Paul in March

So... Paul went skiing halfway through March, and he ended up falling and breaking his arm. He was out of school for 2 weeks, and I helped out and got him out of the house for a few days.

His arm is in a soft cast because his humerus is broken.. the upper part. And to put it in a hard cast would mean casting it all around his back, and they just dont do that anymore. But he's pretty find in a soft cast.. I never see him complain. He didn't even cry when he broke it.. just kept skiing and occasionally pointing to his arm and "ee-ing".

Day 1: Monday 28th

I had Paul from 10am-2pm, and that was EXTRA early for me. He was in a good mood though and we took the bus down to the beach for a walk. We made a pitstop at Toni's to take Cuca for a walk... and it was so cute.

Paul's walked Heidi's dog, Maggie, before.. but Maggie is so big and she just pulls Paul around. Cuca is small so it was a lot different... Paul would stop to touch a motorbike, Cuca would stop to smell something... it made me think that Paul could have a dog!

We made our way to the beach and it was so beautiful out and we enjoyed the sun and sand and had a little rest to watch the waves.

But poor Paul can't go swimming for 2 months while his arm heals...

Day 2: Tuesday 29th

Today I had Paul from 2pm-6pm, and since Toni had a soccer game at 5 we made our way over there. Paul has practically no attension span.. so I didn't know how he would do. But he was so cute and laughed a lot and watched the game... in his own way.

Day 3: Thursday 31st

Today was hilarious. I had Paul from 10am-2pm again.. and we went down to Plaça Catalunya and I TRIED to walk down La Rambla but Paul had his own ideas... he dragged me a different way and on towards the Cathedral. We had a cheese sandwich outside at 11... and then he practically ran into the church.

I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it for myself... but we were in there for an hour. AN HOUR. He would find a bench... sit for a while... tap on it... and then get up and walk around and explore something else... and just when I thought it was time to go... he would find a different bench and sit down. I couldn't get him to leave. And he was so good... he had random outburts and I would tell him to be quiet or we had to leave, and he kept pointing to the bench because he wanted to stay. I tried to get him to leave by walking out to see the geese...

But after he saw them (aka paid them no attention) he went right back and found a spot on a different bench. I was so bored... I stared at every detail of the stained glass and the organ... but an hour in the Cathedral is enough for anyone. We saw so many tour groups come in and out... and he kept wanting to sit close to them. Maybe he was listening...

Finally after over 50 minutes he got the giggles and the... the "shouts". He was the opposite of quiet and I kept warning him and threatened to leave and even got up and tried to walk out... telling him that we've in a church and people are praying and we have to be quiet! But he just yelled louder and pointed to the bench. I asked him if he wanted to see Toni... and he said "TuhTuh" and pointed to the bench.... Sorry buddy, Toni wasn't coming to sit with us.

I didn't know how I was going to get him out... so I put on my really excited voice and told him Toni was waiting for us at his school (which was half true) and he finally got up and I directed him to the door so he didn't run to another bench.

Oh Paul.... some days he really surprises me.

Random March

March was full of a lot of fun little experiences....

On the 19th Toni and I went for a hike (kinda) and up to the huge tower thing by Tibidabo to see the view. So nicee....

Later that night we were in the Born district looking for a gift for his dad because it was father's day, and his dad's saint day. We stumbled upon a foc thing.... i don't really know what it's called. But it's really fun to watch...

FOC means FIRE... and it's so funny to hear people say it

This video is right at the beginning of the (for lack of a better word) performance. It's not so exciting with the fire-crackers/sparklers, but you can hear the drums really well...

Then the people, who are dressed like devils, basically run around and dance with these long sticks that have sparklers on the end... they spin around really fast and it creates really nice visuals...

The BEST part of the performance was when one of the firework things fell off the poll.... we saw it race across the street, hit the wall we were sitting at, and then get stuck right under our feet. We were sitting on a bench that was slanted funny, so when Toni picked his feet up too quick, he fell backwards into the crowd and onto his back... poor thing... but a great laugh.

