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.