January 3rd, 2011
Lunes - Kafiyah left early this morning to go to Sevilla and I had another mishap with the neighbor's dog. But I was determined to still let monday be a great day for I had many errands to run. After waking up as a vacationing person at 2 in the afternoon, the first thing on my agenda was getting my mailbox key/lock fixed. There is a Ferreteria downstairs which is similar to a "smaller version" of Homedepot or Lowe's from the states; so Gitzel and I decided to check and see if they can fix my mailbox lock. The owners are Moroccon and one of the guy's Ahmed who is 40 something year old ensured us that he could fix it after taking a look. I was excited because once again I didn't have to search far from my place to find something I needed to get done. As Ahmed fixed my mailbox he asked questions about us such as what we were doing in Barcelona and how we were liking our stay thus far. He seemed extra genuinely nice. That is until he remarks to us that he kept seeing me and Gitzel walk by the shop the past few days. I thought that a bit creepy and weird but didn't really make much of it until he continued to state that he found me extra interesting and pretty by stating "Ikram es muy guapa. es cierto no?" This was the only time I pretended like I couldn't understand Spanish and looked at my friend for translation by telling her "no entiendo" but giving her a look of I understood but didn't really want to understand. Mr. Ahmed goes on to state that I was so pretty in his eyes that his heart skipped a beat. Something about his "corazon". I'm still pretending I don't understand so I smile politely and laugh at the perfect moments with him and Gitzel as he asks us "tienes novio" to both her and I. Of course we both lied and said yes. Finally when he is done telling us his story, we go inside to pay for the mailbox and at the cash register is a handsome Moroccon guy. As we leave the Ferreteria, Gitzel and I create scenarios out loud on our way to the metro about how if the guy at the register would've asked us - we would've totally told him the truth and said : " no, no tengo un novio".
Up next on the list of agendas was food in our tummys and as we made our way downtown, we realized that the day was turning to be the coldest weather wise thus far since our arrival. And it was also very gloomy which made running errands a bit too difficult. Nontheless we decided after eating that we needed to book our hotel for our stay in Madrid and look at transportation prices at the locutorio. But first it was necessary to find a "correo" or post office so that we could buy some stamps for post cards. Finding a post office was more difficult than expected. None of the Spaniards knew were one close by was and if they did it was on the other side of town. So I will have to google map one once I have internet access. We did however learn that "las estamplillas" are sold at what are called Tabaco's. These are shops that specialize in anything tobacco. And these little shops are everywhere! Who knew right? But then again, I have never seen so many people especially women who smoke like this - so clearly thats where the business is.That and at locutorio's. Time had obviously gone by very fast because by the time we were done making calls to back home and searching on the internet it was already time for our pizza dinner at the kebab place. As we arrived in style and walked in to the "doner kebab" the owner was cleaning the back section for us and had a table set up for the two of us. I really don't know why I agreed to this knowing that he was on a mission to seduce Gitzel, but free pizza is free pizza. As he prepares french fries for us as appetizers while the pizza gets ready; Jamil walks in with two gift bags. I couldn't believe my eyes. This man was really going all out. And of course he had to get me something to. I laughed silently as I opened my present which was perfume and said my thanks. As the night went on and I stuffed my face since I was only needed for presence and not conversation I practiced my listening and comprehending skills as he tried to woo in my friend. The night ended with him inviting us out for lunch the next day at a Pakistani restaurant and Gips agreeing for the both of us that we would meet him at the metro at 1 pm. Last thing on the list for monday night was climbing my awful stairs with a stomach fully satisfied and avoiding my neighbor and their dog. Buenas noches.
1/4/2011
Since we had agreed to meet Jamil at the metro station; today required getting up earlier than I would've liked. As we got ready and waited on Kafiyah's arrival from Sevilla I continued to check off my to do list and realized I still needed to find internet for my place. I would ask my downstairs business owners since they all seem to be willing to be very helpful. I also realized that I needed to buy myself a compass with all the traveling I plan on doing this semester Inshallah; a compass will come in handy for prayer directions. As soon as we met Jamil he told us that he was going to first take us to the Sagrada Familia. The Sagrada Familia is a famous structure built by Antoni Gaudi and one I studied intensely while I was doing my interior design program. So I was automatically excited for this free of charge tour. We took the metro to a new side of the city and as soon as we got out of the station - there in front of us was the new and the old in a perfect combination. Sagrada Familia was as seen in textbooks and in photos online. You are just overwhelmed with feeling as you get to experience for the first time or see things that you always knew were on the other side of the ocean but only a plane ticket away. Finally it was my time to experience it. As we walked around to get an entrance ticket - we saw that the line did sort of a curve around the Sagrada Familia and we knew instantly that we would not be waiting in line to see the inside. I was glad that I would be staying here for a while so I had the option of coming back and I was also happy to see that my friend's were content in taking photos from the outside. I think Jamil though was disappointed that he couldn't extend his time with my friend. We then told him that lunch was great and more than enough so we hoped back on the metro and headed to a pakistani restaurant in another side of town once again. The food was delicious and reminded me of the restaurant by my house back in Phoenix. And it was good to know that there were many things easily accessible to me if ever I got homesick. Afterwards we went to the beach once again but Port Olympic this time. There are so many beaches here. But this one was my favorite so far. It was more peaceful and seemed prettier on this end. Kafiyah and I knew that we were just chapperone's on this whatever it was so we had a ball cracking jokes and bonding with each other. Once we were spent the only thing that was missing was gelato to satisfy our cravings from the past few days. This time we decided to go walk to find one and by the time we found one we realized that my street leads to one side of las ramblas and the other side of my street leads to another side of las ramblas. I had figured out what my daily jogging route would be as it was convenient and not too long. I was starting to love how perfect my apartment was situated and in close proximity to downtown and everything else. I did pretty darn well for finding a place on the internet and using google map as my guide for memorizing the streets of Barcelona. End cap to tuesday night included editing a video for blogpost and packing to head to Madrid in the morning for 5 days. Since my program starts on the 7th with orientation in Madrid and a tour of the city and then an excursion to Toledo and finally back to Barcelona to start classes. I can't wait to get my new sim card so that I can cut off my number from the states and stop being charged for roaming and I also can't wait to start school. Although its been fun, I'm getting apprehensive and kind of already miss the having something to do aspect of my life. Maybe because mostly I just want to know what my schedule is so that I can figure out when I can start taking painting classes and guitar lessons among planning my weekend getaways. Alxamdulillah life is great over here and I only wish the same for my loved ones.
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