothes on a line before so I am a little excited. It also turns out that I'll be at the apt alone this weekend with Camille and her boyfriend and one of his friends...which should be interesting (I guess the boyfriends means I could have been wrong about her and Bastien...oh well). But also James said he would take me around Barcelona on Saturday, so hopefully he gets better and we can go do that.
Well I'm off to see what I'm gonna do tonight...its 7:25 pm but I kinda think I could still make it to the beach for a little bit...but I have to do laundry....hmmmm, we'll see
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Another day another adventure
So I a pretty good day at work today, I was shadowing James and starting to get a feel for some of the little things I was doing. Also good because James kinda puts whole sails together from panels so I got get a little better feel for the whole process. I didn't do much for the putting together, but because he works on smaller sails we got through 2 sails worth of....well basically finishing the final measurements and cuts on each edge. But he was good about explaining alot and asking me questions to make me think about what comes next so I'm getting better. I also decided to get a little notebook and start writing some things down and James wrote some important things down for me. I also spent the day writing down important Spanish terms that kept coming up, so at least I'm making an active effort.
James and his girlfriend were also nice enough to take me to the mall and basically got a phone for me. James had planed on going to get himself one but it was nice of them to bring me along. I'd never really spent any time around James' girlfriend but she seems really nice....kinda hard to tell for sure cause she doesn't speak English and I obviously speak no Spanish. It was kinda fun and I'm glad I finally have phone.
Well I think I'm gonna study my list of Spanish words a bit and head to bed....tomorrow...laundry day so I don't end up the smelly kid.
James and his girlfriend were also nice enough to take me to the mall and basically got a phone for me. James had planed on going to get himself one but it was nice of them to bring me along. I'd never really spent any time around James' girlfriend but she seems really nice....kinda hard to tell for sure cause she doesn't speak English and I obviously speak no Spanish. It was kinda fun and I'm glad I finally have phone.
Well I think I'm gonna study my list of Spanish words a bit and head to bed....tomorrow...laundry day so I don't end up the smelly kid.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Buns of steel....
Apparently crawling around on your knees and standing up and down all day is kinda like lunges for 7 hours, because the backs of my legs and....way upper thigh/way lower back......are really soar after two days on the job. So after a few more weeks...I expect....buns of steel. I wont bore you or myself with alot of work talk, but the gist of it is that I did some cutting, some anti-sewing and got a few new toys for my tool belt.
Really I guess that's about all I have to say. I don't feel like death after work today like I did yesterday so that's good. And I'm picking up a few more words here and there in conversations...I think tomorrow I'm gonna carry around a little note pad and write down some words I need to know...especially the sail parts cause I think people are getting annoyed with having to explain them to me over and over.
So I'm gonna go hang out...maybe stretch, and see where the night takes me....probably to sleep.
Really I guess that's about all I have to say. I don't feel like death after work today like I did yesterday so that's good. And I'm picking up a few more words here and there in conversations...I think tomorrow I'm gonna carry around a little note pad and write down some words I need to know...especially the sail parts cause I think people are getting annoyed with having to explain them to me over and over.
So I'm gonna go hang out...maybe stretch, and see where the night takes me....probably to sleep.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Work-tastic
So my first day of work started off to a rocky start. I didn't sleep too well because I had slept so late the day before and wasn't very tired when I should have been. In addition, I kept expecting my roommates home which never showed, OH!...also I managed to blow up my alarm clock and phone charger by plugging them in and flipping the light switch (also known as the electronics’ death switch) which left me with know alarm to wake up in the morning. So I pulled up an internet alarm clock and tested it and hoped for the best. Luckily my dieing phone somehow survived and the alarm went off...not sure what I'm gonna do tonight.
Anyway, so I woke up early and showered and met the roommate I hadn’t met yet, Hugo Rocha. He showed me where some cereal was so I got a little breakfast and when I asked him if the others with the car where here he said yes, so that was a relief....except that he didn't actually know if they were here and when he checked on his way out we realized we had no car...which isn't problem for Hugo cause he rides his bike, but I have nadda. We kinda go back and forth on what to do and I finally say I'll just walk it. He gives me directions that consist of "straight, straight, straight, always straight and then he started to leave. He made it to the elevator and I figured I needed to hurry so I grabbed my things and rand down the stairs.
He had just made it to the door and when I caught up I asked which way again and he said he would just walk with me...nice guy. So about 35 mins later we show up and I'm sweating and gross from the trek but I made it. I headed up stairs to see what I would be doing only to find the rest of my roommates, minus Adrian already there, apparently they had come straight to the loft from France. Had a little awkward moment when Camille did the euro-cheek-kiss thing with Hugo then leaned over to me. Awkward only because I was sweaty and gross and as I tried to tell her that she went for the cheek anyway and realized what I was trying to get at. Wasn't that big of a deal though and she just asked me how I had gotten to the loft. So a few more people showed up and it was work time.
I got all suited up with my tool belt thing and some much needed knee-pads and Bastien and Camille started showing me how things are organized. We went and got an incoming sail and laid it out and Bastien showed me how and were to put tack lines. Which basically entails reading what color and how many strips of tape go on the sail and drawing a line and trying to lay the tape along that line. Easy enough right? WRONG! I think I was just being to careful about it and kept having to start over. Once the tape, especially thicker ones, gets off track its hard to keep it smooth and get back on the line...which you shouldn't have to do cause it makes the line curve anyway, either way its like the most intense arts and crafts time in kindergarten ever and I'm sweating again from stress and trying to move around on my knees in a barely air conditioned room. After doing both sides of the sail, and adding some numbers (which I am better at but still stress about if they are straight or not), we move on to drawing the leech line, which is supposed to be more or less straight except for just at the top (I think). Well there is already a computer line that we are more or less trying to match but apparently its so messed up we can't really set a batten along it.
However, trying to get it right, and lining it up gave me a little rest and had a little fun with Camille and Bastien while we tried to figure it out. We had to get one of the floor managers named....shit, what’s her name....Eulanda or something like that. Anyway she looked at it and confirmed it was messed up and went to talk to a designer and reset it. So me and Bastien went to put some more numbers on sails in which he kinda set up one and told me to finish it. Which really isn't a big deal, just a bit of stress when your not that sure what your doing and your putting final touches on a close to finished product. Anyway I get them on by I have a "W" that is a little of but I am reassured its fine and you can't tell (it was off by a grand total of about 2 mm). So about then I'm informed that it's the 15 min coffee break so I head downstairs and get some much needed water.
I drink several glasses of water and just kinda stand around while some people talk and some eat some food that they had brought. It was nice to take a break but at a certain point I'm just standing around and I need to go put that last number on.
So we keep working on more of the same sort of stuff, I just shadow Bastien for the most part and try not to drop my scissors through my foot (I came close a few times). So eventually its lunch time and I'm starving so I ask around what the plan kinda is and end up fallowing Bastien and Camille to a little shop and getting a "basqueta con pollo" which is a pretty good chicken sandwich on a long piece of French bread. Bastien tells me they have to go to the bank so they'll see me back at the loft. (I'm starting to think he and Camille have kinda a "thing" goin, they're kinda flirty during work and seem to spend a lot of time together). So I head back, enjoying my sandwich on the way and finish up with a few glasses of water and hang outside and talk to James a bit. After he and the other smokers are done, they head inside to sit down and I fallow. The rest of the hr (which is quite a while) is spent sitting around listening to various conversations that I don't understand any words. I don't know if I'm just that tired or I zoned out but I kinda start falling asleep till Adrien shows up.
Apparently he had been kayaking and seeing his girlfriend in France and had been late making it back. James made a little "buenas Tarde" remark but everyone just kinda hung out and talked till the end of the lunch break where I'm told now I'll be shadowing Adrien.
So it turns out the roommate-at-work hierarchy goes something like this: Camille and Bastien are pretty much the bottom of the totem pole and work on taping down corner patches and numbers and different things like that. Adrien is the step up in knowledge and works on measuring out and cutting what will be the final lines of the sail, as well as adding leech lines and other things. James seems to be the most experience and spends a lot of his time off kinda by himself taping panels together to be sown together and more or less putting sails together by himself.
Shadowing Adrien was fun but a bit intense. He's a really nice guy and playful will a lot of the people around the loft, but he also has a pretty good handle on what he's doing and how it should be done. He tells me a lot about reading the design specifications and different measurements, but on paper it all kinda gets lost in my head. Then we start measuring out and drawing lines and cutting sails (also stressful, a wrong cut when you’re measuring in millimeters is a big deal). Oh but first we had to put on batten pockets which turned out to be a nightmare....well more for Adrien than myself once I figured out something was wrong. Apparently the pocket was only about 4 cm deep and completely glued together. So after about 5 mins of fighting with it, I call Adrien, and after about 10 mins he calls James (totem pole established) who has suggestions but basically diagnosis it as defective. And we end up taking pictures of it to send back to Melasia with a "you-ruined-my-day" card clipped to it.
Then he showed my how to measure out and draw the cut line on the luff which is another 4 important millimeter measurement that he has me do after he shows me kinda how. I thought I did alright, but apparently a few of the lines didn't match up as well as they should, but he was able to fix it as he fallowed along with tape. Then another overly difficult mundane task....cut along the tape...how hard could that be? Well after about ten mins I had only gotten about a forth of it done and was sweating while Adrien had finished the rest around me. He stopped to show me how to get the scissors to cut better in long stokes which helped. I felt like it looked like shit but we were putting a few layers over it so it wasn't the end of the world.
