Mood: Meh

In a slight funk the past couple of days. My family found me a fan, thank goodness, so now I don't have a reason for my laziness. Lack of sleep? Over activity? Maybe it's the fact that the girls' grandpa loathes me-I caught him complaining in Catalan about me today. Ugh- I still haven't decided what it actually is. I have a feeling I'm so overwhelmed thinking about the places I still want to see that I'm just not in the mood to plan anything. That makes sense right? Urrggg

On a happier note, Granada was great. So much different, so much HOTTER, but still lovely. I finally got dragged out to a club where we met some real gypsies. They had us walking pretty quickly towards the door not long after they started talking about their experiences in the drug department...eeek. But I'm alive! And I had one of the best flights ever on my way back to Barcelona-barely anyone was on the plane and I was alone in the Emergency Exit aisle. Ahhh. Sweet bliss.

I love how Catalunya held a demonstration with 60,000 people in favor of them being their own nation, and then a day later they were yelling "Yo soy espanol" in the streets. *shakes head*. Even though I have a feeling nothing will ever change. One of the girl's cousins said she was angry the other day when everyone was singing "yo soy espanol" because "YO SOY CATALA". Oh jeez. Looks like the next generation won't be much different..

I'm not in the mood to write today but I have been thinking about random things to share. So here goes nothin'

Random fun/weird facts about Barcelona (and maybe even Spain):

-they are absolutely obsessed with tuna and ham. Add in a little olive oil, some olives, and some Dannon yogurt, and you've got yourself half their diet.

-perfume/cologne is a big deal here. my family has about 20 bottles and even the 8 and 11 year old have their own. Maybe because you're constantly sweating and then cooling off all day? Haven't figured it out yet.

-everyone smokes! The security guard at the train station, the man IN the train sitting next to me (ugh!), and I can't forget the lifeguard that gave me the ol' "Hola guapa". Oui.

-when you're less than 1 years old they celebrate every month. EVERY month they sing, have a cake, and celebrate. Which just makes me think, do they do the same for relationships?

-you'll eat ANYTHING in a different country-I mean, I've definitely still got my boundaries for what I won't eat, but I seem to be way less worried about the normal things. Like I grabbed a bag of what I thought were nuts last night and continued chowing down on the bag this morning and then actually read the label-fried popcorn with BBQ flavoring?! I still don't understand how I didn't realize it until I was more than halfway through the bag...

Fun story for the day! I've been meaning to write this but haven't had the guts. As everyone knows, I'm a little "torpe"-a little silly, goofy, if you will. Well back when I rode the metro at least twice a day there was two times when I almost ate it. That's what I got for running up the escalators in 8 euro sandals. The last time I really ate it-I'm talking my face being 4 inches away from certain death. But ever since my commute to my classes, I've been in the clear, until today. I've apparently upgraded from tripping from a sandal malfunction to something more embarrassing. Now that I take the train everyday I've gotten prone to nodding off on my 30-minute journey. Today I caught myself a few times with my mouth hanging wide open with my head tilted back, but that's not totally horrible. What's awful was when the train stopped at the station I was supposed to be getting off at, my head totally flew back, so fast that I slammed my head against the plastic handle behind me. Goodness gracious. I've officially become a sore thumb-I'm whiter, taller, don't totally know their language, definitely don't know their other official language more than a few words, and now i'm the clumsy tourist on the train who doesn't have anyone to laugh with/be laughed at. However, I will tell you that you've reached an all-time high self-esteem when you can get up right afterwards, without looking around at reactions, and act as if nothing's happened (and then post a blog about it later). If there's one thing I've learned here it's that there's nothing like being able to laugh at yourself.

Teaching update: I asked the girls straight-up if I was doing a good job teaching them because I know the older one is blunt enough to tell me. She told me that she's learned way more than she did last year-and that's all I needed. After which I did a little jig and said "TOMA Stephanie! (their teacher last year)". I'm finally content with that aspect of my life here. And now I've only got three weeks left to teach them as much as I can! They told me today they wanted to learn the lyrics to "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga... I have a feeling I'll be kicked to the curb if I teach them that, but maybe just the chorus?

Three weeks tomorrow until I leave Spain-and about a month until I get back to Pensacola. I still need to go gift shopping, but I did finally send out 8 postcards. Hopefully they make it!