Day In and Day Out

Some of you have been sending me emails, asking me to fill you in and tell you how life is going for me.  In short I can say there are good days and there are bad days.  Those of you who have felt the end of a marriage know that ol' saying too well, and I admit it does sound cliche.  Yet it is definitely true.  You think you're going strong, and then all of a sudden and out of the blue one day you're just down.  Down for the count.  And you don't know why or what triggered you, but it's just a shitty day.  Honestly, that aspect of my life hasn't changed, but I didn't expect it to right away.  No, some things are meant to take a good long while to work through, to ponder, and to self-reflect for growth to happen.  And thank God for that!  Imagine how shallow life would be if we never stopped to look at ourselves!  There are days that I feel right at home here in Espana, and other days where I have no idea what "home" is, and what it's supposed to even look like for me.  So instead I focus on what I do know:  I know I feel great when I'm taking my Spanish classes every day.  I know I feel great when I'm wandering through this city without a watch on my wrist or anyone else's agenda to heed.  I know I love the sunshine and we definitely get a lot of it here.  I know that the Mediterranean is warm and clear, and soooo salty when I swam in it the other day.  So my life is pretty simple right now.  Infact the only thing that is still hard is when I'm fighting with myself.  And that is still a struggle that I'm actually trying NOT to win!  No, I haven't found that sweet spot yet.  That balance, that absolute acceptance in all things.  You know?

Today I found myself in a part of town that I'd never tromped through: a very wonderful little corner of Barceloneta.  It was awesome!  I had to find a repair shop to fix my new Delsey duffle/trolley bag that ripped during the journey over here.  Never having been good with directions, I have to stop and look at the map in my guidebook frequently, and normally I can do quite well on my own. Once in a while I have to ask someone for clarification.... like today.  Two men (on two separate occasions) sent me off in the exact opposite direction that I should have gone in!!  Instead of admitting that they also didn't have a clue where the repair shop was, they sent me off, all macho like, saying "oh yeah, yeah, it's that way.... keep going!"  Someone please tell me how a man actually believes he's being helpful when he does that??   F-Sharp, F-Sharp, F-Sharp! 

But hey!  Its all good because I realized that I had never been to this part of town before, and I was actually really digging the energy there.  I looked it up and saw that there is an actual walking tour of the exact area I found myself standing in called "The Sins of Gluttony in La Riberia" (La Riberia/El Borne/Barceloneta.... all the same area basically). 

And I have to agree that there are some serious yummy distractions in this part of town!  The barrio is jam-packed of colouful restaurants and tapas bars, and there's even a chocolate museum!  Thank goodness I'm walking a lot...my new favourite drink is called a "Clara" (beer with lemonade, I think).  Totally deeeelicious and goes down way too fast!

This weekend is a long weekend, with Monday being a day off for everyone.  It's some sort of a civic holiday I think, so it's not one of those holiday weekends full of festivals and parades.  Instead Monday will simply be a free day, and everyone is glad for it.  People here normally work from about 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning, till 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and then they have three hours off in the middle of the day, and then they go back to work around 4:30 or 5:00, and keep on working till 8:00 or 9:00 pm!  Then they go out for dinner, then they go home, and then they start it all over again the next day.  The majority of people work 6 days/week.  So I think I can speak for everyone in Barcelona when I say that the upcoming long-weekend is desperately being looked forward to!

Myself, I'm not sure yet what my "long-weekend" will entail, but I don't have to go to school on Monday.  I am toying with the idea of getting out of town, but since I really just found out that it's a long weekend, I'm going to have to get on it right away if I want to figure something out.  I'm thinking of going somewhere close by, maybe Sitges or the Costa Brava.  Something easily accessible by train.  Or a day trip somewhere maybe?  A cheap flight to Ibiza?  hmmmm.....

On another note, several construction workers whistled and drooled all over themselves when I walked by the other day.  I was wearing a pair of shorts.  Can you friggin' believe that??  I gave them the finger.  They seemed to approve even more after that.

The days are long here, and now it's almost midnight.  In Vancouver I would have been in bed long before this.  My internal clock is slowly turning towards Catalonian time. 

Charleen xo