We did a few other things but it was all about the same sort of deal, a lot of numbers I don't remember and was advised to get a little notebook about. And a lot of cutting and taping and shuffling around on my knees that are now red, but ok. I'm home now and pretty tired, from the day and not sleeping last night, I should get back on schedule by tomorrow. I really need to go get a phone but I was gonna wait for Adrien to talk about where to go because apparently he did it recently. Oh well, I'll figure it out....tomorrow is another day.
Anyway, so I woke up early and showered and met the roommate I hadn’t met yet, Hugo Rocha. He showed me where some cereal was so I got a little breakfast and when I asked him if the others with the car where here he said yes, so that was a relief....except that he didn't actually know if they were here and when he checked on his way out we realized we had no car...which isn't problem for Hugo cause he rides his bike, but I have nadda. We kinda go back and forth on what to do and I finally say I'll just walk it. He gives me directions that consist of "straight, straight, straight, always straight and then he started to leave. He made it to the elevator and I figured I needed to hurry so I grabbed my things and rand down the stairs.
He had just made it to the door and when I caught up I asked which way again and he said he would just walk with me...nice guy. So about 35 mins later we show up and I'm sweating and gross from the trek but I made it. I headed up stairs to see what I would be doing only to find the rest of my roommates, minus Adrian already there, apparently they had come straight to the loft from France. Had a little awkward moment when Camille did the euro-cheek-kiss thing with Hugo then leaned over to me. Awkward only because I was sweaty and gross and as I tried to tell her that she went for the cheek anyway and realized what I was trying to get at. Wasn't that big of a deal though and she just asked me how I had gotten to the loft. So a few more people showed up and it was work time.
I got all suited up with my tool belt thing and some much needed knee-pads and Bastien and Camille started showing me how things are organized. We went and got an incoming sail and laid it out and Bastien showed me how and were to put tack lines. Which basically entails reading what color and how many strips of tape go on the sail and drawing a line and trying to lay the tape along that line. Easy enough right? WRONG! I think I was just being to careful about it and kept having to start over. Once the tape, especially thicker ones, gets off track its hard to keep it smooth and get back on the line...which you shouldn't have to do cause it makes the line curve anyway, either way its like the most intense arts and crafts time in kindergarten ever and I'm sweating again from stress and trying to move around on my knees in a barely air conditioned room. After doing both sides of the sail, and adding some numbers (which I am better at but still stress about if they are straight or not), we move on to drawing the leech line, which is supposed to be more or less straight except for just at the top (I think). Well there is already a computer line that we are more or less trying to match but apparently its so messed up we can't really set a batten along it.
However, trying to get it right, and lining it up gave me a little rest and had a little fun with Camille and Bastien while we tried to figure it out. We had to get one of the floor managers named....shit, what’s her name....Eulanda or something like that. Anyway she looked at it and confirmed it was messed up and went to talk to a designer and reset it. So me and Bastien went to put some more numbers on sails in which he kinda set up one and told me to finish it. Which really isn't a big deal, just a bit of stress when your not that sure what your doing and your putting final touches on a close to finished product. Anyway I get them on by I have a "W" that is a little of but I am reassured its fine and you can't tell (it was off by a grand total of about 2 mm). So about then I'm informed that it's the 15 min coffee break so I head downstairs and get some much needed water.
I drink several glasses of water and just kinda stand around while some people talk and some eat some food that they had brought. It was nice to take a break but at a certain point I'm just standing around and I need to go put that last number on.
So we keep working on more of the same sort of stuff, I just shadow Bastien for the most part and try not to drop my scissors through my foot (I came close a few times). So eventually its lunch time and I'm starving so I ask around what the plan kinda is and end up fallowing Bastien and Camille to a little shop and getting a "basqueta con pollo" which is a pretty good chicken sandwich on a long piece of French bread. Bastien tells me they have to go to the bank so they'll see me back at the loft. (I'm starting to think he and Camille have kinda a "thing" goin, they're kinda flirty during work and seem to spend a lot of time together). So I head back, enjoying my sandwich on the way and finish up with a few glasses of water and hang outside and talk to James a bit. After he and the other smokers are done, they head inside to sit down and I fallow. The rest of the hr (which is quite a while) is spent sitting around listening to various conversations that I don't understand any words. I don't know if I'm just that tired or I zoned out but I kinda start falling asleep till Adrien shows up.
Apparently he had been kayaking and seeing his girlfriend in France and had been late making it back. James made a little "buenas Tarde" remark but everyone just kinda hung out and talked till the end of the lunch break where I'm told now I'll be shadowing Adrien.
So it turns out the roommate-at-work hierarchy goes something like this: Camille and Bastien are pretty much the bottom of the totem pole and work on taping down corner patches and numbers and different things like that. Adrien is the step up in knowledge and works on measuring out and cutting what will be the final lines of the sail, as well as adding leech lines and other things. James seems to be the most experience and spends a lot of his time off kinda by himself taping panels together to be sown together and more or less putting sails together by himself.
Shadowing Adrien was fun but a bit intense. He's a really nice guy and playful will a lot of the people around the loft, but he also has a pretty good handle on what he's doing and how it should be done. He tells me a lot about reading the design specifications and different measurements, but on paper it all kinda gets lost in my head. Then we start measuring out and drawing lines and cutting sails (also stressful, a wrong cut when you’re measuring in millimeters is a big deal). Oh but first we had to put on batten pockets which turned out to be a nightmare....well more for Adrien than myself once I figured out something was wrong. Apparently the pocket was only about 4 cm deep and completely glued together. So after about 5 mins of fighting with it, I call Adrien, and after about 10 mins he calls James (totem pole established) who has suggestions but basically diagnosis it as defective. And we end up taking pictures of it to send back to Melasia with a "you-ruined-my-day" card clipped to it.
Then he showed my how to measure out and draw the cut line on the luff which is another 4 important millimeter measurement that he has me do after he shows me kinda how. I thought I did alright, but apparently a few of the lines didn't match up as well as they should, but he was able to fix it as he fallowed along with tape. Then another overly difficult mundane task....cut along the tape...how hard could that be? Well after about ten mins I had only gotten about a forth of it done and was sweating while Adrien had finished the rest around me. He stopped to show me how to get the scissors to cut better in long stokes which helped. I felt like it looked like shit but we were putting a few layers over it so it wasn't the end of the world.
We did a few other things but it was all about the same sort of deal, a lot of numbers I don't remember and was advised to get a little notebook about. And a lot of cutting and taping and shuffling around on my knees that are now red, but ok. I'm home now and pretty tired, from the day and not sleeping last night, I should get back on schedule by tomorrow. I really need to go get a phone but I was gonna wait for Adrien to talk about where to go because apparently he did it recently. Oh well, I'll figure it out....tomorrow is another day.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Picture Post!
Ok, so I have been a terrible photographer so far but these are a few pictures of the apt and such. I promise I will start playing tourist and bring my camera on walkabouts but this is all I got for now....
Ok, that took freakin forever so I'm only gonna upload a few...but this is what may someday become my room, and is where I took my first nap in Spain :) Right now it's Bastien's room...don't ask me why there are two beds in there, I still haven't figured it out....
Why does it take so long to upload a picture?! This is the internet, not a damn Carrier pigeon... anyway, this is our lovely living room, or at least as much that I could get in a picture. Conveniently, the table you see doubles and computer room AND dining room! You can also see my favorite part of the apt through the eternally open glass doors...the patio!
So this is a terrible picture of the view off our terrace....I promise I'll start taking better pictures. We are on the 5th/top floor of the apt and if ya go up on the roof right above us you can see the watter and the hills behind us...promise...pictures coming
so I'll stop showing you bad pictures and work on taking good ones to put on here!
me gusta la playa
Still no sign of the roommates but I wont let it stop me! I woke up at the obnoxious our of 1 pm today after staying up on the computer till like 5:30 or something and so I got up and did a little readin. Wasn't too long before I realized I was hungry and decided I have work tomorrow so I better enjoy today. So I changed and grabbed my book and headed for the beach.
I went to the slightly nicer one to check out the restaurant there but it was really crowded and I was a bit confused on where the hell to order and there were no empty tables. So after pacing around the place trying to figure it all out I gave up and walked to the water hungry. Luckily I noticed a smaller, less crowded place just up the beach so I headed there.
I can't read the menu that is written on a chalkboard cause it's in Catalan, of course, so I scratch my head thinking about how I'm going to extract some food from this place until I get hungry enough to just walk up and ask for "comida' (food). The guy was really nice about it and slowly went over some things in Spanish for me, he pointed out gazpacho which I know I like and then just said yes to "hamberguesa" which is simple enough. Hamberguesa is not actually a hamburger as one might think, its a hamburger patty, with a side of salad and fries. Not the lightest or most authentic beach meal but I was starving and it was good. The gazpacho was served in a small cup that I sipped and was really good and refreshing.
After getting some food I headed down to the beach to lay around and read my book. There was some notable people watching to be had. Most notably two older topless ladies with an accent I couldn't place who went swimming and I'm not sure what happened but one of them went wide-eyed and started screaming at the other one while she ran out of the water. There was a nice cool breeze and good sun and after about an hr I managed to finish my book so I figured it was time to head home.
On the way home I had planned on picking up some beer and food to replace what I've used here so far but apparently Sunday isn't a good day for the store, or maybe i just came too early. Either way they were close so I came back to the apt empty handed. However, no one is here right now anyway so it doesn't really matter one way or the other. So know what do I do?! No one home, no more book to read, and I'm pretty sure its still too early for the store....bla. Maybe a shower will give me new insight.
For anyone reading, I hope all is well back home, and I love you all!
I went to the slightly nicer one to check out the restaurant there but it was really crowded and I was a bit confused on where the hell to order and there were no empty tables. So after pacing around the place trying to figure it all out I gave up and walked to the water hungry. Luckily I noticed a smaller, less crowded place just up the beach so I headed there.
