My dear friends,
I am writing you three times in one week because 1) I hadn’t written in this blog for quite some time and 2) Because I won’t be writing in this blog for quite some time. You see, I am going on spring break. This entails a tour of Italy and then a beach vacation on the Greek island of Santorini. I feel that the rest of my life will have a hard time comparing itself to the next 17 days of it. Also, if you are my friend or family member, you know that my birthday was yesterday, so, I figured I’d let you know how it went.
I woke up yesterday morning and my friend Kari was the first to wish me a happy birthday, that felt very nice. Then, at breakfast, my favorite Spanish friend, Simone, tugged on my pony tail and said to me “Feliz Cumplianos!” Later when I was walking upstairs he saw me and excitedly said, “Virgeenya, Happy Burfday!!” It made me very very happy. And then when I got to school Bree gave me a loud and happy “Happy Birthday, Woo! It’s your Birthday! Woo!” These are the things in Spain that particularly cheered me up. Then, I got a facebook video from my dearest friend Tom playing the guitar and singing me Happy Birthday, AND THEN, the warm and fuzzies don’t stop there, Roger sent me an awesome post card that I got today. And because I feel like I can’t give these shout outs without mentioning Norah, I miss her and wish she and I were celebrating my birthday like we did last year. Good times. So big love goes out to everyone that took a part in making my day. Really, every single message I got meant a lot to me, but those were just some highlights.
So then, last night, Bree got me out of the residencia and we went to El Patio Chico for some ice cream and café con baileys. Yum. After, we walked around for a long time and talked about a lot of things, my favorite topic being God and other such things. I have a lot of free time here to think about God things but I don’t have many people to discuss God things with. If you didn’t know, I’m a pretty religious person. I don’t consider myself a particularly “good” Catholic or whatever, at this point in my life, I kind of think it’s pompous of someone to say they’re good at a religion. I have a lot of work to do, just like anyone else, but I do believe in the things I believe in, and from a non-Southern viewpoint, I am fairly knowledgeable on the few facts there are in Christianity. But I digress (I like that phrase, if you hadn’t noticed), at times Bree and I talked in generalities and at points I quoted specific passages of the Bible, so it was a good range, and the talk reminded me of the places that my knowledge (and faith) are most weak. Interestingly enough, I’ve recently been struggling with really believing in a personal relationship with God, when last night I was very upset about a problem very specific to my life and I prayed about it and I woke up this morning to a phone call with a specific answer to my prayer. So, not that it’s pure fact or logic, as I know most people like to work (and I do as well), it restored some of the things I was struggling with, as selfish as that is. I don’t know if that was too vague to impact anyone or if that was too personal and about too touchy of a topic for it to be enjoyable, but it’s something that has really affected my mood today and it’s something that will make the rest of my experience in Spain a significantly more relaxed and happier one.
So then, the Spanish kids were going out last night and Simone called me to see where I was so he could hang out with me for a little bit on my birthday. So, he’s a psychology major and he’s the number one student in his class and he’s funny and nice and is totally in love with me, but I feel bad because it’s Simone. Earlier yesterday I saw him at dinner and he had things painted in different colors all over his face. Apparently when he was high, he painted his friend’s face and so then she could paint his too. Ridiculous. Anyway, so when he met up with Bree and I we talked about psychology and sociology and he said that if you look at the first 7 years of anyone’s life, you can predict every action they’ll make from that point on. His words were, “people are strange and predictable.” He also said that “the world is strange and simple.” Both phrases made us laugh. Anyway, I disagree with the statement, but I felt like sharing it.
Okay, and the last thing on my mind is that I saw Cruel Intentions yesterday and I really enjoyed it. The first half was very witty and I loved that it acknowledged double standards, and then it used them against the audience for effect. Maybe it’s just me. I like social rhetoric. Well then, I really should get on this whole, packing 17 days into a carry-on business.
Very truly yours,
Virginia
