My Last Entry for 2004

Hello Everyone,

Well, this will be my last entry for the year, as of now there are only 5 hours of the year left. I will be sure to update next year in 2005. :)

I have thought about my resolutions for the new year. For starters, I will be coming home and starting to pay off my huge ass student loans. Lord knows I have been stressing out about that since graduation.

But aside from that, I will continue to improve my Spanish and hopefully German. My Spanish has been improving lately, which I am happy about. I just don´t want to forget it once I come home.

I will also start making plans to go to China sometime this year after I come home. Just something I have to do in this lifetime.

Anyways, those are just my plans. I won´t be making any plans to give up chocolate or to eat healthier because that would be just useless. I would be lying to myself. At least I don´t smoke. Can you imagine how hard that would be to give up smoking ?

Tonight I will be having dinner with my roommate´s family. We will be doing the countdown together and eating grapes. In Spain we eat one grape for each month and then we drink Champaigne, or as we say in Catalan, Cava.

Okay, hope y'all enjoy the new year. Felíz año nuevo.

Ciao.

The end of the year is here.................

Hello Everyone,

I read the news about the Tsunamis and earthquakes that hit Asia, and I feel just awful for those people. Some guys from my job took a vacation in Thailand. I hope that we will see them on Monday when I go back to work.

I read somewhere that there is a chance that West Coast of the US could be hit by a tsunami. Don´t know how big or small that chance is, but it doesn´t make me all warm and fuzzy inside. CA is also due for a huge earthquake in the future. I shudder just thinking about it.

I really, really want to come back home. I had origionaly planned on staying here at least till June, if not longer. But if I don´t start feeling better I just may go in another month. I shouldn´t be feeling this way. I should be happy right now.

In the mean time, I am just waiting for the year to pass and for me to go back to work and teaching English. Maybe I will feel better then. I have spent my whole vacation in bed, and listening to my roommate telling me how to take care of myself.

Anyways, hope y'all make the best of the rest of 2004.

Ciao.

Happy Anniversary to me :)

Hello Everyone,

First of all, I may not be online tommorow, so I wanted to say Happy Anniversary to me !!!!! Tommorow is my one year anniversary for writing this AOL Journal. I have written so much on this journal.

I don´t really have the flu anymore, but I do have a nasty cough that I am trying to get rid of before the New Year. I can´t friggin´ believe this. I spent most of my vacation in bed. It would have been so nice to see and explore Barcelona a little bit.

I have been thinking about my plans for the New Year, and I think that I will be going home sometime in May or June. It all depends if I get my working papers or not. Hell, even if I get my working papers I might go home anyways. This holiday season was really hard for me. I have never missed home so much. I just miss understanding everything and knowing how everything works. I feel helpless here. Anyways, we´ll see what happens as the months pass by and if things get better.

I hope that you all are all thinking about your New Years Resolutions. Hope 2005 is a wonderful year.

Ciao.

My Christmas in Barcelona

Hello Everyone,

Happy Holidays ! I hope y'all had a wonderful Christmas. I was looking forward to mine. I was planning on spending it with my roommate´s family and we were also planning on maybe going skiing.

That was all before I got the flu. I got the flu the day before Christmas Eve and was therefore confined to my bed until today ( although I am still recovering). I had it all. I was shivering, sweating, puking, coughing. I couldn´t even get out of bed to get myself a glass of water.

I also called my mom back home, but apparently I called at the wrong time because they were in the middle of something when I called and didn´t have a lot of time to talk. So much for Christmas. I usually hate Christmas anyways, but this year definitely made me hate it even more. I am so glad the holidays are almost over and that I am getting better.

I am thankful that my roommate and his mom took the time to take care of me and check up on me now and then. My roommate made me breakfast in the mornings and gave me medicine. Because let me tell you, the cold medicine that I brought from the states did jack shit for my flu. His mother also came over and cooked for me and talked to me a little. I considered myself really lucky in this respect, because normally when I am sick in the states I am left to fend for myself because I don´t live with my folks.

My roommate´s mom also decided to clean my room for me today. I mean, that was really nice of her. But I am a private person in my room and my room is a mess. That is just how I am. I am fully able to keep the commom areas of the house clean. But when it comes to my room, I am messy and that´s how it is. So I was a little embarrassed when she touched my dirty clothes and picked up after me.

I have been thinking about the next year which will arrive in about 5 days and I really don´t know what´s gonna happen. But I can tell you this. If I don´t get my working papers by May, I am going back home to where I am an actual citizen and can understand everyone.

Sorry if this entry is not so happy, but ya know I gotta keep it real.

Ciao.

Things I realized here in Spain.

Hello Everyone,

Before I came here I wanted to be a Spanish citizen, or an Austrian citizen. It´s not that I don´t like being a US citizen, but I just thought that having a European passport would be exotic and cool.  I really wanted to be European and have the same rights as a European citizen. Why not ? After all, my mom was born and raised in Austria. I have a lot of family there too, and I like staying connected to my family heritage.

When I came to Europe, I got to see just how hated Bush and the US policies are. There was and still is so much Bush bashing going on. But the truth is, is that right now I am happy with being a US Citizen. Even though I think that our country has a lot of problems (What country doesn´t?) I would rather be a US citizen than any other country. I had to travel outside the US to realize that. I miss being in my own country. Sometimes there is no place like home. Barcelona is officially my favorite city, and I like staying here, but I would rather permanently live in California and be an American.

I realized that I have a lot more opportunities than a lot of other people in the world simply because I was born in the United States. A lot of people complain about the US. But ya know what ? I ain´t complaining. I talk to people from Argentina and the Dominican Republic and they wonder why the hell I am here when there are so much more opportunities in the US. Did you know that they are´t even allowed to set foot in the US without a visa ? And do you know how hard it is to get a visa ? People from poorer countries such as Argentina or the Dominican Republic aren´t even allowed to visit the US as a tourist. They have to apply for a visa first.

If I could give people any advice, it would be to travel and live away from home for a little while. It certainly broadens your mind and makes you more tolerant, not to mention smarter. Okay, moving along....................

I went to the US Consulate today. It felt good. It felt like I took a mini trip back to the states. But anyways, it was an interesting experience.

I have been to or walked by the consulate office of other countries. I´ve been to the Consulate office for Austria. It was a little attic in some office building. The consulate office for Thailand is an apartment space in the apartment complex where my student lives.

The US Consulate office is actually a big white house ( or 2 ) near Mt. Tibidabo (an expensive hill where all the rich people live). Just to GET IN you have to have a US passport, and they scan it. Then after they let you get in they make you walk through a metal detector and leave your camera and mobile behind. All the employees there talk to you through a glass window and there are cameras everywhere. I felt like a VIP member with my US passport and all.

I guess that with all the Anti-US feelings, they have to protect themselves.

I also got a chance to be a tourist all over again today and blew some of my paycheck. I also took lotsa pictures, but I will write more about that later.

Ciao.

No work for me today :)

Hello Everyone,

Nothing really special to write about today. I am so darn lazy. I slept in till noon today and I will go to teach my student in a few hours. I am just so thrilled that I don´t have to go to work for the next 2 weeks.

The end of the year is also coming up and I am thinking about what I am gonna do with myself next year. I think that I will probably be going back to the US sometime and plan for my next trip. Who knows ? It´s all up in the air.

Tooteloo.

 

Sorry, Can´t think of a brilliant title for today.........

Hello Everyone,

I gotta admit that I am still very upset about getting stood up by my students yesterday. I left the party from my job a little early to get up the next morning to teach my students. ( The Dominican family). Then when I got to their apartment I found out that they weren´t there after knocking on the door a million times. I also made a lot of calls, but got no response. I thought that there was an emergency.

Anyways, after calling a couple of hours later,  one of the sons answers the phones and casually tells me that they aren´t there and that I shouldn´t come ( 2 hours after our normal class time), and he also told me that they would call me the next day (today). Well, of course they didn´t call. For Christ´s sake, I travel an hour each way to see them !!! The LEAST that they could have done was appologize.

I am so confused because the mom always used to call me when she couldn´t make it. When her son went to the hopspital, she even called me. I don´t know what happened. Maybe she and her kids took a trip at the last minute ?

But anyways, I am not going to teach them anymore. They also owe me money for the first 2 weekends this month, but I really don´t have the energy to hunt them down for 50 Euros.

In a way, I am kinda glad this happened. Even though they were nice, I really would rather spend my weekend mornings sleeping in. I get up early every morning for a job that I absolutely despise and I would like to be able to party on a Friday night without having to worry about getting up early the next day. Plus, they also paid me at the end of the month and sometimes they paid me 1-2 weeks later than that. I am tired of worrying about whether I am gonna get paid or not.

So.............. they can take the money that they owe me and shove it up their asses and find another teacher. I was referred to this family by an old roommate, who I really like. I hope that she doesn´t find out what happened. Hell, I never even expected this to happen, especially since I was introduced to them. Oh well, shit happens. And I learned a little lesson. And lucky for me, this lesson only costed me about 50 Euros.

I mean, maybe if I keep calling them a thousand times, I might get a response, and MAYBE I can get paid. But to be honest, I really don´t even wanna talk to them anymore. We had such good times when I taught them and they were so much fun and so nice, so I am gonna miss that. But I just cankeep bending over like this. I spend all week getting screwed over by my bosses at my day job. I am better off finding new students. But part of me is just gona keep wondering what the hell happened ? Moving along.......................

My roommate is starting to smoke again. When I first moved in, he told me that he doesn´t smoke, just on the weekends when he goes out. And I was living in a smoke-free apartment. Well, now he smokes in the living room. So, this means that after I have a nice shower and spend a while blowdrying my hair and I go to the living room to watch TV with him and he smokes, my hair smells all nasty again.

Everyone and their mother smokes here in Spain. It is just one of those things that you have to deal with. Before I came here, it never used to bother me when people smoked around me. And thats because it didn´t happen very often. Not a lot of people in CA smoke (compared to Europe). Hell, in CA you can´t even smoke in a BAR. Here soooooo many people smoke and now it bothers me. People smoke in department stores and banks and the list goes on. No wonder people here have such bad breath. And I am not joking. I get the joy of smelling nasty ass breath on the metro and elevators all the time.

