Wannabe Crònica

A principis d'hivern vam començar a fer proves d'exàmens de Selectivitat a Llengua Catalana. Aquell dia havia acabat abans d'hora un exemplar on hi havia una crònica titulada Estrelles i Diamants a Nova York que em va barrufar molt (sí, Lara, me l'has enganxat. Gràcies :P), i enduta per la inspiració i pels records frescos d'unes vacances ben merescudes a Romania vaig començar a escriure el que llegireu a continuació.
Aquest escrit va començar volent ser una imitació de l'estil de la reportera que l'havia escrit, Bibiana Ballbè. Malauradament, en el procés d'escrit crec que ha evolucionat un pèl i no sé si acaba de cenyir-se al gènere de crònica.

Dedicat als meus dos acompanyants d'aquella nit, el Daniel i la Georgiana, i és clar, al meu professor de Llengua Catalana i Literatura, Jordi! Sé que m'he fet esperar, però aquí ho tens!

Without further ado...

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Fa fred. Estic segura que tinc el nas més vermell que el color del cel ara que es pon el sol, i fa estona que he deixat de notar les orelles. Quins acudits, recollir-se els cabells en aquest clima! Ara bé, és poc pràctic patinar sobre gel amb la cabellera solta.

L'aire és fresc i pur, quelcom  normal i esperat aquí, però la seva fredor crema en inspirar a través del nas. Cada cop que surt aire per la meva boca es forma un nuvolet tímid que ben aviat es congela sobre la bufanda que porto cobrint-me mitja cara. La temperatura és hostil i agressiva, però la pista està plena de gent gaudint dels encants de l'hivern.

Ara que ve la nit, és interessant veure quin tipus de gent es queda més estona, i qui marxa. Mares o pares surten per la porteta carregant un nen petit, o agafats de la mà de criatures cansades. En picar de peus al terra de goma per espolsar el gel enganxat a la fulla del patí el deixen ben brut, i segurament relliscós.

Els que queden som persones ben diverses. Ben a la vora un xicot patina pacientment i lenta al costat de la seva noia, que s'aferra més a la tanca que no pas a la seva mà mentre aprèn a patinar. De tant en tant el noi, tot murri, s'aprofita de la seva inestabilitat per agafar-la per la cintura o abraçar-la per darrere. Que bonic.

Donant voltes per la pista incansablement hi ha la parella experimentada que sembla fer-los-hi la guitza mentre salten, donen voltes a l'aire i cauen, amb tal gracilitat que no semblen fets de carn i ossos, sinó de goma. Una mica més enllà, lents i agafant-se de la mà - que romàntic, penso -, hi ha un senyor i una senyora grans que patinen amb prou elegància. Com enganyen les aparences!

I jo... jo he vingut amb una amiga i un amic, però tots tres ens hem separat, cadascú al seu ritme. De tant en tant, patino al costat de la meva amiga tot xerrant, i després coincidim tots tres en algun lloc de la pista. Llavors comentem la jugada d'algun patinador, o l'estat del gel. Després d'una estona descansant i xerrant, tornem a voltar...

Al centre de la pista hi ha un grapat de nois joves que aprofiten l'espai lliure per experimentar i fer una mica el ruc. En diuen free style. Entre ells hi ha el meu amic, amb els pantalons tant mullats de les vegades que ha caigut que m'agafa fred només de veure-ho.

Segueixo donant voltes tot i observant, de vegades lentament, atenta als moviments tècnics d'algun expert. D'altres, al ritme de la música, perduda en algun món imaginari, inconscient del que m'envolta. Llavors desperto. Miro i em fixo en el que hi ha al meu voltant, notant-ho tot, cada olor, cada rialla, cada moviment, cada onada d'aire glaçat, i resto convençuda de la idealitat del moment, sabent que estic en el lloc i el moment perfectes.

Somric a l'aire.

To Share

Once upon a time, a very long time ago, I met a lovely girl named Jerusalem. She is a year older than me, and we've been friends ever since that day long ago.

Last year the Lord granted her the incredible opportunity to spend part of her summer in Cameroon. After the trip she started a blog on which she shares her experiences and a good amount of pictures she was able to snap back in Africa. Every time I read it and see the beautiful pictures I am incredibly blessed. Therefore,

CLICK HERE

and go visit her page... you might not be able to read Spanish, but the pictures speak for themselves! It's so beautiful to see how she was able to share love and speak of the Lord among the native citizens in Cameroon!

Los Miserables

I loved going to this play with several friends and members of my family, especially since my closest friend was able to come! It was the Spanish version of the internationally known play Les Misérables, and oh...
So tragic, yet so historically true! Enjoyed every minute of it!

The huge poster just outside the theaters

Cosette

Cosette, again. Victor Hugo's Les Misérables' book cover.

Oh, I can't say how thankful I am for that afternoon and night! I had spent the afternoon catching up with my friend in Barcelona, and after a quick supper, went to meet the rest of the people in front of the theaters. It was a lovely night! The music was so good! The accompanying orchestra was beautiful, and the voices were very well chosen, too. Oh, what a night! :)

Directing you to...

...my Photography Blog.

Baby Harold ♥

I was able to take a couple of pictures of Baby Harold while I was in Madrid last November. He is a very beautiful baby!

Cada Momento

"En mis angustias me ayudas, Jesús,

Sobre mi alma derramas tu luz;

Todos los días consuelo me das,

Cada momento conmigo Tú estás.

Cada momento me guardas, Señor,

Cada momento en tu gracia y tu amor;

Vida abundante yo tengo en Ti,

Cada momento Tú vives en mí.

¡Cristo, mi roca, mi libertador!

Tú eres mi escudo, mi gran defensor;

En mi conflicto yo te miraré

Cada momento, y salvado seré."

- Cada momento, 1, coro y 4

Dudo mucho que leas esto... pero me ha hecho pensar en ti. ♥

Photoshoot Met Harm En Sonia

While I was in Holland, spending the last week of my four-month-trip, I had the tremendous opportunity of going out with my best friend and her boyfriend for a photoshoot.

Truth be said, I had the time of my life. Camera in hand, best friend with me, and getting to know her incredible boyfriend. What else can I ask for? The couple was so much fun to work with, and so cooperative. I really enjoyed seeing them so happy together. =)

Anyway, want a sneek-peek? ^^

They're so cute together! I'm so happy for Sonia! Want to see some more? Click HERE!

This New Hat Of Mine

I find myself sitting on a huge rocking armchair, with a nice black laptop on my lap (heh. You wouldn't think a laptop would be on my head, would you?), and most of an afternoon before me, without much to do - except writing!

By the way, I still find myself in the U.S. of A, in case you didn't know. I've spent almost two months and a half here, and I still have three weeks (more or less) left in this place people like to call America. But - where to start? I have had "writing on my blog", or "writing a general e-mail to all the people" in my mind for quite a while (a.k.a., a thing called newsletter), but somehow I never got around to do it. Don't ask me why.

Why?

