Quality Control... Somebody's Gotta Do It!

I find myself with another quiet day, after the long weekend, and simply because it is summer I decided to take a day to do whatever I wanted. So with my day off, I decided to be somewhat productive. I realized that I have been telling myself for weeks now that I would bake cookies. Peanut butter cookies. With chocolate chips. So, ignoring the heat, I decided to bake some cookies to share with whoever comes over to my house in the next few days. (who am I kidding, no one comes over. It's just me and Colombia, and I know she'll eat a cookie or two) so I made a batch... I've quality control tested the batter and five cookies. I think they're good!! So if anyone wants to come over and eat some cookies with me, I suggest you get here quickly!

May

Well, it's been almost a month since I've posted, so I guess it's that time again. I haven't meant to be so neglectful this month, it just happened. Here's s quick re-cap on how I've been spending my days and what I've been up to: The beginning of the month brought about an uneasy anticipation. Things are happening very quickly these days in terms of the show and my life. I've been working out regularly and I feel better than I ever have before in life. It's a great feeling getting up every day at 9 am and going to the gym (not a stuffy office) and working out your muscles. I've swimming a little more regularily, as well as lifting my own body weight in press-ups and chin-up fashion. (well, that's with some assistance from the machine I'm using, but I swear I'm doing most of it myself!) men in the gym stare at me, and I'm sure at first it was because they were checking me out (I don't consider it a compliment, they would, check out a hippo if it had the face of a woman) but it think now it's out of jealous hatred. If I do say so myself, I'm looking quite good these days. My gym buddy (aka personal trainer, aka biggest critic) called me The Terminator this morning. Along with things moving quickly, many things also stopped. My BlackBerry stopped. And them my laptop stopped. Literally within days of each other. I had had my BB fixed just weeks before, and though she was being sensitive and somewhat cranky some days, she's no different than any other woman, so it's just something to deal with. But then she just stopped one day and refused to let me even BEG her to do anything (the trackpad stopped tracking...). I borrowed a friend's old BB as a replacement, and had just gotten it unlocked so as to be able to use it here when before I could update anything or load my contacts, my laptop decided to give up and die. I had come home very late from rehearsal on the Tuesday before my birthday and was just about to settle in to watch an episode of Game of Thrones when she shut off. Just like that. No goodnight, no see ya tomorrow, just nothing. I unplugged her. I plugged her back in. Nothing. I did it again. Nothing. I didn't even sigh, I just turned to my bed, crawled in and went to sleep. Two days later, I found out that it was her motherboard that died, so it would cost me roughly 3-400€ to fix it. Uumm.. On a 4 year old computer, I'm not sure that's my best option. So... I asked a friend if it's possible to rescue information off a computer without a motherboard and he said yes. Wonderful. Cut to me researching new computers and still having rehearsals every night as well as turning 28. Yes I've now had a birthday celebrated outside my lovely homeland, Canada! I celebrated by having lunch with my good friend Seattle, and going to the theatre for a 9:30-11:30pm rehearsal. ... Okay, that's not really celebrating. (During rehearsal I also had to put out fires, metaphorically, and analyse a precarios situation concerning missing beer and the idea that the play was cursed because someone said something you NEVER say in a theatre EVER a few weeks ago. We never did get the beer back). After rehearsal, I went to a friend's house. He had bought me flowers and really nice bottle of wine. I had one drink and was drunk. It's not often that I am drunk, and certainly not on one glass of red wine. That was when I remembered that my last and only meal was with Seattle. At noon. Le sigh. I drank a lot of water and went to bed. The next day, we went to play football, which is quickly becoming a tradition on our Saturday mornings as Barbados and his roommate Liverpool used to play quite regularily back home and cannot stand to let a week pass without kicking it around a bit. Barbados is teaching me, yes me, some tricks to handling the ball, and while I think we both know I'm somewhat of of a lost cause when it comes to sports, I think it's sweet that he takes the time to show me how to do something right. After that, it was on to the beach to laze around, soak up the sun and have a few drinks. We met more friends there and had a great time. Dinner came next and back to a friend's for more hanging out it was late to bed and early to the gym the next day, but it was worth it. In all, 28 doesn't seem so bad just yet. Since my birthday, I have also completed stage managing a show. The Secret of Annabelle Veritas happened this last weekend. It was loads of stress and many late nights filled with working out logistics and making sure my actors and director keep it together, but it worked out because the shows were a success. The audiences were good, though smaller than we had hoped for, and the actors had a great time performing. My stage hands were fantastic and in between every scene change we strategized the next move so that by Sunday night we just had to look at each other to know what everyone was doing. Yesterday, after much debate, and many trips to ask questions and bother sales people, along with researching products online, I finally made my final decision and purchased my new device to replace my laptop. I went with the iPad 3! It will do everything I currently (and foreseeable future) require, and it is lightweight, super portable and easy to use. I have nothing bad to say about it and I've even stated to get used to typing on it! (that, and I'm kicking ass as Barry Steakfries in the Jetpack game I downloaded yesterday- seriously, if you can, get it, it's fun!) So that's all for now for me. We'll see what adventures June will bring when it gets here. Tell me what is going on with you :)