On Wednesday the 23rd it was MY Saint Day :D Toni took me out to dinner at La Mamma and we had some really good pizza and an amazing sangria that was orange and made from cava instead of wine.... such a nice night out... he's such a good boyfriend :)

And on Friday the 26th I found a new BAGEL place!!!! It was soooo good! And Toni and Tiago finally got to try their first bagel.... for a long time Toni thought it was a donut... bagels are really hard to explain to people who don't know what they are. The virgins loved them.

The last exciting thing from March was that a friend of Jacqueline's from Boston came here for a long weekend with family friends and I showed them around! Jen and Justin were here to celebrate Justin's mom's birthday, and on Thursday I took them around La Rambla, BoDeB, Santa Maria, Cathedral and some more... we walked 5 miles. Dying.

They were staying in an AMAZING flat called Casa Serra. It was incredible... Toni & I were invited to the party on Friday night (25th) and we had a lot of fun with the kids and the family. Here's a little glimpse of the apartment:

And on their last night in Barcelona we went to have dinner and drinks with them and we bumbed into EL GAT!

It was to be around some Americans, and Toni & I are going to visit them in Boston this summer!

So that is the end of March.... and April is already looking so busy!

Calçotada

Finally a Calçotada!

This is the time of year for the traditional Catalan bbqs.... calçotadas.

I went with Toni's family to a nice restaurant in the mountains for my 1st calçotada experience..

The 1st round is the calçots. They're like long huge onions... andI hate onions. I was really scared to try them...

First you take off the outer charred layer of black, then you dip it into the red sauce thats a mix of red peppers, nuts, garlic and some other stuff... and then you eat. Delicious. Toni probably ate 20 while I ate about 8. And it practically filled me up.

Your hands get really dirty so you have to wash them after haha

The next round was the meat...

Steaks, pork, sausage, ribs... all kinds of mysteries meats that I had to try! But it was all really good. Joan Ignasi (Toni's brother - aka BRU) is like an animal with food... he ate so much, and never touched the fork.

After the huge meal we all walked around so we didnt explode on the ride home. Toni's mom drank like half a bottle of wine... and I don't remember what we were talking about, but he told them that I don't want to be part of their family... and in her tipsy state she got upset and kept asking me why... I had to punch Toni for that one. & later on in the walk Agnes was talking about how full she was their mom said it was because she was pregnant... and that she better be careful because twins run on both sides, and she was a twin herself. I told her that my brother and sister are twins.......... now she wants me to have tonis twins so she can take care of them hahahah

But it was a nice little walk after a really good meal.

St Patricks Day

As we all know in the states, St Patricks Day is March 17th and is one of the biggest drinking nights of the year. What they know in Spain - is nothing. This was all the Spanish people's 1st St Patties... so thank goodness it landed on a Thursday so we could actually enjoy it.

I spent all the morning shopping for green shirts for me and Toni. What I ended up with was a turqoisey-green mix that practically matched... looked good and green in the dark... and blue in all the pictures.

At least his socks were green.

We went to Ryan's Irish Pub in the gothic district to meet up with friends of Toni's brother. We had some 1€ beer and .50€ green shots... and to my happy surprise - they had green beer!!!!!! I really didnt think there would be any in Barcelona... lucky us. And Toni had his 1st Irish Car Bomb and almost threw it back up. But he got a hat for drinking Guiness and he was happy.

Thursday night was a VERY busy night for us... we left Ryan's and went to the Chinese bar/restaurant that everyone from Toni's uni goes to to get drunk. And that we did. I taught the bartenders how to make lemon drop shots, and the brain hemmorage shot, and we had a nice time with those.

After that, Toni, Emma, Andreea & I took the bus down to Port Olympic to meet up with Toni's friends from high school who were having their uni party.... In Spain the universities make parties for different things, and this party was for completing half of the degree.

It was pretty posh and a lot of fun, and everyone loved the cool hats.

Busy busy late night.... and a St Patties Day to remember!

Carnival!

So... before LENT there is Carnival... a week of crazy parties to get all your sinning out before your give things up for 40 days. It's the same thing as what happens in Brazil, and as Mardi Gras.

The biggest celebration around Barcelona is in Sitges... a 40 minute train ride south. And it was insane.

Sunday night (6th) I went with my favorite gay men, Edwin, Kym, and Andres.

