Zoe Felicity Hanna was born this weekend, 14 weeks early and weighing 1 lb. 14 oz. I'm claiming her as my partial-niece even though tecnically she's my second cousin...? But only children are allowed to claim cousins' kids as nieces and nephews (at least in my book - ha.). She's going strong and is breathing great but still needs lots of thoughts and prayers! I can't wait to meet the gorgeous little girl once I'm back in the states! Sweet Zoe Felicity! :)
Doesn't this look amazing? It was. It's a chiliburger that I had from the Texmex place I've mentioned before. It's actually called the Houston Burger, coincidentally. I ate the entire burger and every single fry - and some people think I don't eat? Ha. It was SO good, but I can safely say it was the blandest burger I have ever eaten in my entire life, so I'm not sure why it was so good? I think it was just the concept of it all, and it may have been a bland burger, but all the food over here is bland, compared to the states, so it tasted pretty darn good. :)
I had my first day of work at the bookstore last Monday. It was a really good start. I actually did work which I wasn't expecting. I had to put prices on some books. Then I had to look up books on a list with all different titles, mark which ones I found and then put them all in boxes - a lot of inventory-type work.
My boss also has had me go to the Chino store next door
(*Sidenote: Chino stores are stores run by Chinese people who speak Spanish. Yes, it's a weird concept seeing a Chinese person rattle off Spanish. They have EVERYTHING: drinks, food, converters, straighteners, school supplies, shoes. It's kind of like a knock-off Wal-mart on a small scale and they're on every corner.*)
and get him a Coke Lite (Diet Coke), maybe some beers and to get myself whatever I want. (For the record...I got water.) The day that he wanted me to get beers he wanted six Coke Lites and three beers in "botes." He really emphasized the word botes. To me, it was as if botes were different from what the Coke Lites were in. I assumed botes were like a nickname for botella (bottle). I went next door to the Chino store and the Chino lady helped me get everything I needed and I told her "botes" but she acted like if it was for my boss next door that it would be cans. She only confused me and I said botes and pointed to bottles and she said okay and gave me bottles. Then I walked back to the bookstore and my boss immediately said "No no, botes." I started trying to ask what botes were and ask if they were the same as what the Coke Lites came in, etc., but then a customer in the store (who apparently spoke English) informed me that botes are cans. So, there ya have it. I learned what cans are while buying my boss bottles of beer instead of cans. I always thought bottles were supposed to be better anyways? Ha, but I guess you learn something new every day, SO botes = cans, NOT bottles. That's my Spanish lesson for the day.
Overall, working at the bookstore isn't bad. I almost wish I didn't have anything to do so I could read some of the books! A lot of them look so interesting and are fairly easy for me to read. One book that I saw was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was a children's chapter book, but I think that would be something good for me to start with. I'm excited about my semester at the bookstore! Pretty soon I'm sure I'll know all kinds of Spanish authors.
Now onto Barcelona (aka Barthelona - with the Spanish lisp), it was so much fun! I haven't heard a negative thing from anyone who went, and there were a lot of us. We had such a great weekend with tons of good laughs, sight-seeing and exploring.
This was all I packed - it's a miracle! My backpack is actually slightly open in this picture, so it looks bigger than it was. Ryan Air is a cheap airline that flies around Europe, but they have so many restrictions (including size/weight of carry-on luggage) and will charge you if you do not abide by them. We were only allowed ONE carry-on item. Not one personal item plus another bag - just one, so my purse had to be inside my backpack with all of my clothes and toilitries for the entire weekend (three nights). Packing was a bit stressful, but we made it. I DID forget my toothbrush and body wash though - oops - so that was a purchase I had to make.
Beautiful Barca! You can see the coast way out there too. It was such a pretty city, and it reminded me a lot of L.A. or NYC in the States. This view is from El Parque Guell - a park with gorgeous views of the city.
This is the STEEP street we walked up to get to the park, and you can see the beginning of escalators that go even higher. It began with two or three escalators, then this steep street, then probably 4 more steep escalators and a set of stairs plus some up-hill trails within the park. Needless to say, we all got our workout for the semester - ha.
Meet Flat Stanley. This little guy took a trip to Barcelona with us! I received him in the mail last week from the daughter of one of my mom's friends. He comes from a story that a lot of kids read in school about a guy who travels all around, so they send this paper version of him and I have to take pictures, buy post cards, write a story about his adventures in Spain and mail him back! We had a lot of fun trying to find good places to take pictures of ol' Stan, haha.
