tu quieres una aventura?

Lets ease into this entry with a description of some Spanish scenery...Friday afternoon the boys and I went on my first adventure of the weekend. Everyone here thinks that I like to run, so everyday the oldest son asks me if I want to run. It is too difficult to say in Spanish that I am out of shape because it is way too hot in Texas to run and I am not about to get up early. It may seem like a manageable translation, but I tried multiple times and failed each time. I don't know how they found out that I (occassionally) run, but they will not let it go. Anyways, we went on a run! My arms are sore though. Weird, I know. Run actually means walk/running with the boys as they ride their bikes. I let Bernat lead the way. We went to the end of the street and continued onto a dirt road. The dirt road was difficult for Ferran's tricycle, so we switched up the modes of transportation for a bit. Ferran ran. Berrnat rode Ferran's bike and I rode Bernat's bike. Ferran got his run in! We came to a fork in the dirt road and took a left. After about one hundred yards, the boys stopped and looked around. They kept telling me where we were going, but I didn't understand what they were saying. Something about a park. Something about paying. I knew that I would eventually see what they were talking about, so we went back the way that we came from. Once we hit the fork in the road again, we tried out the other way. Ah I forgot the scenery part of it! The dirt roads went through green fields. Not too far off in the distance were beautiful lush mountains. On our second route we passed two adorable rackety sheds near the road. After some time on this road I saw our destination in the distance. Ends up we were going to a center for training horses. Not just any horses, but horses for a European game where players ride horses and score by shooting specially made balls into tall nets at either end of the court. I think that the center allows kids to come and ride the horses, but it costs money. This center lay in the middle of farm fields that ran straight into the mountain range surrounding the Barcelona area. The little one was extremely tired by the time we needed to turn back. Probably because he didn't eat his lunch and cried for thirty minutes for dessert...On the way back I had to pull him and his tricycle the majority of the way. Thus, my arms are sore from my "run." Towards the end, Berrnat insisted that I ride his bike. He is very nice to me. Ferran continued to ride his bike, while Berrnat ran. Ends up we all got a run in! Scenic adventure: check.

That evening Emily and I took the train into Barcelona for dinner with another au pair. Her name is Lena. She is from Germany. It was her birthday! We went to a nice restaurant near Placa Catalunya (Plaza). The plaza has two beautiful large fountains and lots of shopping. At dinner we split a bottle of wine. It was delightful. A girl that went to high school with me and Emily was eating at the same restaurant as us with her family. Small world. Now, were gearing up for adventure numero dos. Once we left Barcelona, we hurried back to Cardadeu for a night out in Spain. We were supposed to be picked up at the train station in Cardadeu at eleven by Emily's friend Jaime (pronounce GJ-ow-mah). Jaime is actually the handball coach for our oldest boys. Emily's dad put us in contact with him. We missed our first train to meet up with him and we couldn't even figure out which train we were supposed to be on. There were two platforms with two trains going opposite directions. We went down the stairs to one platform and asked a lady if this train was going to Cardadeu. She looked at the map and said that we needed to be on the other platform. We ran up the stairs and down to the other platform, not knowing what time the next train would come. Once we got to the other side we asked a group of ladies if this was the right train as it approached us. They enthusiastically said "no, no, no, you need to be on the other platform." So we ran up and down the stairs again where we found a man who was going to Cardadeu! Point is we were exhausted and running very late. We had to go back to Emily's family's parents house to fix ourselves up a bit for the discoteca. The directions to their house were near impossible to give, so we had Jaime pick us up off of the large road that runs through Cardadeu. We accidently waved to a couple cars thinking they were Jaime. We felt like prostitutes being on the side of the road and dressed for the discoteca. Once we were with Jaime we went to a bar to pre-game. We met up with Jaime's friends at the bar. The bar was really nice. It was colorful and well lit, which I thought was strange. One of our first conversations was about Emily's misuse of the word "aventura" in