Well, I must say that today wasn´t too shabby. My roommate and his dad invited me over for lunch. His mother made Paella again, and I ate a lot. I was so stuffed. She is such a good cook. Then we all watched "How to lose a guy in 10 days ". It was a good movie. And before I left the mom told me that I am always welcome to comeover anytime that I want and eat or have coffee with her. I really like her. She is such a nice lady. Kinda reminds me of my grandma on my dad´s side.

Well, tommorow is the beginning of my vacation. I think I am gonna sleep in again like I did today.

Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Happy holidays. Ciao.......

Holiday Blues

Hello Everyone,

Well, I went to the party yesterday from my job.  I met my coworkers in the Metro station and we walked to the lounge. I liked the walk there. It was very scenic and we were walking by the beach.  I also got all dressed up for it and I don´t really get a chance to dress up so I was happy about it.

The food was delicious. We had so many appetizers in addition to dinner and dessert. I had sea bass. Yum.  The party itself was a little boring and a lot of people got drunk and started acting like fools.

I had a good time overall, but I will miss my coworkers that aren´t coming back. My roommate also made it out to hang out as well. I have pictures and post them later.

I just got done telling someone 2 days ago that I am happy now. And I have been happy lately. But now I am starting to get real depressed all over again. Getting out of bed this morning was really hard. I really, really don´t like this time of year. Maybe its a good thing because I lose my appetite when I feel like this and right now I guess I could stand to lose a few pounds.

Most people from work are going out of the country to see their families and I only wish that I could do that right now. I really feel alone here right now. I am not really alone because I can spend the holidays with my roommate and his family. However, I am don´t really want to be there right now. But I will explain that later.

While I was at the party I realized that I am sick of living my life the way I do. I am sick of struggling just to pay the bills. I got stood up this morning by my students. I left the party late last night to get up this morning to teach them. I  traveled an hour and they weren´t even there.

I am sick of taking all of the shit jobs. I actually have an education. How many more years do I have to do telemarketing or waitressing ? How many more years do I have to answer to a boss that doesn´t give a damn about me ? When do I get to take a job where I actually have to think?

I feel like I am close to making it, but I somehow keep getting pushed back down. I feel like someone is hanging a piece of meat in front of my face and when I go to grab it it gets pulled back up.

I am just fed up right now. And I could go back to the states if I really wanted but that wouldn´t solve anything. I probably would feel the same way I do now.

Okay, I have done enough bitching for today. I am hoping that I will calm down after the holidays are over.

Ciao.

Hello Everyone,

Today was the last day of work before our Christmas vacation, and our nice party will be tonite. Getting out of bed today to go to work was hard, but at least they didn´t make us work the whole shift. Our bosses also gave us telemarketer phone monkeys a 50€ bonus, so that was nice. I wasn´t expecting that.

I am a little homesick right now. I always hate this time of year. I always feel depressed around Christmas.

Anyways, I will write more later. Got some showering and makeup to do for the party tonite.

Ciao.

Just Waiting for Vacation to Arrive....................

Hello Everyone,

Guess what !! I will be setting foot on American soil next week. I am gonna go pay a visit to the US Consulate here in Barcelona. I will be going with my coworker from Argentina who wants to go to the US to become a lawyer. And I will be going there to ask about immigration laws for Americans here in Spain and get some answers in English. When it comes to getting important info about getting papers, I don´t wanna miss out on any important details.

Today was such a hard day at work. None of us telemarketer phone monkeys wanted to be on the phones all day. We are all looking forward to our 2 week vacation as well as the phat office party tommorow. Our bosses said that they would only make us work a half day tommorow so that we could relax and get ready for the Christmas Party. That´s nice.

My bosses also bought us Ferrero Rocher chocolates today. I kinda hoarded some. Those are my favorites.

Anyways. I better go now. Ciao.

What´s on my mind

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to point out that my one year anniversary for my AOL Journal is coming up. I am so excited. I have been faithfully writing in this journal for about a year. And what a year it has been. Graduation, going to Spain, getting my wisdom teeth pulled...........

Other than one person and my mother, I really don´t know if anyone reads my journals anymore. But it´s all good, I guess because I am not writing for readers. I am writing to express myself and vent my feelings. I guess that getting readers is a bonus.

Anyways, my phat office party is coming up on Friday and I did some shopping. I gots ta look good, ya know. I am excited. I have to teach my students the next day so I better make sure that I don´t drink too much and go to bed before the sun comes up.

I also talked to one of my close family friends that I haven´t spoken to since graduation. Known him since I was five and he´s like an uncle to me. It was nice to catch up a little. I really miss all my family and friends back home. Don´t know how long it will be until I see them again.

Anywho, I better get home and eat. I am starving.

Ciao.

 

What a funny day at work

Hello there my lovelies...........................

I gotta first say that AOL sux. I really have a bone to pick with them. I can´t even use the darn AIM. I really wanna talk to my buddies back home and it won´t let me. And to make matters worse, my blog entries sometimes get eaten after I spend hours writing them.

I really laughed a lot at work. I talked to a guy in Germany over the phone named Mr. Scheide. It means "pussy" in German. How could a man live his whole life with that name ? And why didn´t he change his name. I really don´t wanna see his therapy bill.

One of my coworkers also talked to a guy in Germany today named Steife. In German that means "hard on".  Why, Why , Why ??????? People that don´t change awful names like these are MORONS.

 I think that we should introduce Mr. Scheide to Mr. Steife. I am sure that they could find something interesting to talk about, or shall I say, do. Lol.

And if that weren´t enough another coworker talked to a guy named Mr. Pehrvert in Norway. I can´t wait to hear the broker guys in the office try to ask for him and pitch him.

While I was on the phones today, one of the window cleaners cleaned the windows. We sit in front of the windows so as he was hanging from the cables and cleaning the windows while I was on the phones. I decided to smile and wave at him and he kinda laughed.

Anywho, I better go now. Ciao.

A Sad Dog.

Hello Everyone,

No this is not an entry to vent or to be sad. This is an entry about a dog that I see almost everytime I go to the internet cafe. On the way there, there is a bar and the dog owner leaves the dog outside.

This dog is left to wander for a while. And no one seems to bother and stop to give it attention. I went to pet it and it has such a sad and lonely look in it´s face. It is an old dog, and it looks like it is attention-deprived. It looks so lonely that I wanted to cry. It had a brown face with white freckles and long, dopey ears. And it also had one of those cut-off tails like a rottweiler.

I remember the first time that I pet it, it came to me and lifted its paws and looked me in the face. The next time I saw it, I was in a hurry and didn´t have time to pet it so I kinda ignored it. And when I saw it today when I passed the bar, it ignored me. No matter how many attempts I made to let me pet it, it just walked away. It sniffed me and walked away as if I don´t even exist.

So today on the way here to the internet cafe, I kept trying to pet it again. And after walking away from me twice, it finally gave in and let me pet it. And while I was petting it, it looked me straight in the face and wagged it´s stubby tail- What was sad was that while I was talking to it, I told it that it breaks my heart to see it so sad. And after I said that, it whined. That broke my heart. And leaving it was so hard because it keep looking at me while I was walking away.

Well, I just had to share this. I will talk about my daily life another day.

TGIF.............

Hello Everyone,

Last night I decided to have a glass of Baileys before going to bed. It sure made me sleepy.  And I could still feel the effects when I woke up. Sheesh. I only had one glass. I guess that I don´t hold my liquor very well.

I am so tired right now. Mainly because I am so fed up with my telemarketing job here. And my boss isn´t making it better. He won´t tell me for sure if he can give me a working contract or not, which is my only hope of obtaining residency right now. So therefore, I am being strung along. I wish he would just give me an answer. If he doesn´t wanna give me a contract in January, I can quit now and look for a teaching job because the schools hire in January. It will be harder to obtain residency but at least I won´t be wasting my time on the phones 8 hours a day with bosses that are crooks. So it looks like I am gonna be stuck in this shithole for while. But I am still keeping my fingers crossed that things will get better for me.

Hey, at least they are throwing us a nice party by the beach. That is next week and I can´t wait. And after dinner I can have all the drinks that I want on the house. It´s really too bad that I don´t drink much.

 I am also happy that after next week I will be able to enjoy 2 weeks of vacation. I am gonna sleep for sure. But I am sad that some of my coworkers are leaving for good. One of the girls is going back to Sweden. I am gonna miss her. She sat by me and we used to make fun of all the guys together.

Well, I hope y'all enjoy your weekend. Ciao.

Little Things on my Mind

Hello there my lovelies.........

Okay, I have a question for all you men out there. Or women that have male roommates. Is is normal for guys to leave the bathroom door open while they are pissing ? Because my roommate seems to think so. 

I mean, to his credit he doesn´t do it very often, and when he does the door isn´t open very wide. But still. If I need to use the bathroom and the door is open, I tend to think it´s unoccupied. And absolutely feel embarrassed when I discover he´s in there pissing. Maybe he´s still getting used to the fact that he has a roommate. He told me he didn´t have a roommate for a few months before I arrived. I sure hope that´s the reason.

Anywho............ I went to the bank to try to change my American money that my grandparents sent me. That was interesting. I went 10 minutes before closing. People always go to stores and banks right before closing in the US. Well, that isn´t normal in Spain. After looking at me like I am from another planet, the cashier lady made up some lame ass excuse of why I couldn´t change my money. She even tried to tell me that I couldn´t change it in any bank and that I had to go to the airport. Hahahaha. I really must look stupid.

What else ? My student cancelled on me today because he was sick. I really was hoping to make some extra cash today. I was also irritated because I lugged my books around for nothing. Thanks a lot dude.

