Getting ready for New Year shenanigans

1.  Potato tacos - check!

2. showered and beautified - check!

3. clean room - check!

4. cava - check!

5. grapes - check!

6. duke - check!

7. italians - check!

8. rain gear - check!

Stay tuned...

Reina, Chocolate, Church.

Reina arrived in Barcelona late on Sunday night. I have not seen her in about 5 years. It was so wonderful to see her again and a little trippy to realize we have known each other for close to 16 years. She brought all kinds of goodies from Japan including mochi and rice seasonings. Hell yeah! In return, I took her around Barcelona for a day and we had a blast. There are some photos below and more on my Picasa site (click on the link on the left).

Xocolata Calenta - the GOOD hot chocolate ´
at La Nena

Exterior of Sagrada Familia

Me in awe...

Interior ceiling of Sagrada Familia

Pious Reina

Photos from Christmas Brunch/Dinner

This is me rollin up some potato tacos

Dharma and I setting up the brunch buffet

Duke seducing some Italians

Duke solo

Christmas Eve Eve

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.  My roommates are all out of town visiting family and Duke and I have the whole flat to myself.  It is really strange because I know it is Christmastime, but it sure doesn't feel like it.  Nothing sells like pine and none of the stores are playing annoying Christmas music.

It is weird to not have huge holiday gatherings to feel anxious about or shopping madness to avoid.  I have nothing to be reactionary about with this season right now.  It's actually forcing me to have my own holiday spirit.  It's like when you're little and you complain about chores all the time, but then when you live on your own you turn into a neat freak (well, this kind of happened to me, but then I turned into a slob again).  Tomorrow night I am going to a gay expat dinner party which ought to be fun, but celebrations with new friends is just not the same as being with homies.

Right now I a pretty content.  Duke is snuggled up under a blanket with me.  I have ice cream.  I have bad TV.  YEAH.

Medieval Market

Here are some photos from Vic, a village about an hour outside of Barcelona. I recently met some friends there and went on a lovely hike to an ancient monastery and visited the annual medieval market. The authentic market was really exceptional. Everyone was dressed up like medieval times and really played the part. They were all drunk and dirty and covered in animal guts and wine stains. It was fantastic! I had some mulled wine, grilled butifarra (a type of Catalan sausage), and some ribs. It was all served damn near cave man style with no utensils and on clay dishes. They were also aerial acrobats doing a stunning rendition of the Hunchback of Notredame.

Being able to be outside of the city and to hike around in the woods was absolutely delicious. As much as I love Barca, I need to connect with the nature and eat some meat with my hands every once in a while.

Care package wish list

• Reese's peanut butter cups
• Almond butter with golden flax seeds and sea salt (last purchased at Trader Joe's)
• Korean seaweed (kim)
• a Korean washcloth (I like it ROUGH)
• Flaming Hot Cheetos
• hot sauce (i.e. Sriracha)
• corn tortillas
• Lawry's Seasoning salt
• Bragg's amino acids

'Tis the season

For as long as I can remember, I've never really enjoyed the holidays.  There have been good moments and there is always good food.  However, the season fills me with unease: family chaos, the annual climax of mass consumerism, financial stress, and the bastardization of beliefs I used to hold sacred.  

On Tuesday after work I wandered into a shopping center.  I was early for a date with a friend and needed to kill some time.  It should have been rush hour, that time between work and home when tired adults and children fresh out of the confines of school gridlock places like grocery stores.  I was in a shopping center between Thanksgiving and Christmas and it was almost empty.  There was store after store full of bored employees in an imported exhibit of the American mall.  There was a Claire's with no tweens and an H&M with no Asians inside.   A tractor beam of faint holiday music tugged at me and I realized I was walking towards a Starbucks, of all places.  I went in.  I don't drink coffee and I especially don't drink Starbucks.  I bought the most American, corporate, joke of a coffee in the largest size possible: the holiday mocha toffee latte...with soy milk.  And I drank it in.  All of it.