Told you not to ask. But in case you're expecting an answer... whoa, I don't know where to start. The list of reasons is endless. I will tell you I was too busy taking walks with my friend from South Carolina, taking along our cameras, and capturing the beauty of a magnolia flower. I will tell you I was too busy visiting a donkey farm with the said friend, and getting all covered up in dust because of the donkeys' affections. I will tell you I was too busy going to Greenville's Zoo and trying to take a picture of a lion who would fall asleep with its back at us. I will tell you I was too busy visiting Biltmore House (that was exhausting!, but enjoyable, of course!) I will tell you I was too busy playing basketball with my friend's little brother, or too busy attending a puppet show, in Texas. I will tell you I was too busy marching up and down the streets chanting Left! Left! Left, RIGHT, left! with them. I will tell you I was too busy watching a musical called Texas!, and visiting Palo Duro Canyon, staying overnight at a motel during a terrible thunderstorm. I will also tell you I was too busy tubing in the river five minutes away from here in Wisconsin. I will also tell you I was too busy tenting with friends, or playing volley-ball for a whole afternoon, or swimming in a lake for a whole day, or even, jamming around a campfire late at night. I will also tell you I was too busy laughing endlessly (take that literally) with three other girl-friends, scheming and conspiring in the darkness of the parking-lot after a very much enjoyed Wissmann concert. I might also tell you that I was too busy playing with three certain little (and believe me, active!) kiddos, or talking for hours with their mother, back in Nebraska.

What!? I told  you the list was endless! I could go on and on, and I wouldn't be able to finish till tomorrow at sixteen minutes past three o'clock in the morning!

And are you wondering about the title? Yep, I have a new hat. And it's adorable!

Dutch Stories: Madurodam

...continued. For previous posts click HERE and HERE.

Visiting Madurodam was very impressing. And fun. Madurodam is like a museum which shows Amsterdam in miniature. That was something I don't think I've ever seen before, and it was definitely quite striking.
The day started being lots of fun. After having breakfast, we set out for a long two-to-three-hours car ride. With us came S(oldest), I. and his son. At first, the car ride promised to be boring. Sonia and I were very tired, and planned to try and sleep in the car. But it didn't work... it did for T., though!
It didn't turn out boring because out went our MP4's and we started to sing along with all the songs that played. It was so much fun!!, although I'm sure S(oldest) and I. didn't think the same... =S
It was freezing cold once we got there, but we soon warmed up walking. In Madurodam that's basically what you have to do... walk. And look and take pictures, of course. But you have to walk a lot. So you better be rested and with a mind to walk if you have to visit it! (Which, by the way, we didn't have xD)

Amazing, really. There were models of every building in Amsterdam. There was an airport. The palace. The economy street.

The cathedral.

The tower. The sports' center. Marketplaces, rivers, bridges, boats, aeroplanes, people. All done with such detail! Every small bit was perfectly built and painted, streets represented; there were even street lights!

   
The funniest part of Madurodam, though, and my favourite, was "The Clown" episode. When we took a break to eat lunch, we went to an inside building, obviously (lotsa snow and cold and rain!! Brr!) It was huge, with a very tall ceiling and fans on it. Turned on. Don't ask me why, though.
(Useless bit of information, but curious, nevertheless).
Anyway, there was this puppet show for the little kids going on, and I tried to understand what the "puppeter" was saying (just invented the word, don't worry!). Obviously, I didn't understand a single thing, because it was in Dutch (duh!), but we kidded around with Sonia and laughed a bit about it, whispering funny comments about this puppet with a huge nose or whatever. You know... laughing because. Best friends together, Double Trouble! What do you expect?
Soon enough the show ended, and from behind the scenario a jolly clown appeared. He was one of the talles men I've ever seen in my life. 7 feet 6 inches, at least! (a weee exaggerated...). But definitely more than 2 meters in Spain.
He had this chubby rosy cheeks and red nose, both fake, obviously, and he was dressed in blue, white and red. I thought him pretty funny, and most of the kids did too, but T. was scared of him.
After the show he started blowing balloons up and turning them into shapes, like hearts and swords and butterflies. Sonia and I started to tease each other to go ask him for a balloon for us two, faking to be little girls. Of course, we did no such thing, but S(oldest) did ask him for a balloon for T.
The clown was hilarious. He blew a balloon, and then it "accidentally" pulled off, flying around the room. Then the clown would either pull up a surprised or a sad face, which made the little ones crack up. He would also trip over his huge shoes, and did several tricks. He was a nice clown.
Then I casually/teasingly suggested to Sonia that we should take a picture of us two with the clown (I get the craziest ideas... -.-') and the crazy girl liked the idea! So she asked Samuel to ask him if he would mind to pose with us. (I was quite embarrassed, you can imagine! What started as teasing turned out reality!)
He agreed! Sonia smiled at me mischievously, and I laughed inwardly.
The guy was so tall Sonia reached his chest. And she's a good head taller than me. So laugh if you want to, but since I'm quite short I appeared even more pettite by his size! (EMBARRASSING!)
The picture is great, though. It's very funny, and it's one memory more to laugh over with Sonia. During my time there, that's all I had in mind... create special moments, build memories that we shared, because... who knows when will the next time I see her be?
I enjoyed my time in Madurodam so much. Sonia and I shared a Mars Bar, and took pictures together on the buildings's reflecting windows.

Isn't she beautiful?

    

It was really a great, wonderful day. =)

For the story's pictures, click HERE.

Dutch Stories: The Year's Transition

...continued. For previous posts, click HERE and HERE.

My transition from 2009 to 2010 was amazing. Here's the story.

Late that evening, on the 31st December 2009, I had this yearning to go outside and take the last pictures of 2009. The sunset was beautiful, and I got some very satisfying shots of the canal running past their backyard. It was all so beautiful, the snow was so pure and white, everything so silent and breathtaking... it was the best year farewell in my life. God is good... =)

D. & L. and J. (the missing members of the family) weren't there to celebrate the Year's Transition with us, and it felt bad not to have everyone together, but nevertheless, we had the time of our lives talking, laughing and playing Worms.

I. had introduces a new game, Worms, which we got a liking to play. It was so much fun and we all laughed so much while playing! After a long supper (the last supper in 2009... sniff) in which we lingered for a long while, talking all together and discussin things, S(oldest) organized a Worms tournament. SO much fun! We had to kill the other's worms, and stay alive ourselves... (I know, pretty useless game, but it was so much fun, and I'm so happy we played that game together!)

For your wormformation, this is a picture of a (very) cute worm, and the scenery of the game itself. I fell in love with the worms, I thought they were so cute and sweet! We could also invent our own teams, and name the worms ourselves. Sonia's family has a wild imagination, so we came up with hilarious teams! For instance, C. named her team NaaraTim (Naara's Team, her baby's name), and all the worms were named after some of Baby Naara's words, such as Ahhhh, or Nguh! or Gueeee, etc.

