Present

My lovely room.
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Greetings readers! I'm sitting in a sunspot in the living room at home, tricking my inept computer into performing simple tasks.

I still am not up to making a portfolio for every little mini-adventure I've had here, so I'll just take it from the present--for now.  (One of these days a guilt trip will motivate me into sketching out all the details of everything.

I was a pendulum this week, but am now stable and in place.  Impulse has a way of taking over everything here because there aren't consequences to actions in the same way there are during my life in the states.

I take my intensive Spanish class here--with the clams.
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I've met several new people from the university.  I take a philosophy class directly and it's been the best move I've made here. A few beers with a friend from the university is worth weeks and weeks of classroom time with respect to

spanish.  I feel well understood by the locals.  For example, when I speak, I don't feel the need to subtley defend myself for speaking about deeper subjects.  Small talk here is pretty much only used for pickup lines....

I think it's a language thing.  It is not uncommon for people to speak three languages--Catalan,Castellano, and English.  So they just get it.  They've had the amount of cultural and worldly experience I need in a person to truly have a connection with him/her.

the statue that asked me out.
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Because I'm now settled in, I'm able to embrace what's fulfilling to me--singing, philsophy, men and coffee (together.)  I'm also enjoying observing the differences between what's accessible here and what's accessible in the states.  For example, more accessible in the states are things that feed impulse, small amounts of food to go, just little--things.  I miss these little conveniences but here, a good time is just more accessible, people are more accessible on a deeper level.  Granted they're less accessible externally.  They're not just going to come up to you and start kissing your ass.

Summarization good things this week: family bonding with the senora--they get a kick out of me now that I make my sarcasm translate, good eating/gym schedule, met new nice boy that helped me buy my books for class and had nice long conversation and coffee, date with a guy I see in the library all the time at really nice cozy bar, services--I went for the first time to the synagogue.

RR.