Speaking of students, my favorite student is gonna be traveling for about a month, so that means that I won´t be teaching him for a while. I am gonna miss him. He´s rooting for me to quit my "fucking job" and find something better. Whenever I try to teach him grammar rules he always tries to talk and we end up in a conversation. Either that, or he is trying to get me to teach him slang or cuss words. Haha. Kinda reminds me of myself. I would be doing the same thing to my teacher. I try to stay on track and make sure he´s getting a good grammar lesson, but oh well. As long as he´s having fun and I am getting paid I have no reason to complain.

I am also thrilled that I only have one more week left of telemarketing hell until my Christmas vacation. I am so damn sick of my job. I am gonna spend my vacation sleeping in and being a tourist all over again. There are still a lot of things that I haven´t seen because I was broke as a joke over the summer.

I still want to visit the Picasso Museum, the zoo, the IMAX theater in Port Vell, La Casa de Gaudi on Passeig de Gracia. I also have never made it to Sitges. It is a town near Barcelona and it has some very beautiful beaches and shopping centers. It is also the gay paradise of Europe.

Before I go back to the states I would also like to visit Madrid, Paris or Amsterdam. I really hope that I will make it to one of those places. Reading The Da Vinci Code stirred up the desire to go to Paris. That book is off the hook.

Anyways, I better go now. I am gonna go help myself to my roommate´s Paella leftovers. And for those of you that have never had Paella, you are missing out.

Ciao.

Shopping Hell in Barcelona

Hello Everyone,

I really thought that Christmas shopping in California was bad. I am sure y'all back in the states know that the malls are packed and finding parking is like pulling teeth. I had no idea that Barcelona was worse. I learned something new. Shopping hell for Americans is the day after Thanksgiving. For us here, it is today, December 6th and probably on Wed, Dec 8th.

Today was a holiday. Most people didn´t have to go to work, but the stores were open anyways. So you can imagine all the chaos. ALL the stores were packed. And the streets were packed too. Just walking TO the store was a nightmare. People were walking really slow in front of me and people from behind were pushing me. After a while, I stopped being polite and pushed past people without saying " excuse me".

I don´t know what possessed me to go shopping anyways, but I did. I found what I have been looking for............... An American cookbook for my roommate´s mother for Christmas. It is a huge book with lots of pictures, recipes and it also gives a little bit of history on the recipes. And it was cheap too !!!

I also found a nice, Spanish looking skirt, but I will go back and buy it later. I had no more cash left.

I also am in the process of getting my student loan mess sorted out. Good God. At least things are getting sorted out.

And yesterday I watched the first American Pie with my roommate who had never seen it before. Before we watched it he made homemade popcorn and some tapas. (Fried potatoes and calamari). I was hungry and trying to hoard it all. :)

 That movie reminds me of my first year in college, and it brings back memories. Thanks to that movie, I met my friend and old roommate of 3 years, Christina.

Anywho, he had never seen the movie before and was rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter. While we were watching the film he asked me if it was common for high school students to remain virgins until college. HAHAHA. 

Anyways, I guess that I better go and make something to eat. I am huuuuuungry.

A Cold Ass Sunday in Barcelona

Hello Everyone,

How are ya all doing today ? Anyways, tommorow is a holiday but I will be working as usual to make sure that I have enough money to tide me over during the winter break. Speaking of winter, it will officially be winter in about 2 weeks. It is cold here. About the same temperatures as California, but still freezing. The summer that I spent here was extremely hot and humid so I am still adjusting to the changes.

The weather today is cloudy. It was raining yesterday and I think we will get more tommorow. I miss the sunshine. I also can´t wait until the weather is hot enough to go to the beach. I went to the beach a few times this summer. I absolutely love the beaches here and can´t wait to go back. Especially since I live about 10 minutes away by car.

There was a tennis match between Spain and the United States yesterday and today. The US won yesterday, and Spain won today. I don´t know much about tennis, but if I am correct I think that Spain won the title ( sorry folks, don´t watch sports.) I was really hoping that the US would win.  Oh well.

And today my lovely neighbors decided to blast their music at 8 friggin´ AM this morning. I heard them fighting last night. I hope to GAWD that I don´t have to listen to them having hot monkey sex.

Anyways, I better go and prepare for my next lesson I have to give today. I hope he shows up.

Ciao.

Hello Everyone,

OMG. I am going through student loan hell right now. I don´t even know where to even begin to describe the maze that I am in. And what´s worse is that I am out of the country and it is harder to fix things. Damn.

I went shopping today for Christmas and I also bought some clothes for the winter so that I don´t freeze my ass off this winter.

Anyways, gotta go for now. Ciao

The weekend is here.........

Hello there my lovelies.........................

I didn´t make it to work yesterday because I was sick. I really needed the money but I just couldn´t do it. I slept till 4:30 until my roommate came home. And I felt so much better. Then I got up and taught my student for about an hour and a half. I refuse to cancel on my students unless it´s an emergency. And it was an easy way to make money.

I also bought more bootleg copies of the latest CDs. I sure got a deal. I gotta say that I love David Bisbal and David de María. They are both so sexy. I love listening to music in Spanish. 

Monday and Wednesday are holidays here in Spain and everything will be closed. Except for my job, that is. I will be on the phones as usual, listening to all the bitchy secretaries tell me that their bosses don´t want to talk to me. Gotta love that.

Most people that I call aren´t fluent in English. So when I pitch them, some tell me that they aren´t " interesting"  instead of telling me that they "aren´t interested". So sometimes depending on my mood I ask them , " Oh, so you aren´t interesting.?" And that my friends, is how I get my cheap laughs.

And yes................ The Chrismas season is here. I love the decorations in the streets. And there are little booths where the old ladies roast chestnuts. Too bad I don´t like chestnuts.

And too bad I don´t like Christmas. Yes, my friends. I don´t like Christmas. And no, I am not Scrooge. Thanksgiving is my fave holiday. I will be happy when Christmas passes.

Okay, gotta go now. Ciao.

 

 

Hello there everyone, :)

I gotta say that I am tired. I think that I am starting to get sick again. Today we had some nasty ass weather. It was cold and rainy. At least it was nice and sunny yesterday for my birthday. I hope that the sun shines tommorow.

I bought my first bootleg copies of CDs from some Morrocan guy in the metro. There are always people walking around and trying to sell bootleg copies of DVDs and the latest CDs in restaurants and the metro station. They are almost either Chinese or Morrocans.

 I bought the New Destiny´s Child CD and Jo Jo. I especially love the new Jo Jo CD. That girl is only 13 and she can sure sing. They play her songs here a lot. I paid 5€ for 2 CDs. I woulda bought more, but I didn´t have change and I am not gonna trust some stranger on the street to make change for a 50€ bill. Nu uh.

I also told my boss that I got shorted on my pay and they paid me the difference. They shorted me 80€. If I hadn´t said anything I would still be out of that money. I am sure glad that I spoke up.

Antonio, I wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday. Don´t know if you still read my journals or not, but Happy Birthday either way.

Well I guess that I better go make dinner and get some sleep. Tommorow is another long day on the phones.

Ciao.

Hello there everyone,

Well, today is the first time I am spending my birthday in a foreign country, and I know that it won´t be the last time either.

My birthday had an interesting start. I was getting dressed for work this morning when my roommate decided to wish me a happy birthday. He thought I was sleeping, so he just opened the door without knocking. And when he opened the door I had no shirt on. I shrieked and yelled at him to get out in English. I was so shocked that I lost my ability to yell at him in Spanish. Haha. At least he appologized after. I think he´ll know to knock next time. Sheesh.

 Today I have to say that I had a nice birthday overall. For starters, my boss gave me a lot of candy, and my coworkers signed a birthday card for me today. I wasn´t expecting anything, so this was a very nice surprise for me. I ate so much candy today. I was wired and giggling by the time I left the office.

My roommate also invited me to his family´s house for dinner and his mom cooked us a wonderful meal. I didn´t realize that we were eating dinner so I stuffed myself full of appetizers before the meal. I hate it when that happens. She also made a nice cake for me. They also gave my present which was a pair of pajamas for the winter that I am wearing right now. They are keeping me warm.

That was the good part of my birthday and I was lucky to be surrounded by people that cared. Even though I was lucky and had a wonderful birthday I still kinda feel lonely and empty. I´ve kinda been feeling this way for the past week and I can´t really describe the feeling, but it sucks. I really miss my family and friends back home and most friends back home don´t remember that it´s my birthday.

I am kinda starting to go out with someone here and he forgot my birthday today. He was also supposed to call me and make plans to hang out later this week. But of course that didn´t happen either. Today I really realized that he is not a keeper. I think that I will be saying goodbye to him soon. I don´t have a lot of faith in men, and the little faith that I have left is slowly starting to disappear. Oh well. What can ya do ?

I am happy that I got paid today from my job, but I realized that I got jacked out of some of my pay. I worked about 21 days this month but, they are only paying me for 19. I don´t understand. I am so upset. I am gonna go to work early to try and straighten this out. I work my ass off for shit pay, and they still try to keep some of my salary from me. I don´t understand why. There is soooooo much money in this business. They shouldn´t be doing this to me. I hope that this is all a mistake. I really have to watch my back. It sucks because I heavily depend on the money that I get. Stupid motherfuckers.

I learned an expression here : No me toca las pelotas. Loosely translated it means ¨don´t mess with me´´. If you wanna get literal it means ¨¨ don´t touch my balls.¨ I gotta learn how to stand up for myself more. And here I feel like I have to fight for the pay that I worked for and am entitiled to.

Anyways, I better go to bed. Ciao.

More Ramblings ! And tommorow is my Birthday :)

Hello there my lovelies.............

I intended to write this journal entry a while ago, but AOL wouldn´t let me. Each time I tried to write an entry, it magically coughed up some little error that shut down the page. I was really irritated. Excuse my French si vous plait, but AOL really sucks balls. And although I use AOL journals to type my blog, it is pretty limited in my point of view. Okay, enough about that..........

Although it is sunny here in Barcelona, it very very cold.  And my roommate and I are too cheap to turn on the darn heater even though we have it and don´t have to suffer from the cold weather.

What really stinks is getting up in the morning. My bed is so nice and warm and my room is so cold. Sometimes I have to use the bathroom and the toilet seat is too cold !!!!! That really wakes me up.

