Meg White by Ray LaMontagne

Here is the weird thing about today's post: I have had an absolutely brilliant last two weeks, Barcelona has been so full of new and old friends and everything has been all bright and shiny. It struck me a couple times that I should try to write in my dear old blog while I was on such an up, so that my parents (hi J&L) wouldn't be all 'That's a lot of money we're spending for you to be writing whiny blogs about how there aren't pancakes in Spain,' but when fun things are going on, there is never TIIIIME to sit and write about stuff. Lucky for YOU, dear J&L, today I reaped the benefits of last night's calamares in the form of food poisoning and that means that I have all the time in the world to sit in my bed and whine about how there are no pancakes in Spain... only calamares.

Actually, I don't have all the time in the world, because I have three term papers due in the next three days. This weeks sucks, but don't worry-- I'm still finding time for beach picnics and box sangria in between puking and frantically typing.


In the last two weeks, I:

met up with Lucy in Bologna

went to an Islands concert

hung around creepily costumed women at Carnaval in Venice

learned a lot about the world
CAME BACK TO SPAIN for
Carnaval in Sitges, after which I
found out (through facebook, cool guys) that my brother Adam and his wife Harper are expecting their first child in October, after which I joined
Connor and Lucy in a train station in Barcelona, where we took pictures of ourselves (no more, no less). I also got to see Griffin and Tom, which was delightful but not photographed.

After all this, I was pretty tired, so I took a siesta. But THEN, I
visited Tarragona, where the sky is impossibly blue and they keep the ruins close to the sea so you can jump in if you get too hot. Next up was

Sant Creus, a small monastery town where I took pictures of beautiful Romanesque architecture and

beautiful Romanesque babes. This weekend, we relaxed around Barcelona,
taking in some rays at the beach even though it was a bit colder (note the scarves).

Other things of note:

1. One of my abroad dreams came true last week when I ran into Zach Lubeck, a friend of mine from Omaha, at Parc Guell in Barcelona. That has never even happened to me in Boston! Thx for the mmrs, Zach.

2. Today Emily said that my a cappella group is like our sixth housemate (because I talk about them so much, I guess), which is true but also complete BULLSHIT because none of them will answer my e-mails-- what does the cd title mean? When does it come out? What is the song choosing category? People from home keep sending me little messages saying completely standard things like 'I miss you' and 'You look like you're having fun.' That is nice and a thoughtful gesture, but I prefer video posts/skype dates/answers to questions. Until then, I will change my desktop background to a picture of my NEW a cappella group (I'm the only member so far), because as I am supposed to be busy dancing and kissing Spaniards I can't be looking all foolish.

Really, it has been a splenda-d two weeks, full of thoughts and moments and people. But can a chica get a little more gossip girl, a little less food poisoning?

xoxo

PS- Didn't mean to downplay the baby with the facebook: CONGRATULATIONS, ADAM AND HARPER! Although I would suggest that yall seriously consider naming this kid Facebook Gozer Vaughan.

PPS- Griffin called Barcelona 'aggressive' and 'machismo' in his blog. True on both counts.

PPPS- I brought one suitcase of clothes here in order to travel with more ease at the beginning, but more importantly the end, of my program. Although initially a good idea, I have now taken to dressing like I'm from Seattle. You decide what that means.