day 1000: my airport incident

no. i haven't even had this blog for 1000 days. but i wanted to make a dairy of 1000 days because now i've returned from spain and i'm currently back in my home country alone. my boyfriend is on his way to peru. today. so yesterday was day 1000. and also one of the worst days of my life. just a "small" incident in the airport in barcelona. i'm just asking myself how the hell i could come late. it really isn't my thing to come late. but it was the case yesterday. but "luckily" i could get on the plane.
  i had paid for 3 suitcases but i was only allowed to have one including my hand luggage, so what did i do? i started crying. actually i was crying all the way to the plane. embarrassing? sure. i think what provoked this was the stress from going home knowing i hadn't anything and of course that i didn't want to leave my boyfriend. but we're still together though, just the fact that we aren't going to see each other for almost 3 years makes my cry.
 anyway, i ran through the security control everything with my suitcase, slipping in my jacket, sweating like a pig and tears running down my face. people really starred at me like if they were thinking: WTF?

anyway i know i'm the one to blame for coming late. but the thing is that when they tell me two different things about the suitcases, i get pretty upset. and i desperately need me two other suitcases. so many important things. like clothes, irreplaceable things and other stuff. so what i'm going to do is: my sister's ex-husband is going to help me out. i'm going to ask a friend of mine  in barcelona to bring my suitcases to a company who can send me my stuff. i just need to know what company it is.

do have you a similar airport incident?

living in spain: seeing the doctor

do you have patience? if not, you better don't get sick or have any health issues in spain. well, i'm lucky that i'm an european citizen, but the receptionist told me that i needed a "tarjeta sanitaria" which i didn't have. i wasn't able to get a job. also i'm leaving in one week. anyway, after 10 minutes discussing with the receptionist about last names. it's clearly important which last name i had been given from my father and my mother. in fact is a funny thing, i know that i have only been given my last names of my father. i don't have any names from my mother at all. and clearly the receptionist didn't understand so instead she asked me for an explanation. almost after 45 minutes at the receptionist she managed  to give me a paper with the time i could go to see a doctor. so i went to the doctor later that day. i honestly expect that a doctor should be welcoming or at least show some confidence. but in spain apparently nothing seems to be like that. and the doctor was no exception. it wasn't even the worse. she ordered two types of medication, which i think was foolish. especially when one was pills and the other a lotion. not really difficult for me to choose. and when i ran downtown to the pharmacy the lady told me that the pills were at the awesome price of 50 euros. clearly i didn't have any money for that so i bought the lotion at the price of 7 euros. again. not difficult to choose. and the diagnosis? well it was what i feared. herpes zoster. (not that type of herpes). i have had this once when i was younger. and i swear i could scratch forever. until i almost started crying because it hurts. and now almost two weeks later. i have got cystitis or more known as a urinary bladder inflammation. i'm like... this is not happening right now. normally i'm not sick more than once or twice during a year. but lately my health is declining. but honestly i would really avoid to go to a doctor while traveling or living abroad.

have you ever had any haelth issues while traveling? 

day 3: love.

don't get me wrong. but long before even think of move to barcelona, i had met someone. picture it. don juan. i don't consider it as a relationship we had. and i'm happy for that. because of he wasn't anything but... well, don juan. so unfortunately i did comment to him one day that i was going to move to barcelona. why the hell did i do that for? anyway, after having been her for almost 5 months the jerk decides to contact me on skype. just to make it clear that he's seeing someone. could i care less? no. i was pretty much "done" with him. and now i'm totally done with him. also with my ex. we had a relationship for like 10 months. and i broke up with him because i realized that it was the best. and typical he claims that it was him. but what can i say? it's annoying, but he apparently has some issues. and his mother whom expected that i would invite her to come to my birthday. and after being chatting with my ex on facebook, i realize that in that time i didn't honestly think much. he is the most annoying person, most rude person i've ever been with. better later than never, right?

what about my first boyfriend. i was stupid enough to go back. i found out later on that he was a scientologist. you know just like tom cruise. and after 2 weeks he announced that he only wanted to be friends. boy, are you kidding me? no way.