What else.......... Ah yes ! I was supposed to get paid by one of my students over the weekend. But she told me that she didn´t have the money and that she would do it the next weekend. She also canceled class the next day because she was having some problems. I don´t know what I am gonna do if she doesn´t pay me. I travel about an hour each way to get to her house during the weekend. Plus I teach her at a reduced rate because she was my first student. And she knows that I really need the money. She is a really nice woman and I always love going over because she is a wonderful student and she invites me for lunch. But I still need to get paid.

I guess that if she doesn´t pay I just will forget the whole thing and never go back, because in my opinion that´s kinda like stealing from me.Because ya know, I do depend on the money, and I wasn´t asking for charity. She was the one that called me up and asked me to teach her.

 Now I always tell my students that I get paid by the hour that same day. All the worrying about getting paid is just not worth it. If I don´t get paid next weekend, I will be out by about 100 Euros which is a lot of money for me, but it isn´t the end of the world. I will keep ya posted.

And tommorow is my birthday. I hope that I won´t be stuck here at home doing nothing. How sad would that be. I will be 24. I remember turning 21. That felt like yesterday. And now the time just flies by very fast. I didn´t think that I would be celebrating my 24th birthday in Barcelona. But here I am.

Anyways, I am gonna go to bed now. Ciao.

Hello there my lovelies............................

Hello there my lovelies............................

I was really busy this week and really didn´t have a chance to post anything. A lot happened.

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to all. We don´t celebrate it here, so I of course had to work yesterday. It was my first Thanksgiving abroad. I normally spend Thanksgivings with my grandparents in Northern California, but I couldn´t this year. I really miss them a lot, but at least I got to talk to them today and I was happy.

I also got my hair trimmed yesterday. I went to a nice English-speaking hair salon here in Barcelona. It was a nice salon too, with a lot of antique stuff. Anyways, I always feel better after a haircut. The hair stylists here kinda massage your scalp when they shampoo your hair. That never happened in the salons back at home. What´s up with that?

I also started teaching my new student this week on Tuesday. I was in a hurry to get to his house, and on the way there I stepped in a little pile of dog shit without realizing it. I didn´t realize it until a couple of minutes later when I felt a lump under my shoe. That was nasty. There was nothing I could do to get the damn shoes clean again. I tried walking in the grass, but that was no good because there were a million piles of dog shit planted there. I also tried walking in puddles, and it still wouldn´t come off.  When I got to his house I told him it would be better for me to take off my shoes, but he said that it wasn´t necessary, even though I asked him like three times.  So.......... while I was giving him his lesson, the room kinda smelled like ass a little. I hope that he didn´t think it was me.

Oh ! My mom sent me a package with DVDs in ENGLISH !!!!! Yay ! I also was sent bubble gum and cookies. I shared a little with my roommate. I am gonna teach him how to blow bubbles soon.

Speaking of my roommate, he didn´t hear me come home today. And I was in the office with the door shut talking to my grandparents. So after he got out of the shower he walked in naked to get something. Luckily I didn´t see anything except the expression on his face. He looked so startled. That´ll teach him to be a little more careful next time.

What else........................... Have you ever seen the movie Boiler Room ? My job strongly reminds me of that movie, except for the company that my bosses are promoting is actually real and legit. That movie will never be the same for me again.

But like the Boiler Room where they had a nice party, we are also having a nice party. We are gonna have dinner at a nice expensive restaurant near the beach. I think that my boss reserved the place just for us. And afterwards we are gonna go and chill out at a nice lounge. I am really looking forward to that. I didn´t think that us telemarketers were gonna be invited. I love nice parties where I get to dress up. Yay ! My first fancy party in Barcelona :) I hope that I will have many more parties to attend as I get into the professional working world.

Well, that is all for now. I was supposed to go out tonight, but the guy cancelled on me. This is the second time he did that, and we´ve never even met. We were supposed to go see Natacha Atlas in concert last Friday but he cancelled on me at the last minute. So I nicely told him today that I don´t want to meet him anymore, despite his appologies. They never learn, I tell ya.

There is a saying that I recently found. ´´ Men are like wine. It is our duty to stomp the shit out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with. ´´

I am not a man hater. However I have learned that most men don´t respect you until you stand your ground. They don´t treat you well unless you give them their own medicine. It is not until I am a bitch that they treat me well. No wonder it is hard to go out here. I am a nice girl ! That is my problem. Oh well.

Anyways, I am going for reals now. Caio.

Yay ! I finally found a way to post pictures !!!!

A Magical Moment in Barcelona

Hello there my lovelies.................

Well, last night I went to La Paloma to see Natacha Atlas on her Hope Tour. There was another singer there too, but he sucked. He looked like a monkey on stage, and I was just praying for him to get off the stage so that I could see Natacha.

People in the club loved Natacha. She looks like she gained some weight, and it seemed like she was tired at first. But she seemed to get more into it as people continued to cheer her on. Nevertheless, she was still very beautiful and I was glad that I went to see her, even though I had to endure the other horrible singer. She has such a beautiful voice.

She also bellydanced a little and I loved that so much. I was right in front of the stage so while she was dancing she was looking directly at me and smiling for a couple of seconds.

I listen to her music all the time and I used to dance and perform to her music. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to see her in the flesh. And I don´t think that she would have ever made her way to my city in California. So I thought this was a wonderful way to spend a Friday night.

My roommate went with me too, and like me he hated the other singer. Although he liked Natacha Atlas, he didn´t like her as much as I did. Oh well. At least I tried to warn him.

Well folks, that is all for today. Maybe I will have some interesting tidbits to share tommorow.

Ciao.

I am so stressed out right now

Hello everyone,

I am here today to vent my frustrations. So if you are in a happy mood right now, I wouldn´t wanna bust your little happy bubble.

I missed work today because I am very stressed. I just did not wanna have to make calls all day feeling like this, especially when I would rather be using the day to try to fix my problems. I know that I lost a day´s pay, but it was kinda worth it. I missed out on 40 € but whatever.

At least I got to talk to my roommate´s mother. I really like her. She came over today to bring stuff for my roommate and found me in bed. She helped me change the bedsheets (something I´ve been meaning to do forever) and brought me some grapes. She also talked to me a little while and invited me over for lunch. So I went over with my roommate. She is a very good cook and she stuffed me. I had lentil soup with sausage. And then she made me hot chocolate for desert and opened up a fresh new box of chocolates in the shape of seashells. I feel a lot better now.

Anyways,  I have been having problems with my student loans, and it is no little thing either. I kinda got screwed a little. It´s a long story. But thanks to my marketing professor who submitted my grade late, this all got started. I am a little mad at him right now. Plus the loan officer that I was in contact with earlier this summer left the company, leaving all my e-mails and inquiries unanswered. I had no idea who to contact for the past couple of months.

Of course this is all a little of my fault too. If I had just got on this earlier, I wouldn´t be in this mess right now. Well maybe I would, but I wouldn´t be this stressed.

And now my grace period is almost over and I gotta work fast to get permission to enter in forbearance. Because there is just no way in hell that I can start to pay all this off now.

So,  according to my situation right now, it looks like the money in my US accounts to pay my monthly bills back home will disappear a lot faster than I had anticipated.

And this means that I will be on a plane back home very soon unless I somehow find a high paying job or receive money for my birthday (both of which I am not expecting)

And although I have been missing home during my stay here and have cried a lot, I am just now starting to get used to living here and earning enough to stay here. Things are just starting to slowly happen for me here. And now this comes along.

Oh well. God sure has a sense of humor. I really hope that I can end up staying here a little longer.

Hello there my lovelies..............

I am gonna start off this entry with a little too much info, and I am gonna be frank. I am kinda annoyed. I looked around at some shops today and I can´t find my damn bra size. What the hell is up with that ???? That isn´t right. I should be able to walk in the store just like any other woman and buy a bra if I want.

And my rant isn´t over yet. The pants I find here in the shops are too long for me. They fit my behind just fine, but not my legs. I don´t like that. I know that I am short and have a big butt, but I know that I am not the only one out here built like that. There are a lot of women here in Spain built like me, or shall I say that I am built like most of the women around here.

I think that I should go into business for women that aren´t proportionate by the standards of most clothing shops. I have always had a hard time finding clothes that fit me just right. I really wonder how many women struggle like I do. I really do like to shop, but it´s hard work.

What else ? hmmmmmmmm................

Oh yeah. You all know that I was going to move to San Sebastian and be an au-pair back in September. But I ended up leaving that position after a week and I came back here to Barcelona. I made that decision quickly and pretty much left quickly. I didn´t even really give myself a chance to try and adjust to life in San Sebastian. I think about what I did all the time.

I thought that I may regret that decision, but I still don´t, and looking back I still wouldn´t want to go back. It´s really wierd. My life would have been so much easier there. It all seemed like the perfect idea. I was going to live with a family of two doctors in a rich, beautiful city. The ocean and countryside were both near, and France was just a stonesthrow away. The boys I was watching were good boys and respectful of me for the most part. I was living in a big house on the mountain with a pool and the mother cooked good food for us every day.

But I felt so trapped and helpless there and I wanted to leave from the start. I had to work from 3pm until the boys went to bed. I didn´t want to be confined in a house all day with the boys. I also couldn´t learn any Spanish because I always had to speak to the boys in English. The mother didn´t speak English too well but she still wouldn´t speak to me in English.

But most of all I didn´t want to be cleaning and caring for children all day. There is nothing wrong with doing that all day, and I do not think that it´s beneath me. However, it was definitely not for me. And I really learned that while I was there. I wanted to be working with adults.

My life here in Barcelona is harder. I have to do everything myself, and I am working in a job that I absolutely detest as a telemarketer. But I at least work woth people my age and we get along well. That job also ends in the evening so I have evenings free and I can do whatever I please after that. And here in Barcelona it is really easy to meet people and socialize. I also don´t have to depend on anyone here in Barcelona like I did in San Sebastian. I had to depend on the family to help me get places because we lived on a mountain. I am independent and I can do everything myself here. And if I don´t like it anymore the airport is only 5 minutes away.

