Day 19: Bathroom Privacy

**This post is slightly graphic and is not for those easily grossed out.  Please do not think less of me for the content below.**

I adore having guests and playing hostess.  I beg people to visit me all the time.  I also have a small internal freak out when they say they're coming because I have public pooping issues.  It's true.  Can't do it.  I have only gone number two in a public bathroom three times in my life: once when I came to Spain in high school for two weeks and refused to go in the house I was staying because ::gasp:: they might hear me...yes that one time in a public bathroom was the ONLY time during the whole two weeks I went; twice on missions trips to Mexico...and trust me, it took me multiple trips to Mexico - without going - before I finally could.

I was terrified of living in the dorms solely because of the fact that there were community restrooms (luckily we lived right across the hall from the bathroom, so I could listen closely and know just when people were and weren't in there, and know everyone else's schedule so I'd be sure I would be there in private).  First thing I would do when I went home to Wichita every other weekend (because basically it was every other weekend, and yes a big part of that was the bathroom issue) was holler hello to my mom and beeline it to the bathroom.  Not even joking.

I dated a guy for 5 years and never once went to the bathroom while he was at my my house or I was at his!

I was so close to not doing the camino just because I was so freaked out about the bathroom situation.  So glad I didn't let my irrational fear rule my life!

I also seriously thought about not moving in with Yago because I couldn't bear the thought of my boyfriend hearing me go to the bathroom!  I still - after over a year and a half - sometimes ask him to turn on the radio...

But actually, all of this is kind of ironic because within family (I'm talking mom, dad and brother ONLY, because it even took until just a couple years ago to be able to go at aunt, uncle our cousins' houses), we are as open as possible about the bathroom.  I have many fond memories of laying at the end of the hall and carrying on a conversation with my mom as she was on the toilet with the door wide open, or vice versa and her in the hall and me in the bathroom.  My dad wasn't quite as accepting of this as he would always yell at me to close the door, but honestly, my mom, brother and I have had some good talks between the bathroom and hallway.  (I'm terribly sorry if you are totally disgusted right now or think my family is super dysfunctional, I wasn't planning on sharing all this, but I feel it's important to understand the irony.)  Also, as you can tell by this post, I am ok talking about my problem, I just can't overcome it.

Anyway, today I was kinda sad because Yago, Arno and I had made a plan for me to come home for lunch and bring Arno back to the city center with me on my way back to work, but Yago called me on my way home to let me know that Arno was gonna go with him to Vic to see his university.  I was kinda bummed, but quickly got over it when I realized that meant I could go to the bathroom, stress free!  And it was lovely. And now I only have to hold 2 days instead of 3!

On a completely unrelated note, here are some photos of the craziness that went on right in front of my office building yesterday as we all hid with the lights off in the back of the office area during the national strike.  (No matter what I do, that last photo always turns out upside down...sorry!)

Day 18: El Camino de Santiago!

Most of you who read this already know what the camino is, but for those of you who don't, here's a brief explanation:
El Camino de Santiago is an ancient pilgrimage.  There are actually many routes, but the most famous route is La Ruta Francés.  This route starts in St. Jean Pied du Port, France and goes to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.  It is approximately 800km or 500 miles.  It traverses mountains, deserts, vineyards, wheatfields, backyards, forests, and any other possible terrain.  There are specific hostels set up along the route for the pilgrims to stay.  It can be started or stopped any time you want, any day of the year.  The year I did it happened to be a holy year, so there were thousands more doing it than normal.  There is no set schedule, route, or anything really, just walking walking walking.  So after years of hoping and saving, I got to do it two summers ago.  It took me 33 days to complete, and they were the best 33 days of my life.

During the camino I met Yago, my boyfriend, which has obviously totally altered my life, since now I live in Barcelona, Spain instead of Wichita, Kansas.

We also met Arno Krieger, who is from Germany, and the three of us walked most of the camino together.  After days and days of walking together, eating together, going to the bathroom together, and basically being inseparable, our friendship was cemented and we will forever be the three musketeers, no matter where we are in the world.  Arno has demonstrated this by coming to visit us this weekend!  He arrived yesterday, and it's as though we just saw each other yesterday instead of a whole year and a half ago!  He is exactly the same and I love, love, love him.

I'm so thankful that I was able to complete my HUGE dream of doing the camino, and especially thankful that it was so fruitful in my spiritual life, and relational life as I now have two super amazing friends out of the deal.  My life is so much richer for knowing Yago and Arno, and I just can't imagine where I would be now had I not been able to do the camino.  What a huge accomplishement and blessing!

I'm so thankful that even though countries apart, we will always have the camino bond and be able to pick up where we last left off without it seeming as though any time has passed!