Spanish. She thought it translated into adventure like a quest. She had written on Jaime's facebook was that she wanted a "aventura." While laughing like fourteen year old boys, his friends explained that "ventura" in Spain means to have sex. Emily was so embarrassed. We laughed about the mix up all through out the night. We went to the discoteca at one o'clock. From what I understood, the discotecas are free after some time late in the night and the drinks are cheaper until 2. We were double fisting it for a while. They boys were impressed. His friend's names were Pedro, Mark, and Javi. We hung out on the top floor for the first hour or so. They played American music! It was a really good American playlist too. The DJ didn't play new music, but great classics dance songs. I can't think of a good example, but later in the night I remember loving "Dancin with Myself." Mark was such a good dancer. He had all sorts of moves. It was really entertaining. Emily and I could not stop laughing. His friend, Pedro, was super drunk. He picked me up right below my butt and lifted me into the air. I was stranded. The only way to get down was to kiss him, so I did. Soon after all of us went downstairs where they played Spanish music. This part was of the club was similar to the clubs we went to in Ecuador. They have a similar style of dance involving lots of hip movement. Spaniards freestyle more and have more hand movement. After the discoteca, we went to the beach at around 4. There was lots of people hanging out on the beach. Emily ran into the water, but only to get her feet wet. It dropped off pretty quickly. She almost fell in. It was pretty humorous. The guys changed into swim trunks and dove in. Drunk Pedro chased me and Emily around to try to throw us in. No, no, no, drunk Pedro. We played volleyball for a while, then sat around a talked about certain words in Spanish and our different countries. The guys got up suddenly. Mark and Javi ran off toward the car. Ends up, while we were sitting there talking. Two guys walked by and stole Mark and Javi's pants. They got up and ran after them. Who steals from someone while they're sitting within fifteen feet of their stuff? Jaime acted like it was normal ha. When we said goodbye, we all kissed each other on the cheeks, except Pedro. He went straight for my lips! I now have a theory about why some cultures kiss on the cheek instead of giving hugs. It is because it makes it easier to actually kiss someone when saying goodbye. You're already near their lips anyways! Time to explain why I didn't jump at the chance to kiss a Spaniard. I met his girlfriend. That night. At the bar, before the discoteca. She was so nice. Oh, drunk Pedro. Jaime took me and Emily back to Cardadeu. After a couple wrong turns, I navigated him to my house through the entire town. I was in bed by 6! Late night adventure: check. Aventura: nooo.

Today Emily and I went into Barcelona again. We went to the arc de triumph by accident. I should probably look up the reason why they built it. It was a gran structure. We noticed it immediately upon coming out of the subway station. It lay before the entry to a large park in Barcelona, probably equivalent to Central Park with museums and a zoo. Some old men were playing bocci ball when we passed by again in the afternoon, while the old women sat nearby and chatted. So presh. What we were actually looking for was the Museum of Modern Art. We wondered around the area in search of it without a map. We asked several people and they didn't know what we were talking about. They kept talking about the Picasso Museum, so Picasso it was. We called Lena again to meet up with us in the city. We were going to meet up with her at the Picasso Museum at 6. We had time to wonder through the alley ways where they have shops and restaurants. We went into so many awesome stores with cute decently priced European designer clothing to awesome handmade crafts. I am definitely going back one afternoon when I save up for some spending money. We stopped in one shop with chocolates and baked goods. We bought some Spanish cookies to snack on. The lady in the shop was so kind. She gave us directions to the museum, which was actually right around the corner. Lena was taking forever, so we ended up meeting her at the arc de triumph instead. Emily had to go back to Cardadeu because she wanted to eat dinner with her Spanish grandparents one last time before her family picked her up the next day. Lena and I had the evening in Barcelona. We tried to find the Modern Museum of Art, but failed once again. We found the Museum of Catalan Art. It was a sight though. It was on top of a hill that overlooked the city. At the bottom of the hill were two large pillars. I should probably look up their significance too. Of