Life is really funny. Sometimes things that seem like the perfect solution simply aren´t right.

More happenings in Barcelona..................

Hello there my lovelies......................

Today I had an interesting morning. The metro kinda stopped for no apparent reason today and I had to walk my ass the rest of the way to work. It was funny because I was waiting for the metro doors to close, but they never did. I was standing and waiting for the metro to leave for about 10 minutes. Haha.

Luckily I was only one stop away from my usual stop, but still. It was a looooooong walk. And it is cold right now. But, I wasn´t too upset because it was a nice walk. Barcelona really is a beautiful place. I was almost tempted to just ditch work and walk around the city all day.

The taxi drivers were also on strike today, so it was hard to catch a taxi this morning. Most of the other guys in the office rely on the taxi so it took them a couple hours to catch a taxi. It was funny watching them all stumble in late.

We had a new guy that started at work today. But he left the same day. Haha. Usually people leave after 2 days because they are fed up. He didn´t even last the day. I think that he was mad because my bosses wouldn´t give him a contract. Then my bosses tried to cover up why he left. They tried to convince us that they let him go, when in fact he was the one that left. Whatever. They think I am dumb. I like that. That way they don´t question me. According to them I am just dumb, naive and happy.

If you know me personally, you already know that I can be ditzy. And sometimes I come off as dumb. I don´t seem like a threatening person at all physically or mentally. I think that this trait will get me far in the business world with my competitors.

On another note I ate a lot of junk food today, and I feel a million times fatter. I ate cookies, ice cream, Burger King, chips............ I don´t regret it. It really felt good for once. However, I will be more careful and eat healthier. Because ya know, I don´t have enough money to buy new clothes to fit a fatter ass.

And................. I went to the movies today with a friend to see The Door in the Floor with Kim Basinger. It was kinda sad, and I was really hoping to see a movie that could make me laugh. But, it was the only movie playing that we didn´t have to wait 2 hours for. But I still enjoyed it. It is an American movie so it reminded me a lot of my old life back in the good old U S of A.

I am kinda tired right now. My job really drains me. However, not all is lost. I have soooo many funny stories to tell. The time here passes by way too fast. I am happy that the time at work goes by fast, but I wish I had more time to enjoy the time I have after work.

Anywho, I better go to bed now. Nite Nite.

The Latest Happenings in My Barcelona Life......

Hello there my lovelies.........

The weekend was kinda cool. The bonus to having a roommate is that he has friends. Lotsa friends. And some of them are really hot ;). Anyways on Saturday he invited some friends over and we all had tapas and wine. He made all of the tapas himself, and it was really, really good. We had meats, olives, bread and calamari.

One of my English students canceled on my for the weekend because she was sick. I wasn´t too upset because this meant that I could sleep in as long as I wanted. And I did. I slept till 2pm and I felt so relieved.

I also taught my new student for the first time. He is near La Sagrada Familia so the walk to his place is really nice. And although I went to an apartment, he doesn´t live there. He just uses it to relax. Nice. I wish I could do that. The wierd part about this place was that it was an old business for Tarot Card Readings and all the furniture, candles and special Tarot card tables were left behind.

What else ? Ah yes ! I still hate my job, but I like my life after work. After I got out of work today I walked down La Rambla and took a nice stroll through the other little windy little streets.

The thing that I love about Barcelona is the old, windy little streets. And the shops aren´t big brand name stores like I am used to seeing in the US. Each shop in these little streets are unique and sell cool stuff. This is a great city to open up a store and sell your stuff. Too bad most of it is expensive.

There are so many different types of people in this city and one thing is certain: People here wear whatever the hell they feel like, whether it looks good or not. I swear to Gawd that the 1980s have made a comeback. Women dye their hair all sorts of different colors and a lot of women here sport a mullet. Women also wear little mini skirts with leggings underneath. Big sweaters that hang off your shoulder are also popular. And remember those big socks from back in the day ? Those are back in style here too. I hope that this style or whatever you call it doesn´t make it´s way back to the US.

On Friday after I got out of work I went and took pictures of the animals sold on La Rambla. I took nice pictures of chicks, ducklings, hamsters and birdies. My mother loves cute little animals and these pictures are guaranteed to make her squeal with joy. But no matter how hard I try it seems impossible to post them up here for you all to see. I am alittle irritated. I have lots of nice pics of Barcelona and the animals.

Although I feel better today than I did, I am still a little worried. I live my life here day by day. Bit by bit. I hope that in January that I still have a job. Either that or I find another one. The thing that I am most worried about is getting a working contract. That´s really all I want right now. Let´s see what God wants.

What else ? Oh yeah, one of my favorite artists, Natacha Atlas, is coming here to Barcelona on Friday. She will be singing at the nightclub La Paloma, and I think that I am gonna go see her. She sings in Arabic and French. I have a lot of her music and I used to bellydance to it back when I was taking lessons. I think my roommate is coming with me too. Although I invited him I never expected him to actually agree because he is a guy.

Okay, it is kinda late here and I should go and get ready for bed. The days here really go by fast. At least I am doing my best to enjoy it all.

Ciao.

Reality Check

Hello Everyone,

I have about 400 Euros earned from my job plus another 300 Euros in a deposit that my roommate has. I am so tempted to take all that money, pack my bags and go to the airport and wait for the next flight out and just go back to the United States. It is so easy and tempting right now.

I love Barcelona, but I absolutely hate my job as a telemarketer. It´s a shitty-ass job with no respect. I would rather clean toilets because at least they don´t talk back. Hell, I would even go as far as saying that I would rather dance on tables and get hollered at for money.

I couldn´t imagine what telemarketers in the US go through. I call people in Europe at their jobs. They are at least civil to me most of the time. I know that people in the US are downright vicious when they are disturbed in their own homes. (I can´t blame them, though)

To have a chance at getting legal working papers I have to stay there for another 5 months. And it´s not even guaranteed. My bosses could just say no at the end. But I don´t think I can stay there that long. I am thinking a lot right now. Maybe I would be happier working illegally and doing something I love : Like teaching English. But on the other hand, I really would rather have legal rights like everyone else.

This job is hell. AND illegal in many ways. Spain is a haven for people to set up investment companies and survive through the many loopholes. If you don´t know what I mean, I will explain it in more detail after I don´t work there anymore. What I am doing is not so wrong. I am just making calls. But I am tired of spending 40 hours a week at the telephone and getting rejected each time. I am also tired of my boss telling me that my results aren´t good enough. He should take his thumb and shove it up his ass. And I am also tired of all the secrecy in the office. They think that us telemarketeres that make the calls are stupid and can´t figure anything out. Today we had 2 men come in the office to fix the air conditioning. They came a little unannounced at that kinda scared my bosses a little. Haha. I am willing to bet that my bosses don´t even use their real names.

I am so glad that I will have a little vacation in a month. the office will be closing down for Christmas. Then I will have more time to enjoy Barcelona and decide whether staying here longer is worth it.

I mean, I can´t be putting it all down because at the moment it ishow I am able to stay here and enjoy Barcelona. I am usually back to my happy self the moment I leave the office. And on top of that my bosses are human beings and aren´t complete assholes. When I mentioned that I wasn´t feeling well yesterday my boss told me that I am welcome to go home. I remember that when I was a waitress at Red Lobster my bosses would have a little hissy fit if I asked to go home because I was sick.

I survived the summer here in Barcelona. For about a month I had very, very little money a lot of time on my hands and not a whole lot of friends. Living in a foreign city with almost no money and a lot of free time is hard. I will never forget how I felt. So even though I hate my job, I feel better than I did during the summer because at least I can buy food and go out once in a while.

I talked to two of my other coworkers from Argentina yesterday. They told me that they have to stay here in Spain and don´t have any way to go home. To make enough money in Argentina to buy a flight to Spain they have to save up 6 months of their pay. They told me that Argentina is a hard place to live. They also laughed at me when I told them that I can´t deal with the job anymore.

They told me that at least I have the option of going home when I want, and that if I want I can even come back to Spain one day. They on the other hand, don´t have the same options as me. They are wondering why I, an American with an education am working in Spain for so little when I could be putting the degree to use back home for more money.

I wondered the same thing myself, but this trip has done me a lot of good. The United States is very diverse and there are a lot of different cultures. However, you can´t really expand your horizons unless you leave and live in another country. I really feel that I am learning a lot. And on top of that I did things that I usually wouldn´t do in the US.

Anyways, I needed to get that off my chest. I think I will be staying here at least until January. But it wouldn´t good for me to pack up and leave right now. I think I should give myself another chance.

Ciao for now.

Get out your violins and play for me

Hello Everyone,

I am kinda going through the blues right now.  I guess everyone does. I was really happy last week and this week is different. I think I´ll get over it soon.

I was talking to my old coworker a few days back and a lot of people I used to work with at Red Lobster quit. And we all used to get along really well and hang out together. A lot of my friends that are still in college back home will be graduating soon. Most of my coworkers in my office ( not the nasty investment guys) will be moving to other countries after the holidays. After the holidays I will be broke and lonely. I am NOT looking forward to Christmas. I have always disliked Christmas. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but too bad Spain doesn´t celebrate it.

I was just thinking about how life will be when I go back to the states. I will have to start all over and make new friends. There is no such thing as going back home and living life like I used to. That chapter in my life is closed for good. Back in the states I don´t have a car,  a place to live or a job waiting for me. I have to start from scratch again.

I also feel really alone right now. I don´t even know how to describe it, except that it sucks. It´s really hard to have a group of friends to go out with on a regular basis. Seriously. Everyone here has their own social life and group of friends so it is hard to go out with the same people. And I am tired of going out with different people all the time.

Last night after I spent a while bitching here on my journal my roommate shared some of his dinner with me. It was so good. I had beans, potatoes and meat. Then we had Baileys afterwards.

While we were eating I had him practice his English a little. I usually have him tell me about his day in English and then I correct his mistakes. I spent a lot of time explaining grammar rules to him. By doing this, I am not really helping him, but more myself. I really need to know how to explain English grammar rules in English as well as Spanish.

