A day

Today has been quite an interesting day.

My friend had sent me a care package with some very important things. The first of which is a jumbo jar of extra crunchy peanut butter. YES. And also travel-size contact lens solution… and lip balm… trail mix, chocolate-covered goji and raspberries, blackhead removing strips, and of course, some nail polish. And a sweet little card. Very essential things as you can see. I don’t know why but I was so happy to receive them. I felt so special. And loved. The time it took to gather those things and send them off. And the shipping cost itself!?!? Craziness, I tell you. But she did it. For me. And I felt like a lucky lucky girl indeed, to have friends that care and support me in such a simple way. I appreciate it. I appreciate the love and care all the way from Cali. Thanks Bonnie.

Now, I got connected with a friend of a friend who’s in Barcelona for a few days for leisure travel. I got to take him and his hostel friend around with my two months worth of knowledge of Barcelona. It was pretty fun exercising everything I had learned and experienced. I actually had things to share. I felt a little bit of ownership of this place, this city. It’s home for just a few months, but home nonetheless, if I say it is… Hahaha. I don’t know. It’s a completely different feel from when I first arrived, a wide-eyed on-edge timid foreign student… now I’m just… a foreign student. Lol. No, I feel less foreign and more student now. I welcome the change, or growth, dare I say. I feel like it’s not necessarily the city itself, it’s the fact that I’ve been out of my comfort zone and home and actively decided to settle myself elsewhere. Interesting.

So before we set out on the award-winning tour of Barcelona according to Grace, I left my jacket and some stuff in my friend’s hostel locker. It was the wise thing to do because the windy gloomy weather had transformed into a painfully beautiful day… and I mean that in a good way. It was a nice change to meet the sun again. Then we explored. We didn’t get lost but we did venture off the normal path. We found a super local area with tons of skaters. We found a very long red mural. We walked through a predominantly Filipino neighborhood, which was pretty interesting and trippy haha. Then we got some paella and other stuff (tripe for me, yummm). It was quite lovely.

After lunch and some wandering, we split in three ways. Two went off to the beach, another went to explore alone, and I went home to change into running gear and meet the other two at the beach. Perfect. We all high-fived and peaced. Just kidding. We just split. I hopped on the metro and about 2 minutes from home, I realized I didn’t have my keys with me. Hmm interesting, I never forgot it since I’d arrived. I figured I’d wait outside until someone opened it. Cool. I got in, and then rang the door. Bzzzzz. No one. Sigh. Bzzzzzzzzzzz. No one. Sighhhh.I called my host dad. No answer. Three times. No answer.

Where were my keys though?? Had I really forgotten them in my room…? Or…. were they in my jacket……. which……. was chilling……. in a locker…… in a hostel…………….? Lollll. Yeah. That’s great. And it made it even greater that my friend had no data and no Spanish number, which meant he was a walking island disconnected from the virtual world. Oh and did I mention, my battery was in the red?

So what did I decide to do? Call James and chat with him til my battery died. My host parents would eventually have to come home, right? Right. And I don’t like to stress about the final moments of my battery life. So it was chill. I sat on the steps talking, laughing, the usual.

Then, in our conversation, we talked about the package I received from my friend today… and how his package, which was sent a month prior, never got to me and was sent back to the States. We had been super bummed about it, since the care package had some stuff I needed, like tape, cotton rounds, trail mix, goldfish crackers, clothes, hangers… He then checked the tracking number while on the phone… lo and behold, the package had arrived in LA… was sent to Miami…. and then to Madrid….. and was en route to destination aka Barcelona. Lolllll. Yes, it’s super lame of the Spanish postal service to fail. Yet it was such an awesome feeling that perhaps not all hope was lost. And that I could still have my trail mix. I don’t know. It’s crazy to me. While we’re just going about life, trying to not be annoyed by the situation, the package had embarked on a journey of its own and was somewhere in the world in transit. So interesting to me.

So anyway, somewhere along our conversation, my phone dies, and now I’m really stranded. No keys, no phone, no charger. I sat on the steps reading an article for class until I decide no more. I walk out of the apartment complex intending to walk to the beach to find my friends. But wait. It’s windy and… my jacket…… about two blocks into the walk, I decide this is not happening. I enter a small bakery and order a cafe con leche, a coffee with milk. I’ll just sit here til dinner time, when I know my family is home. I decide it wouldn’t be horrible to ask the lady behind the counter if she has an iPhone charger. And to my surprise, after the way this day had been going, she does! Hahaha. And she’s so cool about it. She hooks it up and I sit, take out my article, and read. I also do some writing, get some of my thoughts out on paper. It was really pleasant. One of those moments where I don’t have to think, and it just flows. Nothing poetic, just thoughts, feelings, and whatnot. Just me.

Eventually I get my phone back and hit up my friend and find out he’s back at his hostel. Then off I go, into the evening chill with my one layer and no scarf. I’m at a fantastic 45% battery level so I call up James and we chat. And for some reason I’m really happy. I’m happy to be alive, to be there, with all these things going the way they did. Did anything really go wrong? I got to spend some time completely disconnected, do my thing, enjoy a coffee, write. The perfect storm in a way, y’know? Very enjoyable, I’d say. And I was healthy and breathing. I was able to laugh and talk with someone whose company I enjoyed from 5000 miles away. I was on my way to pick up my jacket and keys. Everything… just worked out nicely, even when it didn’t.

I picked up my stuff, walked back home, had dinner, talked with my host dad, and now, I’m just chilling. I have to get started on some homework so I can balance it out with some late-night playing Friday and/or Saturday. All in all, here’s what I got out of today.

1. Care packages are awesome.

2. I have awesome friends.

3. I’m changing.

4. I own my situation.

5. It never hurts to ask.

6. Today is a good day to be alive.

7. Always transfer everything out of your jacket.

And that, is the end of this ridiculously long entry. Lol. I highly highly doubt anyone can or would read all of this. I wouldn’t! Hahahah.

Happy Thursday!!!