What made it funnier was that the worms had very funny voices and they continually exclaimed, "OUCH!" or "Haha, MISSED!" or "HURRY UP!", and we laughed a lot. The worms had also various attack methods that were so funny!, such as the "Poke" or the "Baseball bat".

We spent the whole evening like that, and at about twenty past ten p.m. Sonia and I went upstairs to "make ourselves look pretty," as my Papa says. Then we took "our last pictures together in 2009". Most of the pictures turned out OK and we had fun, lots of fun, which was the best. =)
At about twenty to twelve we went back downstairs, and we hung around for a while, talking and getting ready for...

...the last 12 o'clock...

We turned the lights out, we prepared the champagne... and then... it was five to.

We were so excited! You could feel the excitement in the air. I was so happy to be there with Sonia and her family. To be in Holland. Several important happenings in 2009 flashed through my head, and I felt SO blessed, and I was so happy. I can't express myself with words, I just felt complete inside of me. God is good!

And it was one minute to midnight. We started to countdown seconds, and the volume rised when we got to ten seconds to midnight! We almost shouted.

When we finally said "ZERO!" and the clock struck twelve, we all started laughing and wishing each other "HAPPY NEW YEAR!". Then we kissed and hugged each other, and drank our cava. It was a delightful surprise because after we finished our small glasses, they said it was Freixenet cava, the area where I live! That's why it was so nice. ;)
And we prayed. Honestly, and in all sincerity, my heart was so full. I felt perfect.

Right after twelve there was the biggest explosion, and the sky lit up with fireworks. We rushed outside, almost forgetting to put our coats on, and joines all the people outside who'd come to see the beautiful sky. It was SO beautiful! From everywhere, everyone lit fireworks, and it was beautiful, so impressing. There were so many, and all so different; so many colours and shapes. Sonia, S(oldest)and I took lots of pictures, but most of mine didn't come out right. I wasn't prepared for it and didn't have my tripod. Oh well.

At half past, more or less, Sonia, S(youngest) and I decided to go for a walk in the snow to see more fireworks. Yes, there were still shooting and exploding high up in the sky. I was so impressed! They didn't stop firing them till late, so we had lots of fun watching them.

There was one that I really liked because it was pretty special. It exploded in a huge circle that almost covered the whole sky (when I say huge circle, I mean huge circle), two colours, but what I liked about it is that it gave such a BANG, that it made everything tremble. I felt my insides vibrate everytime it exploded. So cool.

Then we had a kind of weird/scary/amusing thing happen to us. On our walk around where Sonia lives, we passed by a group of young people who were laughing and listening to music from a quite post, modern car. And drinking. They actually started talking to us, and offered us some beer, they even said we were pretty, but we ignored them and walked on. Sonia said they were quite drunk. Thank God they didn't do anything to us!

It was very funny because both Sonia and I slipped on the ice and fell on the ground on our bums on our nocturne walk. I fell cross-legged and Sonia laughed at me a lot, but I laughed too. The first time I slipped, and the only one, hehe!

That was on our way back, and once at home we got back to our tournament. Yep, we spend the whole night playing at Worms. We laughed so hard with that game our sides ached. S(oldest) invented a team for me, names and all, and we enjoyed the rivalry.

S(youngest) was the first one to leave, at about three a.m. I. was the second, at about five a.m. C. was the third, at about six a.m.

When Sonia and I decided it was about time to go to bed, it was about half past six a.m., but we decided we wouldn't sleep just yet. We wanted to break our record of staying up late together (which was half past six hehe), and so we stayed up talking about things till seven a.m., and when we fell asleep it was already light.

We woke up at 2 p.m. on New Year's day. What a shame!

It was a happy, quiet day, spend with family. Delicious lunch, and more laughs. It was great, really. I am so happy I was able to spend the Year's Transition with the V. family. They are all so great and I love them so much! I am blessed to have friends like them.

Next thing we did after New Year's Day was visit Madurodam... but that's another story. ;)

For the Year's Transition's pictures, click HERE.

Dutch Stories: First Three Days

...continued. Previous Post, click HERE.

