Paris, J t'aime

We arrived and had an amazing Parisian breakfast of Jus d'orange, croissants and café creme. It was amazingly good.

I had only been in Paris 10 minutes by this point but I loved it already.

We took the metro to our hotel which was right by the Moulin Rouge, also in the Red Light District.


At the Musee' D'orsay


Notre Dame!
Joan being a tourist.

This was a particularly great moment because not only was I seeing the Eiffel Tower, but we had taken the metro to Trocadero and knew it was close by but Joan had turned the corner before me and said "I think you're going to see something" and sure enough there she was!

Pretty much on top of the world at this point.
In the district of St.Michel near Notre Dame.

We had dinner at this great restaurant, Pizza Marzano, not exactly French cuisine but French chefs made it so...there you go. We then met up with my friend Rudy, a friendly Parisian, and went to an Irish Pub. It was a really great time, the live singer was wonderful, the Guinness was on tap and Rudy and his friends were great hosts.

We made it back to our hotel in one piece and slept soundly after our long day in Paris.

Next post:
Part II of the Paris Adventure

Weekend Warriors

Joan and I were in England on Thursday, it was very cold but lovely. It is amazing to be around English speaking people, how I have missed it! I hope to return soon! Unfortunately I forgot my camera in the car on the way to the airport, but it was 3:30 a.m. when we left so you must forgive me.

Friday I had an amazing lunch with Joan's mom at Soda, the place Joan and I usually go at night. It is so nice to spend time with Maribel she is so much fun. Joan Arianna and Sergi are very lucky to have a mom like her. The rest of Friday was pretty uneventful. Joan and I stayed home, ordered pizza and watched movies. As boring as that may sound to some, it is actually quite nice to lounge around and not have to get dressed up and go out.


Saturday the entire day was devoted to the house. Since my grandmother is coming next month and I have friends coming in July and August we need to get the guest room completed. It isn't a small task. We moved hideous furniture out of the house, mopped, dusted,painted...we still have more to do but once all the hard work is done we are off to IKEA once again to enjoy all the magic it has to offer us.





Sunday (today) was pretty good. We slept in late and then took a walk on the beach. Lloret was very busy today. So many people on the beach laying out, playing ball, eating ice cream, flying kites...It was an amazing afternoon. We had lunch at his parents as always and his mom outdid herself (as always) by making an amazing teriyaki glazed chicken with roasted apples, potatoes with this delicious herb sauce and a great apple pastry with gelat for dessert followed by Champagne and café con leche. The rest of the day was taken up with painting the guest room and doing laundry. As the beautiful day outside was begging me to go out and lay on the beach I had to keep reminding myself of the bigger picture. If I get this done now I will have Paris this weekend and not have to worry about it. My grandmother will be here in 2 weeks. Must work. Must work! Tomorrow will be much of the same I'm sure.

Below is a video of a drive in Lloret. Something Joan and I do a lot as it is the main street of the town. Just a little taste incase you decide to plan a trip. The video picks up a lot of wind at times but later on it isn't so bad.

Ciao

C.M.

Barney

I always want to show off Barney, soon I will upload a video of him performing the tricks he has learned (yeah I have a lot of free time) but for now there is this one.This is when we first got him, he loves hearing Joan speak Spanish!

Sorry for the lack of excitement but Joan and I are heading off for England tomorrow so I should at least have an interesting story to share!


C.M.

Mi Novio

Joan gives me many reasons to love him but here are a few things about him that make me so happy to be his girlfriend.

1. He tells me I'm lovely and beautiful
2. Everyday he not only tells me how much he loves me but shows me in everything he does for me
3. He supports me in all my decisions
4. He is the funniest guy and just hearing his laugh puts the biggest smile on my face
5. He has goals and is so motivated to achieve them
6. He loves to lay in bed with me and have me put my head on his chest while we talk about what we wanna do that day
7. He does the dishes and the laundry without me even asking him to
8. If I'm up late he will lay on the couch and sleep and wait to go to bed with me
9. He is a great friend to everyone and tries to never miss Sunday lunch with his family
10. He loves me unconditionally and accepts the way I am, cares for me when I'm sick, picks me up when I'm down and is the greatest boyfriend I could ever hope to have.

