barcelona

wednesday the 10th was my 21st birthday. i woke up that morning feeling the same way i do most days - neutral.  my first sign that it was going to be a different day was as i was rumbling through my closet to find a sweater, i found one that i forgot i had packed and out fell a special surprise from home! i made my way to the metro and started my first of 3 classes of the day at 11 am.  as i walked into the classroom, everyone started singing happy birthday (to me)! after class, i was starving so ali and i went to a cafe by school to get some food. janice was supposed to meet us there and as we sat for 45 minutes, i started to wonder how she could get lost in such a simple part of town.  finally, janice arrived and as i looked over NICK was with her! I could not believe my eyes and started freaking out.  I started crying as he ran over and hugged me.  to say i felt like i was in a dream is no exaggeration.  nick in barcelona was the best birthday present in the world! we had so much fun! i introduced him to our cava bar, we went to the picasso museum, wandered around the city, ate all kinds of wonderful meals, made friends with locals, etc.  that night, nick, ali, ali, janice and i went to a mexican restaurant that had amazing mexican food, much to our surprise.  we each ordered a plate of 3 carne asada tacos on corn tortillas and savored the fresh guacamole!  saturday, we took an afternoon train to sitges - a nearby beach town known for it’s gay population.  carnaval was this weekend - a huge celebration that has existed in europe forever.  everyone dresses up in fabulous costumes and dances in the streets/beach for hours! we got ready at ali’s apartment and painted our faces, adorned our hair with feathers and put on crazy/warm costumes.  i have never seen so many people in fabulous costumes, completely well done . . and the best part was that each person acted the part of their costume.  at the end of the night, we were so tired but did not want to leave as the people watching was so fabuloso.