The couple of days before New Year's celebration were quite lazy and quiet.
Our ride home from the airport was long but not boring at all! Sonia and I started talking right away, trying to catch up with our lives after being six months without seeing each other. Her mother was very patient and endured our crazy laughs and sudden squeals, our loud talking and our excitedness in general. We stopped once at a gas station to fill up, and we both got out to walk for a bit, and it felt soooo good to be together again! It felt perfect, and my heart felt ready to burst with happiness.
We got out without our coats, so it was quite freezing. Sonia and I went running to the restrooms because it was a bit warmer, and tried to arrange our messy hair, but we soon had to go back and all of that time we hadn't stopped talking. We had so much to tell and we had so much to laugh about!
Snow, snow, snow all over the place. I couldn't get enough of it all! It was so beautiful! I was already in love with Holland, and I'd only spent maybe an hour or an hour and a half in it. I knew I was going to enjoy myself so much!
Sonia's father and brothers were at home when we got there. It was sooo exciting to get to see them again! I hadn't seen her older brothers since Christmas '08, a year ago, and I hadn't seen her younger brother and father since June '09, six months! So happy so see them all.
It was J's birthday that same day too, although I didn't remember it till the next day, and so had to say Happy Birthday one day late. Oh, well! At least I hadn't forgotten altogether! Better late than never!
We'd eaten lunch in the car (lunch consists basically of sandwiches in Holland), some delicious cheese sandwiches, so once we got home, at about three or half past three, I don't remember the exact hour, we didn't have to worry about eating. We had a whole afternoon ahead of us!
Sonia and I teased each other from the start, it's what we do best as Best Friends (JK!). For instance, there was this thing called Team Work we teased each other about, because we always did things together, we "helped" (or tried to, in the end we usually were making things more difficult for the other :P) each other in everything. When it was time for me to take my big, heavy suitcase upstairs to Sonia's bedroom, it was very funny because Sonia grabbed the front handle and I got the middle handle, and this way we took the suitcase up the (very) narrow stairs. I must add that we almost killed ourselves in the process, because we both lost balance and almost fell down the stairs, but in the end, no harm done, and we had such a laugh! Oh, I laugh just remembering it... how I miss her.
In Holland and during winter, it gets dark pretty soon. At half past four it's already dark, so when Sonia's mother came up with the suggestion that we should go for a walk and visit the city, I was a little bit surprised, but then, we weren't going alone, so since I really enjoy walks at night, we both readily agreed.
On went the wraps once again: jumper, gloves and scarves; hat; thick leather boots; and finally, my coat. I felt so fat and huge walking in that, but then everybody had to wear that over there, so I wasn't looked at as if I had green hair and purple skin.
The city at night was beautiful.
Correction: The city, at night, in winter, during Christmas holidays, was beautiful. Dark, snowy, and full of Christmas lights. (Okay, this last part and the first doesn't really make sense, but you know what I mean...). Everywhere we went was more beautiful than the last. We walked through ice-covered parks (it started snowing again the day after I arrived... that day it was green with ice covering it), we crossed bridges over rivers and canals, we visited the old city (old stone buildings, SO beautiful), we walked across the exterior mall, we went to visit Sonia's school, and we walked the whole city. Nah, but we did walk a lot, till half past six or so.
What I remember best was a huge, tall fir planted in the middle of the old city, near where the outside mall was. It was so big, and it was all decorated with Christmas lights. I fell in love with the tree at first sight, and I was so sorry because I didn't have my camera with me. I wish I had a picture of that tree...!
By the time we went back home, we were quite tired, but it had been worth it. We had talked so much during our walk, we had poured out our hearts to one another in Catalan so no one would understand us, and I felt fresh and alive, although tired... and late. They'd already had supper, and had started to worry about us!
Supper was truly yummy, and Sonia and I had fun eating on our own at the table while the rest of the people sat on the couches and chairs. S and J had left early that afternoon for France to pick up Sonia's older sister and her family, and they would be arriving next day in the afternoon. I was looking forward to meeting C very much, she was the only one in Sonia's family I hadn't met yet! But we had to wait till the next day.
I remembered to phone my parents that day. We talked for about five minutes, and (blush) for the next two weeks I was there I didn't phone them again. I guess I just forgot. But it was nice to hear them and good to be able to say, "I'm in Holland, and the flight was amazing!"
I don't think we slept much the first night we were together. Too exciting! I wore my red Christmas pj's for the first time that night, I remember, and I didn't wear it again while I was in Holland. I don't remember, though, what time we went to sleep that night... I can assure you, it was very early in the morning... :P When two best friends get together, and share all their stories once again, remember old times, uncover forgotten memories, listen to and sing songs they've both known for a long time... well, you get to go to bed either pretty late at night or pretty early in the morning.
Consequently, you wake up late next morning. I slept in till half past ten, or eleven, on Wednesday, to LOTS of snow! Sonia and I woke up to her mother hurrying us about because it had snowed a lot during the night! We jumped out of bed and hurriedly (and sleepily) but also excitedly ran to Sonia's parents' bedroom because it had such a big window, and sure enough, it had snowed a lot while we were happily dreaming under the covers!
I was so excited, I couldn't wait to get my feet into my boots and go outside for a walk. I had this childish wish to see my footprints on the snow, to make a big snowman and have a capital snowball fight with Sonia and her youngest brother (I have a problem here, because Sonia's oldest brother's name starts with an S, but so does her youngest brother's... any suggestions?)
My walk had to wait untill after lunch though, and I wasn't able to have a capital snowball fight because... mwahaha, I had my camera with me! Yep, beware, because I was roaming about the place with my camera to capture... a picutre. =) I went with S, the youngest. He's a sweet, active twelve year old who didn't mind my frequent stops for a picture, nor was embarrassed by my laying on the ground or my asking for him to pose in such and such a way, etc. I took plenty of pictures, and most of them came out pretty nice. I discovered that sometimes snow is difficult to capture.

These are my two favourite pictures from that walk:

When we started to go in the woods you can see in this picture, the cell-phone rang! I instantly felt happy and excited, because that meant that the boys were back with C and her family! That was the last picture I took, and we didn't get to walk in the forest that day, but I didn't really mind it that much because... well, because I was finally going to know Sonia's whole family!
Back we walked, hurrying, puffing and huffing (not), and indeed, there they were, sitting on the couch and talking and laughing! I was so happy to meet them, they are so nice and such happy people! C and I hit it off right away, and since then we talked a lot when we were together about everything. Mostly about babies, though. Hehehe.
Afternoon turned slowly into evening, and it met us talking and just about spending time together. There isn't much to tell about that evening, other than S (oldest) and C getting a hold of my camera and starting to take pictures of all of us (Sonia and I washing the dishes after supper, or youngest S and T playing on the computer...). These kind of quiet evenings are the best... =)

 Sonia ^^ ♥. This picture was taken by C.

Next day was New Year's Eve Day... waking up in the morning was lovely that day, because once Sonia and I had gotten our sleepesness out of our heads, we heard that it was pretty noisy in the room next door. Curiosity got the best of us, and when we popped our heads in we saw that everybody was in C and I's bedroom, either laying lazyli on the bed or sitting on the floor or leaning on the windows, chatting and being together. Ahhh, I like that family so much!
They invited us in, and so we plopped ourselves on Baby T's bed and followed the chats. That was when I first held Baby N... the sweetes little baby girl ever! I was so happy to hold her, and the first thing she did was smile at me! I could hardly keep myself from squealing in delight! *Sighs in contentment* My time there was unforgettable... I miss them.
When we decided that it was time for all of us to dress and go downstairs, once we went downstairs, what do you all think we did...? Yup, plop down on S(oldest)'s matress and resumed our chatter. And took pictures with my camera, too. I also discovered that S(oldest) had really, really huge hands compared to mine.

See what I mean?

There's not much to tell about that day... J left that afternoon, and later, I went outside in their small garden and took some pictures. They have a canal running right behind their house, and it's so cool because during spring and summer they get their boat out and go up and down the canal. Can't wait till May!

New Year's Eve was amazing, we had so much fun! But that's another story...
For the rest of the pictures, click HERE.

Dutch Stories: My Flight To Holland

Nothing much happened during the first couple of days in Holland... it was all very relaxed and family-like. Writing now about them makes me miss them so much... those comfy times sitting all in the living-room, talking, playing and (yes!) laughing together... getting to know Sonia's older brothers better, and getting to meet Sonia's only sister and her husband and children.
Honestly... looking back and writing about them and our times together makes me feel so bad, and makes me miss them so much... but I made a promise. =) And I know that if I have something to write, is because I made so many precious memories over there. What's best, I'll have them to treasure for ever.


My flight over there was very exciting. It was my first time on a plane since I was a little girl, and I was looking forward to it very much. Although at first I was nervous, the airport from where I left was small, as well as the one where I landed, so I didn't have much trouble in finding my way around. It was fun to qeue behind people (Dutch, Spanish and Indian), watch all the different coloured suit-cases, and (yes!) at all the people's shoes.
At first I was a bit shy about taking pictures in the airport, but I soon lost my shyness and started snapping around. I decided I wanted to sit at the back of the plane, so I climbed up the steps to the back door, with lots of people before me and behind me. It was so exciting to me! I was able to sit in a very good seat, not too far away from the end but not too far away from the middle, either. The perfect place, really.
Then the plane was taken to its take-off position.
I will never forget the sensation I felt when the engines started to roar and the plane started to run, and when it took off! It was so amazing! I felt everything at once, happiness, exuberance. I wanted to scream and laugh and jump and cry, it gave me such a feeling of power! I guess I had a rush of adrenaline. It was incredible, everything was boiling inside of me.
And I was on my way to Holland.
Right after the take-off I took my camera out and started to take pictures from up the air. I felt so awed at all I could see from my window! I had flown before, but when I was three years old and under, so I had no idea what could be seen from up there. And I was sooo amazed!

