Prague, Brussels, and work

Is this real life?

After my dad left, I headed out for my solo adventure to Prague and Brussels. As I sat in the airport waiting for my delayed flight, I spotted a familiar head of red hair...ALLISON MADIGAN (girl from my study abroad program). Turned out she was on the same flight as me to Prague, so my solo adventure turned into an adventure with a friend.
When we touched down in Prague at around 2am we were greeted by freezing weather (32 degrees F...awesome). My flip flops and light leather jacket clearly weren't going to cut it. I headed to my hostel (The Czech Inn...haha) and got a little sleep before meeting Allison the following day at Prague Castle for some sightseeing. Though it was freezing, Prague is truly a beautiful city and I really enjoyed it. We saw the Lenin Wall, most of the old town including Old Town Square, the Charles Bridge, and Wenceslas Square. After we'd had enough walking, we got a little lunch then in the Spanish style, took a siesta before meeting up for the evening.
The following day, we did more wandering, picture taking, and eating (obviously...). Allison made friends at her hostel whom we met up with later in the day and then went to a bar with in the evening. A fun, but relatively uneventful day.
On Day 3, we decided that rather than aimless wandering, we should really SEE Prague, so we found a tour that left from Old Town Square and took us around for about three hours seeing the sights and hearing the history and "legends" of Prague. Highlights: the theater where Mozart performed, various beautiful churches, and the Jewish Quarter. That night, again after our siesta, Allison and I went out with our new friends (two Danes, a Swiss, and an Aussie). We went to a bar in the Jewish Quarter called Chapeau Rouge, a smoky, very cool spot with delicious Czech beer and a very international crowd.
On our final day in Prague, Allison and I went to a music festival in one of Prague's parks to enjoy some live music and BEAUTIFUL weather. After I headed back to my hostel, I chatted with two American Air Force guys stationed in Germany who were staying in my hostel. They were running Prague the marathon (the next day), so we hung out mostly in the bar of the where they said they were doing some carbo-loading (ouch.). We chatted about running and their experience living in Germany. I had an early flight the following morning and they were a few carb dense beverages deep, so I decided to call it a night fairly early.
I caught my plane to Brussels the following morning and enjoyed my first day in the city wandering around, taking pictures, and enjoying live music I stumbled upon. I went back to my hostel to freshen up and chatted with a few of the girls staying in my room. One American girl and I had an exchange that went like this:
Me: Where are you from?
Yael: San Francisco. You?
Me: Oh me too! The East Bay. Oakland area...
Yael: I'm from Layfaette.
Me: I'm from Piedmont.
Yael: Oh my god. Do you know Lia Korn?

Lia Korn has been one of my close friends for years. We sang in Piedmont Choirs together and both attended PHS. Yael knows Lia through her Jewish youth group. I love Lia. She loves Lia. So we decided to be friends.
Yael and I grabbed dinner, hit a bar, but then decided to call it an early night. The following day, we wandered around the city together and checked off all the major sights. A little after noon, we settled down in one of Brussels's famous bar/cafe's, Delirium. We made friends w/ the bartender, a young girl named Tamara who chatted with us for a bit. Unfortunately, Yael had an afternoon flight to catch, so we headed back to the hostel and I sent her off. I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in a cafe, writing in my journal and people watching.
I headed back to Barcelona the next day and slept for (no joke) 12 hours, which was much needed before I started work the following day. I only work 4 days a week from 9am until 2pm, which is great because my office is right on the beach, so I get plenty of sun time. On Friday, rather than hitting the beach, I decided to take a long walk after work. I took my book up to Gracia, a neighborhood up in the hills, and did some window shopping and reading in Plaza del Sol.

The past two weeks at work have been relatively uneventful. I’m finishing up the project I started during the semester and will start on some new stuff next week. I’m starting to get to know my coworkers a little bit better, which has been great. It’s a very international group (Spaniards, Italians, Latin Americans, and me), but speaking with everyone is a great way to keep my Spanish up.

As I mentioned, I only work 4 days a week from 9am to 2pm with Barcelona Ecologia, so I was feeling a little idle. I came across an opportunity to work with an American angel-investing group called Keiretsu Forum, which is a great opportunity for me. I met with their head of communications yesterday, and was hired on the spot, so that’s cool. I’m still kind of unsure as to what I’ll exactly be doing for them, but I’m sure it’ll be interesting!

Since all my study abroad friends left (*sob*), I’ve had a lot of time to myself. I’ve been exploring the city more and more and am falling deeper and deeper in love with it. I’ve discovered beautiful plazas, gardens, and public art tucked into neighborhoods over the city. I can’t believe I ONLY have two more months here. And don't worry, concerned family members (mom), I'm making friends here.

Well, I think that's about it. I'm heading to Mallorca this weekend for a relaxing beach weekend. I'm sure I'll come back with a killer tan and some great stories.

Hasta!

Current obsessions: Discovering el Raval's gardens and jazz clubs, my new black purse, trying to seem as Spanish as possible, collecting friends from every country possible so I have people to visit ("Oh you're from Brazil? Sorry. I already have a Brazilian friend. Thanks anyway...").