Reminder to the Sun

Dear Sunshine in Spain,

Before moving to this lovely country, I researched and found that the warm weather starts around Easter, gets warmer in May, still warmer in June and so on. This is a trend shown through history. This year, however, you seem to be slacking in heat-giving to this part of Spain. If you could come out and STAY out, we'd really all appreciate it. I was promised lovely warm weather by May and at the moment, I don't see that happening. Please use the next two days to readjust your behaviour.

Sincerely,

Beth

My Favorite Team

Even though FC Barcelona won't be going to the champions league final this year, and their best coach might be announcing that he is taking some time off from coaching and football, FC Barcelona is still my favorite team.

Their teamwork on the field is an example of how we as people should work together in life. They communicate on the field as clearly as we should communicate with each other, off the field. When they can't handle something, or the obstacle in front of them is coming at them too hard, and too fast to handle it themselves, they trust in each other to be there when they need to pass the buck. And they pick up where their teammates were and run with it. They assist each other and get to the goal together- as a team. They move together with a fluidity that I have never seen on the field.

I have seen this fluidity off the field in only a few situations. My grandparents are a shining example of this teamwork. One cooks, one cleans. One sews, and one prepares and tidies while the work is being done. One drives and the other navigates. Trust. Full trust and reliability.

I think it is only with time and effort that you come to that sort of non-verbal communication and flexibility with each other. FC Barcelona has a camp that they work with in very specialized ways, bringing up footballers in order that they be able to flow into the official team with ease when it comes their time. My grandparents have been married for over 60 years- they have it down-pat by this point.

I can only hope that I will be so lucky as to have as complete teamwork as both of these teams display, someday in life.

Yeah Toast! And Other Luxuries in Spain

There are certain things in Spain that I feel that you should all know are a luxury, before you decide to come here.

The first thing I am going to mention is hot water. Everyone in  Spain is very aware of how much it costs to heat water, and for that reason, certain taps in each house are not connected to hot water sources, or you have to turn on the gas in order to have hot water. Long, hot showers are out of the question. This is unfortunate because, as my family can attest to, I enjoy the occasional long, hot shower. It's been a long time since I've had a long, hot shower. (Don't get me wrong, I still sneak them every-so-often when my roommate isn't home!)

This brings me to another thing that is not common in Spanish homes: bathtubs. Bathtubs are a rarity in Spain, I think. Of course if you visit a hotel, or someone's mansion, they will likely have bathtubs, however, in the average Spanish home, a tub is not something they have space for in their home. This is a tiny bit of an issue if you're larger than average, or claustrophobic (luckily, I am neither of those). It is also a problem if (WARNING: TMI moment) you, like me, like to shave your legs in the shower. Space being an issue, you can imagine my trouble at shaving in a space that is 1.5 feet square. Not ALL showers are quite this small, but I can tell you from seeing friend's houses, that their showers are not much bigger than mine. For those that are lucky enough to have a larger shower or even a tub, it is almost just a temptation to take a longer shower.

Another luxury in this country is a variety of breads. I have been finding that I have been dreaming about different kinds of breads for the last couple of weeks, waking up with an unquenchable craving for a bagel with cream cheese, or an English muffin. You can't imagine how badly I want one of the sandwiches that Dixie and I used to make in our apartment in Toronto. English muffin, dijon mustard, tomato, cheese, a fried egg, lettuce, red onion and salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste. Amazing. You are probably thinking: but Europe is known for bread, cheese and wine- how do you not have those?? Well, I can tell you that there is alot of bread. And alot of croissants. But as for variety, it is lacking. I can only find flatbreads in certain grocery stores, and anything in the bread family other than regular loaves of bread (be that fresh from a bakery or mass-produced sliced bread) is very difficult to come across. On that note, another thing that seems to be somewhat of a luxury is a toaster. I certainly don't have, so one of my closest friends in Barcelona has come to offer me toast almost every time I visit her house. (She is also one person who, God bless her soul, brought me peanut butter from the states!) I have discovered that another friend whose house I frequent, has at some point acquired a toaster. I bought a loaf of bread before I went over the last time, just to have some toast and honey. He thought that was weird, until he tried it.. and then he added cheese.. which I thought was weird, until I tried it.