They were half naked, and the life of the party haha... we hung out around the beach and watched the parade. We had like 5 liters of sangria for 15€ and it was so strong and so good... We mingled with the people around us and met some really NYPD guys... They handcuffed me and beat Edwin with their stick.. and it created a wonderful friendship haha

Since that Sunday night, we have partied with the cops... wait.. names.. Craig on the left from England, and Cedric on the right from France. We hung around them until we all got lost (and we did get lost...)

The next major night was Tuesday... and this time Toni came. So Carnival is the Halloween of Europe -- except it's meant to be funny, not scary. So we were very funny.

We hung out with the boy crew for a while before finding some Americans at a bar... and we had a nice view of the main street in Sitges

You would never think this was a Tuesday night. It was madness..... we hung out til maybe 430ish and then took the long drive back to Barcelona.

There was, of course, a police checkpoint for the highway... and Toni had to blow to prove his sobriety.... He blew JUST the right amount... and the police said if this was last year, he would have been in trouble...

INTERESTING FACT ABOUT SPAIN!

The longer you have your drivers license, the more alcohol you're allowed to have in your blood while you drive.... every few years the number changes for you, so you can drink more and drive more..... thoughts?

My 1st Carnival experience, and hopefully not my last! Next year - Canaries!

Lady Gaga

After reading Matthew's story and laughing about it all day...

As I was eating lunch this random heterosexual frat bro came up to me and said, "Yo dude, that looks like super healthy! Are you like a health freak? Or are you getting a head start on summer?"

My response? "Actually I saw the new Lady Gaga video and was inspired so I googled her meal plan and tried to duplicate it."

He gave me a look that I interpreted as 'WOW That is the gayest thing I have ever heard in my life.' He then said, "That's cool" and walked away.

...I decided to watch new Born this Way video.

My 1st reaction.... WOW. I hated it... but I watched this little girl Maria Aragon sing it because she has over 17 million hits, and I liked it more...

Then I really wanted to see the lyrics....

So I watched this: Born This Way with Lyrics and I stopped at 2:28 and thought about it...

She already mentioned GOD in the song... and she's talking about "Capital H-I-M"..

this can be taken as HIM or Him... Him = God... but what is HIM? & she says:

"A different lover is not a sin; Believe capital H-I-M."

GOD would not say that a different lover is not a sin....

GOD wants us to have only 1 lover.... so H-I-M isn't God....

And I googled that.... and found this: H-I-M Discussion

H-I-M = His Infernal Majesty = Satan

Of course it does..... Satan WOULD tell you to have different lovers......not God.

I'm not trying to get all religious... I'm just stating the facts......

I DO think the song has a positive message though.... but the whole HIM thing.. weird.

Manresa

Happy Monday! Last day of February... bring on March!

During my free-time (aka when I'm bored) I check out the Barcelona group on CouchSurfing to see what's going on.... people are getting together to go to museums, have movie night, hiking, running... all kinds of things.

I found one post about people going to this thing called Fira de l'Aixada... I looked it up... and decided I wanted to go too! It's a medieval market in a town about 40 minutes outside of Barcelona. I invited Alexia (Paul's sister) because I know she loves medieval things, and she was more than excited to come with me and Toni.

We got up early on Saturday morning and were in the town Manresa around 11am. After a sausage sandwich for breakfast.. I was ready to go.

The whole city center was decorated to look medieval... there were 7 different squares to visit with different shows and activities going on all day.

There were so many booths to look at, and we saw them all. Alexia got her name written in a medieval calligraphy and it came out really nice.... and right afte that, it was time for the King and Queen to arrive!

There were towns people and nobles walking around, drunks and gypsies... there was even a town retard on a leash... and they gave him to Alexia haha... everyone loved Alexia all day. The people who participated in this fair were really great and were always in character.

Of course I loved the human castle... because I had only seen it on TV. It's a typical Catalan... activity? Sport? Hobby? I don't know what it is... but people compete and work harddd and the castles can be really huge. There's always little kids at the top so it is really dangerous... but really cool to watch.

We also went inside an old medieval... place. Toni and Alexia said it used to be the street of the town... and then it got covered up and kind of lost, now it's being restored and turned into something... I dunno... I don't speak Catalan and Toni doesn't pay attention.