but right now i'm where i want to be (almost). i mean i have a boyfriend whom i love. which actually reminds me that i have an important announcement to make.

living in spain. #1

isn't that easy nowadays. so if you're planning to live in spain whether barcelona or a small village in andalusia just have a lot of savings. it can be really cheap to live in spain less you're a spaniard. getting to know better the euro, you realise that what you thought were cheap isn't really that cheap. of course you need some sort of a income. but thinking of how much you have to work for only 800 euros at month. like 40 hours. and the probably they are going to exploit you. the minimum salary in spain is only 621 euros. it's always important to look at what the company really is and don't ever take a job if the contract says: autónomo. you're probably going to have a huge debt to the spanish government. one of our friends told us that when he was looking for a job his uncle told him that he could work for him, but as autónomo. after that he owed the spanish government 4000 euros. if you're an english native speaker or german native speaker you'll probably find something. for example as a teacher. you can also try to solicit a teacher's programme, you can read more on young adventuress' blog.

haters gonna hate: catalan.

a language i thought i was able to learn. but 7 months and a huge discussion later about independence, i gave up. honestly why learning a new language (and yes it's very similar to spanish and french, but it is a language), when you don't have to? the fact is that i'm tired of being discriminated by not speaking catalan. i can read it and partly understand it when crackovia is on every monday night.

i've been doing interviews where they hadn't read my CV. so when they asked me if i knew catalan, i had to say no. also a couple of years ago i went on a family vacation to barcelona. and asking something in spanish, like if they could help me or a direction, they always seem to pretend that they don't understand what i'm saying. but the matter in fact, i'm in spain! there isn't any country called catalonia, anymore. yes, they were a country before spain took over. so i decided to give up. besides, by that time i knew my time would be over soon enough to not do anything about it.



GIFSoup

day 2: my life in a suitcase.

once again. i'm heading back home. though there still are two weeks to go, i'm already packing my suitcases. i have more memories than i thought and as always it's a quiet sad process. going through stuff and memories. one by one. and i'm running out of space in my suitcases.
i hope things will work out at home. that spain and i possibly never were meant to be. right now there is no time to find out.
i hope that this year i'll begin to study at the university. and of course that i'll find a job. and that i don't have to wait 6 more months to have one. i like travel. i do. but the fact is that i have to choose. i think that just yet i'm not ready to travel the world, and the fact that i'm still young i'll wait to after the university. i've already made some plans for the next couple of years. and i'm really considering to go to sweden and live. and i'm hoping (don't read: desperate) that i'll be able to have an apartment so later on my boyfriend can come. but you know, international love can be difficult some would say impossible. and i don't want to cry for the next 2,5 years about our decision we made. nor would i ever argument for my feelings. people make their decision. and i don't expect that people (especially my family) would ever understand. to be honest i feel that my family somehow is trying to hold me back for what i want: live, travel and love. but i also know the importance of education. but i guess i need to make some goals. one of them should probably be: be independent. some would also say that it's important to listen to the family. but why? isn't it way more important to listen to yourself? make your own decision? live your own life?
for almost a year i've been living in a suitcase. now it's time to open it for a while. but i'll never close it. sometimes it's important to put new things in it and sometimes take some of the old things out of it. when there isn't more space in it, it's time to change it. never close it, never open it widely. for me it's unfinished business. for me it's life.

peru part 4

so it was time to go back home to barcelona. and this time we didn't go from trujillo to lima in a smelly bus. this time more luxury. but the trip back to europe turned out to be even worse. of course we couldn't check in. we didn't understand why until later on. and it didn't help to ask someone who works for lan chile, who's not even able to read a damn passport. but in the airport they were able to help a bit. the fact that we didn't have to ask new people to change seats helped a little. and then we came to madrid. as i referred to in another entry on the blog that i'll never fly with iberia. like. ever. again. after telling us several times to go and complain to lan chile we finally found out the problem. "you've bought a ticket who isn't valid from madrid to barcelona". and your telling us this now? this also resulted in a discussion with my boyfriend. haha.

but they gave us a new ticket home to barcelona. menos mal. and home we got. a "fantastic" week was over.

