The late-August sky here in Reus is light blue, and there always seems to be more of a breeze here on la granja than in any of the surrounding towns. Finally, the air is cool at night and I sleep under the covers beneath my open window.
The night before last I had a lizard in my room, it was so unusal looking... tail and everything it was the size of my thumb and it was kind of yellowish (but maybe that's because my walls are kind of yellowish and it is chameleonesque...not sure). Avi (granpa) offered to kill it with a cane, I couldn't let that happen, so it may still roam free inside the house.
OK so now on to the more important news.... should I do it in chronological order? I don't think that matters... I'm going to do it in order of importance.
TWINS
Alex y Pol
Born Tuesday, August 25, 2009.
Carlota and Cristobal had two perfect little fraternal twin boys. Everything is buzzing around here following their arrival! I didn't think it was possible for us to have MORE guests than we already did, but IT IS. They are precious and they sleep all day, awakening only for feeding, through which they still seem to sleep. They sleep side by side in matching bassinets, distinguishable only by their embroidered bibs. It is so hard for me to believe that just 5 day ago they were both in Carlota... and now they are out in the world, breathing and eating.
BARCELONA
Ahhh Barcelona. I was lucky enough to have a friend (thanks Matt), who has a couple of friends, who are now living in Barcelona. Upon receiving their contact information, I immediately got in touch with them and we began making plans to get together and meet/fiesta.
Matt's friend (now my good friend), Elana, offered to let me stay at her apartment for the weekend and from there the greatness began. The first day I arrived (a friday) we went straight to the beach in Barcelona. It was packed full of young people. I think Barcelona itself is made up of mostly young people... which makes for nice fat weekends, jam-packed with fiesta. After the beach, we headed to the market to buy some cheap eats, and later we proceeded to dress for a night of clubbing. Elana has made many friends after living in Barcelona for a year, so she knows all of the best spots in the city and what nights to hit them. This night we went to see one of her American friends dj a club on the beach. We had a blast just dancing and practicing our Castellano.
Saturday night was the night we had planned to meet up with the rest of Matt's Barcelona friends (three guys, Matt, Ben, and Ladi). They invited us to meet them for dinner and a night of partying. We headed back out to the beach to eat dinner with them at a club called Opium. They bought us a yummy dinner (veal) and we were enjoying the atmosphere there so much, that we stayed there into the night rather than try another club. Verrrry fun.
Sunday was the day we ventured to the Festa Major d'Gracia... an incredible festival in the barrios of Barcelona where they decorate each street as if each one had its own individual prom theme. The creativity and colors were incredible. It was clear that they had put endless amounts of time and thought into representing their neighborhoods with the decorations.
Sunday night Elana and I met up with her friend George (they know each other from Berkeley), on a rooftop above the Festa. It was a party of musicians, pretty much a huge jam session. There were multiple guitars, drums, and a cello, among other instruments, and everyone passed them around, playing original pieces. The crowd was eclectic and the ambiance enhanced by candlelight.
After this awesome party, we went to sing karaoke at the local British pub, The George Henry or something like that... You all know how much I love Karaoke. Then we stopped into one last bar on the way home... it was called Obama. Everyone here is obsessed with Barack. We had so much fun with the 15 people in there, singing along with a two man band, that when the bar owner insisted that he close, we invited everyone back to Elana's apartment (including the band) and continued to sing until 5 in the morning.
ANDORRA
I went to a tiny country called Andorra with Francesc and two of the kids, Jordina and Joan. We went with a friend of Francesc, and his three sons Alesc, Pablo, and Pol. What a random little country Andorra is. I must admit I forgot it was even a country before they invited me to go and, really, it isn't much. It is situated in the Pyrenees and is most known for being a ski destination during the winter. It is the only country with Catalan listed as the official language and the people of Andorra also boast the highest life expectancy from birth in the world, 85 Yrs.
We spent our time in Andorra hiking, eating, and riding go karts. Yes that's right, go karts. The countryside is beautiful and rather untouched. There are incredible mountain homes and pristine scenery.
Oh also!!! I drove in Andorra... Francesc's friend had an automatic Lexus... now I can say I've driven in another country.
SAILING
Yesterday I went sailing on a beautiful, antique Italian sailboat. The weather was perfeeeeection. The water was this magnificent navy blue... I took time staring into it just to file it into my color memory.
I was invited by my friend Kiku, whom I met the last time I was in Tarragona, and I hadn't seen in 4 years. We were accompanied by his father, two of his father's friends, their son, and another of Kiku's friends. We left the marina and sailed around the coast, I was so happy I didn't get seasick. That would have been embarrassing. We sailed around a point where you could see three ancient seaside castles from a single point of view. We dropped anchor in a cove and dove off the front of the sailboat. I would say the water was about 20 ft deep, and you could still see the bottom. The company was amazing and the weather superb. Beautiful.
