Sept. 11th in Spain

Hello Everyone,

This is my first September 11th anniversary in Spain. I spent a great deal of time talking to my new flatmate. He was there in NYC that day and lost four friends. He picked up something from the WTC that morning and was out about an hour before the first plane hit the building. His ex that worked at Morgan Stanely at the time and was late that morning and thus, her life was spared. Unfortunately, others weren't so lucky. He was telling me how everyone was frantically trying to contact their loved ones, and how he couldn't go home for a week. I couldn't believe it. He also told me how people on the streets were holding up pictures of loved ones, asking strangers if they had seen their friends/family members.

Before I met him, I didn't personally know anyone that was in NYC the day of the attacks. Hearing it from him was so much more emotional. And I was glad we got to talk about it. Because it should never be forgotten. People should talk about this and pass down this information from generation to generation.

Here in Spain, September 11th is an actual holiday for the people here in Catalonia. Almost everything was closed today except for the shops in the tourist area. This is the day that Catalans show their pride.

To give you a quick background, Barcelona is considered to be the capital of Catalonia, a region in Spain. Though people here speak Spanish and, their first language is Catalan and they consider themselves to be Catalan, not Spanish. Catalans here believe that Catalonia should have it's own government and it's own laws. People here don't want the Spanish government to make its laws.

So many people today hung the Catalonian flag on their balconies and people on the streets were walking around with the flag draped around their shoulders. And for this day only, the Spanish flags were taken down, leaving only the flags of Catalonia.

I was glad that I was walking around the city today and got a chance to see all this. I was glad to see people proud of their culture and demonstrating what they believe in. While I was watching people march down the street, I saw a lot of people wearing the Catalan flag, but I also saw a few people join in with flags from their own countries such as Ireland and Brazil. I wish that I could have draped the US flag around my shoulders. Especially since this is also an important day for people in the US.

Anyways, I will writemore later.

Ciao.

 

Three years have gone by.......................

Hello Everyone,

Tommorow will be September 11th. I am not in the U.S right now so I haven't been hearing anything about the Sept. 11th anniversary. I shouldn't even call it an anniversary. Anniversaries are for days that are happy and that people want to look back on as the years pass.

 Sept 11th was horrific, but it is a day that should never be forgotten. I must confess that I almost forgot the anniversary. But I will always remember the day my old roommate and I were woken up by her boyfriend on the phone and ordered to turn on the T.V. It was a sad day indeed.

But I know people that were there that day. My friend here from NY was in the towers that day and escaped a couple of hours early. I can imagine people feeling pain by watching the TV. But can you imagine what the people in New York were going through as this all happened in their own neighborhood and took the lives of their loved ones? I can't imagine what they went through.

Three years have gone by........................

Time goes by so fast. I remember the U.S being united for a while after. Political parties came together and people were proud to fly the U.S flag and be part of this country. I remember how emotional it was for me to watch a simple baseball game because people in the stands took off their baseball caps, and put their heart into singing the national anthem of the United States.

Now is seems like that is forgotten. Political parties are back to fighting and people aren't as united anymore.

And on top of that, I don't think that Bush is fighting the right war. We have a lot of bigger problems than Iraq. It he was really concerned about terrorism, he wouldn't be focusing a lot of his attention on Iraq. Plus, It is our husbands, brothers, cousins and fathers that he is sending.  He is lucky that he doesn't have to worry about sending his family to fight. These people that are lost in battle can't be replaced by their families. Can you imagine a mother spending 18 long years loving and raising her children only for them to end up getting killed in battle? I can't. Another one of the many reasons I do not want to have children.

I salute the people out there fighting. They made a choice to fight for the US. They knew that they could die in battle and they still chose to fight. They are fighting for those that can't fight, or those that don't want to. Because these people chose to fight and volunteered, the rest of us aren't forced to go to battle.

God Bless our country.

 

 

Tales of San Sebastian

Hello Everyone,

Oh Wow ! Where do I begin ? Let's see....................  I am no longer in San Sebastian. I am back in Barcelona right where I started. In fact, got back in town today.

I lasted as an au-pair for three days. I didn't even finish the week. It all seemed like a perfect arrangement before I left. And San Sebastian is a beautiful city. But it ended up not suiting me. So I made up an excuse and left on good terms.

And now I am back here starting a new job on Monday. I hope this all works out.

 

I temporarily leave you with my last images of Barcelona

Hello,

Until I am able to type my next entry, here are my last images of Barcelona. I will miss this great city.

An interesting day indeed

Hello Everyone,

Today is September 4th. Why is that important ? Well according to my return flight ticket, I should be in Munich, Germany boarding a plane back to the United States right now as I am writing this. Instead I am still here in Spain. I now officially have no return flight. I guess you could say I am stuck here now.

I am here for the long haul. I came here for very specific reasons, and the most important reason is to improve my Spanish. I am slowly getting there. I don't know when I am going back home to CA. But I better cherish the time that I have here, because I plan on traveling to other countries after I am done here. I may never come back here. Who knows?

Anyways, moving along to the next topic.............................

Mr. Prince Charming kept texting me last night, telling me to "please" respond to him. He told me that he really, really likes me and that he doesn't want to lose me. He then finally told me that the reason that he couldn't pick me up is because he was in the middle of the job interview. Wow, and that was all supposed to make it all better ?

Well, the messages were nice and I almost wanted to respond to him. Almost. But then I remembered how I felt being stood up and I just erased all of the messages. I don't know if he really likes me. Maybe by me ignoring him, he'll get a taste of his own medicine. Saying words like "Carino", "please", "darling", "I am sorry" don't make things better. Hell, if I feed one of our dogs back home enough cookies, I am sure she could bark out the same things.

I really am a nice, understanding girl. And I would treat anyone with the same respect I would want. I don't lie (that much, anyways)  and I would always be faithful in a relationship.Things like this are rare in both men and women these days. And yet I continue to get men like this abusing my kindness. It's sad. And I know good men with women abusing their kindness. It goes both ways.

Well my friends, this is my last day here in the wonderful city of Barcelona. I am almost done packing, and I plan on chillin' with my friend from Germany today. I have been in the house a lot this week. I have been online and here on my blog A LOT, just pouring out my heart and writing whatever I feel like writing about. After tommorow I won't be updating as often as I have been. The internet can be addicting.

Tommorow I will be on a long,seven-hour train ride to San Sebastian. I really hope that I learn a lot there, make new friends and do a good job helping the boys learn English.

I don't know how much internet access I will have, but I will probably writing less than I have been. I hope that you all keep me and this journal in the back of your minds. Just as I am moving and getting busier, I am starting to get more readers. But I hope that you can continue to read this and leave me a comment or an e-mail once in a while.

God Bless you all.