Vivo Sin Dormir

Hola! Bonjour! Proust! (that is “cheers” in Dutch)

Sorry this update has taken a while – it is the biggest ordeal to set up internet at our apt. Anyhu, it’s going to happen sooner than later – hopefully by the end of this week. So I won’t get kicked off of G-chat or Skype and can update this blog more often. I typed this long-ass blog entry on my computer so when I had a few seconds of “borrowed” internet – I pasted it on. Sorry if formatting sucks and sorry for no pics. Anyhu, It makes me so happy that ya’ll read this ramble of mine – thanks loves! I really have enjoyed owning a blog and encourage any of ya’ll that have considered creating one to do so. Especially those of you who are about to have a baaaaabbbbyyyy (Kaaaayla!) as I will need constant updates on this exciting upcoming event! Eek!

So where to begin!? I haven’t really been in Barcelona but a few days this month as I spent a week in Paris and a few days in Valencia. In between I have been sleeping, packing and exploring my new neighborhood with Anna. I did do my first club experience in Barcelona with some of the girls from school. This one called Cat Walk has techno/house on the bottom and hip-hop on the 2nd floor. Guess where I was the entire time? I loved it though – as everyone dances – it did make me have a few flashbacks to Dallas (metro sexual I guess was invented over here in the EU) but it was still a crazy, fun time. Also, Anna and I found our new favorite bar within walking distance – it’s called Alfa and the entire reason we walked in is because they were blasting out 60s-70s R&B Funk. It’s going to be our 2nd home. I just know it. Oh! And the DJ – he wears glasses. I mean…Need I say more? We also went to the Gracia festival which is a crazy celebration for our neighborhood’s birthday. It was a different themed party on each street block – good times. We also recently discovered that we are in easy walking distance to Passage de Gracia – which is the equivalent to Champs Elysee in Paris or Michigan Ave in Chi-town, etc. Bad news bears. But besides the exploring – not too much going on in the BCN.

Okay, so let’s begin with Paris!

J’adore Paris! It’s so beautiful, so full of great people-watching opportunities and the chocolate croissant (I went blank on the French name) is heaven. So of course – as I have some of the worst travel luck – I get to Paris late as my flight was delayed from Barcelona. We exit our plane and are heading to the baggage claim and find the doors locked…We turn around to get back to where they exited us from the plane and THOSE doors are locked. About 100 people are locked into this box of a room. This French woman who I guess worked for the airport said we couldn’t get our baggage or something to that nature…I think I was the only English speaking person in this room as I heard like 10 other languages going on except mine. So finally some guard let us through but they wouldn’t let us get our bags until an hour later – we are literally watching our bags circle the baggage claim thingy but have these guards blocking us…I am suspecting that there was some drug smuggle-smuggle going on but who knows. I think the French like to make things more difficult than they need to be. So after that chaos (and my airport experience returning to Barcelona was even worse!) I get to my friend Scott’s apartment and begin my exploration of the city. I don’t want to bore ya’ll with some of the basic details as probably more than ½ of ya’ll have seen The Louvre, Museum d’Orsay, The Eiffel Tower, etc. but I will pick out my favorite places and activities and funny stories from the trip. If you do want me to bore you with my more touristy details – just shoot me an email – I will fwd on the email I sent to my family that has those glorious details.

So! Scott took me to the best bar in Paris, as far as I’m concerned. It’s called Ten (what is the French word for ten?) and is really quaint and old and red and French. The wine was yummy and cheap and the jukebox only played Louie Armstrong and blues. It was perfect. And this is funny, but I kept thinking – this is such a New Orleans bar. So maybe I should start thinking the opposite? As New Orleans is a bit younger than Paris. Anyways, great similarities. I wanted to go to Hemingway’s bar but the cheapest drink there is 30Euros so besides this one and a few random other bars to grab a quick cocktail – I didn’t do too much of the Paris night life (no clubs).