peru part 3

after the taxi-adventure and the discussion with my boyfriend, it was time to go to the wedding. i guess it's obvious that i can't wear high heels. that's just a fact. and it was cold. also in the church on plaza arma. normally i'm not very fond of catholic churches and this wasn't an exception. we met with my boyfriend's family outside. and then the awkward moment where i totally feel forever alone, walking in the church concentrating not to fall because of the shoes. or dress. and without noticing that someone was filming. ha ha.

i just jump over the entrance of the groom and bride and ceremony, i assume that people know how this works and that it really feels like forever. and on our way out i make another mistake. i will make it clear that the last time i was participating at a wedding i was 6 years old. and no one had told me there actually the family had to walk out of the church in a specific way. luckily they didn't film this.

well, the party took place in a huge garden, owned by an old man with his peruvian paso-horses. an adorable place if it wasn't because of it was cold sitting outside for about an hour watching this horse show, with a dress and high heels, sinking into the grass. and the worse... i was so hungry. so, i'm very fuzzy when it comes to food, and i didn't like the menu at all. but it was ok. i had a blast anyway, and it was an adorable wedding. the bride looked amazing. and i'm able to accept that i was quiet unsatisfied with the most of the things. that it wasn't my wedding. i just know what i absolutely wouldn't do at mine. the music. ahh... i hated the music. and dancing? i do not dance and when i'm doing i'll do it when i'm totally wasted. which i wasn't here. actually people looked at me like i was crazy because i didn't drink any alcohol. i'm totally fuzzy about that too.
so people in latinamerica are totally conchuda. in less than two hours almost all the alcholic drinks were gone.
oh, about dancing. i had to dance with my sister-in-law's husband. awkward. but worth doing, trying to be a part of the family. i'm also on the family-wedding-portrait. awesome. and then dancing like a loco until 4 in the morning. with la hora loca. it was brilliant. some people dressed like incas i guess? or i don't know what exactly they were trying to look like though. but they gave us masks and hats. if you've seen walt disney's "the emperor's new groove" you'll know what i mean.
and just keep dancing. to unknown music. unknown rythms. and with unknown people.

the cake by the way, so adorable!

and then it "finally" finished at 4 in the morning. i was ready to cut off my feet. just saying. off to bed.


related post(s):
peru part 1
peru part 2

chan chan & la huaca del sol y la luna

well, i don't want to be that pessimistic. so here i just give up something that actually has been the best part. i find the old indian cultures such as the incas and the mayas very fascinating. but since i wasn't in cuzco nor mexico, i went to chan chan & la huaca del sol y la luna. sorry for the photo quality, i still have a digital camera.

related post(s):
peru part 2
peru part 1

out of barcelona

in the summer, or rather a week after i moved to spain, my boyfriend and i went with some of his friends to salou. salou is a small party-town in  the region tarragona in catalonia. so, for a couple of days, just enjoying the summer out of town. with a couple who has some seriuos communication problems and their 2 year old son (imagine) and another friend, who has some serious alcohol issues.

but somehow i think it was horrible because i has just moved to spain. and i was not really ready to start up any social life just yet. to be honest i don't remember much from the trip, but to resume it, it would look something like this:

buy a new (too small) bikini. find out that i'd forgot my money back in barcelona. the only one who didn't drink anything alcoholic. choking in water.

peru part 2

so, after those ten hours in a smelly bus from lima we finally reached our destination, trujillo. i thought things would get a bit better. but no. i'm not that kind of person who takes a shower in cold water. or share a one-man's bed. i like my personal space when i'm sleeping. and also when it comes to the toilet. or rather especially  when it comes to that. the room we borrowed from a former neighbour of my boyfriend's family hadn't put a door to the room's toilet.

we slept one week with one pillow in a small bed. showered in cold water. the weather is warm, they said. but not really, after my opinion. but guess what? things didn't stop here either. well, my "dearest" mother-in-law was not very dear on that trip. i do thank her for the beautiful dress she bought me for the wedding of my sister-in-law.