The best thing about the festival for me was that Alexia was in heaven! She always said she wishes she could live in medieval times and see what it was like.. and this was pretty close! We both felt like we weren't even in Spain... or at least not in the 21st century... it was so well done... it smelled like medieval times (I guess)... It was really nice to spend the day with her :)

We took a break from the market and went to a chuch right down the road...

In 1512 Ignasi of Loyola visited Manresa after visiting Montserrat. He lived there for almost a year, and while he was there he spent time in a cave and wrote a book about religious practice... he carved some crosses in the cave........ He created the Jesuit demonination and later he became a saint. So... this cave has become a shrine, and you can still see the crosses that he carved 500 years ago.

Toni went to the school called Saint Ignasi... so he knew all about it; his school used to go spend the night in the hotel and have religious retreats and stuff...

It was a nice little break before heading back to the market... Toni was exhausted by this time (4pm) so we hung out a little more and bought some goodies - cheese and cake. Everything we bought during the day started with the letter C... Corn, Candy apple, Cheese, Cake... so good.

By the time we reached Barcelona we were all exhausted... it was a long day and lots of fun.

2-23

Wellll my show is taking way too long to load so I decided to make a post. It's the last week of February and I'm ready for March... But let me recap the last month.

In the beginning of the month it was the Chinese New Year, so Toni & I went to look around.

It was actually a lot cooler than we expected and we felt like we spent time in Little China.

Valentine's Day was on a Monday this year, so we had a party the Saturday before. I made a bunch of heart-shaped cookies with different [naughty] pictures on them and some words, loving and also naughty. I had a huge sangria mix with cava, strawberry juice, and some rum... and we were ready to party.

It was a total cock-fest. There were way too many boys and not enough girls, and although I was feeling bad about it, no one seemed to care.

Jhuvi, Denys, Isabel, Me, Tom, Kym

ALSO! New Americans came... so I made some new friends for the semester. And the party was quite successful... after the 1st round of sangria-mix I made some insane mixture that got everyone wasted... it had red wine, white wine, orange juice, vodka... Lord knows what. And we all drank it out of this typical Catalan contraption that is really fun and really messy... if you don't know what you're doing it gets all over you. We all know from experience.

We were all wasted... Toni & I didn't even go out and I woke up with my clothes on... One boy fell asleep on a bench in the middle of no where and got pickpocketed, 1 guy ended up at the police station after getting in a fight, 2 people hooked up that we never expected, and one car got broken into and the people stole 3 boys jackets... so basically... we're glad we passed out early.

This past weekend our friend Tiago had 2 friend's in town from Portugal. We had a nice Portuguese dinner and played some drinking games that got us all way too full of sangria. We walked to some Chinese bar where I got to meet all of Toni's friends from his major - geography. So that was nice to finally meet the people he talks about and that I see in pictures.

Portuguese boys & Emma

And after a bunch of us went to Nick Havanna's for a while to dance. Lots and lots of fun... but a little too much Spanish music for me... everyone gets so excited and I have no idea what's going on haha... at least I had the Portuguese boys there who were also clueless.

Pinky, Me, Tiago, Toni

So it's been a good month... we have some fun plans this weekend.... so STAY TUNED!

Montserrat

Hellooo February!

Yesterday, after waking up around 1PM, Toni & I decided to spend a few hours at Montserrat before I had to babysit. His mom, who has been there many times, suggested otherwise...... going at 9AM. So this morning I woke up at 730 and left at 8 to go spend the morning at Montserrat.

Montserrat is a mountain about 35 minutes outside of Barcelona, and I've wanted to go since this summer. It's been a sacred area since the 12th century when the Black Madonna was found there... it's a statue of the Virgen Mary holding baby Jesus, and they have black faces. She's the patron saint of Barcelona and very important to the Catalans.

On top of the mountain is a monastery where a bunch of monks live and pray for the world. There's also different religious points throughout the mountain that you can walk to, and a handful of hiking trails to spend the day on. (I sound like such a tour guide)

After months of pestering Toni... we finally made it there.

Beautiful blue day with no clouds in the sky... and freezing cold temperatures. I didn't expect it to be so cold... because I didn't use my brain to think about how this is a mountain. There was snow in some places.....