We did do a night bike tour of the city which made me feel very Amile-esque. I forgot how much I liked biking and plan to get one while here in Barcelona. After the bike tour we took a boat tour and I got to see the bridge from the final episode of STC where Big rescues Carrie. I think I screamed at this point and probably pissed off majority of the people on this boat – also in the process- spilling my full glass of red wine down my dress. But I mean if these people were smart, they would have reacted the same way- it’s freaking the biggest turning point of the best TV show… Okay. As for some touristy things I really liked Musee de L’Orangerie– it was the smallest but holds all of Monet’s water lilies which were beautiful and impressive. Also some other great French Impressionist works (Renoir’s floral portraits, Matisse’s nudes, etc).

Now onto my story about The Louvre – Soooo – I hated it. So freaking crowded. I am really not impressed with the Mona Lisa and ended up exploring the African/Indian artifact art rooms as they were not crowded whatsoever. So after that I am strolling around and I had my iPod with me as it was helping me drone out the amount of people and noise in the museum. I see this guard that keeps looking at me and following me down the hallway. So I stop at a painting and he stops as the one next to me, I hurry along, and he hurries along. So I’m thinking – Shoot, I’m going to get in trouble for something stupid like listening to my iPod or whatever. So I get to this next painting and he steps right in front of me and goes – “Hello! What’s your name?” – So I start to talk to the guard – he was from the West Indies and is going to law school in Paris, he’s heard of New Orleans and wants to go there, etc. So literally 2 minutes into our conversation he goes – “I would like to take you out for dinner and drinks tonight.” I stood there with my mouth open – seriously! I got asked out by a guard at The Louvre! I told him I had a boyfriend but thanked him. He then repeated “I am so stupid, I am so stupid” – so I felt bad and made him show me his favorite spots in the museum (but – haha – he couldn’t leave the corridor as that is what he was “guarding” so I think he was just randomly picking paintings like – “Oh this one of Baby Jesus is pretty.”) Okay, so here I go with being un-PC – but the guard was black so I mean, do I need to explain why he picked me out in the crowded museum? Nope. My mom, I kid you not, after I tell her this story, goes – “Well I guess the big booty thing is international, huh?”

Dear Lord.

I think one of my favorite moments was the night picnic we made (okay, Scott cooked everything as he is the one attending Le Cordon Bleu) and had under the Eiffel Tower my last night. I know a lot of people complain about the light show that the tower does every hour but I really loved it. Every time it went off, me along with other drunkards sitting around with our bottles of wine would start clapping or oohing and aahing. Seriously, you are no fun if you don’t enjoy a good light show.

Paris was great – I would definitely go back and just may when my parents come visit me. Scott was a good host and dealt with all of my touristy requests and occasional bratty outbursts so I’m very grateful for that.

So onto my other crazy adventure…Valencia/La Tomatilla festival!

Okay, so there is no way I can put into words what the La Tomatilla Festival is like but let’s just say it’s absolutely nuts and is and will be the craziest thing I have ever experienced in my entire life. But, before I get to the festival, Anna and I decided to explore the small city of Valencia a few days before – which I’m very grateful for. Of course, with my luck, we get to the train station on Monday and our train – and all trains to Valencia – are cancelled that day. So they haul everyone that was supposed to be on the train on these charter buses and instead of our cozy three hour trip it ends up being a 5 hour bus ride… But we still made it with time to explore Monday so it all worked out. So Valencia is known for its beaches, its main Cathedral and Paella. It also holds Europeans largest aquarium.

So lucky for me – Anna is a big nerd like myself and was super excited about exploring the aquarium. First off, it is the coolest building I have ever seen. We will post the pics on the fbook soon. I have never seen such future-istic buildings which look so out of place in such a classic, beautiful city. But yet, it worked. So we enjoyed the aquarium – seriously the best one I have ever been to (minus Seattle’s as they had a very large sea otter exhibit and they are my absolute fave). The highlights were the dolphin show, the sea lions, the violent/horny walruses (they kept attacking each other with their tusks and then one just um started doing a little number that was a bit intense). My fave were the beluga whales! They are the cutest things on earth and just look absolutely happy and enjoying life, my kind of animal. So after the aquarium we went to eat Paella on the beach. Valencia’s beach is very similar to Manhattan or Hermosa Beach in California (Beans, I thought of you when strolling around) – very pretty with all restaurants and bars on the beach lined up. Much more trendy and resort-like compared to Barcelona’s beaches which are much more crowded and not at all hoity-toity.