I can't read the menu that is written on a chalkboard cause it's in Catalan, of course, so I scratch my head thinking about how I'm going to extract some food from this place until I get hungry enough to just walk up and ask for "comida' (food). The guy was really nice about it and slowly went over some things in Spanish for me, he pointed out gazpacho which I know I like and then just said yes to "hamberguesa" which is simple enough. Hamberguesa is not actually a hamburger as one might think, its a hamburger patty, with a side of salad and fries. Not the lightest or most authentic beach meal but I was starving and it was good. The gazpacho was served in a small cup that I sipped and was really good and refreshing.
After getting some food I headed down to the beach to lay around and read my book. There was some notable people watching to be had. Most notably two older topless ladies with an accent I couldn't place who went swimming and I'm not sure what happened but one of them went wide-eyed and started screaming at the other one while she ran out of the water. There was a nice cool breeze and good sun and after about an hr I managed to finish my book so I figured it was time to head home.
On the way home I had planned on picking up some beer and food to replace what I've used here so far but apparently Sunday isn't a good day for the store, or maybe i just came too early. Either way they were close so I came back to the apt empty handed. However, no one is here right now anyway so it doesn't really matter one way or the other. So know what do I do?! No one home, no more book to read, and I'm pretty sure its still too early for the store....bla. Maybe a shower will give me new insight.
For anyone reading, I hope all is well back home, and I love you all!
festival
Last night was interesting if nothing else. After another unsuccessful call to James I headed out for the beach lighting and throwing firecrackers into the street at regular intervals. You forget how late it is when you get to the beach around 1:30 am and their are just tons of families scattered around the beach in little circles with kids no older than 8 or 9 running around and lighting off fireworks. It's kinda of like a 4th of July fireworks show performed by the town collectively. There is no beginning, no end, just a constant stream of whistle-bang and shower of light.
I headed to the bar and grabbed a beer and walked down the beach trying not to look like the weird foreign guy drinking alone. Some people played soccer, and listened to music in English and Spanish and there were little bon fires set up all over the place with circles of friends sitting around them talking and laughing. I made it about as far as I could one was and doubled back down the beach toward the bar. I saw some kid almost blow his hand off lighting a big firecracker in the fire and trying to throw it and even the locals seemed surprised at how close it had been but then they all laughed and kept playing around the beach. I got back to the bar and picked up another beer and kept heading down the beach the other way.
I was heading toward the part of the beach James had taken me to the day before to see if there was a different crowd and maybe to check out a different beach bar. As I got close I could hear the distinct sound of the YMCA blaring over a stereo system. I got closer and realized it was coming from a local yacht club with a distinctively yachty, but fun loving crowd. They had a dance floor set up on the beach and everyone was dancing and drinking as I walked by on the other side of a fence.
Just beyond that was the bar-restaurant I had seen the day before but it was about 2 am and there was a sizable crowd outside, which seemed to indicate it was closing down. Some of the windows were shut up but there were still quite a few people sitting at the tables outside chatting. I decided to just go down the beach were there were tons of little circles of friends of all ages sitting around bon fires and lighting off fireworks. I wish I had had a camera, but it probably wouldn't have gotten a good picture and I would have been super tourist. All the way down the beach there were fireworks going off and people running around and playing and talking. I made a slow circle through the crowd and headed back up the beach to go back to the beach I knew better.
I tossed firecrackers all the way back and listened to the now Spanish music coming from the yacht club. When I got back to the bar I ordered another beer from a lady who has started to recognize me as the lonely foreigner who orders alot of beers. She handed me a beer in a can and I think she asked if I would rather a cup. I told her that was fine but decided to try to ask how to say "can" instead of cup. My fumbled question resulted in her handing me a cup. I think she realized that wasn't what I was after and she looked at me questioningly. I tried the guessing game approach and said, "no un vaso (holding up the cup) pero un....?" (tapping on the can). Well her guess was "cervesa?" and I started feel like I was wasting her time so I kinda gave up and started to move on when she said "in English?". The sudden change of language threw me and I hesitated, and the guy next to me who had been listing to the struggling question shook his head and said in perfect English, "what do you want to say?" I asked in English and he told me and I repeated it and he shook his head and I thanked him. All that work and now I can't even remember the word.
I headed down the beach toward the water feeling a little silly at having struggled with the question when everyone there seemed to speak perfect English. I sat down in the sand by the water and sipped my beer and threw firecrackers into the water. I sat there for a long time, just playing and people watching and looking out over the water. This place is really nice and it's only going to get better as my Spanish improves and I get a solid base of friends so I don't have to keep being the lone beach bum. In any case I finish my beer and head back to the apt around 3 am.
I get there and I'm not feeling very tired after my nap earlier today so I spend some time bumming around on my computer and watching "Walk the Line" on satellite. Well it was around 8 or 9 back home and there were a fair number of people to talk to so I caught up a little with a few people which stretched into waaaaay too much computer time and next thing I know it looks like the sun is coming up and its about 5:30 in the morning. So I go to bed and don't wake up till 1 pm today (so much for getting on the time schedule for work). I laid down on the couch and read a little bit, but I'm getting a little concerned...I'm almost done with my book and I didn't bring another....what will I do?!...I'm sure I'll figure it out. Well its almost 3 now and I had expected to start seeing some roommates soon but maybe I'll just grab my book and head back down to the beach and hang out for awhile.
I headed to the bar and grabbed a beer and walked down the beach trying not to look like the weird foreign guy drinking alone. Some people played soccer, and listened to music in English and Spanish and there were little bon fires set up all over the place with circles of friends sitting around them talking and laughing. I made it about as far as I could one was and doubled back down the beach toward the bar. I saw some kid almost blow his hand off lighting a big firecracker in the fire and trying to throw it and even the locals seemed surprised at how close it had been but then they all laughed and kept playing around the beach. I got back to the bar and picked up another beer and kept heading down the beach the other way.
I was heading toward the part of the beach James had taken me to the day before to see if there was a different crowd and maybe to check out a different beach bar. As I got close I could hear the distinct sound of the YMCA blaring over a stereo system. I got closer and realized it was coming from a local yacht club with a distinctively yachty, but fun loving crowd. They had a dance floor set up on the beach and everyone was dancing and drinking as I walked by on the other side of a fence.
Just beyond that was the bar-restaurant I had seen the day before but it was about 2 am and there was a sizable crowd outside, which seemed to indicate it was closing down. Some of the windows were shut up but there were still quite a few people sitting at the tables outside chatting. I decided to just go down the beach were there were tons of little circles of friends of all ages sitting around bon fires and lighting off fireworks. I wish I had had a camera, but it probably wouldn't have gotten a good picture and I would have been super tourist. All the way down the beach there were fireworks going off and people running around and playing and talking. I made a slow circle through the crowd and headed back up the beach to go back to the beach I knew better.
I tossed firecrackers all the way back and listened to the now Spanish music coming from the yacht club. When I got back to the bar I ordered another beer from a lady who has started to recognize me as the lonely foreigner who orders alot of beers. She handed me a beer in a can and I think she asked if I would rather a cup. I told her that was fine but decided to try to ask how to say "can" instead of cup. My fumbled question resulted in her handing me a cup. I think she realized that wasn't what I was after and she looked at me questioningly. I tried the guessing game approach and said, "no un vaso (holding up the cup) pero un....?" (tapping on the can). Well her guess was "cervesa?" and I started feel like I was wasting her time so I kinda gave up and started to move on when she said "in English?". The sudden change of language threw me and I hesitated, and the guy next to me who had been listing to the struggling question shook his head and said in perfect English, "what do you want to say?" I asked in English and he told me and I repeated it and he shook his head and I thanked him. All that work and now I can't even remember the word.
I headed down the beach toward the water feeling a little silly at having struggled with the question when everyone there seemed to speak perfect English. I sat down in the sand by the water and sipped my beer and threw firecrackers into the water. I sat there for a long time, just playing and people watching and looking out over the water. This place is really nice and it's only going to get better as my Spanish improves and I get a solid base of friends so I don't have to keep being the lone beach bum. In any case I finish my beer and head back to the apt around 3 am.
I get there and I'm not feeling very tired after my nap earlier today so I spend some time bumming around on my computer and watching "Walk the Line" on satellite. Well it was around 8 or 9 back home and there were a fair number of people to talk to so I caught up a little with a few people which stretched into waaaaay too much computer time and next thing I know it looks like the sun is coming up and its about 5:30 in the morning. So I go to bed and don't wake up till 1 pm today (so much for getting on the time schedule for work). I laid down on the couch and read a little bit, but I'm getting a little concerned...I'm almost done with my book and I didn't bring another....what will I do?!...I'm sure I'll figure it out. Well its almost 3 now and I had expected to start seeing some roommates soon but maybe I'll just grab my book and head back down to the beach and hang out for awhile.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Total...system...failure
So I ran out around 11:15 to grab some dinner before heading out for the night. The streets are insane, its like a festive little war zone. fireworks sprout up from all over the town and rain down light. Kids on every corner through tiny bombs into the street. I guess I got a little mesmerized by the whole thing because before I knew it...I was lost. And not the fun kinda, "oh well that was the wrong street I better head over one." The kind of "where the hell did all these wierd streets come from and which way is the beach so I can get my barrings. After alot of wandering around in my new sandals (that rub my feet and started hurting). I managed to find my way back to the apt, 45 minutes later and still no dinner. So I headed upstairs to cook up some pasta I had seen earlier and get my painful sandals off. However, when I went to reach for my shoe I realized there was blood all over my foot....awesome.
