Mataro!!!

Hey!

I have just returned from a visit to yet another coast of Spain! I flew to Tarragona to be received by my dear friend Patricia, and the guy she is staying with, Alejandro. It was so great of them to pick me up - 1.5 hours away from where they live!

Since Patricia and I left Madrid, she has been living with Alej in Mataro. He is a very warm hearted, generous, funny guy. I was treated like gold and welcomed into their home. We became instant friends and enjoyed an awesome 5 days!

 

Some background information: Alej is a nudist, but because Patricia is living with him (or when he has to talk to the neighbours), he owns these pieces of fabric that act as wraps or skirts. You can imagine that men are not careful enough to wear skirts, and you`d be right, hahaha. Anyways, they wrap like a towel and he has been looking for the ones that tie up. Ok, onto the stories!

I got a bad virus that lasted a solid 72 hours starting on the 31st of July. It was like the Norwalk virus, but the after affects of being malnourished and severely dehydrated lasted longer than 72 hours. I was just getting my appetite back during my first couple days visiting in Mataro. I spoke with Patricia on Saturday the 1st of aug, telling her about my sickness. Turns out she had the same virus 2 weeks prior and went to the hospital. They hooked her up to an IV due to the dehydration, and told her to get 2 medications which were both over the counter. One of the medications was in the house, and the other I had to buy. I was in a severe amount of pain, so Jesus offered to take me to the pharmacy. It was closed, so he left the birthday party he was at to pick up the medication for me when the pharmacy opened again. Thank goodness he was here to help! I was in a severe amount of pain and couldn`t eat or drink water. The pills helped but the sickness held on for another 40 hours after I started the meds. When I woke up on Monday the 3rd, I was weak and dehydrated, but finally able to keep some food down. Jesus drove me to the airport, and I flew out that afternoon.

On the 4th, we were invited by Alej`s parents to have lunch. His mom is a fantastic cook. She prepared a Greek dish, similar to lasange but instead of noodles, there is egg plant. His parents are very special people - kind, generous, and warm. I didn`t eat much but enjoyed the interaction even though they didn`t speak English. His mom Ana is very sweet and his dad Juan is caring and funny. After the great lunch, Alej drove us out to a beach about an hour East of where they live. I was still not healthy so I didn`t get to enjoy the snorkeling, but I had a great time and got to swim in the Mediterranean sea! The water was beautifully clear and warm.
The next day was a lazy one, and I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Patricia! We talked and talked. It is hard to speak to people who are not completely fluent in English, because I can`t fully express myself. Patricia though, is very smart and we share similar thoughts and sense of humour. Her english is fantastic and she is able to express humour in her speech! I had so much fun hearing stories and telling stories! Unfortunately there were some family problems with Alej, so he had to be away for the whole day.

Thursday, Patricia and I made a trip into Barcelona. While we were getting ready, I saw that Patricia had her purse inside the backpack. I had no pockets, so I started adding my wallet, a t shirt, a bottle of water etc to the backpack. Lol, she saw me putting stuff in and said "OH, Im the Donkey again! Im ALWAYS the donkey!!!". Hahaha. I affectionately refer to her as Donk from now on!

The trip takes a little while to get into Barca, first a ride from Alej to his parents town, where we caught an above ground train and then a trip on the metro system. It is worth it though! What a beautiful city with a great vibe! So far, it is my favourite large city in Europe. It is very cultural, with an active street life. First we saw some gymnasts from Morocco putting on an outdoor show, jumping over people, doing flips and jumps. They were fantastic but rather hostile when people didn`t put enough money in their toques when they went around collecting. Lol. We carried on down La Rumbla, checking out everything. There were SO many stands that were selling animals - hamsters, bunnies, ferrets, ducks, birds. It was strange. I don`t know what kind of tourists would be buying live animals, since we can`t transport them back home.

Anyway, we carried onto find the main Cathedral. The security guard wouldn`t let me in at first because my shoulders weren`t covered, so I sent Patricia in without me. She insisted I go inside to look at the achitecture, so we took a t shirt out of the backpack and just placed it over my shoulders. The Cathedral was quite stunning, full of Gothic arches and beautiful stained glass. There were these hokey little lights inside plastic covers. It was all in Spanish (or should I say Castillian) but Patricia asked me to take a picture of the "insert coins" part. LOL. I guess, instead of lighting real candles to remember loved ones, you insert coins and one of the little christmas lights inside lights up. Too funny.

