Hola todos!
Not a whole lot to report today, I
think that I need to find some people to get me out of the house to do
something. I was finally able to talk to one of the people who work in the hostel
who speaks like 3 or maybe 4 languages: Spanish, Catalan, Russian, and I think
another one. Anyway, we talked with her; in Spanish might I add, for a good 20
min about the apartment, the town, the room and such. So then we go out for a
bit to see what we could find in the way of food. Yesterday we went out to go
for a walk when we found a store whose name was Verduras y Frutas. We were so
happy! Those of you who don’t know Spanish, this is a fruit and veggie shop.
This shop has the best fruits and veggies! I bought a pink lady that, surprise,
has no wax on it. Also, I bought a few carrots that are THE BOMB. They are so
tasty, so fresh, and so local! (Cue mom, who for those of you that don’t know,
my mom is going back to school to get a degree in sustainability and is/was
working on a project about green businesses and locally obtained foods). So
anyway, we went back there today to get some goods, and decided to walk around
a bit. Wow, you can really see the tourists if you stop looking at all the
buildings yourself. They are the ones with the cameras out and only looking at
the screens of their phones or cameras to try to the perfect picture. I do
admit I would like to get a good picture, but at the cost of looking like a tourist,
I wait.
We came back to the apartment
(which is actually just a room, but in here I seem to want to call it that, so don’t
get it confused, I will let you know when I actually get a place =]) to put the
veggies down in the room and as we were going to leave, the lady we were talking
to earlier opened the door and let a person in. As she came in, she explained
that this was her daughter. So we all got to talking and Jenna asked her about
her daughter (she is 24). Some more talk happened and I asked her where we
could find some good food. Her mom piped in and said that she speaks English.
Oh, this was too much for Jenna to handle; she said “well, now I have to test
your English”! (Keep in mind, any time I don’t specifically say what language we
are using, it’s Spanish =]. ) She goes on to say that there are really good
dishes in the Plaza Catalunya in the bars. I asked her how much and she said
about 10 euros, maybe 20 or 30 for a regular appetizer, and if you wanted meat
it was going to be even more. By Merlin’s beard! So we finished talking and I asked
her how to say post card in Spanish. Her mom proceeded to talk to the daughter
in Russian. Of course Jenna piped up again with this and started in with some Russian
too. It was cool to hear them talking in their native language (we could tell
they were not Spanish.
So we decided to not go to P.
Catalunya and walk around for a bit. We found some very very cool buildings and
tried not to look like tourists, but look at the same time: amazing stuff so
far. As we were walking home, we found a grocery store, a supermarket kind of
store, and got some breads and meats for the makings of tapas again =] As we
were walking around the store Jenna decided that she wanted something to make
her stomach feel better, she went over to the soda isle and found a 6-pack of
7-up for .35 euros! Yes, you read that right, 6-pack for .35 euros. They are
regular cans too, not small ones. We also found a, funky looking, 2 liter
bottle for 1 euro, crazy cheap. So Jenna buys that and some other things, and I
check out. As we are walking home, we keep telling each other not to smile, and
to stop being so friendly. Again, for those of you who are unaware, Europeans are
not as friendly on the streets as we are. That’s the main thing that sticks you
out as a North American. It’s really hard, especially for us. Also, the speed
at which we walk is another thing that makes you stick out. They walk with a
destination in mind, but they don’t rush there like we do.
So other than that, not a whole lot
happening yet, just laying here in my single bed listening to the sound of a
jackhammer in the bed next to me, and the loud North Americans in the room next
door. I can see why the think we are loud now, because the only people they
have to base their stereotypes off of are the drunks and the teens that come
here on spring break. I can see why they don’t like “us”.
That’s all for tonight!
Habla luego
-Fuego
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