It actually wasn't that bad but my sandal had rubbed the little blood all over my foot. So I cleaned that up and searched for bandaids...which don't seem to exist in Spain or at least this apt. So I got some neosporine from my bag, a napkin, and some tape and made my own. (very MacGyver). The pasta search turned up some cartoon character pasta and little else but I cooked it up, put the best cherry tomatoes I could find in there, and poured a little olive oil on top...TA DA!... dinner.
So now its almost 1 am and no sign of James so I'm thinkin about heading down to the beach by myself. If nothing else I can probably find a beer down there.
It actually wasn't that bad but my sandal had rubbed the little blood all over my foot. So I cleaned that up and searched for bandaids...which don't seem to exist in Spain or at least this apt. So I got some neosporine from my bag, a napkin, and some tape and made my own. (very MacGyver). The pasta search turned up some cartoon character pasta and little else but I cooked it up, put the best cherry tomatoes I could find in there, and poured a little olive oil on top...TA DA!... dinner.
So now its almost 1 am and no sign of James so I'm thinkin about heading down to the beach by myself. If nothing else I can probably find a beer down there.
attempt at quick
Ok, here goes, I'm going to try to do a day in less than a page aaaaaand.....GO!
I woke up too early today after a long night and tried to go back to sleep. I new James was coming back to the apt around noon so I eventually got up and read a bit till he made it home. We hung out and talked and I told him about my evening, to which he was a little surprised at my walkabout skills. He gives me a present that takes me a second to identify: 100 "black cat" style fireworks which I smile about....if he only knew what a pyro I am. He is exhausted from working all morning but offers to play tour guide and we head to the beach carrying a huge kite that if there is enough wind will pick a person up and throw them around the beach= fun. It takes us about 15 mins to get to this different part of the beach but its worth it, alot more people, big open beach, cool little restaurant. (and yes Steve topless chicas, and no I didn't take a picture). He buys me a water (such a nice guy that James) and we hang out under the sun and chat about nothing. After awhile he is falling asleep so I suggest we head back so he can get his stuff done. On the way home he throws around his own "black cats" in the street just for something to do.
He takes off for the day and apologizes for leaving me but explains he has plans, but says if I'm around they are probably going to head to the beach between midnight and 1 and he'll stop in and see if i want to go. As soon as he leaves I check out some of the firework stuff he left me and promptly tape a few "black cats" to a small bottle rocket to see if I can get them all to pop once the thing has launched. Mallory and mom call on skype so I talk to them for a bit, mom sounds so excited to talk to me and its good to hear her voice. I get back on the line with Mallory and spend a good 30 mins trying to set up my webcam so she can watch me set off this firework I put together. Unfortunately it is too bright outside for the thing to work so I just give her a play by play as I do it. As I had feared one of the black cats went off too early, leaving the bottle rocket very unbalanced when it went off. The damn thing made a sharp arch to the floor of the balcony and poped....fallowed by the last black cat going. I'm sure Mallory enjoyed me screaming as the whole thing crashed and burned before my eyes but it was fun. Then I gave her a video tour of the apt and we said our goodbye.
I just got up from a much needed nap and have been at the computer for way to long. The nap was interrupted by screaming children and the odd, once a minute explosion of a firework. At this point the once a minute is more like a constant assault of pops and whistles but its festive. At 10:43 I think it may just be time to get up and take a shower and find some food before I venture out to explore and hopefully meet up with James to go to the beach for what is supposed to be a party that goes till the sun comes up.
So how'd I do? Shorter? better? who knows, I'm in a hurry and tired of typing....
Buenos Noches!
I woke up too early today after a long night and tried to go back to sleep. I new James was coming back to the apt around noon so I eventually got up and read a bit till he made it home. We hung out and talked and I told him about my evening, to which he was a little surprised at my walkabout skills. He gives me a present that takes me a second to identify: 100 "black cat" style fireworks which I smile about....if he only knew what a pyro I am. He is exhausted from working all morning but offers to play tour guide and we head to the beach carrying a huge kite that if there is enough wind will pick a person up and throw them around the beach= fun. It takes us about 15 mins to get to this different part of the beach but its worth it, alot more people, big open beach, cool little restaurant. (and yes Steve topless chicas, and no I didn't take a picture). He buys me a water (such a nice guy that James) and we hang out under the sun and chat about nothing. After awhile he is falling asleep so I suggest we head back so he can get his stuff done. On the way home he throws around his own "black cats" in the street just for something to do.
He takes off for the day and apologizes for leaving me but explains he has plans, but says if I'm around they are probably going to head to the beach between midnight and 1 and he'll stop in and see if i want to go. As soon as he leaves I check out some of the firework stuff he left me and promptly tape a few "black cats" to a small bottle rocket to see if I can get them all to pop once the thing has launched. Mallory and mom call on skype so I talk to them for a bit, mom sounds so excited to talk to me and its good to hear her voice. I get back on the line with Mallory and spend a good 30 mins trying to set up my webcam so she can watch me set off this firework I put together. Unfortunately it is too bright outside for the thing to work so I just give her a play by play as I do it. As I had feared one of the black cats went off too early, leaving the bottle rocket very unbalanced when it went off. The damn thing made a sharp arch to the floor of the balcony and poped....fallowed by the last black cat going. I'm sure Mallory enjoyed me screaming as the whole thing crashed and burned before my eyes but it was fun. Then I gave her a video tour of the apt and we said our goodbye.
I just got up from a much needed nap and have been at the computer for way to long. The nap was interrupted by screaming children and the odd, once a minute explosion of a firework. At this point the once a minute is more like a constant assault of pops and whistles but its festive. At 10:43 I think it may just be time to get up and take a shower and find some food before I venture out to explore and hopefully meet up with James to go to the beach for what is supposed to be a party that goes till the sun comes up.
So how'd I do? Shorter? better? who knows, I'm in a hurry and tired of typing....
Buenos Noches!
Walkabouts
Yesterday was my first solo mission into the evening world around here. With 3 of my roommates packing up to drive to Spain, 1 I have yet to meet, and 1 staying with his girlfriend, I was home alone for the evening which turns out to be quite motivational. Motivation being either A) buck up and try out some Spanish, or B) starve to death. I was close to "B" but decided to try out "A" so I showered up and hit the streets around 10:30 pm which isn't as late as it sounds really, their are still families walking around and going to dinner with their kids.
I remembered where the main road for shops and stuff is so I figured there could be some food around there. I also started thinking how I should try to find a public phone and call James to see if he is doing anything tonight so I don't have to be a complete bum all night, but food is first on the to do list. One of the first bar-restaurants I pass has a menu posted so I figure at least I can point to something to order if need be so I head over there going over some key terms in Spanish in my head. As soon as I get to the door the waiter comes and rattles off some Spanish that catches me off guard and I don't really understand...I'm sure its something like "how can I help you"...so I stumble to awkwardly say how bad my Spanish is (as if he couldn't tell) and he promptly hands me a menu and walks off to take care of more articulate customers. I looked over the tapas thinking maybe I could just point at some stuff but nothing really looked that great or a sufficient dinner for how hungry I am so I look over the menu. Unfortunately for me the menu is in Catalan which means instead of only being able to read about half the words, I can only guess at about 5 of them. However, I pick up on a section that is something like "platos combinats" and I see small lists of food alongside numbers. Numbers! perfect, so I wait for the waiter to come back over and while pointing at the menu I say "numero dos?", which he promptly responds with "bueno", and I quickly scoot down the bar a step to point to a beer tap with "estrella" and ask "puedo tener una cervesa tambien" (can I have a beer also?) to which he enthusiastically responds " Siiiiiiiiiii si si si" and pours me one.
I ask if I can eat at the bar and take a seat with a renewed confidence from the positive response from the use of my Spanish and my ability to feed myself. I watch a basketball game and sip my beer and wonder what the hell I just ordered. A younger waiter, who I suspect is the son of the first, come by and brings a paper placement and some silverware and then a small basket of bread (a promising start) and a little holder thing that has salt, pepper, olive oil and i think vinegar. I try not to wolf down the bread considering how hungry I am so I make a conscious effort to put the pieces down between bites while I sip my beer and go back to watching the game. Despite this all but one piece is gone in the few minutes it takes for my plate to come out. I am pleasantly surprised with what I ordered, a thin beefsteak, with roasted green peppers and a tomato cut in half and roasted, with a side of french fries. Everything was great, the roasted green pepper especially and I ordered another beer to go with my meal.
It's amazing what two beers and a full stomach will do for your attitude and your Spanish. By the end of the meal I was pumped for the evening and after paying (with a larger bill than needed cause I can't understand when he tells me the price) I ask the waiter if their is a public phone around and he indicates the next street over. So I thank him and head off and quickly find the internet/phone place. Trying to figure out this phone deal is about as traumatic as finding food cause its not like a pay phone, its a bunch of booths and people sitting at computers. So I just hop in a phone booth and close the door, confident I will be able to figure it out from the privacy of the booth. Well there are no instructions or anything, just a little screen on the wall that tells what numbers you type in, but i think that maybe it will print out a receipt or something after the call so I just dial James and see what happens. I think it's ringing but it kinda sounds like the busy signal back home so I'm not sure. I let it go till it stops and don't get a message or anything so I hang up and head out feeling like it's not worth it to try to talk to someone there and figure it out.
