The things I get to do thanks to Ryanair.

Last week I went to London, this weekend I went to Barcelona. So what did I do in the interim you ask?

I studied. Up the wazoo. Out the wazoo? According to this guy it doesn't make a difference; they're both terrible. 
But seriously, it was the final week of Spooks and Spies which meant final paper, final exam, final readings, final eye-popping stress, etc. But it's over! It was actually a very interesting class. In fact I'm surprised by how much I was able to learn in just four weeks. Also, you should know that Jenessa and I are killer study partners. The exam will require us to choose two out of sixteen possible essay questions you say? Alright, we'll study the Cuban Missile Crisis and intelligence ethics. What's that? Those are both on the exam? Oh alright, we'll just kick that exam's trash. That was satisfying. Don't be fooled though. I knew the facts, but my essay construction was mildly terrible, so we'll see what happens.

Anyway, we had a long weekend between modules, so six of us decided to take off to Barcelona.
Travelers: Brooke, Chauntel, Giselle, Jenessa, Kelsey.

Here's a rough outline of what we did:

Friday, July 27

• Fly Ryanair
• I don't know any other way to describe this experience than to share this video:

• Arrive in Barcy, taxi to hostel.
• This hostel was awesome. So fun, so friendly, so helpful. If you're ever in Barcelona, stay at the Garden House Hostel. 
• Seafood paella.
• Some of the Ryanair ads told me that people go to Spain for the paella and stay for everything else. But they key there is that paella is good. So when we arrived at the hostel and they had some ready and waiting we all pitched in a euro and split a bowl. 
• One word: creatures. Second word: legs.
• Next word: delicious. 
• Shleep
• Sara... Shelley... I hope we're all reliving the same moment right now. 

Saturday, July 28

• Boy, this day was a blur. All I seem to remember is the heat. Hot, hot, heat. 
• But seriously, I remember things. Most importantly, it was Kelsey's birthday. Holla! The day began with birthday breakfast donuts. And birthday breakfast cough drops, because Kelsey and Brooke were sick.
• La Rambla
• Cool street. 
• Market
• Great fruit juice.
• Some scenic square that may or may not have been significant.
• Decent lunch
• Gelato
• Mango and Stracciatella. Delicious.
• Park
• Relaxing break from the sun. For the beauty of the earth.
• Child's birthday party. On a scale of one to fun, how much fun is it to watch foreign children at play in their native environment? So fun. 
• Arc de triomf
• Photo op
• Pier
• Beauty all around. There were all kinds of vendors and musical acts and pirate ships and things like that. I'm just kidding, there was only one pirate ship. There was a cruise a ship though. 
• More ice cream. This time it was Ben and Jerry's phish food, and I got it in a waffle cone. Yum.
• THIS:

SO FUN

Sunday, July 29

• Mercy mild this was a good day. Phillipe, one of the guys working at our hostel, recommended that we make the trek out to Ocata beach. Phillipe really came through for us. 
• We started out with some fruit from a little place right by our hostel. Jenessa and I had some sirius black good apples. 
• We ate a generally unsatisfactory lunch at a place on the beach, but that's ok, because we got ice cream... and we were at the beach. 
• Remember those perfect moments? Here's a few more.
• Chats/ walks on the beach with dear friends: priceless. 
• Chicken dinner at a different place on the beach. So delicious. Finally.
• Tomato bread. Yum.
• Don't worry, we got ice cream again.
• When we were leaving the beach we had to walk through this tunnel to cross the street. As we were walking through I noticed the acoustics in there were killer. Kelsey had her ukelele, so we all sang some hymns in the tunnel. It was a beautiful thing. 
• Bonding on trains/metros/busses/planes. This applies to all days. Public transportation makes the heart grow fonder. 
• High fives with Jenessa.
• Light fist bumps with Kelsey. 
• Ok, here's a good one. We got back to the hostel and desperately wanted some chips and salsa. Especially since vegetarian Giselle did not have a satisfying food day. So Giselle, Jenessa, and I went out in search of the goods. It was about a fifteen minute walk to the market. On the way back, as we were winding through the neighborhood, I realized I had no idea where I was, so I asked Jenessa, who was the world's best navigator on the trip. She had thrown away the map like two minutes prior. It was a hoot. We just had to walk a relatively circuitous route back to the hostel, but that was fun. So. 
• Ok, here's another good one. We were all splitting shampoo/ conditioner/ shower gel/ etc., so Jenessa and I had this really great system of throwing the stuff back and forth. (There were several shower stalls). That night though, Jenessa threw the shower gel to Giselle on the other side, unaware that there was an open window over there. It went sailing right on through. I can only hope that shower gel is still out there somewhere. It's kind of like we left our mark on Barcelona. 
• After showers we ate the chips and salsa and Kelsey gave everybody love fortunes. It's this great talent she has. You should get to know her and ask her about it some time. 
• That night Giselle prayed for us in Spanish. She's amazing. It was beautiful. 

Monday, July 30

• In the interest of time, this day basically consisted of shopping and travelling. It was relatively stressful, but here's a few great things that happened:
• In 6th grade, we went on a field trip to Point Bonita, where they taught us to eat the entire apple, top down. To this day, a lot of us still eat our apples like that. On this particular morning Jenessa gave it a shot. I'm pretty sure she loved it. 
• We ate lunch at another mediocre place. I got a hamburger, which I ordered with solely lettuce, tomato, and meat. It came smothered in mayonnaise. I wasn't going to say anything, but Giselle came through for me big time. That was a nice thing. 
• Bonding on the plane. Unfortunately, Kelsey and Brooke weren't able to sit near us, since Ryanair is the the spawn of satan (too much?), and made them check their bags, which took awhile. So Giselle, Jenessa, Chauntel, and I sat in the back of the plane. We bonded big time. We all some extra euros to spare, so picture this:
• Ryanair flight attendants: "Anything from the trolley dears?"
• "We'll take the lot!"
• It happened almost exactly like that. We bought so much chocolate, soda, and vegetable chips. Chauntel bought these starbursts that came with humorous tasks printed on the wrappers. She got one the told her to do five press-ups (that's British for push-ups) in the aisle, so she did. It was great.

Alright, I swear I'm coming to the end.

OVERALL

Barcelona is beautiful, but I think England is more my style. It may just be a little too laid back for my taste. The people are very friendly though. And we didn't get pick-pocketed, so that's a nice thing. 

Last night I was reading in Mosiah 18, and when I came across verse 8, it was one of those "aha" moments. Spending the weekend with these five wonderful people very much strengthened my testimony of "bear[ing] one another's burdens, that they may be light." The entire weekend was built on  lifting up, supporting, comforting, validating, edifying, encouraging, and bearing one another's burdens. Watching my friends lighten loads and lighten lives was such a blessing. They are wonderful. You should get to know them. 

Until next time.

P.S. In an effort to minimize losses in case of robbery, I did not bring my camera. Pictures to come later after I retrieve them from others.