So the next day we headed out to Valencia’s cathedral which holds the Holy Grail! Well, supposed. If you Google Holy Grail you will see that a lot of ppl claim to have it or that it’s still missing but this is the most legit case for it. I believe it at least. So the Cathedral itself is absolutely gorgeous – with over 15 chapels surrounding the main church. Very ornate and a lot of past Spanish bishops and cardinals are buried there. There is also one of the prettiest statues I have ever seen of Mary and Baby Jesus that is somewhat famous. Women that are pregnant come to the Cathedral and present the statue of Mary with flowers – then they follow this adoration by walking clock-wise around the cathedral nine times to represent the nine months they will hold their child. I thought this was really interesting and sweet – as there were soo many flowers before Mary when I was there. The main side chapel is where Jesus’ Chalice – aka The Holy Grail – is located. It’s a very simple gold chalice that is much smaller than what I expected but still very ornate- perhaps too ornate for Jesus’ chalice. It has been in the cathedral since the 15th century which, that in itself is pretty amazing.

So after the cathedral and exploring the beautiful city, we met up with one of our friends that also lives in Barcelona, Kirby, who came in just for Tomatilla Festival. The festival is actually in the small town of Bunyol, a 40 minute train ride right outside of Valencia. We planned to take the last night train that day, leave our stuff at the hotel and pull an all-nighter for the fiestas that evening that lead into the tomato fight which begins at 11am the next morning. So we ended up missing the last train by misreading the time it left and had to buy a ticket for the first train out the next morning – the 6:30am! So we go back to our hotel and bump into this American boy going into his room next to us. We all start talking and he tells us he is from Chicago but lives in Amsterdam and he and his friend, from Amsterdam, were planning on going to the festival early the next day as well. So the more we talk I put two and two together and find out that we share a mutual friend! It was really bizarre and such a small world experience. Anyways, the five of us get up the next morning at 5AM and leave for La Tomatilla!

So Anna and I kept saying this would be like our Spanish Mardi Gras – as drinking in the morning is key…And there is no way on earth I would go to a festival where they chuck tomatoes at you sober.

Okay, so we aren’t the only crazies as the train is jam packed with everyone wearing their white shirts getting pumped for Tomatilla. Anna and I split a bottle of Bacardi mixed with Fanta (NEVER do that – Fanta brings out the alcohol taste even more – it was so gross. I named this drink “The Wake Up Call” and pretty much made everyone in our train cabin take a shot from it). Once we get to the small town of Bunyol – which is very pretty – I blacked out. Seriously, I don’t remember how or when we got to the center of the town – I remember bits and pieces but yeah – the Bacardi Fanta did a number on me. I do remember this guy coming up to me and going “Esta es muy bonita Chino chica” – so this guy became obsessed with Anna and kept calling her a China doll or something. So these two make a little connection but – I benefit from this as she kept telling him I was her “Number One Sister” and that he had to protect me too. So this guy was not that big and he made it like his number one duty to watch over Anna and me during the entire festival – it was pretty hilarious.

Okay so around 9AM we are in the center of the action and the festivities kick off with the “Grease Pole” tradition. There is this huge pole in the center of the town that is covered in Crisco-esque grease. At the top of the pole is this HUGE ham. The whole goal is to have someone climb up the pole and grab the ham so the tomato fight can begin. Of course, this has never happened in the many years this fight has been going on but people still try anyway. You will have these men (and a few girls) using all of their might to climb up the pole – they will climb over other people or use their shirts as a device to pull them up…There was actually an old man that had rope that made it soo close! He was about a foot away from the ham – but yeah, nobody got it so around 11AM –after watching this madness – a big siren goes off and the fight begins. Dump trucks come parading down the street FULL of tomatoes with people in them smashing them (as it has to be smooshed before you can throw it – ha!) and throwing them at the crowd. All I remember next was madness.