God bless the camino, God bless Arno, God bless Yago, God bless achieving your dreams!!

Day 17: Learning

In order to get to the university my boss teaches at yesterday, I had to climb a big hill from the train stop.  For those of you familiar with KU's campus, it is necessary to climb a ginormous hill everyday, so I really started to miss KU.  I really miss school in general though.  I miss learning.  I miss reading.  I miss writing.  I miss stretching myself. I was always one to connect with my professors and even used to hang out with one of my english professors at his house sometimes to talk about books.  It was awesome.

While it's not quite the same as going to school, I'm trying to make the most of my job and learn as much as I can there, since it's the learning environment I have at my disposal right now.  And actually, there's quite a bit to learn there.  I'm learning not only about architecture, but about scheduling, accounting, translating and starting to get into marketing.

I've also started listening to TED talks.  I know I'm a bit behind in this fad, but I'm really enjoying it!

And I'm also really enjoying learning through my Bible study, listening to sermons from Beggars Table back in KC, and reading books John and Brandi loan me.

In the end, it's all about doing what you can, with what you have, where you are, and I'm sure trying to embrace that.

...but I do still think that someday I'll end up back in school :-)

So this is a photo of the cute little French bakery I stopped at on my way home from work today to buy a GIANT macaroon.  It was delicious and totally worth waiting in line.  I was gonna try to take a photo of the macaroon for y'all, but once again, I was overtaken by my hunger and devoured it before I realized what I had done.

Day 16: Beer

Yep.  You read that right.  Beer.

I enjoy a good beer.  This was not always so.  In my attempt to make money to do the Camino I had to take on some extra jobs.  One of them was, as mentioned in a previous post, as a cocktail waitress at the Foundry in Kansas City.  The Foundry is a beer bar.  It is attached to McCoy's Brewhouse in the Westport district of Kansas City, and as can be inferred by the name, McCoy's is a brewery.  They had their own line of microbrews as well as carrying TONS of other types of beer.  There were so many types, in fact, that it was mandatory to do at least 2 beer tastings a month (out of the 4 offered).  We had to go to the bar, get out our beer manuals, and taste about 6 different beers per tasting, then talk about them.  It was nothing short of amazing.

Before this experience, I thought beer was yucky and that all beer tasted the same.  Totally false.  Shortly after starting at the Foundry I realized that beer is just like wine in that there are a ton of variables that can make one taste totally different from another.  I for real tasted one that was EXACTLY like a ham sandwich...so weird!  These tastings weren't just fun though, they were super informative and really actually helped me to sell more beer.  I was more knowledgeable about the different types and could give informed suggestions to the customers.

One night I had a table of 4 people - 3 men and 1 woman - who were in Kansas City on business.  They told me to bring them a bottle of whatever I wanted.  I was relatively new at the time so I asked my beer goddess of a manager (seriously, she knew EVERYTHING about beer), what I should do.  She made a suggestion and went with me to the table, showed them the bottle and explained what kind of beer it was and why it was special.  They then asked where our tasting glasses were and she sent me to the bar to get them, so we sat at my table and drank with them.  (At this point I feel it important to include that we had a special beer fridge for the "fancy" beers which come in champagne sized bottles, and this is, of course, where we were getting the beer for these customers.)  When that bottle was finished they asked for another.  Then another.  And another...I think by the end of the night they had maybe 7 different kinds.  Which meant so did I.  My manager told me to go ahead and comp a couple of their bottles just because she was nice like that, so I did, and their total ended up being like $125.  Well, when all was said and done, they tipped me $105!!!  I was so excited I peed a little.  It was one of the funnest nights I've ever had, and I was working...and I was learning.

Beer is also what cemented the bond between me and my neighbors in Wichita.  Growing up, a guy a couple houses down always worked a weird shift and would sit out in his driveway and drink beer all afternoon when he got home.  He's married, a couple years older than my mom, is a Harley driver, and basically awesome.  I always thought it was so cool that he would just sit in the driveway and drink beer, totally carefree, everyday.  Eventually I thought it was so cool that I longed to turn 21 just to be able to sit in the driveway with him and knock a few back.  And as soon as I turned 21, that's just what I did.  And it was even more delightful than I had imagined.  And it became our thing.  Whenever I would head home to Wichita on the weekends I'd make sure and have some driveway time with Brian.  He became my BFF (beer friend forever).  We'd just sit and drink and talk.  Most times other neighbors or my mom would come join us.  When my brother turned 21 last year, he carried the tradition on and now he gets to sit in the driveway.  It's another one of the things I miss most about home.