"I saw everything from up the air, and it was breathtaking"

It was sunny all the time up there because we were all the time flying above the clouds. And once, it snowed up there! It was so amazing! The crystals were so tiny, but so beautiful!

Sitting by me was a little girl and her mother, and across the aisle her father and brother. The girl was lovely, with greenish eyes and blonde hair, and a freckled nose. They were Spanish, but had family in Holland. I smiled at her often, and soon her mother and I started talking. We talked about Holland, about Spain, we talked about winter. I told her why I was going to Holland, and we had a very pleasant talk. She was a very smiley lady, and had a very pleasant voice which soon calmend me down, because I was nervous about the landing.
The almost-two-hours flight flew by me (haha!) way too quickly, and soon enough, we started to penetrate the clouds. They were gray, ugly clouds, but when we got a little lower, I completely forgot about them when I saw what was under us. Big patches of white were all over the places, and all the lakes and rivers were frozen. It was so amazing! I was all the time whispering, "God, your creation is so amazing!"
Then the captain announced that we were about to land, so click went the safety belts, and off went the camera. Now I just had to watch and enjoy.
Once again I got this feeling of exuberance and adrenaline when we landed. The engines started to go the other way around, and the air breaks on the wings came up. Such a noise!! I again felt sooo full of energy!
And so we landed. I was in Holland.
A gust of cold wind welcomed me, and as I climbed down the steps from the plane, I felt how tiny, icy drops of rain were falling from the sky. Welcome to a cold, Dutch Winter!
I remember how I looked up to the sky and breather in the cold, clean air deeply, thinking, "Thank you", and I started walking towards the building. Then, surprise!! Sonia and her mother were waving happily from the top of the building, behind a glass.

When I saw them, I started jumping and waving like crazy, but after receiving a couple of amused looks, I stopped showing my excitedness and started walking quickly toward the exit. I had to wait another ten minutes, though, to pick up my lugagge, and that was almost eternal to me. But wasn't it worth it...!
Sonia was waiting for me right outside the door, and I didn't even have time to drop the big suit-case before she gave me a bear hug! It was a precious moment.
Sonia's mother took a picture just as she hugged me, so we have that moment in a photo... and I am thankful. We were both so happy to see each other... I think we drew a lot of attention because we squealed and hugged and squealed again and then hugged once more, and it was like this all the time. I also hugged Sonia's mother, in case you were wondering.
My flight there was great. I really enjoyed it and I am so thankful that I had such a warm welcome once I got to the airport.
We had a long car-ride home... a two hours and a half ride...

...TO BE CONTINUED... ...FOR MORE PICTURES, CLICK HERE...

From All Over The World

On Monday the 4th, Sonia's whole family was able to gather together. It was such an unusual occasion that Mr. V. prepared a banner with all the nationalities that were present that day.
The nationalities that gathered that day were: Dutch, Colombian, German, Catalan, English, Spanish and French.
That day was amazing. I had a great time with all of them, and what's best is that they made me feel like part of the family. =) But Monday is a story I will post about soon, hopefully.

Feeling Melancholic...

I've started sorting out the pictures I took in Holland. I have more or less over 1500 pictures in 6 GB, more or less. But it makes me feel so melancholic, I miss my friends over there in Holland so much.
I like snow. I like winter. I like Holland. I love them. ♥

Short Post, Anyone?

Because I've noticed that for the last few posts, they were quick scribbles done in a rush while I happened to be online. So, while I originally got online to update my Photo Blog (which I'll do as soon as I publish this post) and answer a very colourful e-mail (:P) (which I will before updating my Photo Blog), I will for a little bit put that aside and write an update on this blog... because more'n one have been askin' for it. ;)
As many of you may know, I had my first flute lesson yesterday in I-don't-know-how-long! Actually, I think I finally decided to drop it about February-March last school year, about nine months ago. I found myself so busy with school and studies I just didn't find time to practice, so I dropped lessons. A little bit later I kind of regretted it, because it was the only time in my busy week in which I could forget my studies, relax, and have a fun-hour with my awesome flute teacher.
But it worked out OK.
Then I dropped school this year because of my illness. In case you didn't know, here in Spain you finish High School at age 15, when you're a ninth grader in USA, I think, and you choose if you want to continue your education or not. I had chosen I wanted to, but after some happenings and my illness I decided that God didn't want me to study further for now, and I dropped it in middle October. I recovered, and when I started to get out of bed during the day, my mummy suggested I should take flute lessons again. I obviously said YESSSS! :D
My first lesson was yesterday. We had such a great time with my teacher! She is a dear and we have a lot of fun together. She makes music something enchanting, and even scales are interesting when I follow her indications. As you can see, I am very pleased to have the awesome teacher I have.
I will also be spending a great week with my beloved cousin and her babies. You HAFTA check out her blog, and see the beautiful family I'm going to visit next week! I am ever so excited at the prospect of spending such a long time with them! I've already met the new baby, Paul, once, and Baby Lara (Baby Lala, as she calls herself) a couple of times, but it was only for a day, and Baby Lara is already two years old! You can imagine my excitement.
Tomorrow is going to be a great day, too. I'm going to my oldest friend's birthday party with my brother. When I say my oldest friend's, I mean, my oldest friend. We know each other since I was born, even before! Let's say our families have been friends almost forever!
And okay, don't laugh at me. But ever since I bought the plane tickets to Holland I've been counting down the days, and since it's already Saturday (early in the morning :P), I only have to wait 38 DAYS!!! A month and a little bit more... and I'll tell you what... this month is going to fly by! I can't tell you how excited I am, and how impatient for the 29th of December to arrive! I know I'm going to be patient and I'll wait and get ready and blah, blah, blah... but you all know deep inside I'm so, SO impatient! I'm still a little girl in many ways. =P
And okay, I'll repeat, don't laugh at me. But since the day I bought the plane tickets to Holland I've started the preparations. Many lists of what-to-take-to-Holland and what-to-do-once-there (ex.: buy postcards ;]) have been written down. I bought new material for my new winter skirt last week, and I'm hurrying up with my Mamma's winter scarf so I can start mine to take to Holland. In case you haven't been able to see... I-AM-SO-EXCITED-ABOUT-GOING-TO-HOLLAND! By the way... Sonia has a blog! Sonia's the actual why of why I'm going there... my best friend. ;) And although it's in Spanish and hasn't been updated for years, and you can take that literally, maybe you'd like to take a loot. Click HERE! :D
But normal life goes on, usually. I've taught an English lesson today... a Math lesson last Wednesday. I may be getting more pupils. Please pray that I may, because if I am ever going to visit USA or Africa or whatever other place I might be called to, it will be thanks to the money I earn with my teaching!
I think I've already written a lot. =P I hope I haven't bored you. =P=P And I hope you won't throw the poor computer out of the window because of me. =P=P=P I know there's something I'm forgetting to write about. =P=P=P=P But if I remember, I'll tell you whenever I remember, basically. =P=P=P=P=P.
Okay, enough of that. ;) Toodles for now! :D

P.S.: I am desperate for a little cold spell! It gets up to 20º C during the day, that's more or less 70ºF. Aaaaaaaagh!