I had my goggles on and Anna and I were between The Protector (we don’t remember his name) and Eric (the big Dutch guy) picking up tomatoes from the ground and just chucking them at people. It was nuts. By the time the 5th or so truck comes by you are covered in tomato juice, have been smacked in the face by an unsmooshed tomato or a frozen one (some people are just mean) and cannot see out of your goggles as they are covered in tomato guts. The fight goes on for only an hour – at 12 is when they sound off the alarm and everyone is supposed to stop throwing but let me just say…a food fight consisting of tomatoes and 40,000 people that lasts an hour feels like FOREVER! It was so much fun in the beginning until Anna and I – close to the 45 minute mark – were drowning in tomato juice and trying to avoid the fights breaking out. We started to make our way out of the crowd which was near impossible. If you have ever been to Bourbon Street on one of the main Mardi Gras nights (Sat-Mon) – you know that you can’t walk freely down the street, you are forced to move with the crowd. This was the same experience except 10 times worse as you are wading through two feet of tomatoes with even more people that are covered in the slime.

So while we are trying to escape – I lose Anna in the crowd. Like, pocket person down – cannot see her for my life. So luckily, we decided a meeting spot before this began (and luckily I remembered this despite my blackout period) so I start wading through the crowd, trying to get out, avoid the fights and all of a sudden – this guy comes out of nowhere and riiiip – tries to rip my shirt off. Okay, so this happened to all of our guy friends – like I don’t know why, but some people were obsessed with ripping off each other’s shirts – and that really isn’t a big deal for guys but come on – us gals?! So thank GOD I had on a sports bra and not a bathing suit top like so many other girls... It was nuts. Okay, so I finally make it out of the madness and get into the town to get water dumped all over me. The town of Buynol gets their hoses (some which are fire hoses) and buckets of water and dump it on the people walking out of town. Seriously – I have never in my life wanted to be hosed down more than this. It was hilarious. On my walk back to our meeting point, I hear “Lindsay!” and there is Anna – missing her shirt as well, with two left-feet flip flops (neither hers) running behind me. Again – total nuts. So we meet up with the guys and hung around the town – there were tons of DJs and it was just crazyness – everyone was soo gross, covered in tomato juice but soaking wet. I remember dancing to Pitbull non-stop with Anna and then we got on the train and made it back to our hotel to shower (for reals) just in time to make our train back to Barcelona…

I know after typing this it just seems like the craziest/bizarre thing ever. I know all of you can’t even PICTURE me at this event. I have to say – I will never do it again. BUT – am SO happy I did it. We had the best time (minus for the very end of escaping the madness), made some new friends and got to experience a once in a lifetime chance and tradition that is known throughout the world. I would NEVER suggest this to any of my friends. Also, Anna and I also realized that MAYBE we aren’t really as prissy as we think we are because we got down and dirty with the best of them… mainly crazy Spanish guys. Now, I would suggest this to one person and that would be my little brother, Christopher…but that speaks for itself. Anyways, I made it back safe and alive and now am covered in bruises with a great story to tell. We also brought a water-proof disposable camera that we plan to develop today so once I get those pictures up – I will post them too. I have NO idea what we will discover on this camera – I don’t even know if anything will have made it but man – if you could have seen us post-fight- it would have been hard not to laugh.

We are going out tonight with our 2 new Amsterdam buddies from the festival – they are doing a tour around Spain and happened to be coming to Barcelona next so – even though the thought of alcohol makes me kind of gag a bit – I must do my job as a host and show them the best of the BCN. So come visit me and I promise to do the same for you!

Sorry this was a lengthy one. Hope you got some laughs – I know Anna and I did!


Looking for a Matador that doesn’t like tomatoes,

Linds

PS – I am going to email everyone back a long, deserving email respectively once I get internet. Prrroomise.