Today I went to hear a lecture at the university my boss teaches at on Fridays.  The lecture was by Mark Lee of Johnston Marklee.  While the lecture itself was interesting, the thing that stuck out to me the most was that one of the professors got up at the end of the presentation and announced that there was beer waiting outside for all the students and staff.  What?!  On campus?  And at a private, opus dei university?  It was crazy!  So we all headed outside, and my boss asked me if I wanted one, and I did, so I had one.  So at 6pm today I was out in the beautiful sunshine, on a beautiful university campus, hobnobbing with important architects, drinking beer, all while on the clock.  Glorious.

Beer brings people together.  Beer is a culture all its own.  Beer is refreshing on a hot day.  So yes, I like and am thankful for beer.

No picture again.  I'm giving up on that.  I'll add them when I can and won't stress when I can't.  Sorry.

Day 15: Music (/Third Eye Blind)

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am obsessed - and I do not use that word lightly - with Third Eye Blind.  I believe Stephan Jenkins is a lyrical genius.  (Fun fact, he was valedictorian of his class at Berkeley with his degree in English literature...in spite of the fact that one of his high school English teachers told him she'd be surprised if he even graduated high school.)  I mean, have you ever heard a Third Eye Blind song??  I mean REALLY listened to what he's saying?  Le sigh.  So.  Amazing.

Stephan's brought me through many sad/happy/angry times, and I probably spent 33% of my college nights driving in the country and across Clinton Lake Dam with my windows down and 3EB (that's short for Third Eye Blind, in case you weren't already hip and didn't know that) blaring my ear drums out.  However, while I can credit him with 99.9% of my music listening enjoyment, I will admit I sometimes, occasionally, listen to other artists and enjoy them as well.  And it makes sense that I should enjoy music so much since I like poetry so much.  Because that's what music is.  Especially Third Eye Blind's.  For real.

So yesterday I was cleaning my apartment.  Like on my hands and knees, good-'ole-elbow-grease-scrubbing toilets, bathtubs and floors kinda cleaning.  And while doing so, I had my iPod on shuffle.  I find that when I have music on, I am approximately 5,893% more productive, especially when it comes to chores.  Why is this?  No idea.  But it works.  And when I have my iPod on shuffle I re-discover old faves and become nostalgic and think about all the wonderful memories I have made.  Man I'm awesome.

This photo is unrelated.  Just wanted to show off the awesome brownies I just made.

Day 14: Me Time

I basically had a boyfriend from the age of 16 to 23.  For those of you who are in, or have ever been in, a relationship, you know how life-consuming they are.  I realized, once I broke up with my boyfriend of 5 years, that I had no idea what to do with myself.  What on earth would I do with all my free time?  Faced with the knowledge that I was completely and ridiculously helpless on my own, I was basically repulsed by myself and was determined to change that.  So, on July 18th, 2009, I took myself on my first date.  It was awesome.  I went and had my favorite meal (penne rosa) at Noodles and Company at the Zona Rosa outdoor shopping center in Kansas City.  At first I felt like a major loser eating by myself, but luckily I had brought along my treasured Saul Williams' ,Said the Shotgun to the Head and got lost in his beautiful words.  After dinner I meandered through the area looking in the shop windows and enjoying the lovely summer day, when I came across an outdoor Irish rock concert.  It was sooo good!  I even bought a cd of their music, and went home completely content.

I had actually been asked out on a date that night, and it took EVERYTHING in me to say no.  I had already made my plans with myself and had decided I needed to be serious about it, and I'm so glad that I was.  I'm a person who ALWAYS needs to have plans.  I like being busy.  I need to be busy.  But in being so busy, I had lost - or more accurately never found - myself.

When I first moved to Spain I struggled a lot with this.  I had no friends.  No church.  No school.  No social events of any kind.  It was really hard for me.  However, after a little more than a year and a half, I once again find myself cramming my schedule as full as I can.  Sometimes I really like it, but I also realize I need still need some me time every now and again.

So, after a weekend in Paris and another weekend in Valencia, I decided to declare this past weekend mine (with the exception of Elena's birthday party which had been planned long ago).  It was soooo hard for me to tell Anna at work that I couldn't go out with her on Saturday, and it was hard to decide not to go to my house church's barbeque on Sunday (which I thought I couldn't go to anyway because of Elena's birthday party, but then realized I could).  But I knew I needed the rest.  The me time.  And I'm so glad I did.  It was still a struggle on Sunday to stay put and not head to the bbq at the last minute, but I stayed strong, and was super productive at home.  I didn't have an awesome date like other times, but just being alone, with myself, at home, was all I needed this time.

I think too many times we don't make me time a priority, and I really think it should be.

