The best city in the world, now

Now I see why Barcelona was picked to host the 1992 Olympics. When I was conducting my self-guided tour of this magnificent city last week, I was picturing all of these people from around the world competing in these games, and how they must have enjoyed the mountains, the beaches, the modern (and old) architecture, the nightlife, the people, the food (chorizo, sangria, tortillas, and more), the weather, the water, the music, the art, the Catalan language, and more. The reason I say it's the best city in the world, NOW, is that the best city in the world to me before was Madrid. I still love Madrid, and the best 4 months of my life were spent there 8 years ago, but Barcelona is on the water and has beaches. : ) AND it's still in Espana, the best country on Earth. And it has a very unique language all its own. It's like my Miami of Europe. So, Bcn has taken preference. IF you can believe that. I just cannot describe what it was like to just go off by myself and not have a care in the world. I had been there before when I was studying in Madrid, but that was only for 2 days, and I didn't remember a thing about the city. Now, I can't stop thinking about it.

And how could I not??? Here are some pics to prove my point. #1: Santa Maria del Pi church. 1300s (Gothic). My favorite church in the world now (so far). #2: Port Vell, as seen from the statue of Christopher Columbus. #3: Park Guell, designed by Gaudi. The whole city is Gaudi! #4: Palau Nacional de Montjuic (y Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya). #5: Estadi Olimpic. #6: La Sagrada Famillia seen from Palau Nacional. #7: Passeig de Colon. I LOVE this pic! (the palms!) #8: Port Olimpic and beaches. #9: Inside La Sagrada Familia. Gaudi wanted to represent nature in his art, and believed that copying nature was the art of the future. Inside is supposed to be like trees.... protecting people from sun and rain. A holy place. #10: La S.F. at dusk........ it was worth the 8 Euro to go up it! I love the night pictures.

On my next post I will put some more up hopefully. Deu (adios in Catalan). : )

VIVA ESPANA

Well I am back........ : ) Just so everyone knows. I will post more soon, but I am about to collapse from being on a plane for just about 12 hours (and it is also 630 AM in Espana right now). Hasta pronto.

How would you describe me using one word?

I sent out an interesting email to people on my distribution list asking what one word they would use to describe me. I loved the responses so much that I decided to post them. It is so fascinating to see how people see me!! I will list the words; either the first name, first initial, or occupation of people that gave me the word (in case they don't want their names on here); and my comments after the word:

-Mikey: globe : ) (he has called me that for a long time for obvious reasons)
-Erin: passionate (very true-when I love something, I am forever passionate about it)
-Marsha: phenomenal (no explanation needed haha)
-Friend D: sunshine (I love this one b/c my fav. color is yellow, and I also had a cat when I was little named Sunshine who I called Sunny.... he eventually ran away and I was so sad... his sister's name was Puddles and she belonged to Mikey)
-My cousin G: zany (yeah, I guess I am... we used to do this thing at Thanksgiving where we made haunted houses and competed against my brother and cousin T-her brother)
-Friend Mark and a friend's mom both said: gregarious (yes, I am very sociable! Enough so that 2 people said it!)
-Friend P: vibrant (I love that b/c it implies excitement and always searching for something new)
-One of Mikey's friends B: sister (this is nice b/c I consider his friends like family, as he does with my friends)
-Another of Mikey's friends M: excited (maybe b/c I always end my sentences with exclamation points!!)
-Friend R: cerebral (that is for sure)
-Friend W: latina (GREAT!!)
-Friend J: novel (I like that b/c it implies wisdom)
-Friend C: jubilant (yes I smile a lot)
-Friend L: carefree (most definitely, which is why I love to travel and don't worry about snafoos as much anymore)
-Friend A: cultural (in a nutshell, yes!)
-Friend J: interested (anthropologists have to be!)
-Co-worker N: unique (there is definitely no one else like me haha)
-Co-worker C: caring (most definitely-this I pride myself on and take very seriously)
-Professor L: generous (same as above)

