mood: hotmusic: 'pocket knife' by pj harvey

i'm posting from barcelona right now, from an internet cafe. things go by very fast sometimes, and other times, very slowly. a few days back we were in paris, in the sweltering heat of one of mother nature´s unexpected heat flashes. i find that having a conversation with my french teacher in a controlled environment is very much different than actual real-life situations.

the hotel was seven stories and without air conditioning. europe at its core. there was an elevator, but it was broken, so i had to lug my bag up 7 stories in the 32º weather. the first thing i did after getting up to the room was smoke, of course, since smoking inside is very much a luxury when you live in the united states, and especially if you´re from l.a., where being a smoker is like having leprosy.

barcelona, though, is much better, to my surprise. i´ve had the most fun over the last two days, and i wish i could stay longer. getting here was horrible. we took a train from paris to barcelona, and that lasted about 12 hours. horrible. last night, andres met with his cousin, aunt, and uncle, and we went to a jazz bar a few blocks from la rambla. walking through barcelona, day or night, is the most beautiful experience i´ve had in a long time. the most famous architect, gaudi, is crazy, but that´s what makes his works so gorgeously eccentric.

at the harlem jazz club, there was a quintet who had a sound that fluctuated between john coltrane and ornette coleman, which is odd if your know who those two are at all.

there i met a canadian student who had just spent 6 months in germany studying. she´s from 2 hours south of toronto, and quite the character. i think i have one more comment before rambling, so she´s very well traveled, as in she´s learned french, spanish, german, and she´s studied in colombia for a while.

the cathedrals here are amazing, especially when the gothic architecture here is mirrored with the pseudo-old-world stylings of gaudi. each building seems to be hundreds of feet taller than it really is.

anyway, today i plan to go to the dali museum, but right now one of my friends is having a horrible hangover from a party that lasted until 5:30 this morning. our group will chaperone him back and relax a while before i, and possibly andres, will head over the the huge castle that is the surrealist´s nirvana.

---Goei---