Day 13: Nature

There's this one particular mountain on the edge of Barcelona that we always go to to celebrate family birthdays.  Yesterday we went to celebrate Yago's cousin's daughter's (got it?) birthday.  Her name is Elena and she turned 5.

For those of you who don't know much about Barcelona or geography, Barcelona is basically surrounded by mountains on 3 sides and the Mediterranean on the 4th.  This is why Barcelona grows up instead of out.

Anyway, we went to this mountain - which is like a 20 minute drive from our house - and amazingly, were some of the first to arrive.  It did eventually get a bit chilly, but when we first arrived, it was beautiful out and I even took my sweater off because the sun was so delightfully warming.  There were happy puppies everywhere throughout this park/picnic area and I even got to play with a few.  We had a big meal and then Yago and I laid in the grass for a bit where I collected snail shells...there were billions!

This particular area is  pretty popular for family gatherings such as ours, so there's usually a good amount of people, there are lots of bikers and hikers passing through, and there are nice wooden paths throughout.  Because of all that, I was slightly confused - though I was not the only one - when a random shepherd walked right through the picnic area with his herd of goats and 2 sheepdogs as if it were the most normal thing in the world.  I thought it was awesome and it made my day.

(The second photo is just a bonus.  It's another one of Yagos' cousins' kids, Marc.  He's my fave ever.  I mean just look at that face!)

Day 12: Walks

Since I figured I shouldn't write about ice cream again, I picked something else I thoroughly enjoyed today.

I'm thankful that I have legs to take me places, and beautiful places to see.  It was so nice out today that when I got off work, instead of heading straight for the metro to go home, I decided to take a walk to a further metro stop.  I meandered my way down Passeig de Gracia and just took in the the beauty, the people, the weather, and the exercise.

Plus, it's walking that brought me back to Spain in the first place.  The Camino de Santiago was 33 days straight of walking, walking, walking, and it was the greatest 33 days of my life.  There's just something so invigorating and refreshing about taking a good walk out in the fresh air.

Thank you Lord for my wonderful walks and for being in a city in which walking is a necessary part of life.

No picture again today.  I'm a big fat slacker head.  At least I'm keeping up with the posts everyday!

Day 11: Living in Barcelona

Barcelona is a beautiful city.  The more I travel, the more I realize this.  Paris is also a beautiful city, but honestly, even after only 2 days, I couldn't wait to get back to Barcelona.  I missed it.  I kept comparing everything in Paris to everything in Barcelona, and found Paris wanting.

The circumstances of me being here are in themselves incredible.  I am so blessed to have met Yago, to have been welcomed into the situation I am in, and to be able to live this dream.  Sometimes it really is like I won the lottery.

I do get homesick often and miss my family and friends immensely, but when I try not to focus on that so much, Barcelona opens up to me, and it has a whole lot to offer.  I really am so lucky to be here, and I need to acknowledge that more often!

My street on my way home from House Church this evening:

Day 10: Words of Affirmation

I find it slightly ironic that I should choose this today after the topic of last night's bible study, but it really got me thinking about it...

Right now in our bible study we are going through a book called Anonymous by Alicia Britt Choley.  It's really interesting and I'm learning a lot.  Last night we discussed mankind's need for praise and applause.  Basically we were learning that God's applause should be all that matters.  Did you catch that...should be.  Honestly, for me, it's not.  This is something I really need to work on.  But sometimes it just feels so good to hear "Great job!  I'm proud of you!  You're the greatest cook ever!"   However, I will say that I don't think this necessarily means desiring words of affirmation is bad, actually I think it's totally human, I think it's needing the words of affirmation that becomes unhealthy.

All that said, today is my boss's birthday.  I'm a huge fan of birthdays.  I set my alarm to go off at midnight so I could send him a birthday greeting at the exact commencement of his special day.  I also baked him a cake.  I've always liked baking, but in Spain, I adore baking.  Everything I make is new and foreign to the people here so it's always amazing to them no matter how good or bad I think it turned out.  Everyone raves about anything I make and people are always telling me I should open a bakery here (which is actually a secret dream of mine), and it makes me feel good.

I also enjoy crafting.  I made my boss a cute little birthday card as well, full of sentimental crap that I'm always too embarrassed to actually say aloud, and he responded by telling me I'm a really good person, he's super happy to have me and he came to my desk to give me the traditional Spanish 2 kisses as thanks.  Again, I appreciated that and it felt really good to hear and be acknowledged.