course, the museum was closed. We sat on the steps to enjoy the view and listened to a man playing a Spanish guitar. It was lovely. We set off to find some dinner. Time flew by so quickly and before I knew it, it was 930 and I still hadn't called Sonia to tell her when I was coming back to Cardadeu. I got her number from Emily before she left, so that I could call off of Lena's phone. Ends up Lena can't make calls in Spain because her phone is German. I guess she can text though. Anyways, we hurried off to the station. I had about twenty minutes to make the next train. I decided I would call Sonia once I got to the train station from a pay phone. Lena got off of the subway a couple stops before me. It occurred to me then, that I had never been on the subway alone before. My nerves started building. I was pretty sure that I remember, which stop I needed to get off to transfer to the train to Cardadeu. I got off at Clot at 10:04. The next train was at 10:05. I decided it would be better to miss it and call Sonia. I felt so bad that I hadn't called her all day and now she would be picking me up from the train station at 11. I got to the pay phone where I realized that I only had a twenty Euro bill. I thought I had missed my train to make a phone call that I didn't have the coins for. I decided I would just ask to use someone's phone on the platform while I waited for the next train that would come in thirty minutes. Well, first I needed to make sure I was getting on the right train. Emily and I had taken the same train last night, but I was still nervous. We had so much adrenaline running through us the previous night, so I was paying that much attention to what we were actually doing. I had Emily with me who always uses the subways in New York. I asked a girl that looked my age if I could use her phone. She didn't have signal. Of course, we're below ground. Plan E, ask to use someone's phone at the station in Cardadeu. The girl was helpful in telling me that I was waiting for the right train. I didn't really trust her because of the incident from yesterday, but her saying it was and my memory aligned. I was so nervous I would some how miss my stop and keep on going to who knows where in Spain and I still hadn't talked to Sonia. The trains stop at midnight, so wherever I ended up is where I was staying with my twenty Euros and American Mastercard. I bit a nail at this point. I made it to Cardadeu. I asked some ladies in Cardadeu if I could use their phones. They said they didn't have one...Plan M: walk to where Emily was staying at 11 and use her phone to call Sonia to pick me up from there. So I nervously walked along a semi-major road for a bit before I turned off to go up a sketchy street in Cardadeu to Emily's house. I get there and they're not there. They were having dinner at the great-grandparents house and dinners last till 11 or 12 here, so it was probably. I could either walk an hour to my house, walk into the the center of town and ask to use the phone, or break my twenty to buy a beer then use a pay phone. Oh, by the way, Cardadeu is quiet at night. I only passed a few people. I was hesitant from asking anyone for a phone because I didn't want it to be even more apparent that I was foreign. Playing it cool. I did ask one old lady though and she didn't have a phone either. Lies. In the streets, you can hear a few televisions from open windows in the apartments above, which was comforting on my trek. From a distance, I saw two people walking up the street. When I got closer I saw that they were a clean couple in their thirties. I asked if they had a phone and they too didn't. Coincidently, I stopped them right in front of their apartment and they offered for me to come up and use their phone. I was nervous, but I figured if something was going to happen to me tonight, I was taking my risk with these people. I could barely speak Spanish, I was so nervous. I managed to explain everything to Sonia. She talked to the woman for a bit to get directions, then came to pick me up. I could breath again. I had a nice little conversation with the guy while I waited and he assembled a fan. He has a friend from Texas that has horses and has to watch out for guys with guns on the streets. I asked if his friend was from South Texas. Yep, he was. Sonia was there within a few minutes. I expected her to be mad or worried. I don't really know, which one she was...I think she just ranted about how I needed a phone or at least needed to call. I explained my many dilemmas then we were good. "Pasa nada" she said, which mean "no worries" here. When I got home we had a nice conversation about various things, including aventura. It really does mean adventure. Silly boys. We'll call it a phone-less train adventure: Check.

Muchas aventuras. Tengo sueno.