3-16-93
I’m siting here in the living room with Albert, watching "Star Wars". It’s in English, with English subtitles. Yesterday Maria woke me up at 9:00. I showered and then went to the bar to have hot chocolate –YUM! Albert made it – it was just like warm chocolate pudding – perfect.
After my very nutritious breakfast I took the Metro to Urniquona and met Maiol. He took me to see the Cathedral of Barcelona – amazing! I took lots of pictures so I don’t have to describe it. Then we went to McDonald’s – I was surprised that the ¼ pounders were better than in America – more onions y ketchup. It rained very hard, so Maiol and I got drenched.
Maiol took me under a bridge that if you pass under 100 times you die. I am discovering that the Catalan people are very superstitious. I drank from the fountain in Las Ramblas. It is said that if you drink from the fountain you will return to Barcelona.
Maiol y I went to a grocery store to buy stuff for tacos. The grocery was on the fifth floor of an indoor mall – very different. There they don’t seem to have ground beef, so I bought chicken instead.
Maiol went to work in the bar y I came home for lunch. After lunch I wrote postcards, then I fell asleep.
While Maiol and I were at the Cathedral I spent $100.00 in souvenirs – Yikes! Oh well, I have gifts for everyone but Lizzie and Mikey. I also need to buy a plastic matador for Laura and something nice for Cindy.
I have a t-shirt for Ed, cards for Lois and Ed, y for Tina and Ed. Lots of postcards and a couple of books y posters for myself.
After my nap, Maiol woke me up at 7:00 and we went to the bar with Guillam and Ferran. We played the dice game and I won the first round. Ferran left to pick-up his girlfriend, Rosa, so I was left with Maiol and Guillam (who speaks almost no English).
Then Ferran and Rosa came back. She is very sweet and Ferran has the worst care of puppy love that I’ve ever seen. We played another round of dice and Ferran lost because he didn’t pay any attention to what was going on. Instead, he gazed dreamily at Rosa – it was pitiful, but very funny.
We left at about 10:00 so Maiol and I could come home and make tacos for dinner.
They turned out pretty good, considering the fact that the seasonings here are very different, even though I bough "Old El Paso" brand salsa and taco seasoning. Roger and Maiol ate 5 tacos apiece! Maria and Albert also liked them
At 1:00 (in the morning) Maiol y I went to "The Boulevard" (the bar where we went on the first night with Jordi) to meet Ferran. We had a great time discussing world politics and the roles that the U.S. and Germany will play in this new global society. Very interesting.
We left the bar around 3:30, came home, and went to bed.
Last night I dreampt that when I got home Ed had died. In my dream I went into shock and just cried and cried. I woke-up and discovered that I was sobbing hysterically. I guess that I fell back asleep, for suddenly I was at Ed’s funeral. They were burying his body and I was screaming out that he didn’t went to be buried, that he wanted to be cremated and his ashes scattered over Blue Mountain. No one would listen to me, or maybe they just couldn’t hear me. I woke-up and was shaking uncontrollably. Very disturbing.
Today Maiol is busy all day – school, work, German class, then basketball practice. I am going to try to walk to the Arch de Triomf, then maybe to Las Ramblas to buy an English-language newspaper. Last night Ferran said that once again America is beginning to build-up forces in the Gulf.
Recipe for All y oli – two cloves of garlic, cut up and in a ceramic bowl. Mash the garlic until a paste. Mix in (with a pestol) one egg yolk. When thoroughly mixed in, slowly add olive oil (0.4%), mixing all the while. When the mixture is thick enough to hold the pestol up, it is the right consistency. Then add a pinch or two of salt for flavor. Garlic must be fairly dry for this to turn out correctly, according to Albert.
The sidewalks here are made-up of small squares, usually about 6" x 6". Every square has a different flower shape on it.
They’re all very pretty – a small example of how concerned the Barcelonians are with the appearance of the city.
I just saw the cutest commercial, for toilet paper of all things! A little kid is sitting on the toilet, feet dangling, pants y underwear around the ankles. A little puppy (looks like a yellow lab) scampers in, just as the kid is reaching for the toilet paper, and grabs the paper and runs off through the house, pulling the paper behind him. The boy laughs, until all the paper is gone, then he/she starts yelling "Mama!" as the puppy hides under a large pile of toilet paper. Doesn’t sound as cute as it looks.
Hyperlinked Information:
English subtitles, the bar, I took lots of pictures, the fifth floor of an indoor mall, Lizzie and Mikey, Ed, cards for Lois and Ed, y for Tina and Ed, the dice game, discussing world politics, Last night I dreampt, the cutest commercial
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