Changing Plans

This weekend the weather was strange all across Europe.  On Friday, I went to the airport to catch a 7:00 a.m. flight to Sevilla - I was really looking forward to it.  But the flight kept on getting delayed due to fog.  I had also had difficulties with my ticket before that - twice I discovered that Iberia actually hadn't issued me a ticket, and then had to quickly put on my Administration cap to get it all sorted out again.  So then with the fog and the delays, I considered this a heavy third strike.  So rather than waiting around at the airport all day, I cancelled my ticket and went home.  When I got home I looked at flights again, thinking maybe I'd take another one, but all the flights to Sevilla had been cancelled.  So that's that.  I didn't get there this past weekend.  But I will.  Maybe even soon?

Another set of Towers in Valencia - they're all over the place!  Love it!

So I had a Valencian weekend.  Thursday night I did get to the Club Metropolitan Christmas Party, and it was actually pretty good.  They had two DJ's, and everyone was dressed up and drinking hard.  It was fun!  It was great to see everyone looking and acting twinkly, sans biking shorts and sweaty towels!  I couldn't help but notice that I've become quite good at going out on my own now, and walking into a hotel ballroom full of beautiful Spanish people all by myself and holding my own all night long is quite something, don't you think?  I spoke Spanish all night long, I understood everyone, and everyone understood me.  My Spanish isn't that great, and my vocabulary sucks, but somehow I must be getting better at it and that is something I am proud of.  It's nice for me to sit back and take a good look at that.  Wild!   

Cutting through Barrio del Carmen - the old historic centre

I went for a long walk on Saturday with Manu.  My mission was to buy a book on "Practical English Usage and Grammar".  Can't believe I'm spending my money on such a dry read.  The sun came out and warmed us up, and we ended up wandering through the city on foot.  He took me to this cafe/bar in the centre that has been there for almost 50 years, and is the best place in Valencia to get Calamari Sandwiches.  I had never heard of them, but apparently they are popular here, and this little place is the most famous of them all!  It was cool.  Of course I had to have one, and a Clara to go with! 

Delicious!  Heart Attack on a plate! 

Thank goodness I don't eat these everyday!

Then on Saturday night I went out with Monica, my friend from Chile.  We went out for dinner with a couple of other ladies, then went to a very packed bar, and finally her and I hit Pacha.  The music was just okay, and not nearly as spectacular as the one in Ibiza.  I guess I've turned into a bit of a snob now, because going out to a regular night club on a regular Saturday night really doesn't impress me anymore.  My desire to dance and let loose every now and then is really the only thing that still hasn't changed about me, and probably never will change.  I will always like the excitement that comes with going out with a girlfriend(s) on a Saturday night, getting dressed up, people watching, acting silly, laughing, dancing...and anyways, we had fun and it was good to hang out with a girlfriend for a change.  She and I both agree that the men are way too crazy for us, and we joked and commented about it all the way home afterwards.  Of course it's standard at a Spanish nightclub: more cigarette smoke (enough that our eyes were stinging and we couldn't breathe properly), and the usual chore of dealing with having some guy's tongue jammed down my throat.  Seriously.  You might ask how it is that I even get close enough to a guy to have him jam his tongue down my throat.  But this is the point: I don't!  I'm moving through the crowd, it's packed, I say "Hola", they say "Hola" back, and then they put their arms around my waist, forcing me to stop just long enough that they can ask me a couple of key questions, like "are you single?".  And when I say "yes", they say "do you want to come home with me tonight and have sex?"... gawd!  Just dive right in, eh buddy?  Whatever happened to the romance?  What happened to creating an art in flirting?  Good grief!

Monica 'n' Me

They did this to Monica too, so I know it's not just something I'm giving off.  It's the men!  As I try to slip away after literally only a few moments, they'll lean in for a kiss, which I try to avoid and reach for their cheeks instead, but they somehow still manage to jam their lizard-like tongues in my mouth, in my ear, all over my neck, wherever.  It is gross.  And it seems to be almost rampant - they all do it.  I wonder how the Spanish women put up with it.  I suppose they think its standard....oooohkay.