Madrinistic Experiences Part Three

Wednesday was lazy and slow (by the way, I forgot to mention that I saw Tío D. on Thursday! I was so happy to see him, he is such a cool guy!), and in the afternoon I went to see how my little brother was doing at Mr. and Mrs. H.'s. We had a good time with the kids and their new kitten, but other than that, Wednesday wasn't a very busy day. I was thankful for the rest, though. Going to bed late and waking up early isn't something I like to do - much, and it does tire a body down, I admit. And I needed it, because next day...
Oh, Thursday was an awesome day that I did really and truly enjoy. We went to the Madrid Amusement Park, and it was a blast! I was able to ride on all the attractions I hadn't been able to ride two years ago because no one wanted to go with me.
Meaning, of course, the really wow attractions.
I rode the Tornado, the Lanzadera, the Abismo, the Tarantula, the Top Spin, the Fiords, the Rapidos, the Vertigo, the Skybacks, and two others; no, three others, I don't remember their names. And we repeated twice or three times each of them, so it was really A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

This is the Tornado. It was painted black and if you look closely - click on the image if necessary - you can see that in the big curve on the left the people are upside down!

Andy and I on the Tornado, where the attraction came pretty close to the public walks and the boys were able to take the picture. We are on the second couple of seats from the right.

We stayed there the whole day, and I got soaked in a couple of water attractions. But, oh, it was worth it! Dennis won a plush-toy bee in a game and later gave it to me as a souvenir from them all. His name is Taxi.
I can't believe it yet, though, that the boys convinced Andy and I to go with them to "La Casa del Terror", or, literally translated, Terror's House! We screamed so much in there! It was very scary! Andy and I hadn't voice afterwards. It was truly scary, you never knew when a skeleton armed with an ax would sprang up from behind you screaming! I really felt scared in there.
Thursday was with no doubt my favourite day of the week.
Friday was a day of packing because we left for home that same afternoon. I bought myself some white high heels when we went to a mall for some last-minute shopping, and Mrs. M. bought (again!) Andy and I the same pair of shoes. Little red slipper-like shoes, very elegant and comfortable. She had done the same two years ago, but then they were small blue ballerina shoes.
We both wore the red shoes on our trip back home. Andy came with me to stay for a week too, so I didn't have the usual post-vacation "depression".
All in all, my week in Madrid was smashing, awesome and altogether unforgettable. I hope the story didn't bore you too much! :P

Madrinistic Experiences Part Two

I do remember what we did after the Sunday meeting the next day. The service had been very inspiring, based on Psalm 119:105, and I enjoyed the meeting. It ended quite late, though, and we went to lunch directly after that, and did the same thing that we did two years ago... another family tradition: we had lunch in the Chinese restaurant in M40! I hadn't eaten Chinese food for such a long time, and I enjoyed the fun time with my friends at the end of the table. We even scribbled on the paper mats, shared drinks and teased each other. Such fun!
Then I left for the C.'s house, another family living two hours away from Madrid. Marylinn is another friend I have living around there, and I wanted to see her and her brother Joel now that I was there. I spent Sunday afternoon, night and Monday with them. We spent most of our time outside walking. Marylinn introduced me to her friends too, and we had good fun. One thing I do remember with a laugh is that Marylinn was addicted to ice-lollies and we continually were going to a shop to buy one, and the generous girl bought one for me too each time she bought one for herself! I ended up having a dozen lollies in one day!
There was a disturbing fact, though, and that was that her friends smoked - a lot, and kept inviting me to a cigar. I, of course, refused, but it bothered me because I was tempted to accept once because I don't like to refuse
offerings. Thank God, though, He gave me strength to fight the temptation and I didn't smoke at all.
When I was there I was able to visit Sigüenza's castle again. Such a beautiful, huge, majestic castle! It's a marvel it's still on foot, but there it is, proud and strong. I wonder how many sieges it survived.
Actually, I toured the whole little village again, (again because I'd been there almost two years ago), and it was fun because there were lots of people because of the local celebrations.

This is a view of the castle. Of a part of the castle. It's not a very good picture, but when I get around to post the good pictures on my photo blog, then you'll be able to see it properly.

Marylinn took lots of pictures of us together, too, and would have taken plenty more if I wouldn't have left on Monday evening to return to Andy's house. The time spent in Sigüenza with Mary and Joel was precious, but I had, after all, gone to Madrid to see Andy.
So I was back at Andy's house and the first thing she tells me is "We have to do something special tomorrow with you because Jhona leaves for Valencia on Wednesday." I was kind of stunned at first, but grasped the situation in no time. It was soon agreed that we five teens would spend the day in the swimming pool. Then we would be joined by Dennis and would go out to supper and then to the cinema. And that's what we did!
That day was great. First, at the swimming pool we played at diving and finding a small orange stone, but we soon lost it and spent a lot of time looking for it. We didn't find it and finally gave up, but Jhona decided to use his huge, masculine ring to dice for and we lost it too. [chuckles] The situation was so funny! In the end I ended finding both things! Hahaha.
I got really tanned that day, and it was very funny too because I ended paying only 0'35 € for the entrance ticket instead of the 4'50€ price. What a wonderful idea a large family is. Oh, and to be "Just like a man", as Miss Cordelia from Anne's House of Dreams would put it, I must add that that day my sandwich was delicious (lettuce, tomato, egg...)
The film we watched that night was hilarious, too. Plus I was invited to Pringles, which are of my favourite crisps, but way too expensive to my income. Therefore, I hardly ever eat them, and so that night I got to eat Pringles and Lay's Vinaigrette crisps. My favourite!
That day was great. And that's it. End of Madrinistic Experiences Part Two!

Madrinistic Experiences Part One

Wow, finally! I'm able to write down a little about my experiences as a girl who travelled to Madrid alone. Hehehehe. I will write them in parts, so a couple of posts will be scheduled.^^
Let me start from the beginning.

************************************

I arrived at Madrid - Puerta de Atocha on Thursday the 13th at a quarter past seven p.m., five minutes ahead of schedule. Andy was nowhere to be seen, but there were Heinz & Co. May I add that I served as a companion to my little brother on the trip. I had to leave him safely with one of his young friend's family and then continue on my own.
Well, his friends were there, but Andy and her family weren't. Oh well, I just had to wait for a while, because after some minutes they did appear, and Andy and I ran to each other and hugged like two little girls. In the middle of the station. In front of everybody. Oh well.
And so, I arrived at Madrid safely and went directly home. Well, at Andy's house, anyway. A delicious supper was ready and we had only to was our hands and sit down at the table. That is exactly what we did, and after finishing a delicious soup (but without bread... *sniff*) Andy's father, Mr. G., suggested we all went to the park outside, and so we did. It was a huge park, full of small hills, paths, a play park, a lake, and lots of space with grass. It's the perfect place to dream. A place with scope for imagination. I actually stood by the lake, opened my arms and started singing "My Heart Will Go On". It was dark, and a couple of stars were shining, and the lights of the city far away were reflected on the lake's surface. It was lovely.
But there is where the true me appeared. I lost my cell phone! Andy and I started playing on the grass, jumping and summer-salting and running and all these kind of grass games, and suddenly I didn't have my cell phone in my pocket. I started to despair, because on top of everything, it was on vibration mode, so it wouldn't sound if we called it. We even went back home to get lanterns.
Andy found it in the end, but only after about a half an hour or more of searching for it. Yikes! Welcome to Madrid, girl.

