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Monday, October 18, 2004

I am very Annoyed

Hello Everyone,

Last night was a cool night. My roommate and I went out for a drink at the big shopping center that I´ve never gotten a chance to visit because I don´t have a car. Veeeerrrry nice. Bigger and classier than a lot of the malls in the US. I discovered I can take the bus, and I will be hanging out there more often.

I also listened to my Jessica Simpson CD a lot yesterday. Lifted my spirits a little and reminded me a lot of the good times I had in college. Sometimes a little music can do the trick.

You ever have one of those days where just about anything can annoy you ? Well then today is my very lucky day. Today people could smile at me and I would STILL get annoyed.

I am hungry and gotta wait till I go home to eat. I am not home because I am supposed to meet someone for a language exchange today. But he didn´t show or call so I am still here at the bar/cafe. I figured that I might as well stay here a little longer and use the computer.

I got up and took the wrong metro for work today, and thus was late to work by a few minutes. I could have sworn that I was going in the right direction.  Oh well.

Work is also making me more irritable and I am gonna start looking for a new job. I still have to see my old roommate there and although I don´t flat out ignore him, I don´t exactly greet him either. I just pretend that I don´t see him. Just being in the same room as him makes my blood simmer. I really almost never feel that way about anyone, but he´s the lucky one.

I wonder if he even remembers what he said to me during my last week at his place, or if he even cares. He probably doesn´t. After all I don´t expect him to. Like most men he has too much pride and will never admit that he was wrong. And for that, I refuse to walk up and talk to him. But part of me wishes that we were still good buddies. Because it was fun while it lasted.

Ah well, Christmas will be here soon and I will have a couple weeks off work soon. I really have no idea what I will do over the holidays. If I am somehow able to pull enough money out of my ass then maybe I can go to Austria. At least I would be guaranteed some good food and family company. And how could I forget the famous Mozart chocolates ?

But if not, my roommate told me that I could spend it with his family. At least I wouldn´t be left alone in the apartment. How sad would that be ? He has a very nice family. I wish his parents would come over more often to talk. Sometimes his mother comes over to bring him clean sheets.

But my birthday is coming up soon, and I am kinda excited about that. My first birthday abroad. I really hope that I get some e-mails, letters or calls. If not then I guess that I will be the one on the phone chasing down my family and friends. For those of you that don´t quite remember, November 30th is the lucky day. Haha.

I also got a response from the girl whom I helped locate her dream barman. She was so thankful and told me to write her if I ever want to go to Italy. I just might have to take her up on that.

What else ? Nothing more to write about really............... Oh yeah ! I got a guy on the phone today whose first name was Balz (sounds like "balls"). He´s Swiss. Haha. Made me laugh a little.

Okay, gotta go for reals now.

Ciao.

 

Sunday, October 17, 2004

What happened to my weekend ????

Hello Everyone,

I swear that the weekends really fly by here. It´s sad because I really enjoy NOT going to work.

I taught my students again today, and I taught them enough vocabulary words to last them the whole week. It was fun trying to help them pronounce the words properly. I came a little early, so the dad treated me to a cup of coffee at the cafe next door before I taught. I was really tired so I was happy that the coffee helped perk me right up.

There was this ad on one of the websites here in Barcelona where a girl from Italy was looking for one of the bartenders at the Hard Rock Cafe that she met over the summer. She didn´t remember his name, but she remembered his smile and how he looked and she just HAD to find him again. I decided to help her out since I have been there before to pick up take out for my old roommate.

So after my lesson I went to the Hard Rock Cafe and found him right away. When I told him why I was there he kinda looked a little wierded out by it all and told me that he had a girlfriend. He gave me one of those "What the hell ?" Expressions. But he did say that he remembered talking to her and said that they could be friends.

Oh well, at least now the gal knows, right ??? I would have been nice if he felt the same way about her, but then again we can´t have everything we want.

Anywho, gotta go now. Ciao.

Saturday, October 16, 2004

AOL Fu$&ing Suuuuuucks.............

Hello there Everyone :)

I would first like to just say that AOL stinks !!!! They stink more than old moldy ass !! I just came home and typed up a beautiful, tear-jerking entry. And AOL ate it up. Gaaah !

Anyways, moving along....................

I gave my first English lesson today and it went pretty well. They are beginners. I taught them " Hello ! My name is ..........", countries/nationalities, numbers and how to conjugate the verb ¨"to be". Tommorow I will teach the alphabet, "How are you ?", moods, family structure and some vocab words. I have assigned them homework due next week.

I teach a mother and her 2 teenaged boys. They are Dominican and I am learning a lot about their culture. This is good for me because I need to be exposed to different types of the spoken Spanish language and Latin cultures so that I am not ignorant. A huge mistake that a lot of people make is lumping all the different cultures of the Latin world into one group. For example in California there are a lot of Mexicans as well as people from Central and South America. But people usually just assume that they are all Mexican because they don´t know better and take the time to learn.

After giving my lesson, I usually stick around for lunch and the mother made some very good Spanish as well as Dominican food. It was so good: Spanish steak, Dominican marinated beef, rice and beans, peas and potatoes, tomatoes and bell peppers in a sauce, a sauce consisting of garlic and olive oil and a salad. Yeah, she made all that just for lunch today. And I piled up my plate pretty high. And afterwards I had a desert consiting of coffee and Bailey´s and creme. Aren´t you jealous ? ;)

I am just here in my apt chilling right now and enjoying being alone. My roommate is off at a wedding. I am a little jealous because I really really want to see a Spanish wedding.

But tonight I am gonna go and chill out with a fellow American from Chicago. Like me, he got his TEFL Certificate over the summer and he teaches English here.

