Things and Tings I'll Miss About Spain

I'll miss sleeping in until 9 or 10 am and going to the gym to swim or do weights. I'll miss the green peppers.  They are soooo much sweeter than the green peppers in Canada. I'll miss braves, and tortilla de patata. Especially the bravas on Santalo: SO GOOD! I'll miss the fantastic metro system, and walking to half of the places I need to go.  I'll miss walking anywhere. I'll miss the fact that everything I NEED is within walking distance of my house (the bank, two grocery stores and a fruit and vegetable stand, a Chinese market, restaurants, bars, downtown, montjuic, the Greek theatre, football, three metro lines, the hairdresser, and the copy place.) "I'm going to have to buy my bananas in bunches! Who does that?!" I'll miss Saturday morning football practice with my friends, Liverpool and Barbados and a bunch of random spanish guys (and pretending like I know how to play) I'll miss my balcony and sunbathing in the middle of the afternoon, while reading or writing.  I'll miss hanging my laundry right outside my bedroom and having it literally within reach to be checked or brought in.  I'll miss hearing "quieras?" and having Colombia stand outside my door with a plate full of some delicious food she's made and is sharing with me. I'll miss walking around randomly with Seatle in Gracia, Morrocan food with North Carolina,  and drinking tea with Colorado.  I'll miss not knowing (and therefore caring) what people around me are saying, and not being able to understand everything they say. I may be seen in Canada this summer, posing as a non-native speaker saying "no entiendo" and walking away from random strangers, especially men haha.  But most of all, I have to say that I will miss Barbados the most. Barbados has been my best friend for nearly the entire time I've been in Spain. We do many, many things together, including doing nothing at all. Barbados has shown me many a film this year that I really should have seen long ago (Lord of the Rings, Pulp Fiction, James Bond.. Yes, these are films I had not seen until this year.) Barbados and I have taken turns buying each other food and drink and paying for things. In some ways, I feel like this year would have been nearly impossible without this friendship. (let's not get the idea that without it I would have wimped out and come back to Canada sooner, I would have stayed, it just would have been REALLY REALLY hard.) This is the person that I talk to the most, and the person I've learned the most from. This is the person whose cooking I will miss the most and whose company I hate to be without the most.  But goodbyes have been said and now all that is left to do is throw the last few things into my bags and get on the plane.  Es el momento de ser fuerte.  See you soon, Canada!

Stressalona

I HATE PACKING!!!!!!

Things I Miss About Canada...

First and foremost, I miss my friends and family. I miss playing with my nieces and nephew, and swimming in my parent's pool. I miss making cookies with them and being the best aunt ever and having sleepovers and hugs first thing in the morning! I miss my parents, and their coffee maker (we'll be reacquainting soon enough). I miss my grandparents and stopping by their house just in time for a meal (you have to know just when to get there to get roast beef dinner and potatoes. But really, I could show up anytime and get food!) I miss going for Starbucks with my bestie and ending up walking around Walmart at 2am (and finding fabulous shoes, which I go back for and end up being the best purchase of the summer!) I miss going to Windsor and spending WAY too much money at Suzy Shier and Jacob, simply because I need new work clothes. We only buy what looks good though. I miss going to Jay's games, heckling and making Chris laugh at my comments about each of the players. And eating more chicken wings than I ever thought I could! I miss going for beer with Kyle and pretending to be a bad influence, and trying to learn French (somehow something must have stuck, because I can still READ French, even though je ne parle pas francais). I miss going swimming or running with Donia and seeing random wildlife in downtown Toronto (that happened while running, not swimming). And dying my hair every other month just because... Though, I still sort of do that... And I have a hair-dying friend here! I miss barbecued steak and roasted potatoes. I miss barbecued anything! I miss dill pickle chips (and most other flavours) and toast done in the toaster. I miss Indian food from Little India on Queen, and sushi and Thai Express. I miss eggs Benny from Fran's and poutine and wings from SkalBar. I miss Dixie and her sweet stylish nature, and my apartment in Toronto. I miss Jenn and Heather and Shenela and Sheena and Val... And everyone else from work. I miss someone I'm not supposed to miss and I hope he knows I think of him and hope he's well, even though he's not allowed to talk to me. (I secretly cheer for ManU whenever they're playing, and I hope England does well in the Euros, even though Spain is going to kick their asses!) I miss driving. I miss my cat, and even my sister's cat, but I'm sure that will pass within 5 minutes of seeing it next. I miss watching tv on a screen bigger than 15 inches. I miss talking on the phone. I miss canoeing. I miss my good running shoes (why did I ever leave Canada without them?!) I miss painting. I guess it's okay that I miss these things now, because I'll be in Canada in two weeks time and can indulge in all things HOME. Yes, that's right! June 27th I return to Canada. Hit me up if you wanna hang out, because I'll only be there for three months! My return to Spain is on September 27th, exactly three months after I'm back, so please, please, please, let's hang out this summer!! See you soon, oh Canada!

Morning Beach Walk

I wrote this yesterday morning... On the beach. I decided this morning that instead of waking up to a fridge full of spoiled food (long story, but essentially my roommate defrosted the fridge with my chicken, cheese, milk etc still inside.) I would wake up and walk on the beach. The beach is a bit of a trek from my house, but it's actually a beautiful beach if you can drag yourself the distance to get there.  So here I sit, feet in the sand, sun on my face, and I think about how much I love this place. It's so peaceful right now, but the sun is hot and the air is fresh.  Lovely.