My favorite job I've ever had was as a cocktail waitress at the Foundry in Kansas City.  That job is one of the things I miss most about the U.S.  It was a great place to work for many reasons, but the one that stuck out to me the most was how incredibly affirming the managers were.  I was constantly receiving words of thanks and affirmation from my superiors there and it made a HUGE difference in the atmosphere of my work environment, how I did my job, and how I felt in general.  One of those amazing managers, Mr. Paul Janasz, has actually just left the Foundry to open a new place in KC called Cafe Gratitude.  Being encouraging and affirming and life giving is innate in who he is so I think this Cafe will be perfect for him!

So basically I'm really thankful to have such awesome, encouraging people in my life and I hope I am reciprocating!

Ok, well no photo today, Yago desperately needs the computer so I don't have time to add one.

Day 9: Community Groups

I have been fortunate enough to find a great community group here in Barcelona.  Being a Christian in Spain is extremely rare, so it's hard to find Christian groups to join.  The group I'm a part of is comprised of people from the states, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Holland, Romania, England, Australia, and on and on.  It's pretty awesome.

Within that community group, I am part of a women's Bible study on Tuesday nights.  Even though I'm always exhausted by the time our discussion starts - at 9:00pm - I'm always so glad I go.  What an encouraging group of ladies.  What encouraging messages we receive.  How great God is.

I'm so glad that the Lord has given me the opportunity to take part in these groups, to grow with these people, and to just live life with them.

This photo was not planned, by the way:

As you can see they are all eating.  We eat before we talk.  Another thing I am thankful for!

Day 8: Ice cream

I love ice cream.  Love it.  Probably my favorite food ever.  And fortunately, I grew up in a family where it wasn't uncommon for my mom to throw a tub of ice cream, chocolate and caramel sauce, whipped cream and sprinkles on the dinner table and announce that it was sundae night for dinner.  Best.  Nights.  Ever.  My mom also started a tradition in our neighborhood of getting together for hot fudge brownie sundaes once a year.  We were too cheap to pay for the sundaes at the Wichita Riverfest so my mom made them instead, for a fraction of the cost.  Genius.  I carried on the ice-cream-for-dinner tradition when I lived with Dan and Connie (best roommates of my life) in Kansas City.  Dan would just laugh as he'd wake up (he worked 3rd shift) and find me sitting at the bar eating to my little heart's content right out of the Blue Bell half gallon container.  Oh Blue Bell...

Anyway, ice cream's a big part of my life.  People in Europe don't understand ice cream the way we do as Americans.  They have fancy gelato, which is also delicious, but they serve it in these teensy weensy cups that cost an arm and a leg.  I don't want a 5 euro spoonful of gelato, I want a big 'ol half gallon of Blue Bell Butter Pecan, or Braum's Chocolate Almond!  Alas, that is impossible here, but probably much better for me.

However, I made an awesome discovery today.  The only "big" ice cream you can buy here is in a long rectangular block that you cut into squares.  It says it serves 12 people...which means about 3.  When I'm really desperate, I buy these blocks of ice cream, but since they're not that great as they are, I buy lots of toppings.  Well today, I happened to remember that I have a wee bit of sacred funfetti mix leftover from some funfetti truffles I made a while back.  So I thought to myself, what would happen if I put a little of that in the blender with the vanilla ice cream and a little bit of cream (because why mess with milk when you have cream available)?  Heaven.  That's what happens.  It was so smooth...so creamy...so funfetti-licious...I made it for dessert for dinner too!  Yago approved as well.

As I mentioned before, I don't have all the tools and fancy gadgets here in Spain I used to have in the states, but I've sure become good at being innovative!

And as for the picture today...I had it all planned that I would make this wonderful concoction and then take pictures of it to put on here, but I was so overtaken by the smell of the delicious goodness that I totally forgot and just dove right in and then had nothing left to take a picture of.  Oops.

Day 7: Sunny days

Don't get me wrong, I definitely enjoy a good gloomy day once in a while, but I need the sun.  Barcelona is a great place to fulfill this need.  It is always sunny.  Whether hot or cold, and even sometimes when it's raining, the sun is shining.  It makes me so very happy.

Aside: when I lived in Kansas City I would get so desperate for the sun in the wintertime that I signed up at a tanning salon just for the "sunlight."  Yes, my need is that great.

The only thing better than a sunny day is a HOT sunny day.  That is exactly what I got on Saturday in Valencia.  It was like summer had already begun.  The sun.  The sweat.  The beer.  The company.  The festival.  Glorious.  Hallelujah.  Amen.

Day 6: Hospitality

Luckily, Yago has family in Valencia (I think he has family in just about every city in Spain, actually), so we had a free place to stay.  His dad's cousin, Lucía, hosted us.  She's super sweet and super hospitable.