On Friday I met Andy's school friends! We had a great time together at Diana's apartment. We stayed outside on the garden, lying down on towels and playing at cards. We played so many different games with just one kind of card. I met Tatiana, who's Russian, Diana, Leo and Irene, and Patricia. We also ate ice lollies, and walked and took pictures of each other. We spent fun time together!

Tatiana with her cool-looking sun-glasses. Hahahaha.

Of course, sometimes it was awkward because they aren't Christian people, and their language was appalling, but besides that, we really had a lot of fun.
And I repeat, we had lots of ice-lollies.
Saturday was a full, busy day. We went to bed very late on Friday, and had to get up at 7 a.m. on Saturday, so for the first couple of hours I was kind of zombie-like, much like a ghost. We had to go to the sports-centre. Actually, it was a long tradition in Andy's family. Every Saturday they go early to the sports-centre to play football and basketball, and later they spend the rest of the day in the swimming-pool before leaving for prayer meeting. They had done that the last time I went, two years ago, and it seemed like we would do it again!
So at seven a.m., a very hated alarm clock went off. At least it was a melody that was soothing, and I didn't throw the cell phone out of the window. I quickly arranged myself because Andy had told me that her uncle didn't like to wait, and was ready after about half an hour, shower, breakfast and all. Wow. I didn't know I could do that!
In the end it turned out we had to wait for him for something I don't remember, and after more than half an hour's delay, Mrs. M., Andy's mother, ended up taking us to the place. We arrived there at about 8.30 a.m., and it was lovely. The sun shone but it was fresh, as if it had rained before. We didn't suffer much heat for a couple of hours, and we were all very thankful for that.
I got to meet Santi that morning! He is Tío G. and Tía O.'s first son! (I call all of Andy's uncles and aunties as if they were mine. They all like it). The baby was barely eight months old, and was already walking. He is the sweetest baby, and he had such chubby cheeks! He wasn't scared of me - wow! -, actually he is a very loving baby. I was able to take many pictures of him playing with his ball and crawling around, and when I picked him up because he asked for it hugging my legs, he grabbed at my half-heart necklace my best friend gave to me. He liked it a lot.
Let's just say that I didn't play football and just messed around with the basketball ball. I'm not a very sporty girl. In fact I only enjoy playing volleyball - though I'm no good at it - and swimming. And of course, messing around and laughing at each other's attempts at playing basketball. Ahem.

{Most of} The Saturday Gang. Man, did we have fun!

At about half past eleven we all left to get ready for the swimming pool. Andy, Christian, Sergio and I went to Jhona's house, and I was able to see Tía S. there. Oh, I like them all so much! And we did finally go to the swimming pool! All in all, we were eighteen people there. And what fun did we have! We even had lunch there, and it was delish.
At first, we were in the normal swimming pool, where there was a place for the kids. It had a half-moon shape. But then we teens went to the olympic swimming pool and played games and raced and were silly. I won the competition of who swam farthest without breathing! I actually swam three quarters of the olympic pool, and the boys wouldn't admit it, but Andy was so proud of me. Hahaha.
When it was time to get ready for prayer meeting, I was sure thankful for the showers! I was able to make myself respectable and ready for the meeting.
I don't remember clearly what we did after the meeting. We went home and had supper, I suppose.
And this, my friends, is the end of my Madrinistic Experiences Part One! Hopefully, Part Two will come along soon enough! Just enjoy this one as long as you can [wink].

Second Announcement

Dear, most loved blog friends,

I am announcing that either tomorrow or Friday I'll be off to Madrid! I'm happy because at last I'll be able to say that I've been on holidays this summer, and on top of everything, on my own! That makes me feel so grown up (because Madrid is quite far away from where we live... like a whole day's drive, say over 600 kilometers).
I'll be going by AVE, which is Alta Velocidad Española and in English, Spanish High Speed. It's a High Speed Train. It's going to be very exciting. I already went there when I was fourteen, but because I was fourteen I wasn't able to do all the stuff I'll be able to do now at sixteen.
I'll be staying at my friend Andrea's house. We have been friends for over so long, and we hardly see each other. It's been two years since we last saw each other, and so we are both looking much forward to this event!
I'd appreaciate prayers for safety on the trip and I hope we are able to enjoy our time together! It's going to be so much fun. I will most likely be back with tons of pictures and stories, so stay tuned! Although I don't really know how many days I'll be staying there... perhaps a week, maybe more. So I am also going to say bye-bye to computer and online life for a while too! I hope you don't miss me too much.^^
Anyway, that is all the news about Madrid. I'll let you know more when I come back! :D

Thank You, Hannah, For The Blog Button!

A quick post to say that my wonderful blog buddy Hanna has made me an awesome Blog Button! Thank you so much, I appreciate the effort and I really like it!
People can link to me now with it... feel free to take it if you wish!

Keeping My Promise

If you remember, I promised you I would post pics and what I had done with some friends two weeks ago in this post. Now I'm keeping my promise! I had to promise it, otherwise I knew I wouldn't post it in two months! [grin] I wrote a diary while I was there, so I'll post some bits and pieces of it. We had a lot of fun! The girls are coming here tomorrow to spend a couple of days, actually...

"Satisfaction. That's what I feel as I listen to music, sitting in the car on my way to Christine's house. I'm going to spend five days with her, her family and Julietta. Christine is a cheerful, teasing fifteen-year-old and Julietta is a chatty, happy young lady who is always smiling. I like them a lot, and now, as I'm watching the scenery going by us quickly, I feel so blessed and happy. Five days with wonderful people... what more can I want?
"Christine's parents always had fun activities and ideas, such as visiting historical places and bathig in the swimming pool at night. I'm sure I won't be bored because, on top of everything, their house has a fantastic library. There are hundreds of books in each room and I still haven't had a chance to read them all. They also have a wonderful, green garden, so the combination of company and people is perfect."

The first night was a blast... we had so much fun!

"Christine slumped six fat pillows on my arms and I had to climb down the stairs carefully, watching every step. Then, Christine, Julietta and I snekaed inside the kitchen and stole ice creams and juice (not really :P), and after going back to the living room, where we slept, we sat down with the cat on our beds and talked, crunching on the ice creams while we teased each other.
"Christine had also brought down books and magazines (we had fun criticising the models in them...), and my camera was sitting on a table, waiting for the right moment to come to action.
"They had an interesting conversation about how annoying open doors were when you were doing something inside the room."