this week i tried food i've never imagined that i ever would eat. like never. ever. have you ever tried to eat a hamster? no? you should try it. it's very typical for latinamerica. more typical for peru is the dish "ceviche". fish and onions. in a way you've never imagined. we spent some time with my sister-in-law's french, fine family. the moment when i find out the brother of my sister-in-law's husband has been starring at my breasts the whole time.
 but nice people. they've only confirmed my theory about french people speaking english. i don't know if it's just me who have some prejudices about french people?

anyway. the wedding day arrived. people stressed around like chickens losing their head. i was tired and constantly hungry. and that means bad mood. i discussed all morning with my mother-in-law about how to do my hair. so we finally made a decision to go to a hair salon. to my regret. i would rather have been going to the wedding with a homemade ponytail than to experience what happened in that hair salon. i swear i could have died of embarrassment that afternoon. like my heart was pumping like it wanted to get out of my chest.
i was right. it took them about an hour and a half to make me an updo. my mother-in-law claimed that it would take no more than 20 minutes. then the bride calls her mother (my mother-in-law) and says that the groom has gone. where she doesn't know. she said something like, he had felt sick in the morning. of course. just take a sleeping pill. and forget about the world. the bride thinks he is still at the hotel. what to do? the brides asks for her brother (my boyfriend). but he is not able to go to look for the groom. he is somewhere, in a bar with a friend. having a beer. so of course my mother-in-law sends me. just a young, white, european girl, who is in latinamerica for the first time. after a bit screaming in the hair salon, she said to a young, unknown dude that he had to go with me. in a taxi. you know, it can be pretty dangerous with a taxi-adventure. and i was so embaressed. i could die. so after laughing a bit about how stupid, and thoughtless my mother-in-law is, i found out that the dude didn't even know that well trujillo.
 the worse thing? the groom had left the hotel when i came. i was angry and embaressed. i didn't know what to do with myself, and found it hard to gather my thoughts. and when i came back, my mother-in-law went just after 5 minutes. i went back alone. or rather ran. i must comment that i was herassed on the way.

so. i arrived home to where we were staying. and then my anger just bursted out. screaming and crying. i feel a bit bad of what my boyfriend must have been going through with me. haha. the rest of the night and the next couple of days i did not even speak with my mother-in-law

related post(s):
peru part 1

day 1: two weeks left

well, my stay in barcelona, spain, is pretty much over. two weeks left. and i feel that i've been on a long; maybe a bit too long vacation. i didn't succeed in what i intended to do in spain. i must acknowledge. and i guess that 7 months have been a bit too short, but i need to start over somehow back "home". my boyfriend is about to leave, to go to peru. so we decided to have, what most people say is impossible, a relationship, despite the distance. but we're kind of used to do that. the fact that we had all odds against us. i'm referring to the internet. i hope that i'll be able to go to peru to visit him, and that this time my travel to peru won't be a disaster like when we were going to his sister's wedding. story for another day.

i am going to be completely honest here. there are some things that i'll be missing about spain. and something i absolutely won't be missing at all. such as the apartment where i live and my mother-in-law whom i'm living with. i absolutely don't recommend it.

so many things have happend the past 7 months. just spending the next couple of posts on the blog remembering what actually did happen. a dream came true.

and next week we have visit from france. everything's going to be pretty awesome less the part were we all are going to watch the video from my sister-in-law's wedding. if anyone knows how embarrassing it really feels to see yourself like that. totally awkward when you are amongst someone, about 200 persons you haven't seen before, far from the european standards.

flouret in barcelona

so, i arrived to barcelona, spain in the end of july. more specific the 27th of july 2012. so many expectations for the summer. and i must say that it has actually been the best summer i've ever had. i did not have many worries, going to the beach everyday. spend every penny i had with the stupid intention to get a job. as many may already know, there is something called crisis in spain. for me it was pretty much a pain in the ass to go to interviews. and totally terrified by speaking spanish. ha.

to be honest i cried about for this for about a week. if someone else has been living/are livinig abroad they will probably agree that it can be pretty intimidating to start speak a foreign language. i was about to regret that i ever went to spain. so after a lot, no TOO much tv, i finally found my way to open my mouth and, well, just speak.

an adventure was awaiting me, with tapas, sol, siesta and playa... or so i thought.