Thanks for replying everyone! I will post more words as they come in. : )

Sad day in the wrestling world

I was going to blog about this weekend and how much fun Marsha and I had, but I feel that I need to talk about wrestling instead. Here is why: I just looked at CNN's homepage and saw that one of my favorite wrestlers, Eddie Guerrero was found dead this weekend. I just cannot believe that this guy, who I JUST saw wrestling on tv on Friday, and who is only 38 years old with a wife and 3 daughters, just died so quickly. In his career, he was a great wrestler, and had traveled the world. He came from a strong Mexican wrestling family, about which you can read here. He was like so many wrestlers that came from a wrestling family (The Rock and others). It is just so unbelievable that he is dead now like so many other wrestlers I used to love and follow for years like Owen Hart (1999), Andre the Giant (1993), Davey Boy Smith of the Britsh Bulldogs (2002), Miss Elizabeth (2003), Big John Studd (1995), and the Junkyard Dog (1998). At least people like Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, KoKo B. Ware, the Iron Sheik, and my favorites, Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, are still here (and now I love Batista and the Mexicools!).

I remember when Mikey and I used to play with his WWF figurines and it was SO fun. He had a wrestling ring too, and we used to spend hours making the guys wrestle and making up stories. Mikey used to also throw some Ninja Turtles in the mix just to make it fun (after he strung them from the ceiling). haha Wrestling was such a big part of growing up for me, and I just hate to see all of these people dying that I used to love (and still do). : ( I'll be thinking about the Guerrero family, and I plan on watching wrestling tonight.

A great day off

It was great having the day off of work today (don't get me wrong-of course we are remembering the veterans, and WHY we have this day off). Marsha and I spent 7 hours shopping. hahaha There were a lot of things we needed, and free samples to get. We went all over Tally: both malls, Wal-mart, and Michael's (so she could buy beads she needs to make jewelry). My number one priority was buying a converter for my digital camera and hair dryer so I can bring them to ESPANA NEXT WEEK!! : )

Well, something funny happened at the mall. Two things actually. We were at New York & Company, and I was looking around. Marsha's legs were getting tired, so she decided to sit on a display and almost knocked it over. I thought I was going to pee my pants from laughing. It's funny b/c she always makes fun of me when I do dumb things like tripping over my own feet (which is pretty frequent), but today she was the weird one. The other thing that happened was that we went into Sears because she wanted me to see the guy that works in the shoe dept. b/c he looks like Ricky Martin. Well, we went there, and she asked the guy who was there where "Ricky" was. SO, the employee actually CALLED "Ricky" at home and had him talk to Marsha. I couldn't believe it. She got on the phone and just talked to this stranger. It turns out that he quit a month ago and won't be coming back. Just as well-he probably didn't look like Ricky anyways. hahahaha (As a side note, the current worker spoke Spanish, and so did "Ricky", so it was even more funny because of that b/c I could understand what they were saying and how they were making fun of us).

I still haven't seen Zorro yet either-maybe tomorrow unless it's sunny out.

Amigos

I haven't posted in a while, and I just realized that. I have just been having so much to do lately..........

Well, not this past weekend, but a weekend before that, was what I called my "friend weekend". I am not going to mention any names, but many people called me that weekend that needed help; some worse than the others. Some had life problems, some were frustrated at people in their lives, some needed advice, some needed proof-reading, some had real, serious crises. I am just glad people feel that they can talk to me-I think I am a good listener, above anything. I may not give the best advice, but I try. I treasure my friends and family, and I can think of nothing more that I would like to do than putting down anything I was doing and helping anyone out. I was once thinking about becoming a therapist/counselor/psychologist since I seem to be a sounding board for a lot of people. Maybe that could be my next Ph.D. hahaha Keep dreaming.