This is one of our many funny teasings:

"We sometimes had whispered conversations, but it soon got late and we decided to turn off the lights and go to sleep, although it was so warm they found it hard to sleep. 'Oh, I'm so HOT!' I complained, moving around my bed to find a better position. Julietta leaned over and whispered, 'STOP bragging, girl!', and we burst out laughing."

OK, this one the second day...

"Late in the afternoon Christine's mother decided to take us to a nearby mall to spend the evening in. We walked around talking, looking at clothes and shoes. I found a lovel navy blue, long skirt, but I didn't have any money on me, and we also visited a jewlery shop.
"The shop was packed with beautiful glass shelves full of jewlery, all of different colours. There were necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, even toe-rings!, each of them having tons of different styles to choose from. All the others bought something but me; I didn't fins anything that I really liked. Maybe I am too picky, after all..."

Later in the night...

"While I rambled outside the garden munching on my peach, Christine's mother came out and showed me how they'd trained Gerd, their huge watch-dog, to do a couple of tricks. It was interesting, although the dog was far more interested in my peach and actually got her front paws on my shoulder to try and steal it.
"So I went down the stone steps into the swimming pool, barely up to my skirt, and the dog stayed at the edge, waiting for me to come back and try luck again. In the end I had to run inside and ask for help because Gerd was all the time on me. I got some scratches out of the experience..."

Another interesting conversation...

"As I went back to the living-room, where Christine and Julietta were eating an ice-cream, I smiled. 'Oh goodie. Can I have one of mine?'
"Christine looked at me and started giggling uncontrolably, making the bed move. I shook my head in faked despair, and murmured, 'I think I'll five you up...'
"Christine sat up with a surprised face. 'For adoption?' Her eyes were big, her mouth open and her voice innocent. I tilted my head, and looked at the ceiling, considering it. 'Why, thank you for the idea, I'll think about it'
"At this point, Julietta turned around and said, 'Yours are in the freezer, two bottom drawers', at which I answered, 'Thank you, Julietta,' and as an afterthought, I added, 'Good to know someone takes me seriously...'
"After some minutes us three girls were lying down on our beds, eating ice-cream and reading books."

On Wednesday we went to Barcelona.

"We also packed three small water bottles along with the lunch sandwiches. We marked them so we wouldn't get confused with which was which one's: Christine's had a red band, mine had a green band, and Julietta's had a blue band on hers."

This is the first picture I took in Barcelona.

"I like Barcelona. As a matter of fact, I like big cities, at that. There are so many sensations in a city. So many colours, so many sounds, so many smells, so many different people. From the colourful flowers and trees growing to the adorned shop windows and different styles of clothes people wore; from the shouts of a man trying to sell his goods to the noise people did when they walked and the joyful and delighted squeals of a child on his dad's shoulders; from the delicious aroma coming from an open restaurant to the perfumed ladies that walked past by us and the clean scent coming from tidy shops; from foreners that come from the North, fair and blue eyed, to the dark Spanish people tanned by the sun.
"Cities are so full of everything. Even the floor has patters!"

An example of it...

Happy Christine!

This reads: "In Barcelona, 1 of every 3 dead people dead in traffic accidents was walking by foot. Attention: we are all pedestrians."

Talking about colours... I couldn't resist taking a picture of this advertisement... "Life in Pink!"

This seat is made of broken tiles. I really like them!

Souvenir shops... they are so picturesque!

One thing I really love about Barcelona is its architecture. Casa Batlló, part of the Façana de la Discordia (Batlló House, part of the Discord Facade. It is called like that because three very different houses constitute de facade)

Casa Amatller's ceiling. Very impressive!

We visited the Perfume Museum. It was awesome!

"A tall man led us to a big room full of shelves. After paying the entrance, us three girls were left alone.
"I found the place very interesting. There were all kinds of examples of perfume vases, from ancient ages all through the years till the present. There were also pictures and information about people who worked with perfumes, such as Cocó Chanel.
"The different vases were beautiful. There were chrystal containers from Greece, ceramic vases from ancient Egypt, golden ones from Turkey, and so on. The shapes, sizes and colours were so varied!"

Samples of Chanel perfume... ahhh!

The golden sample from Turkey. It was beautiful! I also have pictures of the Greek chrystal vases, but since I couldn't use flash, and they were inside glass cabinets, they are blurry. This one has reflections of the glass, as well.

Tiny samples. There hundreds of them! It was incredible, really.

Some more of Barcelona's varied architecture...

...more... =)

Barcelona's city hall. Notice the clock in the centre of the building? I love it!

A lamp... :P

My favourite picture of the whole lot! One side of the famous Barcelona Cathedral... it was in construction when we went, but I was still able to snap this picture.

This is a pond which we visited. It was full of cents! People believe it gives good luck to throw cents in the water. There must be a fortune in there!

Something that happened to us in Barcelona...

"I noticed how people inside cafés and restaurants laughed, waved and smiled at us when we passed the place where they were, and I was somewhat confused by that. I wondered how come they were so friendly, so I asked the other two girls if they had noticed it. They just laughed, and when we went by another public place I understood why.
"As we passed the glass windows, Christine and Julietta smiled wildly and waved like crazy at the people inside the room. Some of them reacted looking the other way, or frowning, but some good sports would smile back and laugh at us. I didn't know what to do, if feel embarrassed and walk a little far beihind, or join the fun and tease the guys inside the shops"

Thursday was spent lazily. We didn't do anything at all. We just read and talked. Nothing special.
Ah... but Friday! That is something different...

"I have no idea why in the world did the alarm clock in the cell go off so early. I guess because I had told it to. But it was way too early for me, because I'd gone to sleep very late the last few nights.
"We were going to a water fight that day!! I was so excited."

"It was a game of guys against girls. They would stay together, and we would scatter and attack at the same time, breaking their line. But if one of us was caught by herself... well...
"We all had bottles and water balloons. We had gotten together at a public park which had many fountains, but because it was a public place we played with our clothes on. That was fun! What I'll remember for the rest of my life...
"Yes, I was caught off guard and on my own. I ran, and although I can proudly say I ran a lot and gave the boys a good chase, they finally caught me. One of them grabbed my arm and made me crouch on the cement floor, while the others made a thick circle around me from which I wouldn't be able to escape. And it happened. All of them emptied their two litres and six litres of water bottles on me, teasing me and laughing. How humiliating!, (not really, I was laughing all the time!). When they finished they all ran away, and left me on my poor own.
"When I got up I was dripping, soaked, wet, full of water, and more than you can imagine! My clothes were soaked. My, that made me laugh so much!"

So these are my adventures from two weeks ago. I had an awesome week there, and was sad to say goodbye. I hope you enjoyed reading the post, and hope that I didn't bore you a lot! [smile]