Sunday I stayed at home all day in my room with the heater on.  It's gotten cold the last couple of days and the majority of the buildings in Spain don't have central heating.  So we all use these portable electric heaters that we keep in our rooms. Walking into the kitchen is a feat - there's no heater in there and I almost have to put on a coat just to prepare myself a meal!  You think I'm exaggerating?  I promise you that I'm not.  Not even one little bit!  So yesterday I was quite happy to sit quietly, as I needed to do some hard work.  Decision making kind of stuff.  Have I settled on a decision?  No, not for sure.  I'm leaning slightly more to one side now, that's all.  I put in an emergency call to my ex-husband and woke him up at 5:30 in the morning, Vancouver time.  I was ready to implode on myself and had to do something!  Even though I have changed a lot in the past year, he is still possibly the only person on the planet who knows my deepest feelings and fears, and he's made acquaintances with all of the ghosts in my closet.  (Funny how we're never afraid of someone else's ghosts, huh?)  So I discussed things with him for nearly an hour, and after the conversation I was calm once again.  Sometimes I just need to really bash it out with someone, I mean beat that issue down until it doesn't bother me anymore, until I've worked the kinks and bumps out of it so that it looks like silk.  Like kneading a ball of stiff dough until it's smooth and soft enough to bake a loaf of bread, it's still the same issue but is somehow easier to work with, and maybe doesn't even look as bad any longer, you know?  There is a good chance that I may be back in Vancouver for the New Years... and I don't even like to say it.  I've become a part of this country.  The rhythm and beat are for me.  I realize I will have to deal with my "issues" no matter where I'm living.  Some places are easier though, and living here has been nothing short of wonderful.  I can't say much more on this right now, but either decision I choose I will be taking a TESL/CELTA certification course.  That fact is certain.  Hence my new "Practical English Usage" book! 

Last night Manu, Paolo, Paolo's girlfriend Mirabel, and I went to the new 3-D movie Avatar.  If you haven't had a chance to see this movie in 3-D, might I suggest you get on it pronto??  It's fantastic!  The jungle leaves and bushes were pushed up right beside me in my chair, and starry floating bugs drifted in the air past my shoulders... it was so incredible!  The music and sound effects are awesome, and of course the movie itself is animated genius, but what really hit home for me was how the story line crossed over so many themes: from adventure to war to love to spirituality to high tech to tribalism to global activism to really feeling how interconnected we all are... it was fantastic and super touching.  It is fantasy, but there are so many truths to it, and in many ways it's how I'd like to live, or actually think we should live.  I liked how one of the greatest things they said was "I See You" (Te Veo).  It's like saying "Namaste", or "The God in Me Acknowledges the God in You"; a mutual respect and admiration, and acknowledgment that we are one with everything, inter-connected, strong, and so much bigger than just this little human body that we are housed in.  You have to see this movie!  And do it in 3-D.  I don't want to hear any excuses now...

And I watched it in Spanish, too! 

I realize that it is only a few days before Christmas.  The fact that I'm not preparing for it at all this year is something that needs mentioning.  How stressful Christmas always was for me - all the partying and preparations, sending out gifts across the country, making sure everything was organized and prepared for that One Big Day.  I do really like Christmas - I like the merriment around the holidays, I like singing carols, and I like putting up bright lights and sitting warm in front of the fire place.  But now let's be honest: that was something that I did just last year and times have changed.  So maybe it's good for me to let this Christmas just pass me by?  The memories of going out and choosing a Christmas tree, setting up a little Christmas Street scene on the mantle above the fire place, decorating the house (mistle toe to boot!), buying the groceries to make all the special delicious dishes and tasty baked goods, remembering how much it snowed last year at Christmas, changing our plans last minute from heading up to Whistler (the highways were closed, remember?) to doing a potluck dinner over at Sophie's place, to even the smallest of details, like how wonderful it felt slipping a gift under the tree for the man I loved...are these warm memories for me now?  No, they're not very heartwarming I admit.  So this year I'm not doing a thing for Christmas, and being in Spain seems the perfect place to let go of it all.  I think I'll ride my bike past the beaches on Christmas Day instead. 

I'm enjoying the tempo here in Espana.  And as I write this last line in this blog post, I am very much looking forward to having yet another delicious cafe solo, which I'm going to head out right now and get!  :)

Charleen xo