This is La Sagrada Familia, a cathedral in Barcelona that began building in the 1800s and has still not been completed. We didn't pay to go inside but just viewed the outside which was incredible.
The girls in front of the other side of La Sagrada Familia. It was amazing how many different types of architecture were incorporated in the building.
We went to the beach! It was freezing cold and the waves were huge. We weren't really sure if it was the Mediterranean Sea or not...we didn't think it was. I just looked it up and it is called the Balearic Sea, but it is a portion of the Mediterranean/runs into the Mediterranean, which is more south. Despite the cold weather, we really enjoyed it!
We went out on a dock/pier that was so cool! The waves were crashing up against it and we got some pretty cool pictures.
We also all eventually ended up pretty soaked, but it was totally worth it. :)
Here's our hostel! This was the little sitting area in our room, the other group's room had an actual balcony that we could walk out on, but they didn't have furniture to sit on. This was more like a closed-in balcony because it was still an area that we could close off from our room.
Our room with six beds that were like sleeping on a box of springs and nothing more.
This was our kitchen in the hostel. The hostel was really cute and was basically just an old apartment that had lots of bunk beds in different rooms. It was small and the 12 of us that stayed here practically had it to ourselves the entire time.
The elevator up to our hostel made me think of the Tower of Terror, so these are my friends being scared to get on the tiny thing.
This was in the Picasso museum BEFORE I found out we weren't allowed to take pictures, ha. I figured I'd share my one picture of one of his earlier paintings, but I have no idea what it is called. The museum itself was really cool to see! There were a lot of other pieces from artists that had influence on Picasso's work. There weren't many paintings I recognized until his later years, but it was still very cool.
We went to a chocolate museum!! Even the entrance ticket was made out of chocolate. :) There were all kinds of statues/figures like this one that were made entirely out of chocolate. This is a depiction of Don Quixote which is a story that was written by a Spanish author - Miguel Cervantes.
This is a HUGE open-air market that we went to - La Boqueria. It had everything from fresh fruit to live crabs and lobsters. It was amazing! We each got some fresh fruit juice that was prepared and ready in a cup to buy. I had kiwi...it was SO good. I wish I could have some of that every day; I think my body would love me if I did.
I think this was possibly the most favorite part of the entire trip. It is a fountain show with lights and music that was one of the first in the world to be like this.
This was an art museum behind the fountain that had fountains and a waterfall in front of it and was lit up really well. It was so pretty! We went up there and had a gorgeous view of Barca at night....
Here it is! I love this picture, but it was also 100 times more incredible in person.
That was just a FEW of my hundred+ pictures that I took this weekend, ha, but I think it's a pretty good summary! I loved Barcelona and would love to go back during the summer some time. I think it could be an amazing city when it's not freezing and raining like a hurricane majority of the time. We faced quite a bit of rain this weekend, especially at night, when umbrellas basically didn't do any good. Despite the rain, we still had fun! We used the metro to get around a little bit, to places that were REALLY far away, but we also walked a TON and that's why we all have aches and pains throughout our bodies - lol.
Now onto my day today. I got to class at 9 a.m., and walked past the couple of packages that were sitting in the mail area. Once I was sitting in class, one of my friends told me that she saw one of the packages was for ME!!! As I'm running out of class to get the package, she asked who was in San Antonio..... "COUSINS!" :)
FOOD! And a precious pictures of Tessa (which is already on my bedside table) plus a note from Corey and Mandy. Omg - I was so excited. KitKats, gum, PEANUT BUTTER CRACKERS!!!! (which I've been craving), jalepenos, tea bags, etc.
Can you see the excitement on my face? There was definite excitement. I mean, seriously - tea bags, jalepenos and peanut butter crackers? Some of my all time favorite things. :) OBVIOUSLY, it made my week and was just the boost I needed after an exhausting, but extremely fun, weekend in Barcelona.
That's all for now and I feel like this post didn't end up being as long as I anticipated it to be? It did take me all day to write though, ha. We have a lot of four day weeks ahead of us and lots of plans for weekends coming up. I only have one full weekend in Seville from now until Spring Break - when my parents come!!!! We're going to Granada this weekend. It is supposed to be VERY cool - in more ways than one. I've talked to so many people that loved it and have also heard that it's freezing there. Some people may stay a day longer and go skiing. We leave on Friday and stay overnight and then we come home Saturday afternoon. Other trips coming up: Lisbon, Portugol; Venice, Italy; Cadiz, Spain - let the European travels begin!
Thoughts and prayers to Zoe and love to my sweet family...
XOXO
Paige
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