Music Suggestions:
“Good Song” - Blur
“Coming Home” – The 88
“Buckets of Rain” - Bob Dylan
“Baby, Let Me Follow You Down” – on a Bob Dylan kick…

Movie Suggestions:

Moonstruck
- I know most of ya’ll have seen this but I saw it for the first time the other night (we have a little movie rental place with random-ass movies to rent) and fell in love with it. Nicolas Cage is actually hot in it and Cher is just perfect. So much perfection and cheese…In my book - it’s up there with Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally.

Are You Up for a Quicky?

Hey Ya'll!

So I am currently "borrowing" our neighbor's internet and I feel like I'm on this crazy race against time since you never know when it's going to cut out. But reaaaal quick - Anna and I leave for Valencia tomorrow for the Tomatilla Festival! It's going to be nuts and may show whether or not I am getting too old to roll around in the mud and tomato juice. We bought a water proof camera and our goggles so we are prepared and hope to show the evidence via Facebook upon our return. We also should get our internet set up at our adorable new APT by then too so no more of the lag in blog posts and G-chats.

I also just got back from Paris late Wednesday night and plan to blog allll about it but here are my top five things I adore about Paris:

1- au pain chocolat
2- quaint bars that serve good, cheap wine and only allow blues and jazz on the jukebox
3- the plethora of museums, especially those holding the amazing French Impressionists works
4- picnics under the Eiffel Tower
5- french men and the way they dress

More to share. More adventures to tell. More of me missing you.

Throwing Tomatoes at My Potential Matador,
Lou-Lou Belle

Guapa Gorda

Hola Guapa/o!

I love this. Everywhere you go – you hear friends greeting each other with, Hola Guapa! It’s the equivalent of us saying: Hey hottie! – Totally endearing. It’s up there with calling my friends dolls and loves and whatever else I tend to come up with. This past weekend was super mellow – attempted to go to a club – still haven’t found a place that plays hip-hop (grr) but had a nice terrace party at a friend’s place. Also hit up Seitges Beach this Saturday – really pretty town but too crowded for the beach…We found another one that was two train stops down and fell in love – while laying out I had a view of the mountains in the background. In love with this city.

So I have a few exciting things coming up…Tomorrow is my last day of class! Woo! I will be certified to teach English as a Second Language. So tomorrow night – in honor of celebrating the last day of school – we will be doing some karaoke. Spanish karaoke. Which really will be a bunch of English pop songs as they LOVE Fergie, Beyonce and Michael Jackson in this town. Friday is Cava Tour day! Cava is a special Spanish champagne that is muy delicious. We tend to mix our boxed Sangria with Cava – which makes for pretty crazy nights. Anyhu, the only other wine tour I have ever done was such a fabulous experience (in the ATX with Erin – the day we refer to as our “retreat”) that I’m really looking forward to this one – it even has a train ride through the vineyard! Super exciting. And then I am going to sit in my landlord’s kitchen and WATCH her cook! She is ALWAYS cooking up delish looking items and bringing them into our room and going – “Eat! Eat” – So I’m excited as I plan to come back to the states with some staple Spanish/Catalonian recipes under my belt.

Speaking of food – I officially got called fat by a sales clerk. So, I was looking at these cute bohemian dresses and the lady comes around, grabs the dress from my hands and goes – “No, no – your size not here. You can’t try on. You too big.” I’m like… Thanks. Got it. Everyone in Europe is super tiny. Anyhu, I’m chalking up this situation to MOTIVATION to lose weight a’la European style. I mean, if I can’t shop because I can’t fit into tiny European labels – I will- in the end- save a ridiculous amount of money BUT be so sad. Shopping is my vice. I love to shop. This has been instilled in me at a very early age and cannot be broken. If you are a good friend of mine, you KNOW how much I love clothes as I cleaned out my closet and still had a full closet left (and 10 garbage bags full of clothes I gave away). It’s something I’m good at (again – if you have been shopping with me, I make you try on stuff you don’t want to and then you end up LOVING it – admit it!) and I like doing things I’m good at – haha. Anyhu, I will keep you posted on the weight loss journey. Anna is going to train for a marathon in February and I’m going to “coach” her – pretty much make her go to the park as often as possible to run and workout with me. And since I don’t work in an office full of birthdays – I am not baking nearly as much as I did back in the day. Although, I will not give baking up entirely as I will meet new people that have birthdays too, you know? :) And I need to learn some Spanish baked recipes as well so I’ll have something new to impress ya’ll with upon my return.