I've come to realize that a great host can make or break a vacation.  Things are so much better when you're with someone who's happy to have you there, knows their way around, has favorite places to show off, and is just all-around helpful.  Yago's cousin - er, dad's cousin I guess - was one of these people.  We definitely got to see and take part in specific events in the festival we would have otherwise been clueless about...like the most epic fireworks display I've ever seen - and probably will ever see - in my life.

Hooray for the practice - and practitioners (that's a word, right??) - of hospitality.  I feel like the whole country of Spain has this practice perfected.  For reals.

Day 5: Festivals/Celebrations

Obviously I am a bit behind.  But I have a good reason.  A good reason that actually leads to my next 3 posts.

I went to Las Fallas in Valencia this past weekend.  I learned about Las Fallas through my multiple Spanish classes throughout high school and college and have always wanted to go.  However, nothing prepared me for what I just took part in.  Las Fallas is one of the most incredible things I've ever seen and experienced.

Many people in the states know about the running of the bulls, and a few know about la tomatina (the tomato throwing festival), but I find that even less know about Las Fallas.  I cannot understand this.  Las Fallas is HUGE.  It is way bigger than the running of the bulls and la tomatina combined.  It encompasses the whole city and surrounding area...and Valencia is a pretty big city!

Ok, so I've established it's huge.  But what is it?  I've heard a few different stories, but Yago's great uncle - a lifetime resident of Valencia - explained it to me as follows..."As you've seen, in big cities, many times we throw our trash on the street, especially big trash like furniture.  Since spring brings rains to cleanse the world, we find this is also a good time to clean our houses, start fresh.  So what do we do with all our trash?  We throw it in the streets.  But since spring was such a popular time to start fresh and clean-up, trash began to accumulate throughout the city.  So they started burning it.  Eventually a day was dedicated each year to this ritual burning of junk.  Later, people started making things out of their junk before setting it on fire.  Eventually it kept evolving and people started to make huge paper-mache(ish) figures that represented bad things in life - think politicians, unpopular laws, budget cuts, etc. - that also needed to be destroyed or cleansed."

So now, artists dedicate months and thousands upon thousands of dollars to build these HUGE "fallas" that are set up throughout the city for a few days, and finally are burned on March 19th.  I had an idea of how big these figures were, but seeing it in person was crazy!  And to think about how much money, and how much time these people put into these things just to BURN them after a few days is mind-blowing.

Aside from the figures, the festival entails lots of parades, lots of fireworks, lots of intricate and ornate costumes for the women (complete with Queen Amidala hair!!), lots of Christmas lights, and anything else that equals celebration!

However, the thing that struck me the most was the participation in the festival.  It wasn't just one area of the city.  It wasn't just the elite, or just the poor.  It wasn't for old people or young people.  It was ALL-inclusive.  Every person in the city was taking part.  I've never seen such a huge celebration in which everyone equally takes part.  The sense of community was amazing.  Each neighborhood or street has its own falla and is super proud of it.  Each neighborhood also has it's own community dining tent, and many even hire bands to play and have a dance tent.  The party literally lasts 5days straight.  They have meals served throughout the day, but also all throughout the night...Yago's cousin informed us that at 3am Saturday night fideos would be served.  While walking down one street I saw 6 guys cleaning out a paella pan - 6 had to do it because it was that big!  We're talking massive amounts of food, massive amounts of participation, massive figures, massive fires, and massive productions of fireworks, dancing, music, and love.

Incredible.

Day 4: Public Transportation

I am really exhausted.  I've been really exhausted for a few hours now.  So it was especially nice to have the metro carry my exhausted little body home.  I could just sit and close my eyes and listen to my music and be whisked away.

The metro is great for many reasons:
You're helping the environment
It's efficient
It's fast
You don't have to worry about parking
It forces you to be more physically active than you normally would
It gives me time to read
Or listen to sermons
Or music
Or play jetman :-)
And it's super cheap

Basically I think it's one of the greatest things ever.

I took this picture a couple weeks ago (slacker, I know).  It was taken during my morning commute:

Day 3: My kitchen

The physical, tangible item I miss the most from back home is probably my KitchenAid mixer.  I used it a lot.  I would use it even more now.  Since coming to Barcelona, I've had to basically re-learn everything I knew about cooking and baking because pre-made, pre-boxed, pre-packaged doesn't exist here.  I was super frustrated at first, but I'm actually really enjoying it now.  Don't get me wrong, I still have frustrating cooking moments, but for the most part I've gotten past the whole having to make every single thing from scratch and have become quite a good cook.

