Happy Saturday to all! Yesterday officially marked the one year anniversary of my and Cass’ move-in day to our apartment on Sant Joaquim, 40, cuarto piso. In that very apartment we have both laughed, cried, shivered, sweat, burned ourselves, packed and unpacked bags too many times to count, and grown immensely as young women. Saying I cannot believe that 365 days have already gone by is simply an understatement; as many times as I’ve complained about our little home away from home, it was a loyal, humbling, adequate abode for our time thus far living and loving in Barcelona.
In the two weeks that have passed since my last post, we have slid our way across the transition between Spain’s working-time-summer to her vacation-time-summer. You see, in Barcelona the daycares, summer camps, nurseries, etc. function until the end of July-ish. The entire month of August is known as a time when locals take several weeklong vacations to escape the city life and get to the beach. Hence, I had my last week of my nanny job for Mar and Clara until they return from vacation in September. Those two little Catalan girls have me wrapped around their fingers; they are adorable and I already miss them!
Along with the aforementioned August transitions, I’ll be watching Dylan even more often this month as Cynthia takes another intensive Spanish course in Eixample. Likewise, I will be embarking on a new employment endeavor in a sort of social media assistant position with one of Barcelona’s main nightlife promoters. With these things along with continuing English lessons with Jesús, I am lucky to have plenty of work during Spain’s vacation month.
A week ago today, we threw Brenden an early-birthday celebratory BBQ at our apartment. It ended up being a great turnout. We even had homemade potato salad and a pasta salad (both thanks to Cass), bizcocho cake with cream cheese frosting, strawberry Jell-O shots, burgers, Blue moons, and more. Between taking turns grilling out and playing beer pong, we sang Brenden happy birthday and helped him ring in his 24th year. Towards the end of the night, we eventually made our way over to Otto Zutz with everyone.
This last week began with Damian and I celebrating 10 months together; I am a lucky girl. At the last minute we decided to take advantage of the vacancy by going up to Tossa del Mar Tuesday with Cass and Brenden. Only one and half hours by bus, the winding ride is worth it once you arrive in beautiful Tossa. It’s arguably my favorite beach town in Costa Brava, and luckily for us, Damian’s family has an apartment there in a complex called Saga Barra. The four of us spent Tuesday-Thursday, playing Ping-Pong, lounging at the pool, soaking up the sun on the beach, swimming in the crystal clear ocean, and playing card games at night in the apartment.
Wednesday evening we walked down to the ancient castle that once was the entirety of Tossa, and managed to snap some really great photos. Brenden has a super nice camera, as well as a Polaroid camera, and they let us share some so that was fun! Sometimes last minute things work out the most beautifully, and this little trip was certainly one such example. Cass and Brenden took the bus back to BCN on Thursday afternoon, while Damian and I returned Friday afternoon.
While in Tossa I finished reading Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking. In those 227 pages, she candidly recounts her personal experience with the grief and loss after losing her husband of nearly 40 years, not to mention other family crises also happening around that time. It was a gripping memoir that reminded me time is a gift not to be taken for granted; it also made me want to read more by Joan Didion and her late husband John Dunne. Now I am reading Sara Gruen’s Water for Elephants. So far, so good there; I’m excited to see how the novel will pan out in comparison with the movie version. On the horizon, we have Sergio’s birthday tomorrow. Cass and Brenden head to Andalucía early tomorrow morning. That’s all I have for now friends… until next time!
SAMHOPEHANSEN 