What else ? Nothing more really except that I will have my first meeting with another English student on Sunday. I am a little nervous.

Ciao for now.

 

I am very annoyed right now

Hello Everyone,

If you are in a bubbly, perky mood right now, I am sorry. I am not trying to rain on any parade but I am just feeling downright irritated. And I am gonna vent right now.

I am tired. I work very hard during the week, and the days go by so fast here. I spend over half my pay the first day of the month to cover rent and food. Then I usually end up with almost very little food by the end of the month. I am so sick of feeling like a poor student.

I am so sick of working my ass off for so little pay. And I friggin´ hate my job. I am sick of calling strangers only to get shut down 99% of the time.

I am a little desperate for money right now. I am looking for new English students and I found two people so far. However one of them is kinda jerking me around. And that is kinda why I am not in a pleaseant mood right now. Normally I would tell that person to fuck off. But because I need money right now I am kinda willing to put up with shit as long as I get paid in the end.

This month was a little better. I was able to buy new shoes, a sweater and a coat for the cold weather as well as a new metro pass. But I hope that I have enough money to buy food for the rest of the month.

I really worry about my future. I hope to God that down the road I won´t have to worry about food and clothing like I do now.

What else ? Yes, I hate the men in my office. While I was making coffee one of the guys there who looks like he survived a shipwreck decided to make fun of me and my coffee drinking habits. (I put a lot of sugar in my coffee). I came so close to blowing up at him and pointing out his alcohol habits. There are so many comebacks that I have stored away, but I never use them.

I also sit close to one of the most sexist pigs I have ever met in my life. Last week I heard him tell a client that women are just snakes with tits. And there is absolutely nothing I can do about it because I am in Spain and not the US. I am not legally working.

People, if you ever get a call over the phone to invest, don´t respond. These people are so dishonest and twisted. I will never look at a stockbroker/ Financial analyst/ Financial advisor the same EVER. 

Here´s what I think about it all. You´re better off just throwing darts at the Wall Street Journal. And you save yourself the comission fees. Or if you took a finance class you can calculate all the financial equations and come to your own conclusions.

Anyways, I am gonna have a nice little glass of Baileys.

Ciao.

 

Hello Everyone,

I just gotta say that I am soooooooo tired. I sure had a lot of fun last night. I went to a bar on the mountains ( Mt. Tibidabo) Very nice. I haven´t danced to hip hop since I was in the states so I let loose a little on the dance floor that they had. Then we went to another club on another mountain (Mont Juic) and danced some more. The club there was very expensive and NOT worth the money. Plus it was way too crowded. It was so crowded that it was impossible to dance. And people were smoking. So it really wasn´t all that good. We were so scrunched in on that floor that my arm got grazed by a cigarette. That hurt. My eyes also hurt because everyone around me was smoking and we were packed indoors.

 However I did have some fun because there were muscular male dancers on stage. And later my friend and I ended up going upstairs to the hip hop room to dance to hip hop, and there was a little space for me to dance. So not all was lost.

I went with my friend and I hope he calls me next weekend to go out. Sure beat staying at home all night. I better make sure that I go to bed at a decent hour. I got home at 5am and had to get up at 10am to teach English. I do not wanna feel like this tommorow at work.

Ciao.

This is dedicated to all you animal lovers out there....

Hello there my lovelies.................

After work today I took a nice long stroll down La Rambla, one of Barcelona ´s most visited spots. It´s really close to my job. On La Rambla lots of animals are sold.

You can see a variety of beautiful little birdies as well as bunnies, little turtles and fish. And they are really cheap. I would love to lave a little birdie sing to me every morning. But my roommate wouldn´t allow it. And besides, cleaning up birdshit is not my cup of tea either.

It´s sad because the animals are all squished together in the cages. But they are still really cute. I watched the little birdies chirp. There were like about 4 or 5 birdies next to each other on a branch chirping.

Then there were the bunnies. One of them looked like a little fat Easter Bunny with it´s long ears drooped to each side. And it was so cute. It was fuzzy and wriggling its nose. It was cleaning it´s face with its paws.

And once on my walk to work, I saw a bunch of green exotic birds eating on the grass. They looked like wild parrots. Before then I had never seen birds like that out of a cage. It was such a Kodak moment.

And did you know that there are wild pigs here in Barcelona ? Yeah, that´s right. Sometimes you can catch them on the street with the rest pf us humans. I never saw one yet, but I think that the wild pig population in the city is slowly.

Yes, this is a truly interesing city.

My WOW.

Hello Everyone,

How are ya ? Hope all is well with you. And now, on to my thoughts or WOW (words of wisdom) for the day. ;)

Have you ever heard of a custard apple ? I never heard of it until I came here. My roommate eats them. Very good stuff. I don´t think they sell it back in the US. It is a soft fruit that you tear into two with your hands. Then you eat the fruit off the seeds and spit out the seeds. 

And today one of my coworkers is sent out investment information to a guy named Mike Hunt. You may think the name is harmless upon reading it, but just say it out loud kinda fast and see the different reactions you will get in the room. Go on, I dare you. Haha. When I heard him repeat the name, I almost fell out of my chair in a fit of laughter.

One of the financial advisors will have to call him back in a couple of weeks and do some followup. I just pray that I will be there when he has to say ¨Yes, I want to speak to Mike Hunt please.¨

What else ? I just spent a lot of money going to Carrefour, which is like the Walmart of Spain. There were a lot of discounts going on. I went with my roommate and his mom of course. I stocked up on lots of food as well as soap and shampoo. So, if I am too broke to do anything, at least I will be clean and fed.

Okay, nothing more to say today. Angela, I miss your comments. Come back soon, please :)

Ciao.

Little things that make me happy :)

Hello there my lovelies..........................

Yesterday I bought my first bottle of alcohol for myself. I almost felt like a teenager going behind my parent´s back. Haha. I am almost 24 and this is my first. It´s about friggin´time.

To be more specific, I bought a Bailey´s Irish Creme ( I doubt I even wrote it correctly). That is some good stuff, especially over ice. I will save it for when I had a rough day and I want to chill out on the balcony. We have a nice view in our apartment. I don´t like to have a lot, but a few swigs sure feels nice going down.

You wanna know something else ? I finally had enough money to buy a friggin´ hair dryer. I haven´t blow-dried my hair for over 3 months. For three months my hair was frizzy and course. I finally dried it a couple of days ago and it´s back to being straight and smooth. What a nice feeling. Back in the states I wouldn´t have thought twice about buying a simple hair dryer. Here I was wishing and hoping for the day to arrive that I could buy one.

This Friday my coworker invited us all over to his house for some drinks. I thought that was cool. I like my coworkers. It´s also always cool to chat it up with other English speakers once in a while. He lives near the beach, so I am kinda excited to go.

Oh yeah, and Bush won. People here HATE him. I´ve talked to a lot of people here and there hasn´t been ANYONE that´s in favor of Bush. I will be hearing about this for a while. In fact when I am in public, I hear a lot of people talking about the election results. Back in CA no one liked him either. Where are all the people in favor of him ? 

Anyways, better go. Ciao.

 

 

 

 

Election Day.................

Hello Everyone,

Today is my first election day abroad. And I am sad. I am really sad that I missed my opportunity to vote, because this election is very important and every vote counts.

I am a little sad because even if I could vote, I really wouldn´t wanna vote for either. And I won´t `be happy with either winning candidate. I hope that you all make your vote count. And unlike me, I hope that you have a stronger preference over one of the candidates. Because I don´t like feeling like this.

I am also wishing that this day will pass because I am tired of people throwing in their 2 cents on Bush. I friggin´get it !!! I don´t like him either all that much either, okay ??? But just because I am American doesn´t mean that I wanna hear it ALL THE TIME. I didn´t care the first couple of times. Now I am annoyed. Sheesh.

I expected to see people glued to the TVs in the bars to get updates on the elections, but instead there is a huge soccer match going on. Haha. Barca against Milan. My roommate should be glued right about now to the TV hoping that Barca wins. Haha. Suckers.

Anyways, gotta go. I am in a nasty ass internet cafe and the keyboard is so dirty. Yuck. I am surprised that fleas aren´t jumping out at me.

Ciao for now.

 

 

 

Pick up your dog crap or else !!!!!

Hello there my lovelies......................

I am sure you all know about the campaigns that are going one for the US Presidency. But I bet you didn´t know about the big advertising campaign that is going on here in my neighborhood and Barcelona.

Basically the city is spending a lot of money to tell it´s citizens to pick up the dog shit that their pets leave behind. Because if a police officer catches you leaving the crap behind, you could be fined between 300-750 Euros. Yeah, thats right !!

There are lots of banners tied up on the trees stating : Pick up after your dog. It´s not that difficult. And next to that is a picture of a man twisted up in some wierd yoga position trying to pick up the dog shit. I kinda laughed.

Holy Crap ! If I had a dog and I let it shit twice without cleaning up after it I would be out of a whole month´s pay. Well, I am glad that the city is doing this. I don´t have a dog, so I don´t care if the rule is too strict or not. I am just tired of always stepping around brown doggie pies.

What else ? It is friggin´ cold here. And the weather was nasty today. No matter how much I tried, I was always stepping in puddles on my way to work today. And today was a holiday. While pretty much all of Barcelona was sleeping, I had to drag my lazy ass out of bed to go make phonecalls to strangers I don´t even know. Nice.

Anywho, I better go. I am starting to get sick so I am gonna rest.

Ciao.

 

 

 

Another Sunday...................

Hello Everyone,

Well,  I am just chillin´ here on this cold Sunday afternoon. I finally got paid from my Dominican students. I really really need the money. One of her sons is in the hospital so I bought him some roses. I really hope he comes home soon. He´s such a nice kid.  Today the father made my favorite Spanish food without even realizing it´s my fave : Octopus, garlic and shrimp, bread, and potaoes. VERY GOOD STUFF.