It's a pretty nice walk home and for almost midnight their are alot of people wandering around and talking and stuff and I'm energized by the sporadic fireworks that keep going off from around the town. Once home, I grab a beer out of the fridge (I owe these guys a case of Heineken) and go check on my computer. I realize I can use my computer to call James and get excited about the idea and about half an hr later and 10 euros down the drain I get ahold of him. Unfortunately he has work in the morning and is going to bed soon but assures me we'll go do something the next day and wishes me a relaxing evening. Nice guy that James but at this point I am tired of bumming around the apt so I figure I'll just go walkabout and see what I can find. I head over to that coffee shop I gone crazy outside of (not sure why i returned to the scene of the crime) and the crowd was almost gone. But I got a beer and sat outside just people watching and then moved in to try to talk to the bar tenders or at least watch the Spanish MTV. I get a few sentences off but I wouldn't call it a conversation so I decide to head down to the beach to see if there is anything going on there. It only takes about 5 mins to get there and I stay on the main streets to be safe.
The beach is pretty quiet but there are a few circles of teenagers around the beach and a few fishermen with ten foot poles buried in the sand. I make my way over to the bar on the beach and have a beer in a plastic chair while looking out at the Mediterranean under the stars. Its a really nice night and after my beer I go for a short walk down the beach to see what people are up to. I contemplate trying to strike up a conversation with some of the younger kids but I'm pretty content and don't wanna be the creepy American wandering up, at least not on my first weekend. I do, however, manage to ask a fisherman how the fishing is going and get a short "no bueno" which i take to mean he doesn't want to talk about it, so i wish him luck and head back down the beach. After one last beer at the bar I decide to head home and get some sleep. The evening turned out better than I could have hoped for and I think I'll be able to get used to this beach schedule and lay back atmosphere.
I remembered where the main road for shops and stuff is so I figured there could be some food around there. I also started thinking how I should try to find a public phone and call James to see if he is doing anything tonight so I don't have to be a complete bum all night, but food is first on the to do list. One of the first bar-restaurants I pass has a menu posted so I figure at least I can point to something to order if need be so I head over there going over some key terms in Spanish in my head. As soon as I get to the door the waiter comes and rattles off some Spanish that catches me off guard and I don't really understand...I'm sure its something like "how can I help you"...so I stumble to awkwardly say how bad my Spanish is (as if he couldn't tell) and he promptly hands me a menu and walks off to take care of more articulate customers. I looked over the tapas thinking maybe I could just point at some stuff but nothing really looked that great or a sufficient dinner for how hungry I am so I look over the menu. Unfortunately for me the menu is in Catalan which means instead of only being able to read about half the words, I can only guess at about 5 of them. However, I pick up on a section that is something like "platos combinats" and I see small lists of food alongside numbers. Numbers! perfect, so I wait for the waiter to come back over and while pointing at the menu I say "numero dos?", which he promptly responds with "bueno", and I quickly scoot down the bar a step to point to a beer tap with "estrella" and ask "puedo tener una cervesa tambien" (can I have a beer also?) to which he enthusiastically responds " Siiiiiiiiiii si si si" and pours me one.
I ask if I can eat at the bar and take a seat with a renewed confidence from the positive response from the use of my Spanish and my ability to feed myself. I watch a basketball game and sip my beer and wonder what the hell I just ordered. A younger waiter, who I suspect is the son of the first, come by and brings a paper placement and some silverware and then a small basket of bread (a promising start) and a little holder thing that has salt, pepper, olive oil and i think vinegar. I try not to wolf down the bread considering how hungry I am so I make a conscious effort to put the pieces down between bites while I sip my beer and go back to watching the game. Despite this all but one piece is gone in the few minutes it takes for my plate to come out. I am pleasantly surprised with what I ordered, a thin beefsteak, with roasted green peppers and a tomato cut in half and roasted, with a side of french fries. Everything was great, the roasted green pepper especially and I ordered another beer to go with my meal.
It's amazing what two beers and a full stomach will do for your attitude and your Spanish. By the end of the meal I was pumped for the evening and after paying (with a larger bill than needed cause I can't understand when he tells me the price) I ask the waiter if their is a public phone around and he indicates the next street over. So I thank him and head off and quickly find the internet/phone place. Trying to figure out this phone deal is about as traumatic as finding food cause its not like a pay phone, its a bunch of booths and people sitting at computers. So I just hop in a phone booth and close the door, confident I will be able to figure it out from the privacy of the booth. Well there are no instructions or anything, just a little screen on the wall that tells what numbers you type in, but i think that maybe it will print out a receipt or something after the call so I just dial James and see what happens. I think it's ringing but it kinda sounds like the busy signal back home so I'm not sure. I let it go till it stops and don't get a message or anything so I hang up and head out feeling like it's not worth it to try to talk to someone there and figure it out.
It's a pretty nice walk home and for almost midnight their are alot of people wandering around and talking and stuff and I'm energized by the sporadic fireworks that keep going off from around the town. Once home, I grab a beer out of the fridge (I owe these guys a case of Heineken) and go check on my computer. I realize I can use my computer to call James and get excited about the idea and about half an hr later and 10 euros down the drain I get ahold of him. Unfortunately he has work in the morning and is going to bed soon but assures me we'll go do something the next day and wishes me a relaxing evening. Nice guy that James but at this point I am tired of bumming around the apt so I figure I'll just go walkabout and see what I can find. I head over to that coffee shop I gone crazy outside of (not sure why i returned to the scene of the crime) and the crowd was almost gone. But I got a beer and sat outside just people watching and then moved in to try to talk to the bar tenders or at least watch the Spanish MTV. I get a few sentences off but I wouldn't call it a conversation so I decide to head down to the beach to see if there is anything going on there. It only takes about 5 mins to get there and I stay on the main streets to be safe.
The beach is pretty quiet but there are a few circles of teenagers around the beach and a few fishermen with ten foot poles buried in the sand. I make my way over to the bar on the beach and have a beer in a plastic chair while looking out at the Mediterranean under the stars. Its a really nice night and after my beer I go for a short walk down the beach to see what people are up to. I contemplate trying to strike up a conversation with some of the younger kids but I'm pretty content and don't wanna be the creepy American wandering up, at least not on my first weekend. I do, however, manage to ask a fisherman how the fishing is going and get a short "no bueno" which i take to mean he doesn't want to talk about it, so i wish him luck and head back down the beach. After one last beer at the bar I decide to head home and get some sleep. The evening turned out better than I could have hoped for and I think I'll be able to get used to this beach schedule and lay back atmosphere.
Friday, June 22, 2007
la playa!
Made it to the beach! so maybe it wasn't to party, or swim, or basically any reason other than see if I could make it there without getting lost but I did it. And I don't know why I thought that those stairs would lead to some underground laberinth. They are each conected to exactly one very short tunnel to the other side of the street and the beach! So that was a successful trip, I may even do it again sometime.
adios
adios
Quick update
NEW INFO!
So it turns out Sebastian's name is actually Bastien....i guess there are alot of "S's" floating around this language and I heard a name I recognized. Bastien and Camille (hope that's her name) just came back on their way out to France so I did my best to make some conversation. I get the feeling Bastien is trying to work on English as much as I am working on Spanish so we talked to each other in our respective broken speech, but that's kinda fun, it's hard to feel embarrassed when the person your talking to is having the same troubles. However, even he is a little better at English than I am at Spanish, but hopefully that will change.
They were also nice enough to find me a Barcelona map and a guild book called "Barcelona in your pocket" which could be helpful. I'm debating on just heading out to the train and going but I kinda want to just wait for tomorrow where I'll have more time and not risk things closing down on me. They were really nice and showed a bit of concern for leaving me here by my lonesome, but it was good to talk to Bastien, last night I think we were both tired and both came off kind of disinterested, but as they left they even said "ciao amigo"...awwwww, what a nice little moment we had just there.
Unfortunately with them leaving and James staying at his girlfriend's I may be home alot for the weekend. But Bastien wrote down all their phones (how I figured out how to spell his name, but he didn't give Camille's) so maybe I'll find a pay phone or something and call James to see what his plans are for the evening. It turns out what I thought was a phone is actually just to talk to and buzz people into the building. I asked Bastien about it and he said "oh no, this not phone" then he picked it up and acted like he was drying his hair with it and laughed, and then explained what it is for. So now I am home alone again, I should really enjoy this downtime, cause come Monday, its work time and I have a feeling I'll be very tired.
Busy days will probably lead to fewer and shorter posts...don't know if that's good or bad, you be the judge
So it turns out Sebastian's name is actually Bastien....i guess there are alot of "S's" floating around this language and I heard a name I recognized. Bastien and Camille (hope that's her name) just came back on their way out to France so I did my best to make some conversation. I get the feeling Bastien is trying to work on English as much as I am working on Spanish so we talked to each other in our respective broken speech, but that's kinda fun, it's hard to feel embarrassed when the person your talking to is having the same troubles. However, even he is a little better at English than I am at Spanish, but hopefully that will change.
They were also nice enough to find me a Barcelona map and a guild book called "Barcelona in your pocket" which could be helpful. I'm debating on just heading out to the train and going but I kinda want to just wait for tomorrow where I'll have more time and not risk things closing down on me. They were really nice and showed a bit of concern for leaving me here by my lonesome, but it was good to talk to Bastien, last night I think we were both tired and both came off kind of disinterested, but as they left they even said "ciao amigo"...awwwww, what a nice little moment we had just there.
Unfortunately with them leaving and James staying at his girlfriend's I may be home alot for the weekend. But Bastien wrote down all their phones (how I figured out how to spell his name, but he didn't give Camille's) so maybe I'll find a pay phone or something and call James to see what his plans are for the evening. It turns out what I thought was a phone is actually just to talk to and buzz people into the building. I asked Bastien about it and he said "oh no, this not phone" then he picked it up and acted like he was drying his hair with it and laughed, and then explained what it is for. So now I am home alone again, I should really enjoy this downtime, cause come Monday, its work time and I have a feeling I'll be very tired.
