being home, etc...

i sort of figured but never really thought much about how hard it would be to go from doing the amount of traveling and exploring and meeting new people and speaking another language all the time to being home in san diego where no one is out of school yet and i just as a general rule don't have much to do. thankfully now i am just starting my internships at unasd and the irc, going to the gym, getting back into the hang of hanging out with people, etc... but i have been so beyond bored in a kind of (okay, really) pathetic way.

i miss barcelona. i miss the freedom, i miss the momentum, i miss my spanish gym and the sights and smells and sounds of the city. i miss morning bakery runs and walking through born's windy sun-streaked streets. i know i complain(ed) a lot, but i had such a wonderful time abroad. entonces, bcn, gracias por todo. ojala que nos vemos pronto?

distant thoughts on catalunya

when we were in lisbon, the guys we met mentioned a dislike of barcelona (compared to madrid) that they said was linked to the city's "anarchist vibe." "you mean.. the catalan thing?" i asked, surprised by their reaction to what i was beginning to learn about the history of catalunya.

looking back, this "vibe," the catalan presence in barcelona, was one of my favorite things about the city. i think the history of catalan culture, so suppressed politically and linguistically under franco, plays a fascinating role in the way this city behaves. in my last few weeks in barcelona i kept thinking, i wonder what it means to speak this language that is not technically needed to communicate with anyone (i could be wrong, but i don't know that anyone only speaks catalan). what does it mean to speak and create in a language that exists for reasons other than use-value? to make the choice to communicate in catalan because it signifies a history is, i think, very important and very interesting. to resist what gloria anzaldua calls "linguistic terrorism" is very important, very interesting. this is a reason to study language and literature, there is a free-ing there.

adios y tal

today was sunshine and chicken sandwiches and last minute postcard souvenirs and passion fruit martinis and sushi and lovely catherine and 3am walk home with albert talking about barcelona and traveling and coming back and staying home. hasta luego, bcn; you've sure been swell.

goodbye daytrip, sand between our toes

kelly and i spent the most lovely lazy sunshine-y day today at a little town an hour out of barcelona called sant pol de mar. the beach was beautiful and isolated and i just read and napped and cooled off in the mediterranean sea (also, got very sunburned). tomorrow is my last day in barcelona and my plans are to relax and meet catherine for margaritas and walk down my favorite streets and get ready to finally fly home. i will enjoy old comforts, i will not indulge in (bad) old habits.

sant jordi i el drac

yesterday was sant jordi's day, a very catalan holiday when all barcelona girls get roses from barcelona boys and boys get books from their girls. the whole city was packed like i've never seen it, and the streets are lined with roses of all kinds and books of all kinds for people to pick up along the way. kelly, tara and i got roses from the boys and found them these vintage catalan cookbooks for housewives. it was all very valentine's 2.0.

also, i know it makes me beyond boring, but i just want to go home. i have appreciated this opportunity so much but i am done.

or, dramatic change of plans:

staying in barcelona hostel for 7 nights until my flight back to the states. biggest bummer.

south of france tomorrow for sure