Apparently this phrase is 100% acceptable in Catalunia and the Basque Country (and the rest of Spain as well I imagine). I suppose when your country’s history isn’t marred by racism and slavery, it is easier to get away with flippancy around said issues. Anyways, I sincerely apologize to any Americans out there who take offence to said phrase, but recently those of us here at Pikunieta have been working like negroes. The weather has finally given us a glimpse of what summer might be like… sun and heat in the 20s (aka 70s and 80s for those readers who, like me, are used to measuring such things in farenheit not celcius). I say all this in order to excuse how lax I’ve been lately about writing about keeping everyone updated on my farming adventures. Tomorrow I promise to talk about the exciting job of sheep shearing! (spoiler alert, I got to shear one sheep myself, it was so super awesomely cool!)
España
Barcelona
Well, I’ve been in Barcelona two and a half days now. Overall… it was a lot less scary than I thought it would be, although I did definitely get ripped off by some cabbies that first day… they saw young American tourist who speaks imperfect Spanish and definitely took advantage of the easy extra money. Since then I’ve learned to use the metro, and now I don’t have troubles with cabbies.
Also, it rained yesterday. A lot. And hard. It’s funny… Barcelona is supposed to be a sunny city to go on holiday… but I come and bring Portland weather! Except it wasn’t really Portland weather. If it were, I wouldn’t have come back to my hostel soaked to the bone. The fun thing is though, there are so many balconies here in Barcelona that I was able to half hide under them…. it kept me a little drier at least!
Speaking of hostels… I really like them. Not only is it cheaper than a hotel (by a lot), but you get to know all sorts of interesting people who are also traveling… Unlike when I drove across the US alone in a Chevy Cavalier (although even then I did make friends in Wyoming).
Tomorrow I’m going to pack in as much sightseeing as I can before leaving in the afternoon for the Basque Country where I will spend the rest of my summer tending to sheep and making cheese out of their milk.
For now, ¡Addios!
The High Dive
So, this is about how I feel on the subject of Spain right now. High dives are awesome, and I remember when I was young I was always mad that the lifeguards thought I was too little to jump, but when you get to the top of the high dive for the first time…. It’s ridiculously frightening. You may only be 10 feet up, but it feels like a thousand… And then you have to jump off of that? How! Well, luckily I have finances and the fear of wasting money to saw off the diving board for me. Thanks guys. *rolls eyes*
(photo from the following website: http://drgrobsanimationreview.com/2012/11/30/high-diving-hare/)
Gracetopher Kirk 