time flies

No preocupes, I haven't been kidnapped "Taken" style and whisked away to some far away corner of los Vascos never to return. I simply have been enjoying being free from technology.

I know that there have been possibly about nine thousand articles saying this same thing, and I read them all on my Droid smartphone while browsing Facebook on my tank of a laptop. But seriously guys, you don't know how good it feels. I thought a month without a phone would be the most difficult thing in the world, but it has been so liberating. It can be slightly more challenging to make plans with people but remember, there WAS a time when our parents were alive when cell phones didn't exist, and shockeningly, people actually still met up and hung out! I know, crazy concept.

Since being in Spain, my outlook on things has changed. I take things in stride now - before had you told me I would be living in a closet without air conditioning with three other girls I may have run the other direction. But now that I'm here and have seen the way the rest of the world lives I can honestly say I am ashamed of the cavalier lifestyle that most Americans enjoy. People here are content living with much less than what we have at home. I am shocked and disgusted at the standards of living I have considered normal after seeing how thrilled my madre here is to own a flat that probably a 1/4 of the size of my house, and she shares it with 10 students.

But on the other hand before you think I've gone completely yuppie, I do have one large compliment for Amurica. (Yes, that was Amurica.) We have an impeccable work ethic. I can't express how obnoxious it is to try to do errands and have literally the entire city closed from 2 to 6. These stores don't open until 10 at the earliest, and most close for the day at 2 for the siesta, but never re-open. And they wonder why they have such a high unemployment rate... If they had a shift from 2-6, how many more people do you think would have jobs, and more people would buy things, which would better the economy.... but ughh I digress, this is not a political or economical blog I promise hahaha.

About a week ago (who knew I was having so much fun without you guys right?) I took a weekend trip to Mallorca, in the Islas Baleares. The beach there was gorgeous, but there were quite a lot of Germans there. It is a big area for vacations and the European equivalent of "spring break". But, because there are so many different cultures that come to visit - I got probably the biggest compliment on the trip so far. Walking up to a restaurant to eat, the waiter approached me and handed me a menu in what language? Spanish? Wrong. English? Nope. It was a menu in Dutch. Finally, I have managed to convince someone that I am not American. When I looked at the menu, confused, he quickly handed me one in German until he realized I was from the good 'ole US of A. Nonetheless, I'm pretty complimented that I don't blatantly look like a tourist!

The hostal where we stayed was "Hostal Atlanta". But when I think of a hostal, I think of a small dark room with 4 bed high bunk beds and a sketchy man in the corner clutching his suitcase. This was nothing like that. Our room was gorgeous and had three huge windows with plantation shutters and a huge door out to our very own patio. If you ever are in the area, stay there. Olly, the guy who runs the hostal, will become your best friend and you won't ever want to leave even to go back to a place as gorgeous as Alicante.

But now I'm off to get ready for the "fuegos artificiales" or as we know and love, fireworks. After Fogueres (which is a week of fiestas that I haven't even begun to tell you about yet- they have yet ANOTHER week of firework competitions. I'm telling you these people never stop...