The Cosmopolitan Evening

So class today was pretty much the same as usual except that Natalia had to pull me out of the middle of class. It turned out that I had finally received the package my parents had mailed to me. Not only did I have to sign for it but I had to pay 32 Euros in taxes. They only charge taxes for any new electronics and I had a small cord for my computer and a DVD in the box, that must be why I had to pay but I'm still not sure. I also got some cards from home which was really great to read, and I also got a small calendar with Pug puppies on it. I love Pugs! When I get my own dog I'm going to get one of those, what other dog can you have that is always looking concerned? That's definitely the pet I need – one with a huge personality. When I got out of class I ran home so I could read my letters and put on the ring Katie sent me. It's amazing; it's a thin brass ring that looks like a piece of string tied around your finger.

Later, everyone came home to get ready to go to Valencia. I was initially going to go on this trip because there are a lot of great things to see in Valencia. However, there is a huge religious festival there this week with the giant finale happening on Friday night. They spend all week building images of the town's patron saints out of paper mache (Or Paper Maa-shay as Kieren says it), and then on Friday night they burn the images in a huge bon fire. This is all fine and dandy and should be a sight to see except that there are no hostels to stay in at all. None. So the group of people decided to go anyways and pull an all nighter on Friday. Half of the group decided to stay in Valencia all night Friday and then try and get a hostel on Saturday and Sunday night, then come home Monday in time for classes. The other half chose to stay in Valencia and then catch a bus to Barcelona at 3am, then stay in Barcelona until Sunday and come home Monday morning. All in all – way too much for me.

Later in the evening one of my roommates, Melissa, was in my room talking to me and we decided to open up my window to watch the sunset. It was amazing. The sun had set but the buildings were still lit up, and the breeze was cool but not too cold. Finally I brought a chair over while Melissa sat on the window sill – she's way braver than me. It was so nice that I opened a bottle of wine I had bought and we drank really good wine and watched the bats come out and fly around. It was a very cosmopolitan evening for me I must say.

I realized when I went to get the wine that we didn't have a bottle opener but the girls downstairs did. So I ran downstairs and asked if I could borrow it, they let me in and I followed her into the kitchen. The rest of the girls were in there and when I looked around they all looked normal except for one. Wow, apparently I had never seen her before without make up because I did a double take to make sure I knew her. She usually wears a ton of foundation and eye makeup so when I saw her it was like looking at a pale girl with no eyes. Really quite a shock.

So throughout the evening us girls who were staying for the weekend helped those who were leaving. We had a really great time talking and laughing. I am again so grateful that all of my roommates are so amazing.