I’M 21 TODAY!!! Ahhh if only I were in the US, it would feel much more real. Either way, I’m super excited J I feel so old! Today I woke up a little late, and of course the morning didn’t start out ideally. I went to wash my face and in the middle of rinsing off the soap, Rafaela came into the bathroom, said something I didn’t understand, and turned off the water. Thanks? She walked out and then turned back around to remember to tell me happy birthday and kiss me on my wet, soapy cheek. Then, while I was getting ready I dropped my favorite gold, sparkly Bare Minerals eye shadow all over the ground, so of course that made me really angry at 7:30 am. When I finally left for class, I was running late so I couldn’t eat breakfast, but I really needed to stop by the ATM outside of my apartment so I could grab a coffee during our break. The ATM was broken and wouldn’t give me any cash and I couldn’t stop anywhere else because I was late. Luckily, all of the bad luck was temporary and as soon as I got to the metro stop where I usually meet my friend Jane to walk to class, she had a chocolate chip croissant waiting for me J We went to class for the first two hours (which were as agonizing as before) and then had our 30 minute break. I was excited because after 2 days of forgetting cash, I finally had it to buy the coffee that everyone said was so good – and then my friend Alicia bought it for me! It was very sweet of her. After that, the last 2 and a half hours of class seemed like they lasted forever until FINALLY it was time to leave and start getting ready for the night.
Jane and I walked to the ISA office for a bit so that she could print something and speak to Antonio, and then we went to a bar that a friend had told me about (1 euro beers) so that I could buy my first legal beer! And yes, it was as exciting as I had expected it to be. To be completely honest, I wasn’t really excited about my birthday because of two reasons. A) I’m in Spain and the drinking age is 18, so it didn’t make much of a difference. And B) I wanted to be with my friends and family since it’s such an exciting time. The day just didn’t feel right because in America I would have been with my friends since the night before, and they would have made such a big deal out of my birthday (I know it sounds stupid, but it’s not). But once I was finally able to buy a beer (I could have bought it before but this was my first legal one) I got excited for the night! My friends Jane, Jaselle, and Amanda all went with me for a little while to see if I could find a cheap and cute dress for the night, and I ended up finding a really cheap little black dress at H&M. I wanted to be at the restaurant by 730 and was running really late, so I basically sprinted through the metros to get home. I jumped in the shower (and left the water running because I was in a hurry and Rafaela wasn’t there) and got ready in about 45 minutes to an hour, but when my friends found the Mexican restaurant (La Trajinera) around 7:55, they said it didn’t open until 8:00 so I’m glad we didn’t get there on time.
Once it opened we went in, ordered guacamole and cheese dip (which was basically a block of cream cheese), and 2 pitchers of margaritas to share between 7 people (me, Sara, Jane, Nichole, Meg, Don, and Chelsea). I got chalupas for dinner (because it was the only dish that I knew what everything was in it) and they were delicious! Our waiter didn’t speak English, so he couldn’t really explain what things were if we didn’t know the word. After dinner, we asked for the bill and he was taking forever, but we were having a good time and enjoying the company so we didn’t even notice – until we heard the happy birthday song playing on the loud speakers and the waiter coming over with a big chocolate brownie and a candle (and a cowboy hat). It was so sweet! Then, about 5 minutes later, the waiter brought the entire table free margarita shots. The meal was a bit expensive overall, but the experience was great and our waiter was so nice. After that, we went out to La Rambla (that big street I’ve talked about before) and were looking around for bars to go to. A man standing in front of a hotel heard someone say it was my birthday, while we were getting free passes to something, and he told me he wanted to buy me a drink. He was all dressed up and knew the manager of the hotel that we were passing, so my friends and I followed him into the restaurant of the hotel and up the stairs into the lounge area where he told the bartenders to give us a bottle of cava (Spanish champagne). The best part: he got us the champagne and left. I know that sounds terrible, but Spanish men tend to be a little clingy if you give them any attention at all, even looking them in the eyes. He was very nice! 5 more people joined us there, and we went and ventured out to find a bar (because we were pretty sure the drinks there were going to be really expensive). We passed a bar that we were considering going into, and as per usual there were guys outside trying to get people to go. We decided, “What the heck, we might as well.” As soon as we walked in, the bar was full of guys and the bartenders started chanting, “AMERICA! AMERICA!” It was very strange, but it was so funny. We stayed there for a while because they had specials, and a few more people met us. After the bar, we went to a discoteca (dance club) that was not too far, and stayed there for the rest of the night.
All in all, it was SUCH a great birthday and I really like my friends here! I was so worried about feeling lonely/sad on my birthday, but I underestimated my friends here J They are so great, and they made my birthday so much better than I would have ever expected it to be! Needless to say, I did not get up to go to class today which is not a problem because we can miss two full days. I went up to the school at 2:00 for a meeting with ISA, and then Jane and I got McDonalds and parted to go back to our houses. We were all pretty tired today. I put these two posts together because I literally did nothing today. I sat on my computer and did my homework all day, and that would be a pointless post by itself. For dinner tonight, we had our usual salad, spinach, zucchini, onions, and HAM (which she said was turkey despite the fact that it was pink – after one bite I thought I was going to puke). I had to completely cover it in spinach to finish the rest, and now I’m not feeling so great. It’s time to finish homework and get to sleep though. I miss you guys and can’t wait to be home to legally have a drink with you now! Xox goodnight!
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