Dedicated to Joan, the love of my life. Thank you for everything you've done for me from the start of our relationship up to the big move. I love you.




C.M.

The Perfect Weekend

Last night I met Alison and David in front of the Casino in Lloret. After about 3 honks and a whistle, they arrived. We walked around the city center, introduced Alison to Joan's mom and then had a drink at Bar Parade. Alison, David and I talked about everything and I told them about my new life here in Spain. I love talking with her because we are in the same boat when it comes to our decisions. We gave each other advice and we even may start cabin crew training at the end of May together. I am praying that Ryanair will get our visas. I'm not going to get my hopes up, but that would be amazing if Alison were to move here. She would be happy, David would be happy and of course so would Joan and I.

We all went to El Túnel last night and I had an incredible paella dish with lobster and for dessert 9 chocolate truffles for us to share. After, we went to Soda and had a drink there. We called it a night at 2 because David was tired and Joan had to get up at 9 this morning for work.

Today we picked up David and Alison and made our way to the Chiringuitos and had wonderful drinks like the tourists. I had a huge strawberry daiquiri, Alison had a very colorful and delicious Sangria and the boys had cervezas. We really felt like tourists when the waiters "laid" us and an old Catalan man serenaded us with his guitar. We stayed for awhile, basking in the sun and people watching. After we went to Fenals Beach and had amazing paella with vino and calamari.






David had the brilliant idea to have helado on the beach so we did and 5 seconds after getting my ice cream, I dropped it. I've never dropped ice cream before, I felt like a little kid. However it was a funny moment and David of course joked with me about it later. We came back to our flat and we decided to drive Ali and David back to Barcelona. There, we met up with Issac and his girlfriend Lioba, who is a professional dancer in Barcelona. We talked there and then Issac and our group walked over to a small café where more of their friends met us. Alison and I were in our own world and the boys in theirs. It was a great afternoon. We sat and discussed life, possibilities, everything under the sun. The best part was when we saw the cutest Asian girl outside the window, maybe just 1 year old. The next thing we see is her twin sister, they both came up to the window smiling so big. They even captured the attention of all the guys who had been busy knocking back their liquor.

We didn't want the night to end yet so we drove down to Diagonal and got ourselves our Starbucks fix for the evening. Joan and I reluctantly dropped off David and Alison at his flat and that was the end of the perfect weekend with our friends. Of course I started crying as soon we pulled away because I hate goodbyes. It was so nice to have Alison and David here, they are both the nicest people and so much fun! Hopefully, if everything works out Alison will be back here soon and quite possibly be working for Ryanair as well. Time will tell.

Tomorrow is Sunday and we want to relax. Sleep in late, do some work around the flat, lunch at his parents and watching movies at night.

Hope all is well where you are
Enjoy the rest of your weekend

C.M.

Can Sofia Coppola direct my life?

Life is a crazy masterpiece,colored with the experiences and adventures of the painter. It is a story written a chapter at a time, a seemingly never-ending page turner that reveals opprotunities only at the precise moment when you least expect them. My life is a romantic novel, a spanish soap opera, a clichéd plot line with a mix of tragedy and horror for substance.

I am the leading lady in the movie of my life, at least I am supposed to be.

The latest plotline to this story called "My Life" takes place in sunny españa with the protaganist faced at a crossroads. What does she do? What choices does she make? She must choose wisley because the wrong choice can change her life in drastic ways.

That could make for a pretty promising blockbuster right? Or at the very least an indie flick at Cannes? Skipping the dramz, here is the situation:

Story of my life, waiting for the visa. Something that I thought would take a month at most has taken four. What is a girl to do? I have a few options, they are;

1. Waiting. I could wait more, continue teaching my English classes to Rosa (which she wants for the next three months or so) not making much money,wasting time and harassing my lawyers.

