Changes, already

August 15, 2009

Kara’s last day in Barcelona….sadly we pretty much had to spend the day cleaning, running errands and moving over to the new apartment. We did, however, have a fabulous tapas lunch at Orio. Orio is a place we had walked by a week or so ago and wanted to go back to. It’s a very chic tapas bar and everything is very fresh and yummy! You sit at communal tables and it’s all self-serve except for the chef’s specials, which they bring around every few minutes. When you’re ready to pay, they just count the number of tooth-picks on your plate.

We headed over to the new apartment to meet Jordi and Onofre around 6pm. At first, I was a little apprehensive about the new neighborhood…it’s definitely not as glamorous as the L’Eixample address I had before but, I actually love the new digs after spending a few hours here. The best comparison I could make is that I moved from Pac Heights to the Mission… The new apartment has many bonuses though:

1. Air conditioning!!!!
2. A lovely terrace
3. Much closer to the beach

After getting unpacked and aquainted with my new house-swappers, Jordi and Onofre took us out for a stroll to see the neighborhood and we had dinner at this awesome place that’s part of the Maritime museum. The restaurant is set in a beautiful courtyard that is covered with trees and surrounded by the original walls of Barcelona. I really enjoyed eating my plate of fish- head, bones and all with my new friends in the very enchanting courtyard. I love Barcelona.

August 16, 2009

My first day alone in Spain…I have to say, I am going to miss Kara tremendously! We had a great summer together, both in San Francisco and traveling. I love you my little perrito!

However, as fun as the past two weeks have been…this is actually the part of the trip I’m most looking forward to. I’m excited to be alone with my thoughts and to have some time to re-discover myself. It’s been a whirlwind of a few months with a ton of big life changes. And, after all the thinking, planning, agonizing and excitement of making the decision to make a life change, here I am!

I have a pretty good idea of where my path is going in the next few months but, I’m certainly more open than I’ve ever been to let the path guide me rather than the other way around. It’s likely that after a few months here, I’ll be ready to go home, apply to business school, travel some more and then pick up and move to embark on the real next chapter of achieving an MBA…or maybe not?

I’m feeling a little sick and/or run down so, I spent the day just kind of hanging out. I accidentally ended up at the nude beach…I mean, most beaches here are practically nude anyway but, there was an exceptional amount of flesh at the beach I ended up on today. I spent half the day in the water and the other half lying on the sand reading my book. I also elected to take Jordi’s bike down to the beach today, which was an experience in and of itself…it’s one of those fold up bikes and it probably weighs 100 lbs! I’m sure I was a sight to see but, I did enjoy the exercise and the freedom to go farther than on foot – hence, stumbling upon the nude beach.

After the beach, I came back to my apartment and took a lovely nap in my air conditioned oasis!!

Going to head to bed early this evening in preparation for my first day of school. I’m excited to expand my Spanish skills!! I’ve actually done pretty well here the past few weeks but, it will be nice to really be speaking and to be more comfortable. I’m also excited to what kind of people I meet as well, should be interesting!