Busy days will probably lead to fewer and shorter posts...don't know if that's good or bad, you be the judge
Another day, another obnoxiously long post
Hola amigos y familia!
So after my post yesterday I took a much needed hr nap and with a little renewed energy I hit the streets to explore. I figured heading to the beach wouldn't be too hard because you can just see the water from our flat so I at least knew what direction to go. I made it down there in about ten mins but had to take a few turns to get there, always noting the street names as I did. However when I finally made it it turns out the train and major street run along the beach so you can't just walk onto it. So I walked down the sidewalk across the street looking for a way to the beach and noticed stairs going down into the street every other block and figured they led under the street but couldn't see the other side where they might come out. I refrained from going underground figuring if I'm going to get lost I'd rather do it above ground where I can at least see the sun and the beach.
So I started heading back and soon realized street signs are more a convenience than a rule and I ended up turning a street too early and got a little lost. But I knew what direction I was going so I wandered the streets till I saw the bakery I had bought a sandwich from the day before and was home. I figure if i just get lost a few more times i will have seen the whole town :)
When I got back one of my roommates I had met from the loft was here so we talked and had a beer for a bit. James is from England and despite being a twenty something with a few tattoos and a beach-goer style he is still in a way, what Mr. Tio describes as, an "English Gentleman." He's very hospitable and, because he is staying with his girlfriend, let my take his be for the night. He also showed me around the apartment, talked about the city, and drew me up a detailed map and instructions on how to get to the train station and take it to Barcelona. He also shows me the little "Garden" he is working on that consists of some very small but fruitful tomatoes and some failing strawberry plants.l Then he packed up and headed to meet up with his girlfriend and I was left to hang around the apt for awhile till the others got back from work.
The first back was.... Camille (no idea how to spell that), who is from France and apparently dresses very French according to Toni, but I can't tell the difference, it's all clothes to me. Her English is only slightly better than my Spanish, but after living here her Spanish is good. So we talked as best we could in broken English and Spanish for awhile until around 8 when she started making dinner. I told her I was going to run to the store to grab some food and she rattled off a lot of Spanish I didn't quite catch but the gist of it was that they all share food and were probably going to the store the next day, so I told her I would just get enough for me tonight. I headed over to the store which was closing as I walked up, a fact I'm pretty sure Camille had told me in Spanish but I had missed. So I walked back and asked her if I could share some of what she was making and she rattled off some more Spanish but the idea was that is what they always do and I was more than welcome to have some.
While she was cooking Adrian finally made it home from work....I don't think I have mentioned Adrian yet, but I had talked to him for a while over lunch. He is also from France and speaks pretty good English and Spanish. I said hey, but was working on setting up my external hard drive so I went back to James' room to work on it while he and Camille talked an laughed in French. Yes, you can laugh in French, it's a little more nasal. Once I got the computer set up I went to the kitchen and basically listened to them finish up a conversation in French and then I asked some question in bad Spanish and so we all talked in Spanish for awhile...I know enough to respond to simple questions and make simple comments and requests but I wouldn't say I held up my end of the conversation but at least I was there.
Camille served us all dinner which was a very good chicken and rice. We ate dinner around the table which is about a foot from the TV and watched Studio 60 in English with Spanish subtitles. Conversation dried up as the show went on but it was nice to just sit and have a good dinner and relax. After dinner I picked up the table and did the dishes as a way to kind of contribute to the dinner I had had no part in buying or making and the French folk went outside to smoke. I ended up just sitting on the couch and watching another episode of Studio 60 while they hung out and smoked, I could have easily gone and hung out with them, but I was exhausted and didn't want to interrupt their French conversation by trying to speak Spanish or anything else.
I was crashing on the couch when Sebastian came home from some trip. I got up and we introduced ourselves. I'm pretty sure he doesn't speak much English and he recognized immediately that I didn't speak much Spanish but we said "hi, nice to meet you" in English and Spanish and he went out to smoke with the Adrian and Camille. I finished up the show and said "buenos noches" and headed to bed around 11:30.
....this is going to be a long one, I'm trying to be thorough so prepare yourself for another day of description....
This morning, because I didn't have work and was planning on heading to Barcelona by myself, I did my normal summer/weekend morning routine and woke up and a decent hour around 8 and went back to sleep to a ridiculous hour of about noon. I had just gotten up to brush my teeth, and heard, "Barrett?" with a think Spanish accent. It was Joan, one of my bosses from the loft, asking if I wanted to go to the loft and meet some more people and talk to Toni for a bit. I figured that meant that Toni wanted to talk to me so I said "of course" and brushed my teeth and we headed out.
When we got there Toni was on the phone, so Joan took me around and introduced me to all the non-English speakers that Toni had not introduced me to the day before. I stood there quietly nodding and laughing when they laughed trying to act like I could fallow the description of why I was there and who I was. There was a lot of people to meet and I don't remember any of their names but Joan explained to me kinda what they all do so I have a better feel for how the loft works, or at least how it is organized. Its increasingly impressive how easily everyone here transitions between languages so effortlessly. In the loft, everyone can speak Castillian (Spanish), more or less, but Joan also told me that the locals, like him and Toni, still speak Catalan to each other and that their are actually 5 languages in Spain but Castillian, pushed by Madrid, is more or less taking over, but Catalan (he puts up his fists) is stil fighting back. Also in the loft, depending on who is talking, you will hear French, Portuguese, and English floating around. We made our way back to Toni and he asked if I would like to go get lunch with him.
Toni, in many ways, reminds me of my dad. His role at the loft if very similar in that they spend a lot of time on the phone and with clients as well as general stuff around the loft. He is also is very much a conversationalist, a social entertainer. On the car ride talks about the loft and about the local town, and how he was born just a few kilometers up the coast. He takes me to a restaurant on a hill that overlooks the whole town and has a great view of the coast. The place used to be, and sort of still is, a church that was built in...I think he said the 13th...maybe 14th century. He took me in where their are still pews and everything still there. The church honored the virgin someone who I can't remember now, but she was said to look over those on ships making journeys to and from Cuba. There are painting hung around of ships in storms and they have some behind a bared door with things hung by locals to bring good luck with loved ones. Toni threw me off guard at one point by asking what my religion I am, I only felt a bit off because I'm not really anything. But I told him my dad's family is very Catholic but now we aren't really very religious. He reassured me that he is the same way and we moved on.After showing me around this part of the church we go back outside and around the corner in the same building is the restaurant.
The restaurant is outside seating and it is obvious Toni knows the family working here as he pops his head in to say hola to everyone. He asks if I would like to sit in the sun or shade (he actually says "shadow," one of many translation anomalies that make me smile) of which I have no real opinion so we find a table that has both so he can sit in the shade and me in the sun. It is a beautiful day and I enjoy the warm sun and cool breeze and I look out over the town and sea. We talk a little about everything, people at the loft, work, me, the town. We talk a lot about how Toni thinks it is very important to spend time in other countries to really get a sense of the world and other cultures, something I very much agree on. We don't really look at them menu, Toni just asks if I like lamb or veal and when I ask which he prefers here, he orders both. He asks if I would like some wine or a beer but as I have only been awake about half an hour I ask for just water, but when the wine comes he pours me some as he explains how he "loves to have wine with lunch, especially on Friday." We eat some cooked vegetables and I mention I like the roasted bell peppers and he insists I have both, a very "Toni-esk" thing. We also have an interesting cod fish salad that is a little bland, but very light and tasty. The veal and lamb are delicious and simple. By the end of the meal I am very content and relaxed from the wine and we both pass on dessert but Toni says he will have some "cafe" and I tell him I will have some with him. He explains that it is actually espresso and if I would like coffee it is "cafe americano." I tell him espresso is perfect and we enjoy or little espressos and look out over the town (I feel so European). As Toni pays for his meal I reach for my wallet but Toni insists, as he has told me about 6 times in 2 days, that "I am his guest." I thank him many times but we are cut short when his receiptblows away and we hop up to find it and head to the car and back to the loft.
Toni realizes he has a meeting and offers to take me back to the flat if I want to go. I tell him I can stay at the loft and don't want to make him late, but as I do he pats at his pockets and looks concerned. It turns out when hes receipt blew away he had left his phone at the restaurant which is near the flat so he takes me back after retrieving his phone from the restaurant.
And so here I sit in James' room typing away from waaaay to long with Spanish music drifting in through the window with the breeze. I hear the occasional firework (a black cat just went off as I typed that) which Toni explained was kids playing and will lead up until the Celebration tonight where people build bonfires on the beach and you hear fireworks going off all night. He also told me to watch out because the kids think its hilarious to throw them between the legs of strangers as they walk down the street, which I am pretty sure happened to someone near me yesterday and it scared the crap out of me. But I'm excited about tonight, hopefully I can get some people motivated to go down to the beach and hang out. I think Adrain and Camille are driving to France but I believe James will be here. I hope so, I'd be nice to have someone to hang out with for the weekend.
Well I feel I am wasting the day so maybe I'll go explore again. If anyone is actually reading all this non-sense feel free to leave comment if there is anything else you would like to know about or whatnot. Hopefully today and tomorrow I'll take some pictures and figure out how to post them by Sunday. Until then,
Abrazos
So after my post yesterday I took a much needed hr nap and with a little renewed energy I hit the streets to explore. I figured heading to the beach wouldn't be too hard because you can just see the water from our flat so I at least knew what direction to go. I made it down there in about ten mins but had to take a few turns to get there, always noting the street names as I did. However when I finally made it it turns out the train and major street run along the beach so you can't just walk onto it. So I walked down the sidewalk across the street looking for a way to the beach and noticed stairs going down into the street every other block and figured they led under the street but couldn't see the other side where they might come out. I refrained from going underground figuring if I'm going to get lost I'd rather do it above ground where I can at least see the sun and the beach.