After I got paid from my telemarketing job I realized that I don´t get paid when I miss work due to being sick. ( I was told otherwise) I was sick for 2 days and therefore lost 80 Euros. And right now, 80 euros is a lot of money for me. That did NOT make my day. And guess what ? I am getting sick again. This friggin´blows.

The ability of employers here to royally screw their employees over is just unreal. In the US I would NEVER even consider doing what I do here. You have no idea how lucky I feel that I have a University degree and TEFL certificate. If I didn´t have those there would be absolutely no hope for me.  If I get working papers I can have a better chance of finding a better paying job. Until I can get those, I´m afraid that I will have to keep bending over.

And to get legal working papers I will have to stay with my current job for another 6 months and kiss a lot of ass. I really hope it´s worth it. I guess we´ll just have to see.

Anyways, I better get ready for my week. Tommorow is a holiday, but I have to go to work anyways. And early, becuase I have to make up the 3 hours that I missed when I went to register at the city hall on Friday.

Ciao.

 

 

Elections, Immigration issues, yada yada yada........

Hello Everyone,

Wow, the elections are really coming up next week. Unfortunately I completely missed the deadline to vote absentee. Crap. I really wish that I could have put my two cents in this time around, especially since it is all part of my American duty.

Honestly, I really don´t know who to vote for. To be honest I don´t like either. But one of them has gotta be president, right ? I was talking to my dad the other day and he told me that he would seriously vote for Kermit the Frog over Bush. I kinda laughed.

I am normally a Republican, and lean a little to the right. I voted for Bush last time around. But in the past four years he messed up relations with other countries. In order to remain one of the most powerful countries, I would imagine that we have to get along with the other countries, right ? We´re only a small part of the globe. Europe is growing each year as more countries entered the EU. 10 new countries became a part of the EU. I would hate to see Europe band together and become our enemy. Of course it wouldn´t happen overnight and maybe it won´t happen at all. But I really feel that we are walking backwards a little. I am really torn over who to vote for. Anyways, that´s my two cents for what it´s worth.

Yesterday I finally got in contact with my boss and he let me take off a couple of hours to register in the town hall so that I have proof that I am actually living here in Barcelona. This is one of the requirements for me to apply for working papers and residency for about one year. My roommate really helped me out. He missed some of his classes to go with me. I woulda been really screwed without him.

I felt like I was at the DMV all over again. I waited for about an hour (which is not that much). Like the DMV there were seats to wait for our turn. There were a lot of immigrants there, and I was trying to read the various passport covers to see where they are from. A lot of people from South America, India and Pakistan. I think that I was the only American girl there. People did kinda look at me. Oh well.

It´s wierd. Back in the states I used to read about immigration issues but I never had to experience any of it because I am a US citizen. Here I am one of the "immigrants" that I always read about in the US and that I always read about here in the Spanish papers . It is different being on the other side.

Anyways, Without my roommate accompanying me I would have had to buy my own apartment to prove that I am living in Barcelona. But he vouched for me and told them that I am living with him and that he invited me from the US to live with him. I was silent the whole time and let him do the talking. I didn´t wanna fuck up any of my chances.

So now I feel better because I registered within the deadline and have a chance to get working papers in six months. Yeah, I have to wait a while. But hey, immigration issues are almost never dealt with rapidly unless you are a refugee or can pay off officials. Sometimes not even then. I was told that if I paid about $70,000 to the immigration officials I could get my papers overnight. Hahaha.

I finally got paid today and was able to put money on my phone. So now I can send text messages. I had no money and was unable to call anyone here for about a week. Shit, that was frustrating.

I also bought some food for the week. I bought bags of fruit for under €5. You don´t know how relieved I am that I can finally go to the store and buy FOOD. We´re not talking about a shopping spree. We´re talking about eating. I never had to worry back home. So yeah, you get the idea.

Anyways I am gonna go out with my roommate and his friends tonight for tapas. I hope to get full.

Ciao.

Warning ! I used cuss words in this entry !

Hello Everyone !

Let´s say that today was not a good day. For starters I don´t like the men in my office. They say the stupidist stuff to us girls. And today I told one of the guys to go back into his office because there was nothing special to look at while he was looking at me. I said it in a joking manner, but he took it seriously and is now being a dick about it. Whatever. Ladies, I swear to GAWD if you meet a guy for the first time and he tells you he is a financial analyst or a stockbroker do yourself a favor and just bolt out the door. Most of them are just worthless.

I think I should get paid tommorow but I have been broke all week, and I am a little hungry right now because I don´t have a lot of food left. I mean, yeah I am not gonna starve. But I am really really low on food. By tommorow I will have nothing left. I am counting on getting paid. I am sick and tired of living like this.

And remember how I wrote a nice journal entry about a glimmer of hope yesterday ? Well fuck it all. I am really nervous about it all right now. If I wanna have a chance to get my working papers I HAVE to register at the city hall by tommorow. And I didn´t know this until I got home after work today. Because if I don´t register by the end of October I have no chance. The problem is getting in contact with my boss. Today he is not picking up his damn phone. And if I don´t show up for work tommorow morning I will lose my job. I really don´t know what to do right now. I am very nervous.

Plus I arrived at work early to work today to ask my boss if he would help me out by putting me on contract ( so that I can apply for working papers) and he told me that he´ll have to talk to his lawyers about it first and then he´ll get back to me. I won´t know if he will help me out or not until December or January. So I will be living with this suspense for the next two months. I could tell by his response that helping me out was definitely not a priority. Motherfucker.

I hope that he ends up helping me out. His business needs me. People quit all the time and I always work holidays and I am on time for the most part. I always do my job and have a good attitude. I really don´t know what I am gonna do if I ask him to let me miss a couple of hours of work to register and he flat out tells me no.

Being here in Spain illegaly has kinda forced me to put up with shit. I took a lot of rights that I had back in the United States for granted. When I go back to the States I am deninitely not gonna put up with as much shit as I used to. I am not gonna turn into a complete bitch, but I will stand up for myself more than I used to.

Yes, I am tired of the way I live right now. But what´s bothering me is that I have a small chance of getting papers to work and live here legally for a year, but it seems like I am even losing that.

I love Spain and things would be a lot easier if I had money. Seriously. Ask anyone who has been here. If you have money this is a wonderful city. If you are broke or have no money life is a lot harder.

I absolutely love the culture here and Barcelona has won a place in my heart. However, I kinda want to go home because I really miss the rights that I had. I miss being able to walk into businesses and apply for a job. I also miss having a social security number. Here the equivalent is called a D.N.I number and I don´t have one of those. Coming here I feel like I took 2 steps backwards. I grew up in the United States where I lived a life where as though I struggled, I always could find a job and have my rights protected at work. I didn´t grow up in poor country where struggling to survive is a part of every day life. So therefore things are harder here for me.

So yeah, you get the idea of how I am feeling. I really can´t wait for this evening to pass. Anyways I now that I got all this outta my system I am gonna go do something else now.

Ciao.

A glimmer of hope..........

Hello there everyone,

Wow, do I have a lot to write about today. For starters I have one Euro left until this weekend. Joder ! I think that I will use it to buy some chocolate tommorow at work. I am so glad that I should be getting paid this weekend.

You probably don´t know that I am illegally here in Spain. Well, now you know. I have no legal working papers, and no health insurance. European citizens can get free health services and I can´t. I guess that you can say that I am kinda living on the edge right now. So when I bitch about my job, just know that I just can´t go look for something better.Well, actually I can but the chances of actually finding anything are slim to none. It´s not so simple here. I kinda take what I can get around here. Hell, I am even lucky to have a job right now. I was told that Spain is one of the worst places to work in Europe. Damn right it is !

Without working papers employers can rip me off and delay paying me and there is nothing I can do about it. Yeah, I can blubber to my mom about it but I can´t go to court.

And yes, I DID try to obtain a visa before coming here. Almost impossible.

So am I scared ? Nope. The absolutely worst thing that can happen to me is that the Spanish Authorities ask me to go back home. But there are no reports of any Americans being sent home.

So...... on to why I am feeling hopeful. Well, I was reading the Spanish newspaper and the government is giving people such as myself that are living and working here illegally the opportunity to obtain a working contract and a right to live. Between January and April people like me can apply for permission to live and work here. People that have been living and working here for at least 6 months can apply for permission to live and work here if they can prove it. And by February I will be able to apply AND prove it.

I am so excited because opportunities like this almost NEVER happen here and for some reason the government is all of a sudden giving people the opportunity to live and work here. For those of you that have immigrated to another country you KNOW how much hell you have to go through to obtain your rights to live and work like the rest of the citizens. It can take YEARS, lawyers and waiting in line for hours. So you can imagine how I must feel that all this can be accomplished under a year.

Once I have permission to live and work here, I can apply for any job that I want without people rejecting me for a lack of working papers.

But I am very nervous. I have the opportunity in front of me, but I am worried that things won´t work out. To prove that I have been working for the past 6 months I will need to ask my boss to write up a letter and sign it, stating how long I have been with the company. But I am afraid that my boss won´t help me out. There are many reasons why he may not do it. And it would be really sad if I lost my little window of opportunity to be here legally ALL because my boss refused to sign a friggin´sheet of paper. Especially since he faces no consecuences by doing it.  So yeah, I am nervous. I will be praying a lot. I guess if things don´t work out, I´ll know that I just wasn´t meant to stay here for a while. Who knows at this point.

Anyways, I better go now. Wish me luck. I will be getting up earlier to talk to my boss about this tommorow.

Embarassment

Hello there my lovelies.........

Today at work was kinda funny. I laughed A LOT. You all know that I find my job bring and meaningless. And I am tired of people cutting me off in the middle of my pitch and hanging up on me. So today I decided to speak in a  softer, sexier tone. Not overly trashy or dirty but sexy enough so that I could have some fun and not get busted by my bosses because they are always walking around us while we are calling.

Anyways, I called Germany and Switzerland and as soon as I got the managers on the phone, I changed my tone. And some of them gave me a shy laugh as I was doing my pitch and one guy kinda laughed like Santa Claus and asked who I was. Meanwhile I was trying not to die of laughter. And my coworkers thought it was kinda funny too. Soooo, everyone was entertained and I still have my job.

