asleep on a sunbeam

I always have the urge to write on this thing at some ungodly hour. When 2 am rolls around, normal people think hey why don't I head to bed? not me, no I think hey why don't I post a blog? Of course staying up writing means I'm not sleeping which ultimately means hitting snooze 6 times and cursing myself the rest of the day. And sometimes it means I even fall asleep in class, which is exactly what happened Friday.

After a long week of classes and photo assignments and marketing projects and more classes, by the time my Friday morning classes rolled around I was beat. Unfortunately there were still four hours of morning lectures between me and the weekend. International Economics went quickly, mostly because I was on Jordan's itouch checking my email almost the entire time, but by the time Foto came around I was just not all there. I flew solo to class (Jordan took the day off to spend time with her friend Denice that was visiting), actually managed to get there on time despite the fact it was raining and I nearly killed myself again when I didn't wait for the crosswalk to flash green before crossing (I mean those trams don't even care that you're late to class). Avoiding a Gaudi-esque death I arrived in Foto only to promptly fall asleep when the prof hit the lights to showcase some of his photos. I have the unfortunate habit of talking in my sleep while I'm dreaming and Friday was no exception.

I was dreaming Jordan had actually decided to come to class and was sitting a couple rows from me. In the dead silence of the class I began to exclaim to a girl I did not know, Hey! Jordan! You came? Luckily I woke in the middle of shouting Jordan and managed to camouflage a cough but people did not, not notice meaning, I definitely got some looks. This would have been fine and good except that throughout the rest of the class I continued to nod off (six times to be exact), thinking the professor was talking to me (he clearly was not) and though I keep 'coughing' or 'sneezing', I think people were beginning to get suspicious and needless to say I'm NEVER going back there (well not really, but it felt good to say it!).

The weekend was slightly more exciting, Becs and Daniela came over after my narcoleptic episodes and we had a grand ole time baking cookies, throwing flour, and drinking tea and wine. Saturday we received the bad news the Katana, our friend Barbara's dog, passed away. Katana had been with Barbs all through her childhood and they were extremely close. Of course Daniela was feeling bad for Barbs about the whole thing and so decided to promise Barbs that she would pee on a bush in Katana's honor. So when Saturday night came, after a couple Cañas at Cornelia's, Daniela and I headed down to the park where we found a semi-hidden bush and Daniela proceeded to pop a squat. Next thing you know it's Sunday, our weekly movie day. Usually we choose Disney films so we can sing along obnoxiously and keeping with tradition it was Lion King day.

Before I knew it was back home for dinner, studying time, and then 2 am when I started to write this. I'll leave you with some snow pictures to brighten this dull post and also a music request...if you have not heard Regina Spektor's song Eet., please go listen right now. NOW. It is amazing and it will change your life. No, seriously.





p.s. I'm going to post my Flickr photo stream as soon as I have it up a running properly. Look for it!

And now for something completely different

It is currently 5:00 am CET and sleep is eluding me yet again.  Insomnia! you cry! Too much caffeine!? A siesta got out of control and you're paying for it now!? Quite the contrary, my friend! I was exhausted tonight, having barely slept the night before, and was looking forward to a decent night of rest when the most unexpected enemy bested me (cue Law and Order theme song). 

I love Skype, we are old friends, hell I might even say best friends now that I live in a country far far away, but I'm afraid to tell you I was thinking of breaking up with him tonight (yes, I said it).  Let me explain: my fantastic friend Daniela took it upon herself to show me all the wonderfully ridiculous sounds you can set to your Skype ring. Among these was a voice feature that you can make say whatever your wine buzzed mind desires.  Well let's just say it provided quite a bit of entertainment for a night. Now I should also explain that I am not a morning person, and often have difficulty waking up in the morning. To combat this issue, sometimes I have someone call me to make sure I'm up if I have somewhere particularly important to be that day.  Because all of us poor university students never have euros to buy minutes for our mobiles, I thought that tonight, since I have to wake up to take some friends to the airport, instead I would leave my laptop on and logged into Skype so someone can ring in the morning. After getting ready for bed tonight, I set my computer down next to my bed, turned up the volume as high as it would go, hit the light, and settled in for at least a couple hours of zzz's. 

Comfy, warm and nearly asleep when out of the dead silence I hear a disembodied voice announce YOU HAVE AN INCOMING CALL FROM POOP.  In my half-awakedness my head jerked up, slammed into the wooden shelf next to my bed, and my feet start running in place (which I can only guess was their lame attempt to run away...I should have a talk with them about trying something different in the future as it was highly ineffective) by the time I realized it was in fact not POOP calling but my friend Mike, who is currently residing in the U.S. and did not register the time difference.  Although I was effectively disheveled, I took the call because I hadn't talked to Mike in too long a time, and I was already thoroughly awake. 

After a nice long chat with Michael, we said goodbye, I changed my status to 'sleeping' and laid back down for a second attempt.  As my luck would have it, juuuusst after reaching that yummy dreamy happy place BAM! Nilda (as I've named her) strikes again.  Although my head managed to avoid reuniting with my shelf, I went into a bit of a rolling motion (much like you would if you were on fire) and nearly flipped right off my bed.  Luckily I was able to get my body under control before I panini-ed my computer between myself and the floor. This time it was my brother, and I also had not talked to him to forever (and hey, he's family) so I proceeded to chat with him for 40 minutes. 

I considered endeavoring another go but really who knows what kind of self-preservation technique my body will try next ( with it's track record, I'm not so sure I want to stick around to see) and I have to be up in an hour anyway.  

I was going to update you on my weekend in this post, but I'm afraid I have digressed a bit.  In a quick summary: I had some friends from Sevilla visiting this weekend, and despite a few transportation and directional induced hiccups, we had a great time! It's always wonderful to have visitors and this was no exception. Among other things done throughout the weekend, we met up with some of our swedish friends in a little bar called Manchester that just had the most wonderful music and ambiance, and also had a mini 'high tea' in a quaint, ancient and historic tea/pastry shop nestled away in Barri Gotic.  One of the girls, Winny even invited us down to Florida when we return to the states for some of her parents home-cooked authentic asian cuisine.  I nearly died and went to culinary heaven right there in my california roll.  As you can see, the weekend was a success.  

Wendy, Daniela, and I in Plaça Real

Daniela and Winnie on the beach (:

I should probably go take a shower and start getting ready so I'll just leave you with this: Go lock your preferences on Skype and if you find Daniela anywhere near your computer, have a nice long chat with your appendages on appropriate escape plans.