Friday, October 15, 2004

Not a bad day

Hello there my lovelies :)

Sometimes I have days where I feel like nothing is working out and I wanna go home. Sometimes I see a glimpse of sunshine and feel that everything will work out in the end for me. Today I really was relaxed and felt like everything will work out here. I also looked back on the time I spent here and realized that I did a lot of really cool things here and met a lot of people. I don´t know how long this feeling will last, but I thoroughly enjoy it when it comes.

Each time I walk to work in the mornings I see the most magnificent sunrise. And the sunset here is incredible. The days really do go by fast here for me. And I know that my time is limited here. Sooner or later I will go back home and the life that I have lived here in Barcelona will all fade into a distant memory. Bittersweet I say.

My friend, Sandra (yup, there are 2 of us) wrote me a nice big fat letter. It came as surprise because I didn´t know that she was gonna send me anything. I absolutely love long, profound letters and that was exactly what she sent me. I will be sending her one back. 

You really never know who your true friends are. The people that you think are your close friends can easily lose contact with you or find other friends. Then there are the people that you never expect to stay in contact with that continue to stay in your life.

I met Sandra when I was working at Red Lobster. For a long time we really didn´t say anything to each other. Then one day she invited me to go out with her and I decided to go. Since then we have stayed in contact even when she stopped working there and EVEN when she moved away from me and EVEN while I am all the way in Spain. I think that is really nice, don´t you ?

I also have my old roommate Christina that pops in and out of my life as well. We were roommates for 3 years back in college. I remember how we first met back in the dorms of Washburn Hall. She invited me over to watch American Pie with her and her buddies. And the rest is history. I really thought that we would lose contact after she moved out because our lives are so different now. But I am happy that she still writes me sometimes.

What else ? Oh yes, I have been very bad lately. Sometimes I teach my roommate how to say certain things in English and explain the grammar rules and I usually keep it clean. Well yesterday I taught him a lot of swear/dirty words. I swear to Gawd I wanted to die laughing. He has a very very thick Spanish accent and can barely pronounce anything in English properly. Listening to him trying to pronounce those words was just too much. And he really was making a huge effort to say them right. God Bless him.

Tonight I tried to teach him the phrase "Good night ! Sleep tight ! Don´t let the bedbugs bite !"  Listening to him trying to pronounce the word "bedbugs" was friggin´hilarious. I broke down laughing and he laughed with me. After a few tries and writing it down, he said it perfectly.

Luckily he knows that I am not laughing at him. Because lemme tell you that I may be able to pronounce words in Spanish. But Catalan is the first language here. And I can NOT pronounce a damn word in Catalan properly. My mouth just can not make the proper sounds. Sometimes he tries to teach me some words in Catalan and he has a good laugh. Hell, it is impossible for me NOT to laugh either.

Anyways, I better get to bed. I am a little tired and I wanna be awake and alert for my first English lesson that I am giving tommorow.

Ciao.

 

 

Thursday, October 14, 2004

My lovely job :P

Hello Everyone ,

AOL just ate up the entry that I wrote. So now I have to post another. Go figure.

Let´s talk about my job a little shall we? Today was another normal day at work. The moment I include the words INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITY people reject me. And they actually sound a little scared. They act like I am trying to get them to make a pact with the devil. Sometimes people even get angry. You would think that I am trying to sell their mothers over the black market.

 I think that most of you are like me and don´t like telemarketers. But there are some people that will STILL trust complete strangers over the phone. And in my opinion they are morons. See, that´s why I don´t like my job. Because if people are actually interested in receiving the information that I am sending out then I think they are morons. Because I don´t even have a faqin clue what I am sending. (Actaully I do, but I am not allowed to tell the people over the phone. Go figure.)

Take for example one of the financial advisors. He is a single man with no kids. When he tries to get people to become his client he turns into a married man with a 10 year marraige and small children. He spews out so many lies and he does a damn good job. He gets people to tell him thier details, yet he lies about his. While he is busyin lying about his details, he tells people that this business is built on trust and confidence. Ha !

And he is very persistent. He will say anything. If the guy on the other line wants to consult with his wife first, he will try anythin to stop him. '' You make business decisions every day. Do you consult your wife every time you make a business decision ?'' I also find it humorous when he tries to tell the guy how happy the wife will be when they make a profit on the stock. ´´ Then she can go shopping and buy her Gucci Purse´´ Because of course to him, that´s all we women think about : Our shopping sprees.

There is a saying from the movie Boiler Room : Don´t pitch the bitch. And a lot male financial advisors will not deal with women. Why ? Because according to them we are indecisive. But if you ask me, I just think that we are smarter and more rational about the whole thing.

So next time you trust a stranger on the phone, think again. You can never be sure. Luckily, this business is legit for the most part, and the clients DO earn money. But still, ya never know.

While I was busy making calls and bored out of my brains, I overheard one of the financial advisors try to get in contact with a guy named Mr. Dildo. I just about lost it. I also found a construction company in the U.K. with the name Erection Services. I have a burning urge to prank call them. So far I have not acted on it. YET.

I think that for shits and giggles I will bang out a few fake leads like that right before I leave the company ( if I EVER do). Let´s brainstorm, shall we ?????????

 1. ) Mr. Harold (Harry) Balls.

2.) Mrs. Ima Ho

3.) Mr. Harold (Harry) Merkin. ( Do you know what a merkin is ? If not, that´s your new homework.)

4.) Mrs. Poon Nannie

5.) Mr. Harold Cox ( I actually had a cust with this name at Red Lobster.)

6.) Dr. Phoc Hu

7.) Mr. Harry Johnson

Anyways, you get the picture. Sometimes we all need a way to amuse ourselves I guess. And for those of you that know me personally I really have a potty mouth.

Okay I better go now. I am starving right now.

Ciao.