Random thoughts from and about Barca

One thing real quick; I want to assure everyone that just because I'm keeping this blog, it doesn't mean I won't respond to emails or comments posted to the blog. For those of you who received the big bad group email, my point wasn't that the only way you could keep up with me was through my blog, so don't bother trying any personal correspondence; I was actually trying to reassure everyone that I wouldn't be sending out only group emails, that you could follow my adventures by checking out the blog but also, please, feel free to get at me. I will definitely write back. Anyhoo, on to some observations...

I’ve been drinking the tap water here, which I think is a good way to get to know a city. You are actually consuming the water of the place, rather than bottled water that is the same everywhere. Of course, when I get intestinal parasites you call say “I told you so.”

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I really need to get my hair cut, but I’m a bit reticent to go into a barbershop and try to explain what I want. In the states, I always start out with, “short on the sides and in the back, slightly longer on top.” What makes me nervous is the proliferation of mullets here. The Euro-mullet is in full effect in Barca. There are the fashion femullets, the crew-mullet, the ever popular soccer mullet...basically, enough mullets around that I would be nervous going into a barbershop and muddling my way through anything that even remotely sounded like “short on the blahblahblah and longer in the yaddayadda.” I am afraid I would walk out with “el negocio en la frente, el fiesta en la espalda.” Never a good thing.

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Of all the differences between Barca and Seattle, or any other US city I’ve visited for that matter, the hardest to get used to is the store hours. The idea of going out at any time to get something you need isn’t an option. You can’t get hungry at 1am and make a run to the 24-hour grocery store, for example. And siesta messes with me, too, because you either have to go shopping in the morning or the early evening. Everything closes during the day except the Muslim or Korean stores, generally. And those are the equivalent of 7-11s, you wouldn’t go there to do any actual shopping. (I just asked Dustin, "so, are there any places that are open 24/7?" He responds, "yeah, there are some." "Like, stores or whatever?" "Oh no, nothing like that...some bars maybe..." So there you go.)

Here’s a perfect example of the difference: you rent a video from the local video store (which is the only one you can get a membership at). Not only did you have to go there expressly at a specific time to ensure they are open, but the next day you have to also go back at a specific time to return the video...BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY HAND THE VIDEO TO THE CLERK TO RETURN THE VIDEO. Seriously, wtf? There are no slots in the doors to slip your movie into if you happen to drop by when they’re closed (say, all day Sunday and Monday or from 2-5 the rest of the week).

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Anyone tries to tell me I’m not living in the coolest-ass city in the world, I’m gonna drop this on’em:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_of_Aragon

Are you kidding me? “The Crown of Aragon”??? I love this place!

Speaking of Lord of the Rings, I’ve been binge-watching Lost for the past few days, a couple episodes a night before going to sleep. (I'm still staying up til 3-4am...I can't tell if it's the jet lag or just that I'm on vacation.) Why, when people were trying to sell me on the show, did nobody ever say, “oh yeah, and it’s got Merry from LotR…?” I would've checked it out months ago had I known. That’ll be one of the first things I tell people if they ask about the show now.

Ciao.