That said, I'm really thankful for my kitchen here.  I've visited lots of friends' apartments here, and even though I find our kitchen seriously lacking, theirs are always worse.  No one has mixers or blenders or anything necessary for making anything.  I don't really have a mixer either.  I don't even have one of those crappy hand mixers.  I have an electric whisk.  But it does the job.  I have learned that it is not uncommon - and according to Alisha totally the norm in South Korea - to not have an oven.  I can handle learning to make things from scratch, but not having an oven??  Preposterous.

So while today's focus isn't really anything deep or profound - I think most of these actually won't be - that's ok.  I actually think it's important to be grateful for every single thing we have and not just the big friends and family things.

So tonight, thanks to my beloved oven:

I was able to make super delicious things:

That look like this:

And since I just talked about it yesterday, I feel it appropriate to note that today was another awesome day at work.  I was busy all morning and then at 1pm, I left the office with Carlos (in his super awesome mercedez benz convertible), who is the head honcho - not gonna lie, was a little nervous about riding alone in a car with him because I thought it would be totally awkward since he's always so important and stern and imposing, but was actually pretty nice - and headed to the Barcelona Botanical Gardens.  I had never been, but OAB actually designed it, so we were giving a personal tour to the group of students from Washington State University I saw yesterday.  The park was amazing.  The students were soooo nice.  Carlos was a charming tour guide.  I was an awesome translator.  It was an incredibly beautiful, warm, sunny day...basically perfect for leaving work in the middle of the day to go walk around a garden in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  Blessed.

Day 2: My job

When I first got my job as personal assistant to an important, world-travelling architect I kind of imaged my life would be like Ryan Reynolds' in "The Proposal" or Anne Hathaway in "The Devil Wears Prada"...minus the whole boss being super evil part.  Turned out not to be the case.  I've spent most of my time being super bored and feeling totally worthless.  However, today was a great day, job-wise. I took minutes during a very important meeting with some clients from Turkey; I translated a presentation by one of the partners to a group of students from Washington State University; I had some good one-on-one time with my boss...bonding time if you will; gave another presentation to a group of students from Nebraska; hopped in a taxi and visited one of our completed works with the students; hopped back in the taxi to go home and had some good conversation with my boss on the way.

I actually felt valuable, and important, and necessary.  I felt like I was serving a purpose, and being active, and it was great!  I genuinely enjoyed showing off the gallery, presenting OAB's works, and visiting the Roca Gallery.  I work for a super talented group of people and my boss and the other employees are genuinely nice, good people.  At Christmas, my boss didn't even get a tiny bit mad that I ended up coming back to Barcelona 2 days late...instead, he rewarded me with an extra couple of days off.  If I'm ever going to be late for anything or need to change my lunch time, or anything, he's totally cool about  it.  I am sooo lucky to have this job, and to have the boss I have.I really like all the other people that work in the office too, especially one girl who I've gone out with multiple times.

In addition to all that, my office is beautiful.  I work in a world-renowned architecture firm, so it's like a given that their office should be amazing.  I have pride in what they do, and I think that's important.

I have always felt as though the Lord has placed me in exactly the jobs I need at exactly the right moments in my life.  I am lucky to even have a job right now, especially in Spain.  Unemployment here is at 23% nationwide, and about 50% for my age group.  Many of Yago's friends have been looking for a job for months and still have nothing.  Yago's sister, Raquel, who has her master's degree in something crazy like biotechnology and genetics or such, spent the last 2 years looking for a job.  She finally found one a couple months ago.  We work the same amount of hours per week.  I make considerably more money than she does.  And I don't have a master's...

So as much as I always complain about work, or worry about finding jobs, I have always been blessed with more than I could hope for.  And while everyday is not as awesome and fulfilling as today, it's still a huge blessing.  How lucky I am to live in Barcelona, to have a job in Barcelona, and especially a job that's not completely awful like tele-marketing or teaching English like most other English speakers here.  How grateful I am for the job that I have.

Just in case you're interested, OAB's (Office of Architecture in Barcelona) website is here.

And here's a photo I took from our Roca Gallery field trip today:

Also, I'd like to make a disclaimer.  My photos on here will not be works of art.  Most of them will be quick snapshots.  While I hope to work on my photography during this time, I mainly just want to get back in the habit of taking pictures.

That is all.

Day 1: Grandparents

So one of my New Year's resolutions for 2011 was to read at least one book a month.  I love reading.  I hate deciding on what books to read.  If I have a list, I do great, if I don't, I don't read anything.  Anyway, I think that was the first resolution I ever kept.  While I read many interesting books last year, one of them really stuck with me: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  It's not like the book was some super great book, or the writing was special, it was just a book that really hit home.