2. Apply as a flight attendent with Ryanair. Joan is going to check with Montse,but there is a possibility that I may be able to take the course for free, and Ryanair may have more power to get my visa on time and I can begin working as a cabin crew. This job seems interesting however there are good points and bad to this option. The good points being, finally working,making great money,traveling to other places,making friends, being home everynight even if it is late,and having a few days off at time. Also, discounts or free tickets on Ryanair. The bad points are; working long hours during the day or for a few days in a row,the five week intense training course,being in a plane all day,lots of responsibility,the commute from Lloret to Girona and how I will manage that not having a car and having to rely on Joan to pick me up late at night etc.

Here are some more more basics about the career as a cabin crew:

"Cabin crew receive between €17,000 and €20,000 per annum with 29 paid holidays per year. Shift work is a characteristic of cabin crew jobs so there is a lot of time off. Cabin crew receive their roster one month in advance, so they know where they will be well in advance. The roster is usually 6 days on, 3 days off, or 6 days on and 2 days off, and they are done in such a way that you always come back to your base at night."

Not to bad, right? I have to make sure I can take this job and see how long the contract asks I be there. I fully intend to go back to the Northwest campus in January and stop taking classes online.

3. Marrying Joan. Something I know I am going to do in the future, something that I want to do. I could work anywhere in Europe which is a major plus for me, have free health care and even apply for residency and dual citizenship which would be great. I could still work for Ryanair if I choose to and it would be easier for them if I didn't need a visa. However, it still could take up to a month after I marry Joan for all the paperwork to be done; then again it could not. Am I to young to be married? I don't think so. Is this how I ideally imagined my marriage to be? Not exactly. I want the big proposal (which Joan says I will still get) the dream wedding (which he says we will have as well). I will just have to wait a bit after to have it. If we do marry, then everything will be so much easier when he comes with me to the U.S. in December, he will be able to have a job no problem which will avoid him being in the situation I'm in now.

Which option do I choose? Are there options I am not considering?

Part of me wants to grab life by the horns, do what I want despite the norm and finish school later. Another part wants to go back to my friends, sorority and family that I am missing so much.

Moving to Spain was a great big step for me, something I am glad to have done, what will be my next step? My next great idea?

Stay tuned for Chapter 2...

C.M.

Porto Round II

Yesterday Joan and I arrived to a wonderfully sunny Portugal. The plane ride was actually quite lovely as we were able to snatch the very first seats on the plane right in front of the cabin crew. I've always believed it is better to be as close to the pilot as one can.

Yesterday brought a lot of work for Joan, as this was the first time they sent him alone to retrieve information from all the new students. I wish I were able to help him more, but with my "unofficial" position, I had to stay in the hotel room. Hotel Villa Galé in Porto has a wonderful spa that I was more than happy to try out. All I will say is that I'm not a fan of The Turkish Bath.
I can't say I would recommend it to anyone.

We did get to see some sights of Porto, there aren't to many but at night the entire city seems more beautiful than during the day. We had dinner at this great place called Pasta Café right on the river. However there were some interesting characters in the restaraunt as well. I'll give you a brief overview:
At the table in front of ours, three british women in their early 20s, dressed as if they were going to a 1980s Prom discussed the pound vs the euro and the events that had transpired during their visit. The table beside ours was of a couple and the mother of the woman. It was only akward when the mother looked at her daughter and her boyfriend the entire time as they leaned across the table and made out like teenagers. The table to our left was a man dining alone who repeatedly texted and on occasion banged his fist on the table. He grunted and muttered and cursed in Spanish until finally he was so upset he left, coffee cold on the table and meal untouched. Who knew we would be getting dinner and a show.

Today has been uneventful for me but Joan is buy as usual. Soon he will finish and we will make our way to the center to look around at the shops for a bit before catching the metro to the airport. We should be back in Spain by 11:30 tonight. Not to thrilled because in the morning I have to be in Girona to teach my English class.
In other news, my grandmother bought her ticket and is coming to Spain May 5th. I really cannot believe she is actually coming-and so soon! I am going to try and give her the best possible trip. This is her first time out of the country and I want to make it perfect for her.

I will post pictures of Portugal as soon as I can.
Hope all is well where you are.

Ciao

C.M.