Anyways, this past weekend was a blast. I am sure some people have read Marsha's blog, and hers just about sums up the weekend. My brother Mikey was in town and it was soooo fun. I never laugh so much than when he is around. You know how brothers and sisters have all these inside jokes from their childhood... well, you can guarantee that when Mikey and I are together people can tell that we are the best of friends. : )

He arrived on Thurs and took a cab to where I work (b/c I don't drive). We went to lunch with Marsha at Los Compadres, my all-time favorite restaurant, and chatted a bit with Rafa, our favorite waiter there. Then we just hung out that night since Mikey was tired from his 6 AM flight. On Friday, I took the day off and we went to the mall and shopped around, and we saw "Jarhead". That movie was fantastic!! Then at night, we went to my friend Willy's table tennis practice (since Mikey plays TT), and then to the Downtown Getdown (like a big pep rally downtown where the streets are blocked and there are games and food like a carnival and the FSU Marching Chiefs and FAMU Marching 100 play). Sat was the game (FSU vs. NC State)... we won't talk about that b/c it was a disaster for FSU. Later that night we partied at a sports bar and had sooooo much fun. There was a group of 8 people (Mikey, Marsha, Mark, Phil, Jess, Jon, and Steve.. and me of course) and we just sat and laughed and laughed and watched the Gators and 'Canes pull out wins. It's great how quickly people got along-we had all just met Steve, and he fit right into our group (he's Mark's friend from home).

When I get pics from Jess, I will try to put some up here. I will see which are better between mine, Marsha's, and hers. : )

Hasta entonces.............

Halloween and things

Geez, I just realized that I have a lot to blog about today. Better get started.

I wanted to talk about Halloween. It's a holiday I hate, but one that is interesting and fun too. I hate it b/c when I was little, my family and some other families (teachers my parents used to teach with) would go on annual hayrides. (Mind you, Central NY even around Halloween is FREEZING-sometimes snowing- and hayrides and trick-or-treating sometimes get ruined b/c it is so cold out that you want to go back inside and have hot chocolate... and kids can't even show off their costumes b/c they have to wear a winter coat over them). Anyways, one year we went on a hayride and I was sitting on the back of the cart thing. It was pitch black out and we were riding through this forest with scary things at every corner. One guy in a Jason mask came out of NOWHERE, started his saw, and pulled my leg. I thought I was going to fall off the cart and no one was going to be able to rescue me. Since then, when I was 8 yrs old or so, I have been terrified of people in masks, and of the dark. Funny how things stick with you.....

This Halloween was fun. I went trick-or-treating with my coworker's kids who I babysit for. They were dressed up as Cinderella, some person from the Winks (what is that?), Superman, and a Hello Kitty thing. They loved having me there to run up to the houses with them, which I didn't mind b/c I like looking into peoples' houses to see how they decorate. hahaha There were three really good quotes that night that the kids said:

1. One of the kids said to another kid "what are you?" and the other kid said "I'm just a samurai!". I guess you had to be there b/c it was funny how he said it and then walked away shrugging his shoulders.
2. My coworker said "go to that house over there-it's all lit up" and one kid said "COUNT ME IN!" and ran full speed. hahaha
3. When one kid went up to a house, the people handing out candy missed her bag, so they gave her extras b/c they fell on the ground. The kid said "LOOK I GOT EXTRAS!"

Maybe those aren't really that funny, but I was dying laughing.

Halloween is fun b/c you can be something totally different that you always wanted to be for a day, but then again it's scary too, at least for me.
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**** I also wanted to say that the Prince and Princess of Asturias (Felipe and Letizia) had a baby. Leonor will be the next in line for the throne of Spain after her dad Felipe. The line of succession is incredibly interesting, and how the laws and Constitution reflect changes in the monarchy (especially since the first born of Felipe is a GIRL!). This site has great photos, and the royal family tree. Click on "La familia real" and then "arbol genealogico". What is interesting too is that now Britain is trying to get Tony Blair to reform their laws to have a WOMAN take over as queen if she is the first born instead of the throne being patriarchical. Take a look at an article in The Guardian about equal gender rights in monarchies. : )

That's all for now. Happy birthday to my mom today too, and let's celebrate the Mexican Day of the Dead!