Of course, being fat people, we were starving and spent a small fortune on a small breakfast. I got the traditional cheese that can only be bought in this area... I forget what it's called... but it's like cottage cheese I guess. I've never had cottage cheese. But I added honey to it, and the tasteless blobs of cheese became sweet and delicious and Toni reminisced about his childhood.

It almost looks like eggs and cheese in this picture... but it's not :P I even bought some cheese for tonight and tomorrow! And some honey to go with it :)

We started our freezing day by getting into the sun... Now.. Toni hardly ever curses (in English)... but today he was throwing out the F-bomb like it was candy at a parade... I kept reminding him (through my punches) that we were at a SACRED mountain... but he kept forgetting.

We headed to the church but we couldn't go in unless we wanted to hear the church services.. and since it was over an hour long in a different language I passed. We walked all around and he explained all the religious meanings of everything... he acts like he doesn't know a lot about these kind of things.. but he's a religious and Spanish history genious compared to me.

We stuck some coins in a bin and grabbed a red candle before heading over to the walk with a million candles all lit for personal, important reasons.

Toni read the prayers to me and we finally picked our candle's final resting place. Unfortunatly, I burned the sides of the red plastic and our candle looked quite black... but our ugly, deformed candle was still perfect for our prayers (that his mom made sure we remembered to say).

We still had some time to spare before checking out the church, so we went on quick walk that I can never say right so I know I won't type it right... but it's the walk that goes through the 12 stages of Jesus's death and resurrection. It was too quick - and next time we will go on a LONG walk, but it had a nice view of the monastery.

When it was finally time to go inside the church... we were greeted by the scent of incense and a surprisingly small group of people. I've read that when it's busy you have to wait in line for everything, and we had basically no lines. But it was beautiful. Stained glass, incense holders every 2 feet, it seemed magical.

We went through the small rooms with a breeze that I'm sure have had long lines twisting through them, walked under the Arc of Angels, up the Stairway of Saints, and went right to her....

THE BLACK MADONNNAAA!!!

In all her splendid glory. I read that she was found in that exact place and the monks weren't able to move here so they built the santuary around her... I don't know about that... but she really had a lot of decorations around her. And her ball (that represents the universe) is meant to be touched or kissed... but I didn't believe Toni so I didn't do it... but it's true.

After walking through the backways of the church, we reentered and got our seats for the boys choir.

This choir is the oldest boy's choir in Europe... having been around since the 13th Century, and it's become one of the most famous and renound choirs in Europe. I did some research on them, and the ages range from 10-14 and the boys live on the mountain during this time. I swear when they started singing I almost cried... it was so light and singular and so beautiful.. made me miss being in choir!

It was a wonderful morning... we left by 2 and were back in Barcelona for lunch and work. When it gets warmer I want to spend more time there and explore more of the mysteries of Montserrat.

Laberinth

Toni is back!!!! YAY! & we didn't waste anytime to go on adventuressss

On Sunday (30th) we went to el Parc del Laberint, which I have wanted to explore for a while.

It wasn't too cold... and it wasn't too crowded, so it was just about perfect.

The parc was so nice... there were statues and gardens and dirty ponds with fish... It must be so nice when it has flowers and it's not just green. But it was a nice escape from the city.

Even though it's still inside Barcelona, it's on the edge of the city and it's also on the edge of the mountain, so compared to Parc Ciutadella, it's very foresty, and it's not on flat ground... there's stairs and hills and a little waterfall.

The actual laberinth was in the center of the park, and it wasn't that big... but it did keep us lost for a while. And since it had been raining the day before there were big mud puddles that we had to maneuver around and jump across. But we made it to the center in 8 minutes.

Getting out was harder... we thought there were other exits.. but we had to go back out the way we entered and it took 13 minutes to get out haha... we were basically alone, except for about 6 screaming, running teenage boys.... seems like a good place to get your energy and play

It was a really nice day in the parc and I recommend it to everyone! I even ran into some Americans that I knew!

Later that night we met up with another couple and went for a walk to Buenas Migas in the raval and had some tea and cookies...

It was strawberry mango tea and it was soooo so good.

We spent the rest of the night eating pizza, patatas bravas, and watching the Espanyol game outside of Barcelona at Rodrigo's house. Espanyol lost.... and in our depression we played the games on xbox that you move your body... I beat Toni in boxing and he was mad at me the rest of the night :)