We saw a group of people dancing on the street with a boom box. It is quite an entertaining place, very cultural with lots going on everywhere. I enjoyed watching the boys dance! We carried onto the main Market on La Rumbla which had the most beautiful produce and presentation. I really enjoyed it! The colours were so vibrant, it was a great place. I got a little bit of candy and Patricia got some dried pineapple (my bunnies would have loved it!) and some fudge.
On our leisurely walk back to the train station, Patricia wanted to look for a wrap that tied up for Alej. We stopped in one of these really cheap stores (they are all over Europe), always owned by foreigners who have to start businesses to immigrate into the country. Anyway this little guy behind the counter was helpful, and he said he had wraps but he would be right back, he had to go get them. He left us in his store alone, and it was pretty entertaining. Here is a picture to give you an idea of what these stores are like!
Anyway, since he was gone, we were joking around inside with the clothes. Patricia was modeling an orange skirt, then the little salesman suddenly appeared with another one from a different store! The wraps were good but they all had patterns, so donkey asked if they had any plain ones. The 2nd salesman went to find plain ones, and then our little guy behind the counter started taking his dress down from the top line of clothes that was on one of those plastic torso figures. It was quite nice, and I thought he was trying to sell it to us. Patricia said "Oh, thats a nice dress, very pretty" then he laid it down and started pulling the dress up. Lmao, Patricia said "oh, Panties too?" with a very excited tone. It was SO funny. Turns out that around the mannequin was a plain black wrap, which we decided would work, and she bought for Alej.
By the time we got off the train to go home in Premia De Mar (where Alejs parents live, he was waiting for us) it was almost 11 pm... and 26 degrees! It was a clear night and the moon was bouncing off the water. We were too hot, covered in sweat, and had sore feet. Donk suggested we go swimming and I agreed. We walked to Ana & Juans, where they were waiting for us to have dinner. We had already eaten, so we borrowed towels and took off towards the beach! Since we were in the city, we had no bathing suits, but it was dark so we figured it wasn`t a big deal. We got to the beach, where Patricia works at a restaurant right on the beach about 50 meters to our left. In front of us was a pile of huge rocks put there by an excavator, and to the right was darkness. We headed for the darkest spot, only to find that its also the place everyone else goes to enjoy the evening at the beach! We saw a huge rat running in the rocks and decided we should head away from there, since we don`t like rats and can`t see rocks in the water at night. Finally, we ended up in a very lit area, between the rocks and the restaurant. There were people on park benches to our right, and up by the street we could see people on their balconies having dinner. I said, let`s just hurry up and get in the water, then it won`t matter how light it is. So quickly we ditched our clothes and went into the water. It was so warm!!! I just can`t get over the concept of the ocean being warm, but I am starting to like it. Anyways, after the day, the swimming was perfect. 20 minutes later, I see Alej coming down the beach towards us! So we told him it was great, come on in. He said he was too full from dinner.

Meanwhile, while we were chatting with Alej (but not really hearing him well because of the waves), these 2 guys were coming towards us with a big water bottle. Alej heard them coming from the street and stood staring at them. They walked about 25 feet away from him, more towards where we were. Eventually, they had to acknowledge that he was standing there staring... then we saw them chatting (but couldn`t hear), then Alej walked into the water with the bottle and filled it for them. They left. Alej came in for a swim and all was well.

We were laughing so hard after the fact. Obviously the guys had been on a park bench somewhere when donkey and I arrived at the beach... and in the time it took them to find the water bottle (an excuse to come down), Alej had arrived and foiled their plans! Hahahaha. It was perfect timing! Then we thought, hm, that could have been awkward... but there was lots of civilization around so I wasn`t worried about stranger. Too funny.

My last day there, we just relaxed and spent time chatting. Alej and I went to the grocery store together. They helped me with my Spanish, I am starting to get an ear for it, but it is tough. We went to bed late. I just love staying there - no stress, no conflict, no schedules. It was so fun!

Luckily, Alej and Donk drove me to the airport for my flight on Saturday. Due to the fact that I wasn`t staying in Barcelona, I wouldn`t have been able to make the shuttle in time to catch my flight! Thanks guys, you are sweethearts!

See the corresponding pictures to these stories in the album Mataro! Those who don`t have the address, I will email you to gain access!

I am healthy now, and back in the North. Yesterday I spoke to Indigo Eve, who invited me to join her in a MOMAR - stands for Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race! It is taking place on September 26th in Cumberland. I am terribly excited, but need to do some serious work to get in shape! We are participating in the "Sport Course" which is 30 kms, as opposed to the 50 km Enduro course. It consists of Kayaking, Orienteering, Trekking, Mountain Biking, and Bushwacking! It should take us between 5 and 7 hours. It will be our first time doing it, although the leader of the group we run with (ELM Fitness) wins all these races as a Solo female on the Enduro course. She is a machine! Her name is Sarah Seads, and she is always encouraging more people to participate in the races. I am sure she will give us some tips regarding the race, hydration, and food requirements. You are welcome to come and cheer us on!

I best get to some training now, 42 days to go I think! :)

PS With regards to the rather off colour photo of the bull and donkey in the album, I can explain lol! Catalunya was conquered by the Castillians, and refer to "Spanish" as "Castillian". Anyway, like the basque country, they would prefer to be their own country, not part of Spain. The symbol for Catalunya is the Donkey, and for Spain the symbol is the Bull. I much prefer the Catalan way, so the sticker is political! Haha.