I also don´t use my real name over the phone. I use the name Eva. I love that name. It sounds like a name of an actress from the 1940s. That way when people shout at me, they aren´t using my real name.

My roommate showed my how to iron today. I was so embarassed. I really just wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I really should know how to properly iron. But at least I am learning now.

Anyways....................... I better to and make some food now. I really don´t wanna cook right now. But if I want to eat anything I have to cook it. I don´t have any snacks or anything. Gah ! I am waiting to get paid. I should be getting paid this weekend. My English student should also be paying me too. If she backs out on me I really don´t know what I am gonna do.

Okay, I am gonna go for reals now. Ciao :)

 

Just some more ramblings........

Hello Everyone,

I am in a new internet cafe. It´s pretty nice and I looooooove the music they are playing right now. Some Spanish artist singing his heart out. It is a restaurant/internet shop in my neighborhood. The only problem is that the comp is almost slower than the one in my apt. So therefore I won´t be coming back here.

Did you know that I am in the financial market right now ? Yeah, I have been aquiring more ASSets. Haha. In other words, my butt has gotten a little bigger lately. I am gonna buy more fruits and eat less pasta. But how can I ? The pasta here is so cheap and good !!

I was supposed to have received my diploma from SJSU back in August, but I think that it got lost in the mail. Of all the things that can be lost, it HAD to be my college diploma.

My roommate showed me where I could buy meats and cheeses for dirt cheap prices, so I will be going back. Being in that store was like a new adventure for me because it all looked so good and it is cheap.

Today I had one of those moments where I miss home. Not in a sense that I wanna go home. Just in a way that I am STILL not fully adjusted here. Also in a sense that I hate having to ask my roommate where things are and ask for his help sometimes. I am so used to doing everything on my own. I loved living on my own back home and not having to ask or answer to anyone.

For those of you that know me, you already know that I can´t cook or iron very well. My roommate cooks and irons like a woman. And although I am greatful that he is taking the time to show me, I still feel embarrassed when he is looking over my shoulder to make sure that I am skinning the potatoes properly or hanging the clothes correctly. At least I am learning, right ?

Anyways, I better go. My time here is running out and I better make some food. I am hungry.

 

My Sunday...............

Hello Everyone,

Today was wonderful. I taught English as I usually do on the weekends. I learned that I am getting a little screwed out of my pay, but I am not too angry. It happened because of a combination of a language barrier and simple misunderstanding. She told me one thing, and I told her something different and we thought we were agreeing on the same thing. So therefore, I will be getting less than I thought.

I could have just walked away because normally I wouldn´t work for such little pay, especially since I travel an hour just to get to her house. But this time I decided to let it go because she is having money problems and I understand that she is not trying to cheat me out of my pay. Plus she and the rest of the family are really, really nice and I am learning a lot of Spanish and about Dominican culture. So, sometimes money isn´t everything. If I just leave I will be missing out on having some wonderful friends. But I will be more careful with my next students.

Today after I taught the lesson I stayed over for lunch as usual. Then after that we spent hours dancing. Everyone got up and danced which was nice. It was too bad that I wore a sweater because the weather was beautiful and after all that dancing I was sweating like a pig.

It was nice to see the mother dance with her two boys as well as her dancing with her husband. There is a lot of love in that family. They are always very happy and nice to me, even though their lives have been rough. The boys also taught me how to dance and they helped me translate one of my favorite songs which was really cool.

I also decided to teach them the insults and swear words, and they loved that. Haha. I have a habit of teaching everyone such things. Oh well. At the same time, my dirty vocabulary is improving too.

I went to a huge shopping mall on Friday and I saw some grafitti on the wall with the usual nasty requests and I finally understood most of it. I felt so proud of myself.

Anyways it is Sunday evening and everyone and their mothers are trying to use the internet here. I had to wait about a friggin´ hour just to get online. The connection in my apartment is such a joke because my roomate´s computer was built during the Ice Age. So I kinda prefer to go to an internet shop. I come here also to chat with my family and friends back home. But today no one is on, and no one sent me any nice e-mails so my trip to this internet shop and wait really wasn´t worth it.

And tommorow I will be back on the phones, trying to send business people investment packages. I hate that job.

Ciao.

I Accomplished Absolutely Nothing Today

Hello Everyone,

Well, my English student cancelled on me this morning because she wasn´t feeling well. So that means that after I woke up and watched a little TV I went back to bed and slept like a baby until 4pm. That´s right. 4PM. And it felt good. My roommate tried to get me out of bed so that he could show me where to buy meat and food for the upcoming week at a cheap price, but I told him I was too tired. I really should have gone because now I don´t have enough meats for my sandwhiches. Oh well.

I should be getting paid next week and I have been fantasizing about what I am gonna do with the money. Right now the first thing on my list is to go to a buffet and eat. Haha ! I also plan to go to the movies, and buy a nice pair of long black boots that I found at a store for a cheap price.

Tonight is Saturday night and I am in the middle of Barcelona in an internet cafe off in one of the windy streets typing this. I am supposed to meet a friend soon in front of the Hard Rock Cafe soon.

The weekends really do fly by here, and sleeping in today really didn´t help slow it down either. Oh well.

Ciao.

Inconveniences

Hello there my lovelies,

I am having some problems with my student loans. And it blows. After I graduated I submitted my paperwork to get all my loans consolidated so that I can make a single payment with the lowest interest rate possible. But no, things didn´t go exactly as planned. My damn marketing professor submitted my grade late. Because it wasn´t submitted on time I have to resubmit everything, and I am still not considered as a graduate by my lenders. I am considered as a half-time student. Its hard to resubmit the paperwork when I am all the way over here. Plus it is very difficult to get a hold of my lenders because they have toll free numbers. And like I learned very quickly, it is impossible to dial a toll free number from a foreign country like Spain. I really don´t know what to do because I have to communicate with my lenders somehow.

I am also kinda broke. I have 20 Euros to last me for the next 10 days. That means that I pretty much can´t go out this weekend. Joder ! Luckily I have enough food to last me until my next paycheck but I really like to have coffee and a pastry during my lunch break. Yeah, my office does provide free coffee but it tastes like shit. The cafe con leche at the cafe below is so much better.

I really really can´t wait to get paid. Then I can finally go and eat at a restaurant or hang out at my new favorite bar. I am kinda confined to my apt without a single red cent right now. It stinks.

Anyways, not a whole lot to write about today. Maybe tommorow.

Ciao

 

Joys and Gripes

Hello Everyone,

Today at work today I talked to a guy over the phone named Mr. Looser. Hahaha !!! Luckily it´s pronounced as ( Loh-ser). He´s Swiss and was actually nice to talk to. Better than getting hung up on or shouted at.

At my job I am calling many different countries. Sometime people will just hang up on me after hearing me say "hello" or yell at me as if I clubbed their puppy over the head. And I will react differently according to my mood that day. Normally I just let it go, But every once in a while after I can´t take it anymore I will keep calling them back after every other five calls just to have a laugh. And since I am calling their JOB they have to answer the phone. Ah ! The joys of telemarketer revenge.

I have to say that there are a lot of men in the office. And I don´t think that they get out enough cuz they flirt with us girls a little too much. Normally its harmless, but one of the guys had to comment that I should wear skirts more often so that he could see my legs. (Yesterday I wore a short skirt to work.) Asshole. I mean, yeah. Maybe I should have worn pants. But still, I have a right to be treated with respect in the office. But luckily my old roomate told him to leave me alone, EVEN THOUGH I have kinda been ignoring him lately. That was nice of him to do because I was expecting him to join in instead of be on my side. Maybe we´ll be friends again soon because I kinda do miss our friendship. But I am still mad at him. And when I am fed up, I am fed up.

What else ? Well I am just spending my evening at home and listening to my roommate´s huge collection of American hits from the 80s and early nineties. Good music.

He made Paella over the weekend and shared the leftovers with me today. That was nice. For those of you that have never had Paella, you are truly missing out. And eating Paella from a restaurant doesn´t count. It is best when its made by someone you know. Very good stuff.

My hair is growing longer. I really should get it trimmed soon, but I am not going to the salon unless the stylist speaks English. It took me a few years to grow my hair out like this and it would be a shame to have it ruined all because of a simple language mistake. Luckily there is an English salon here in Barcelona but I am waiting to gat paid. I miss my old stylist back in the states. She was cool to talk to and she always knew what I wanted.

Lets see what else. Ah yes ! I am helping my roommate slowly improve his English. He has a little notebook and I teach him new expressions and words every day. What´s funny is that if you open the notebook to the first page you are greeted by the cuss words, vulgar words and insults. Haha. But don´t worry, I am helping him with normal words and expressions too.

As for me, I am slowly improving my Spanish even though I still have a long way to go. There is a saying here in Spanish: Poco a poco. That means "bit by bit". So many people here tell me that and that is the motto I live by right now. There is no way I am just gonna learn everything here within a short period of time. I will learn things slowly each day. And by the end of my stay I will be able to see how much I have improved. In fact, I know I have improved and I can see the results. But still, I have a long way to go.

You know what my biggest pet peeve is here ? It is other people doing or touching my laundry or sharing loads with others. I have always washed my own clothes in my separate loads. I even hate it when my grandma does my laundry. So you can imagine how peeved I must be that I have to share the washmachine with my roommate. When I put in my clothes in the wash he always sneaks up and puts his clothes in along with mine.  And when I am at work he hangs our clothes to dry and I am not around to do anything about it. And sometimes I try to do my own laundry when he isn´t around but that´s no good because I can´t figure out how to use the washmachine so I have to wait till he comes home to help me fix it. Gah !! I know, I can be so touchy sometimes.

Anyways, I better get off this computer and do something useful like clean my room. It is disastrous right now and I really should clean it up. Plus, I still have to write a long, profound letter to my friend Sandra.  Sandra, if you are reading this I promise to write you back, okay ?

Okay, Bye !!