So I started heading back and soon realized street signs are more a convenience than a rule and I ended up turning a street too early and got a little lost. But I knew what direction I was going so I wandered the streets till I saw the bakery I had bought a sandwich from the day before and was home. I figure if i just get lost a few more times i will have seen the whole town :)
When I got back one of my roommates I had met from the loft was here so we talked and had a beer for a bit. James is from England and despite being a twenty something with a few tattoos and a beach-goer style he is still in a way, what Mr. Tio describes as, an "English Gentleman." He's very hospitable and, because he is staying with his girlfriend, let my take his be for the night. He also showed me around the apartment, talked about the city, and drew me up a detailed map and instructions on how to get to the train station and take it to Barcelona. He also shows me the little "Garden" he is working on that consists of some very small but fruitful tomatoes and some failing strawberry plants.l Then he packed up and headed to meet up with his girlfriend and I was left to hang around the apt for awhile till the others got back from work.
The first back was.... Camille (no idea how to spell that), who is from France and apparently dresses very French according to Toni, but I can't tell the difference, it's all clothes to me. Her English is only slightly better than my Spanish, but after living here her Spanish is good. So we talked as best we could in broken English and Spanish for awhile until around 8 when she started making dinner. I told her I was going to run to the store to grab some food and she rattled off a lot of Spanish I didn't quite catch but the gist of it was that they all share food and were probably going to the store the next day, so I told her I would just get enough for me tonight. I headed over to the store which was closing as I walked up, a fact I'm pretty sure Camille had told me in Spanish but I had missed. So I walked back and asked her if I could share some of what she was making and she rattled off some more Spanish but the idea was that is what they always do and I was more than welcome to have some.
While she was cooking Adrian finally made it home from work....I don't think I have mentioned Adrian yet, but I had talked to him for a while over lunch. He is also from France and speaks pretty good English and Spanish. I said hey, but was working on setting up my external hard drive so I went back to James' room to work on it while he and Camille talked an laughed in French. Yes, you can laugh in French, it's a little more nasal. Once I got the computer set up I went to the kitchen and basically listened to them finish up a conversation in French and then I asked some question in bad Spanish and so we all talked in Spanish for awhile...I know enough to respond to simple questions and make simple comments and requests but I wouldn't say I held up my end of the conversation but at least I was there.
Camille served us all dinner which was a very good chicken and rice. We ate dinner around the table which is about a foot from the TV and watched Studio 60 in English with Spanish subtitles. Conversation dried up as the show went on but it was nice to just sit and have a good dinner and relax. After dinner I picked up the table and did the dishes as a way to kind of contribute to the dinner I had had no part in buying or making and the French folk went outside to smoke. I ended up just sitting on the couch and watching another episode of Studio 60 while they hung out and smoked, I could have easily gone and hung out with them, but I was exhausted and didn't want to interrupt their French conversation by trying to speak Spanish or anything else.
I was crashing on the couch when Sebastian came home from some trip. I got up and we introduced ourselves. I'm pretty sure he doesn't speak much English and he recognized immediately that I didn't speak much Spanish but we said "hi, nice to meet you" in English and Spanish and he went out to smoke with the Adrian and Camille. I finished up the show and said "buenos noches" and headed to bed around 11:30.
....this is going to be a long one, I'm trying to be thorough so prepare yourself for another day of description....
This morning, because I didn't have work and was planning on heading to Barcelona by myself, I did my normal summer/weekend morning routine and woke up and a decent hour around 8 and went back to sleep to a ridiculous hour of about noon. I had just gotten up to brush my teeth, and heard, "Barrett?" with a think Spanish accent. It was Joan, one of my bosses from the loft, asking if I wanted to go to the loft and meet some more people and talk to Toni for a bit. I figured that meant that Toni wanted to talk to me so I said "of course" and brushed my teeth and we headed out.
When we got there Toni was on the phone, so Joan took me around and introduced me to all the non-English speakers that Toni had not introduced me to the day before. I stood there quietly nodding and laughing when they laughed trying to act like I could fallow the description of why I was there and who I was. There was a lot of people to meet and I don't remember any of their names but Joan explained to me kinda what they all do so I have a better feel for how the loft works, or at least how it is organized. Its increasingly impressive how easily everyone here transitions between languages so effortlessly. In the loft, everyone can speak Castillian (Spanish), more or less, but Joan also told me that the locals, like him and Toni, still speak Catalan to each other and that their are actually 5 languages in Spain but Castillian, pushed by Madrid, is more or less taking over, but Catalan (he puts up his fists) is stil fighting back. Also in the loft, depending on who is talking, you will hear French, Portuguese, and English floating around. We made our way back to Toni and he asked if I would like to go get lunch with him.
Toni, in many ways, reminds me of my dad. His role at the loft if very similar in that they spend a lot of time on the phone and with clients as well as general stuff around the loft. He is also is very much a conversationalist, a social entertainer. On the car ride talks about the loft and about the local town, and how he was born just a few kilometers up the coast. He takes me to a restaurant on a hill that overlooks the whole town and has a great view of the coast. The place used to be, and sort of still is, a church that was built in...I think he said the 13th...maybe 14th century. He took me in where their are still pews and everything still there. The church honored the virgin someone who I can't remember now, but she was said to look over those on ships making journeys to and from Cuba. There are painting hung around of ships in storms and they have some behind a bared door with things hung by locals to bring good luck with loved ones. Toni threw me off guard at one point by asking what my religion I am, I only felt a bit off because I'm not really anything. But I told him my dad's family is very Catholic but now we aren't really very religious. He reassured me that he is the same way and we moved on.After showing me around this part of the church we go back outside and around the corner in the same building is the restaurant.
The restaurant is outside seating and it is obvious Toni knows the family working here as he pops his head in to say hola to everyone. He asks if I would like to sit in the sun or shade (he actually says "shadow," one of many translation anomalies that make me smile) of which I have no real opinion so we find a table that has both so he can sit in the shade and me in the sun. It is a beautiful day and I enjoy the warm sun and cool breeze and I look out over the town and sea. We talk a little about everything, people at the loft, work, me, the town. We talk a lot about how Toni thinks it is very important to spend time in other countries to really get a sense of the world and other cultures, something I very much agree on. We don't really look at them menu, Toni just asks if I like lamb or veal and when I ask which he prefers here, he orders both. He asks if I would like some wine or a beer but as I have only been awake about half an hour I ask for just water, but when the wine comes he pours me some as he explains how he "loves to have wine with lunch, especially on Friday." We eat some cooked vegetables and I mention I like the roasted bell peppers and he insists I have both, a very "Toni-esk" thing. We also have an interesting cod fish salad that is a little bland, but very light and tasty. The veal and lamb are delicious and simple. By the end of the meal I am very content and relaxed from the wine and we both pass on dessert but Toni says he will have some "cafe" and I tell him I will have some with him. He explains that it is actually espresso and if I would like coffee it is "cafe americano." I tell him espresso is perfect and we enjoy or little espressos and look out over the town (I feel so European). As Toni pays for his meal I reach for my wallet but Toni insists, as he has told me about 6 times in 2 days, that "I am his guest." I thank him many times but we are cut short when his receiptblows away and we hop up to find it and head to the car and back to the loft.
Toni realizes he has a meeting and offers to take me back to the flat if I want to go. I tell him I can stay at the loft and don't want to make him late, but as I do he pats at his pockets and looks concerned. It turns out when hes receipt blew away he had left his phone at the restaurant which is near the flat so he takes me back after retrieving his phone from the restaurant.
And so here I sit in James' room typing away from waaaay to long with Spanish music drifting in through the window with the breeze. I hear the occasional firework (a black cat just went off as I typed that) which Toni explained was kids playing and will lead up until the Celebration tonight where people build bonfires on the beach and you hear fireworks going off all night. He also told me to watch out because the kids think its hilarious to throw them between the legs of strangers as they walk down the street, which I am pretty sure happened to someone near me yesterday and it scared the crap out of me. But I'm excited about tonight, hopefully I can get some people motivated to go down to the beach and hang out. I think Adrain and Camille are driving to France but I believe James will be here. I hope so, I'd be nice to have someone to hang out with for the weekend.
Well I feel I am wasting the day so maybe I'll go explore again. If anyone is actually reading all this non-sense feel free to leave comment if there is anything else you would like to know about or whatnot. Hopefully today and tomorrow I'll take some pictures and figure out how to post them by Sunday. Until then,
Abrazos
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Day 1
So….tired.
I only got about 4 hrs of sleep before my trip cause I stayed up hangin out with Andrew, and its been about 30 hours since then. This actually hasn’t been a problem till just now, but I just stopped being busy and now I’m crashing but its mid afternoon here and I need to stay up to get on track.
The day started early with my flight to Newark at 10:30 and family goodbyes promptly at 7:45. Mom dropped me off after many goodbyes and I was then treated to the first of many long lines that became routine throughout my day but It wasn’t that big of a deal and the flight was great. It was a roomy plane with the personal entertainment things in each seat and it was only about a 3 hour flight which meant 3 episodes of House fallowed by a little chess during landing.
