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.
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
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.
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