I mentioned earlier that bread, cheese and wine are what Europe is known for... that is true, and while there is no shortage of good bread (though the selection is limited, its still amazing) or good cheese (from what I know of cheeses, they have very good cheese. (I do not claim to be an expert on cheeses, so I won't comment further, but I would say that they at least know what they are doing when it comes to cooking with cheese). As for wine, I have yet to find my go-to wine. I haven't been drinking alot of wine because for the most part, I hang out with beer-drinkers who will occasionally go for vodka or rum if its good, but wine is not on their list of preferred alcohols, lest I have no one to drink wine with. That being said, the wine here is cheap (as cheap as 1,50 euros) so if you're looking for a cheap way to get hammered, that's it. As I am nearing my next 24th birthday (yes, next 24th birthday- I claim the age I feel) I do not think that my matured tastes in wine can handle more than a sip of 1,50 euro wine. Neither can my head as you can imagine the hang-over you would get from drinking a bottle of it! I am still in search of a good wine here, but I fear I may have to expand my price-range past 4 euros for a bottle. This may sound shocking that it's only 4 euro, but imagine the variety of wine between the 1,50 - 4 euro price range and you can imagine why I would sample 4 euro wines. Alas, on to 6-7 euro bottles!

Heating in homes is also a luxury. Not many people have the ability to heat their homes, which are built to withstand the hot, summer weather as opposed to helping people survive through the freezing cold winter. I may be Canadian, but I think that makes me appreciate heating and insulation even more so. Homes have linoleum floors and concrete walls. No insulation, no rugs, no heat kept inside them. Many homes also laugh at the idea of windows and balcony doors that seal properly. Drafts are a problem here, and I'm not talking about first drafts, editing and final drafts, if you know what I mean. I purchased a heater this past winter in order to get me through the long, cold nights. It would heat my room very well, but when I turned it off, the room would be cold again in half an hour. This meant that before any other part of my body came out from under the covers every morning, my hand would find its way to the heater and turn it on. Five minutes later, it would come out again, to check the temperature of the room. (little hot water and freezing cold rooms really didn't make me want to have long showers anyway, so maybe that's the plan in Spain- keep it cold and people will just keep covered up!)

Health is a luxury as well in Spain. There are alot of neighbourhoods that are build with buildings close together, and no way for air to get through the streets to bring fresh air from the sea. All other areas of town are long, straight streets from the sea to the mountains that wind just seems to whip down. (Think Bay street in the winter and you get my point). The mix of neighbourhoods that don't have enough air flow and those that have far too much causes the entire city to become sick through the winter. This is not just this winter. Bums sell tissues for money. Tissue. That has to say something.

That is all the luxuries I can think of for now. But as it is, even though this country seems to have less of the things we think are important in North America, Spain's life expectancy is an average of 81.2 years (Canada is 77.9 and the USA is 78.4) so they must be doing something right! Simplify, don't over-consume, and learn to live with extreme conditions!

Posts in April

You'll all be happy to know that I have a goal to post 6 blogposts this month! I already have another one planned, I just have to write it (Montserrat- the day I climbed a mountain!) It's only Friday the 13th, so I still have time.

Yes, this counts as post # 3 for April :)

Happy reading!

Bethalona's Barcelona

Barcelona is a beautiful city. Yes, it is a city of broken, poor, degraded people, but these people are also passionate. They know the value of friends, family and other loved ones. They are not afraid to kiss on the metro, canoodle in the streets or show affection in other public areas. It’s not the same as in North America. It’s not for show. It is only for the person they are making shenanigans with, it just happens to be in a public place. No one means for anyone else to see (except the 15 year old girl who is being tongued by her 17 year old boyfriend while looking directly at people on the metro- but they’re children.)

Everywhere I go I seem to see signs of affection. Another thing I see, or rather don’t see, is people eating “on the run”. Rarely do you see someone with a coffee in one hand and a croissant in the other (there are no bagels in Spain!) on their way to work or some other important event. I almost never see anyone munching a bag of chips or a sandwich while walking down the street. These are North American traits. The Spanish have a respect for eating and time shared with other people that I cannot explain. Meals are meant to be enjoyed, not scarfed down on the way to whatever else you have to do that day. They are a pleasureful thing that should not be rushed or brushed aside for tea and yoghurt at your desk while working on whatever important thing is going on at the office that day. They are also meant to be enjoyed with the company of friends or loved ones. Dinner time is important in Spain. It occurs sometime between 9-11pm and it is usually a home-cooked meal shared around a dinner table and not on the couch while watching reality T.V. This is also why the Spanish siesta. They take about 2 hours from 1-3pm to just relax and have a nice, sit-down lunch. They enjoy the taste of their food.

 

The Spanish also take time to be with each other over holidays. Where North Americans might schedule time off to go away somewhere, Spaniards schedule time off (or just have holidays) and go see family. It is a beautiful thing, really.

That's all for now.. time for bed. 

Buenos noches mis familia y amigos.