vida

Living in this apartment is hilarious. Anna and Megumi are such characters. They both love to make these silly sound effects to communicate. Every night at dinner we like to try to talk like civilized people, but at some point in our story-tellings or general conversations we come across words we have to teach each other or try to act out. It's kind of like playing Taboo/Gestures in another language. I have begun to call it "teatro de la mesa". The other night it was the word hazelnut. We taught it to Anna, but her accent is so strong, it comes out like hate-chel-noot.

Speaking of which, I love Spaniard's accents, like the way they speak Castellano. I really hope I learn to speak fluently here so I can speak like them. Their lisps and the way their tongues make soft whispery sounds when they talk...I guess the tongue hits the roof of the mouth here more. It's more poetic than the way we learn at school.

A problem happened. In the bathroom. The other day I went and when I pulled the cord (because people have "water closets" here where the tank is on the wall) it snapped way up high somewhere in the tank. UGH! I thought I was home alone and went outside thinking I would go talk to Anna at her store, but instead I went back in and walked to the bathroom. Keep in mind, this is the only bathroom in the apartment. Someone was in there! Terror. Who was it and how would they react when they realized the toilet no funcionar? It was Laura and she asked me if I knew anything about the status of the toilet. I explained to her and we got out a ladder and she prodded around in the tank. We fixed it! I didn't have to tell Anna. Then today I used it again and SNAP. I was trying extra hard not to pull it with strength! This time I had to tell Anna. First, I consulted Megumi and we went into the kitchen with the dictionary. Surely I couldn't explain such a problem; my bathroom vocabulary isn't the greatest. She understood and said she needed to fix that particular part in the tank. Then she started talking about how we would use the toilet in the meantime. She went into the shower/laundry room and got a bucket. Megumi and I didn't understand and thought she was saying we had to go to the bathroom in the bucket. We were hesitantly nodding along. Then she realized and explained we just had to use the bucket to flush the toilet. Phew...it doesn't seem too hygienic to take a whiz in a bucket, haha. Hopefully it starts working again soon.

The other night I went out for La Diada. We ended up getting tapas, my first time. I really like Spanish food. It's simple, but good. I've also taken a trip to Parc Güell, which was the park Gaudí designed. And to the top of Mount Tibidabo, which gives a great view of the city. I'm learning the layout of the city really well and all of the neighborhoods. My favorites are definitely all of the older barrios like El Ravel, Barri Gótic and Born. They're all like labyrinths, especially the Gothic Quarter. I've also embraced the power of caffeine. I drink café con leche daily. People are always going for a coffee and it's perfect to have a cup after comida and before cena because it keeps you going. It tastes better here, too. People actually sit down to socialize and drink it, instead of walking around with those silly plastic lid things. The schedule really is different, too. I've definitely become used to it. We eat dinner at about 10 or 10:30 at night and finish some time around 11PM. It's so nice having such a long afternoon. It makes the day more productive.

Last night I went out to a club that you have to be "accepted" into. I don't really think I'd want to do it again. There were so many guys trying to get in and we got in fine because we were girls, I guess. The people working the door were so rude though. And apparently there's some lame password, too. Once we got in, drinks were 10 euros, as they are many places. The dance floor and club in general were really cool looking, but the people weren't even dancing! They were too cool for themselves and a lot of them were old. We'd walked all the way across the city to go. I didn't care too much about going in the first place. Plus, my eye was sick and it was cloudy and rainbow when I looked toward sources of light. I woke up this morning with my eyelid glued into place. Pink eye. My madre gave me an infusion of "yerbas" and it healed my problem! I've been walking around all day with a severely bloodshot eye, but at least it's not leaking juices anymore. My body is still giving up for some reason.

Today I went to the public library of Cataluñya, which has a branch in El Ravel, really close to the apartment. I got a library card. YAY! Which permits me to get books, CDs and DVDs and to use their free WiFi. (They pronounce it WeeFee here. It's cute.) I hope my access to internet becomes more regular from this point on. My madre has wireless but it's irregular. Actually I have to wrap this up because she's about to disconnect it for the night. So more will come at a later time. There's so much!