Sweet Bribes

Hi all!

I cannot believe I have made it to Friday! OMG, how the time has flown. Seriously. Yesterday was a hot mess because the neighbors downstairs had their roof start leaking, so they called the manager to shut off OUR water. There's five of us in this apartment and somehow I ended up being the designated speaker. Well, our door had people ringing the bell all day long. Angry neighbors, frustrated managers, people from our program. It was rather overwhelming, and I learned a very crucial thing, my Spanish goes to shit when I'm stressed. It was 9:30 pm and we thought we had solved the problem because the manager turned our water back on. But nope! The neighbor comes again and declares that she's shutting our water off and didn't know why we turned it back on. I was overwhelmed and I started stammering, it was hilarious. She thought I didn't speak a bit of Spanish, which honestly was probably for the best. So then imagine her at my door making these big arm movements and trying to use gestures to get her point across. I stood there for probably a good 10 minutes before I put my big girl panties on and negotiated with her in Spanish. When I actually started talking using full sentences her jaw dropped. I was like sorry lady you flustered me, I couldn't find the words I needed. But using my pro spanish for lawyers lessons, I got her to allow us an hour with water before she cut us off. Yup, I used my legal negotiation skills to invoke sympathy and compassion and suckered her into giving us an hour when I would have settled for 20 minutes. Go me! After she left, I banged on all my roommates doors to get them to shower and brush their teeth within an hour. You just can't make these stories up guys. Alas, today seems to be better since we have running water and a handyman was sent to break open our apartment wall. I decided to leave the banging and head out for the city before my classes this afternoon. 

I walked along the shops and the port. I'm not sure if it's because there was so much commotion going on and all of that stopped or because it was a quiet day in the city without the hustle and bustle of tourists, but it felt as if the entire world had settled down just for the day. It was so odd, but at the same time I really appreciated the quietness. It allowed me to sit with my thoughts for the morning and really just enjoy my own company. I'm not going to lie and say that it was easy, it took me a moment or two to get comfortable. But once I did, the morning passed wonderfully and I felt so refreshed and re-energized. I feel like I can be a really big people person, but it's so important for me to have space to recharge on my own, especially when I'm always surrounded by people. Here's a few snaps of things I took along my walk.

Afterwards I made my way back to my barrio (where school is) and met up with Siliva before classes. We had tapas right next to the beach before our class with a real lawyer. Yup, a Spanish lawyer came to teach us today! Let me tell you, keeping up was not easy at all. But I learned so much about Spanish civil law and we read and examined contracts. It was so exciting! Their system is totally different from ours. For example, a will is pretty much predetermined as to how the assets will be divided between the heirs, and it will be done equally. The lawyer was a great advocate for such a fair system, and I see the point, but also, it's your stuff and you should be able to do what you want with it without having to compensate your "true heirs" for doing so. I think that's my American independent streak coming in. We studied marriage and divorce, agricultural contracts. Before I know it the four hours of classes were up and my mind was spinning! I honestly cannot wait for next weeks classes, even if they are with my teacher again instead of the lawyer.

While I was walking back, I was struck with an idea as I passed a bakery and in the spur of the moment bought three desserts. So the Polish women I live with have evening balcony sessions every night. I love the balcony but feel a bit awkward joining them all the time. Sooooo, I did a little sneaky Pete move. When it was time for their balcony session, I took the desserts out and told them that I would love to share my favorite Spanish sweets with them. BAM. Now I'm in their crew. They were so excited and happy to share their buffet of treats with me. We actually stayed up until like half past midnight chatting away. One of the women, Magda, asked if I was from Sri Lanka, and we got on the topic of Bangladesh and my parents. They were so impressed with my life and my travels! And I was like, my parents kind of did all the hard work. But they insisted that my story and job was just as interesting. They were telling me about their lives in Poland, and they were like we just can't imagine since we are Polish that come from Polish who've lived in Poland their whole lives. To me their lives in Poland are just as interesting!

We had great conversations and stayed up until half past midnight. In Spain they have a phrase "de mundo" which is a way of saying that someone is worldly. In that moment, sharing my travels with these Polish women on a balcony in Spain, I really felt as if I had become de mundo. Sometimes, I can hardly believe I've had such good luck in my life, or the fact that I'm really here. I guess I'm feeling pretty grateful right now. Thank you all for always coming on these adventures with me.

Love you lots,

Carolyn