Okay, so as I will have more exciting things to update you with after the weekend – I am writing THIS entry with a motive. I want your response. Regarding what I should do in PARIS! I leave a week from today and have the standard touristy things jotted down on my to-do list (Eifel tower, The Louvre, Notre Dame, etc) but want to know from those who have been to Paris – what was your favorite thing you did – touristy or not. And for those that want to go to Paris, tell me what you would do if you were in my ballet flats. You can list something touristy or some type of tour that you enjoyed or “eat a chocolate croissant and judge people as they walk by your table in an open-air café” – Obvi something I have on my list of To Do’s. I look forward to what you think – you can reply right here or email or facebook me or skype me or telegram or what not. I just want your thoughts and suggestions and love! I plan to blog before I go as this is my last week with free internet – so there may be a lull post Paris…

Before I go – a funny teaching story – 2 actually – for ya’ll:

So I had to teach a lesson regarding criticisms and generalizations – possibly the worst lesson ever. I am pretty much teaching my students how to insult someone in a “nice” way. So instead of calling someone out and just saying – “You are stubborn.” You would say – “At times, you are a bit stubborn.” Seriously – it was not a lesson I wanted to teach. So I’m trying to explain how generalizations help when you want to get your message across but be conscience of others – be sensitive to them, you know? And so I’m like doing examples and I go up to one of my students, Santi, and go: “Your shoes are ugly. I don’t like them.” – He looks at me and goes, “That is okay. They are my shoes, not yours. You don’t need to like them.” - I’m like – “Noooo, you are supposed to get mad!” So I go to Maria and go, “I don’t want to be your friend because you are stubborn.” – She goes, “It’s okay, I have other friends.” – It was soo funny. They understood what I was trying to convey but instead, explained their take on the lesson - that it doesn’t matter what someone says to you– your negative opinion is your own. Pretty much, they brush it off. With this in mind, they kept asking me when they would have to criticize someone? Why would they say that? It’s okay if the person is a slob/mean/rude/etc. because that is that person and they are their own person, etc ……. You got to love that mindset. I could sure learn from it.

My other lesson dealt with poetry. That day I happened to have ONLY MEN in my class – and we are talking my macho Spaniards. And here I am – making them talk about their feelings and memories…And they loved it! They were busting out big adjectives – like “tender” and “sentimental” – so I’m gushing – Oh so good! So sweet!! – So they would mimic me “Ohhh so sweet.” – it was hilarious. Probably my most fave class I taught thus far. Plus I got to incorporate music into it so that always makes me happy!

Alright, so here is your new Spanish slang word of the day and some of my current music obsessions…

Bar Tan – “I was drinking tonight and I am so flushed!” But instead of saying “flushed” you would say, I have a bar tan! - My flat mate Guido told me I had it the other night as I was “tan” in the face after drinking a bottle of cheap, white Spanish wine. Love it!

Songs:
Shape of My Heart – Sting (on a Sting kick right now, don’t ask)
Sweet Disposition – The Temper Tramp
All I Need – Radiohead
Brighter Than Sunshine – Aqualung (I know it’s not new but just rediscovered how much I love this song.)

Miss you all! And don’t forget to tell me what you would do in Paris!

Searching for my matador while drinking Cava,
Linds

PS – http://gridskipper.com/66000/10-reasons-why-your-travel-blog-sucks

Check this article. Pretty funny – Wendy sent it to me with a sweet note (no, she wasn’t telling me I suck)… But I think my blog could fit under some categories they list…oh well! Should I add more pics? Can ya’ll see Anna’s pics she posts on facebook? There are a handful of images capturing our adventures in Barcelona. Let me know if we should post them elsewhere too.

PPS - G Chat sucks for me as my computer hates it -so sorry if I ever left a chat without saying bye - it was my computer's evil ways.