In this book, Rubin talks about her quest for happiness and how she decided to take it into her own hands.  There were many things she wanted to change about herself, but just didn't do it.  So she made herself a resolution chart with a different topic for each month: energy, relationships, work, etc., and then followed that chart and tracked her progress each month.  I thought this sounded like a great idea since I can think of no less than one billion things I'd like to change about myself, so I started drafting up a chart.  However, I do not do well with patience, and I kept trying to make all my changes at once.  Instead of doing little by little each month, I kept trying to change every single thing in one day.  And would fail.  And try again.  And fail again.  Until I eventually just gave up.  That's where this blog comes in.

So today, I was going through my facebook newsfeed and saw that one of my friends' updates mentioned starting a "blogrimage."  A what?!  I didn't really know, but I like blogs, and I like pilgrimages, so I was intrigued.  After a little investigation I discovered it's this awesome movement that starts on March 12th.  Today!  Normally I find out about these things like the day AFTER they start, and then just don't do them because of that, but this one seemed to be my destiny.

Without going into a whole lot of detail I will just mention that I feel like I am destined to write.  I don't know how.  I don't know what.  I don't know when.  But someday, I will call myself a writer.  Thus writing was a really important item on my resolution chart.

I don't feel like I'm destined to be a photographer, but I'd like to be really good at it.  I have a nice camera.  I like to take photos, but I haven't really worked on making myself better.  I feel like now is a good time to start.

I've also really felt the need to express gratitude lately.  I feel like I don't do it enough.  I also feel like I take much of the world around me for granted, especially the little things.  I want to change that.  So I'm going to.

Therefore, I dedicate my blogrimage to gratitude.  And I will use writing and photography as my medium.  I think that the idea of a blogrimage is awesome.  I think the idea of actually doing it and sticking to it for 30 days is impossible.  But I am in love with impossibility, so I think I'm set.

All that said, I would like to dedicate my first gratitude post to my grandparents:

I have so many things to be thankful for, and since both of the lovely people in the photo above have birthdays AND celebrate their wedding anniversary in the month of March, I felt it appropriate to start with them.  Virgel and Kathryn Miller are my Grammie and Grandpa Miller.  They are two of the most amazing people I've ever met, and it is a privilege to call them my grandparents.  I love them like whoa.  My grandpa is one of the hardest working people on the planet.  He can fix anything.  He has the greatest stories and the funnest toys.  He'll kick your butt at pool, and sing you out of the water in karaoke.  My grammie is one of the smartest people I know.  She probably knows more about computers than I do.  She is one of the best cooks ever.  She skypes me more than anyone and is a religious reader of my blog (queenkelbelle.xanga.com).  She can also sew anything.  She still travels a lot and is even working on rounding up a bunch of my family members to come visit me in Spain this summer!

Both of them are nothing short of amazing.  As a kid I always loved going to their house because I would get to sleep on the floor in their bedroom and every single night they watched "Married With Children" together and I got to watch it with them.  They would also both talk and talk and talk (actually still do) when they went to bed.  I think that's amazing.  They're in their 80s, have been married FOREVER and still have so much to say to each other.  I find that so beautiful and encouraging.

They have a gorgeous farm out in western Kansas that I adore.  While they don't live there anymore, it is still probably in better condition than 95% of the farms that are still lived in!  I have so many memories there, and that farm and all that it represents has been so formative in who I am.  Even though I live in Barcelona, I am ALL Kansas, and I know it's because of all the precious time I spend with my grandparents.  I think their way of life and who they are is beautiful and I hope that my life and who I am can be a reflection of that beauty.

Basically I love, love, love them and respect them as much as is humanly possible.

This is my grandma Dorothy Beckman.  She too is a super cool lady.  She can quilt like a fiend and makes the most delicious chocolate cookies.  She says some of the funniest things, and her faith is remarkable.  She's one of the sweetest people in the whole world.

In 2008 my grandpa Beckman passed away and while I know my grandma was and is really sad about it, I've never seen her depressed or wallowing in her grief; she accepted it for what it was and kept on going.  The way she's handled it is really inspirational for me and I respect her immensely for it.

I fondly remember sleep-overs at grandma and grandpa Beckmans' watching Johnny Carson and wearing Grandma's old nightgowns.  I loved waking up and having her make me cinnamon toast...especially since I have yet to meet anyone who can make it quite like her...and playing rounds of Candyland with me.  And of course I always enjoyed hearing her Epaminondus bedtime story.  No one can tell it the way she can.

Wow, I guess I had more to write than I thought...and I could even keep going but really need to get to bed.

I kind of cheated today because I took the top picture at Christmas and the second picture I didn't even take (obviously, since I'm in it), but I felt I could cheat a bit on my first day since I just found out about this blogrimage idea in the first place.

Un beso a todos!