Newark airport consisted of 3 and half hours of pacing and a little reading while I scoped out my would be fellow passengers. I was optimistic because of the high number of young people and I thought there may be some chance I’d get to hang out with someone near my age. And like every flight….this was not the case, however, I did get to sit next to, who the rest of the plane thought, was a rock star…although no one actually recognized him. He was probably 30+ years old with long jet-black hair with a bandana around his forehead. That combined with a arm full of tattoos featuring ozzy osbon and the characters from Midnight Before Christmas. On top of this the torn jeans and wife beater shirt went nicely with the giant silver skull belt buckle and tons of diamond rings and giant diamond watch. Not sure how real the diamonds were but they were convincing enough. I talked to him and the girl he was making out with on the plane and apparently they are “working” on some cruise ship leaving Barcelona for 14 days. They didn’t seem to wanna talk about what exactly “work” was but I get the idea they were indeed a band.
The “rock star” encounter could have been entertaining except for the fact that this airplane was half the size as the last one with 2 rows of 3 seats each and no leg room or fancy entertainment things in each seat. So it was kinda boring but I did watch “the kid” and “the count of Monty Christo” just like everyone else on the plane
After the obnoxiously long passport-stamping line I finally got my bags and met my boss who had been waiting a really long time for me to get out. Mr. Tio seems really nice and showed me around the loft and introduced me to a lot of people, none of which I remembered after. After initial introductions I realized just how busy they are and everyone got back to work and I just kinda bummed around for like 2 hrs till the break and someone could take me to the apt. I started just reading but then felt lazy and lame so I walked around and tried to talk to a few people without getting in their way. And after about an hour of that I was time to check out the apt and drop off my stuff. So I dropped my stuff in the room I feel like I may be stealing from someone else cause Mr. Tio said the guy was on his way out but the people here are acting like he isn’t leaving for weeks, so I’m not sure what all is goin on but I’m sure it’ll get sorted out eventually. Now everyone went back to work and kinda expected me to go with them I think but the guy that dropped me off was acting like he was dropping me off for the day…I dunno, little confused. AND I don’t have my bed stuff cause its all at the loft…don’t think I’ll really need it though as tired as I am. Well that’s where I am now, stealing internet from someone to be a computer dork and hang out alone at the apt.
I’ll try to stay regular with this thing so maybe they wont all be really freaking long but who knows.
I only got about 4 hrs of sleep before my trip cause I stayed up hangin out with Andrew, and its been about 30 hours since then. This actually hasn’t been a problem till just now, but I just stopped being busy and now I’m crashing but its mid afternoon here and I need to stay up to get on track.
The day started early with my flight to Newark at 10:30 and family goodbyes promptly at 7:45. Mom dropped me off after many goodbyes and I was then treated to the first of many long lines that became routine throughout my day but It wasn’t that big of a deal and the flight was great. It was a roomy plane with the personal entertainment things in each seat and it was only about a 3 hour flight which meant 3 episodes of House fallowed by a little chess during landing.
Newark airport consisted of 3 and half hours of pacing and a little reading while I scoped out my would be fellow passengers. I was optimistic because of the high number of young people and I thought there may be some chance I’d get to hang out with someone near my age. And like every flight….this was not the case, however, I did get to sit next to, who the rest of the plane thought, was a rock star…although no one actually recognized him. He was probably 30+ years old with long jet-black hair with a bandana around his forehead. That combined with a arm full of tattoos featuring ozzy osbon and the characters from Midnight Before Christmas. On top of this the torn jeans and wife beater shirt went nicely with the giant silver skull belt buckle and tons of diamond rings and giant diamond watch. Not sure how real the diamonds were but they were convincing enough. I talked to him and the girl he was making out with on the plane and apparently they are “working” on some cruise ship leaving Barcelona for 14 days. They didn’t seem to wanna talk about what exactly “work” was but I get the idea they were indeed a band.
The “rock star” encounter could have been entertaining except for the fact that this airplane was half the size as the last one with 2 rows of 3 seats each and no leg room or fancy entertainment things in each seat. So it was kinda boring but I did watch “the kid” and “the count of Monty Christo” just like everyone else on the plane
After the obnoxiously long passport-stamping line I finally got my bags and met my boss who had been waiting a really long time for me to get out. Mr. Tio seems really nice and showed me around the loft and introduced me to a lot of people, none of which I remembered after. After initial introductions I realized just how busy they are and everyone got back to work and I just kinda bummed around for like 2 hrs till the break and someone could take me to the apt. I started just reading but then felt lazy and lame so I walked around and tried to talk to a few people without getting in their way. And after about an hour of that I was time to check out the apt and drop off my stuff. So I dropped my stuff in the room I feel like I may be stealing from someone else cause Mr. Tio said the guy was on his way out but the people here are acting like he isn’t leaving for weeks, so I’m not sure what all is goin on but I’m sure it’ll get sorted out eventually. Now everyone went back to work and kinda expected me to go with them I think but the guy that dropped me off was acting like he was dropping me off for the day…I dunno, little confused. AND I don’t have my bed stuff cause its all at the loft…don’t think I’ll really need it though as tired as I am. Well that’s where I am now, stealing internet from someone to be a computer dork and hang out alone at the apt.
I’ll try to stay regular with this thing so maybe they wont all be really freaking long but who knows.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Still Doesn't Seem Real
So I thought shipping boxes to Spain would do it, I was sure a going-away-party would, then I thought maybe doing final shopping two days before I leave would drive it home. Some how it still doesn't quite seem real that in two days time I will be on a plane to Barcelona for a year. Maybe creating a blog (something I never thought I would do) to keep in touch with everyone will help.
Less than two days ago I had about 50 relatives and friends at the house celebrating me leaving...which actually is weird if ya really think about it....and I talked more about leaving than anything else and somehow if felt as though I was describing someone else. A few times when people would say they were jealous of my upcoming trip, I would reply "I'm jealous of myself", which I hadn't thought much of but really illustrates how disconnected I still feel from all of this.
Despite that, the party was a blast. I was really pleased with the number of people who were actually willing to drive down from Austin, but really...its the sailing team, they'll drive anywhere for a party, and I love 'em for it. It was great to get a good group of LP high school friends to make it out as well, it's not often we all get together. Although this did lead to a mini reunion of LP folk hiding out in my room for awhile, but there's really nothing wrong with that.
The party transitioned better than I ever could have imagined. It began with all of my friends beginning the party mingling and conversing well with the overwhelming amount of family that had come which is impressive in itself. And even as the early evening got going and the bar was reaching its full potential everyone, including my grandma, called me over to complement me on what A nice group of friends I have.
After stage one was complete and most of the family were making their way home, we ever so subtly (looking at you Malo) got a flip cup/beer pong game goin which started the college portion of the evening in fine form. Which led to hot tubs, keg stands and some great dock diving pictures courtesy of Nicola. It all slowly came to an end with the entire party in the hot tub to the point that me getting consisted of laying out of the water on top of everyone's legs. Everyone had fun, and best of all, no party casualties to clean up after (way to pace yourself Justin). The next morning was highlighted by an alligator attack from Derek, and one last team breakfast at Whataburger and a final set of goodbyes to the best friends I could ever ask for.
Well the time has come for my most dreaded task....Thank You notes.... I'm not sure why I hate them, I am indeed thankful, which is why I said thank you when I received the gifts. And maybe that's the problem, I've only ever been expected to write them after receiving gifts, especially money for graduation. But that seems shallow, and forced (which it kind of is) to only give a note if someone pays you. And furthermore if it's not only for gifts, then I want some thank you notes for sending out thank you notes....which is a vicious cycle that could destroy the fabric of society. But in any case, I'm gonna write em which means I will no longer be typing on here, so to any who happen to read this I say.....Goodbye
Damn this thing got long.....I work on that for next time
Less than two days ago I had about 50 relatives and friends at the house celebrating me leaving...which actually is weird if ya really think about it....and I talked more about leaving than anything else and somehow if felt as though I was describing someone else. A few times when people would say they were jealous of my upcoming trip, I would reply "I'm jealous of myself", which I hadn't thought much of but really illustrates how disconnected I still feel from all of this.
Despite that, the party was a blast. I was really pleased with the number of people who were actually willing to drive down from Austin, but really...its the sailing team, they'll drive anywhere for a party, and I love 'em for it. It was great to get a good group of LP high school friends to make it out as well, it's not often we all get together. Although this did lead to a mini reunion of LP folk hiding out in my room for awhile, but there's really nothing wrong with that.
The party transitioned better than I ever could have imagined. It began with all of my friends beginning the party mingling and conversing well with the overwhelming amount of family that had come which is impressive in itself. And even as the early evening got going and the bar was reaching its full potential everyone, including my grandma, called me over to complement me on what A nice group of friends I have.
After stage one was complete and most of the family were making their way home, we ever so subtly (looking at you Malo) got a flip cup/beer pong game goin which started the college portion of the evening in fine form. Which led to hot tubs, keg stands and some great dock diving pictures courtesy of Nicola. It all slowly came to an end with the entire party in the hot tub to the point that me getting consisted of laying out of the water on top of everyone's legs. Everyone had fun, and best of all, no party casualties to clean up after (way to pace yourself Justin). The next morning was highlighted by an alligator attack from Derek, and one last team breakfast at Whataburger and a final set of goodbyes to the best friends I could ever ask for.
Well the time has come for my most dreaded task....Thank You notes.... I'm not sure why I hate them, I am indeed thankful, which is why I said thank you when I received the gifts. And maybe that's the problem, I've only ever been expected to write them after receiving gifts, especially money for graduation. But that seems shallow, and forced (which it kind of is) to only give a note if someone pays you. And furthermore if it's not only for gifts, then I want some thank you notes for sending out thank you notes....which is a vicious cycle that could destroy the fabric of society. But in any case, I'm gonna write em which means I will no longer be typing on here, so to any who happen to read this I say.....Goodbye
Damn this thing got long.....I work on that for next time
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