Kristi, or KrIstanbul, whom I visited in Istanbul in March, came to visit this weekend and accompanied me to my first FC Barcelona game this past Saturday. I had waited all semester to go to a game, and with only two weeks left in my stay, it was now or never. FC Barcelona was playing Deportivo de La…
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Conversations with Strangers: Pabloski from Wrocław
About him: Paul, who goes by Pabloski because he is half Mexican and half Polish (Pablo-ski get it?), manages Funky Cycle, a rickshaw business in Barcelona. He has been living in Spain for about 16 years now, and his hidden talent is guessing what country people are from. How we met: My friend, Kristi, is visiting…
Read MoreAbout that Wallet Again
About a month ago, almost to the day actually, I wrote about how I had left my wallet in a taxi. Since then, all the credit cards had been canceled and replaced, the cute leather wallet completely forgotten and the incident forgiven. Today I got my wallet back. Out of the blue, I was informed…
Read MoreLessons from Jellyfish and Deserts
Today I got stung by a jellyfish for the third time in my life. Once was in Belize, once in Honduras and now here on the beach near Barcelona. I didn’t even know they had jellyfish here this time of year. I limped out of the water, slightly annoyed thinking, “just my luck,” and also annoyed…
Read MoreOn Children and Mothers
The other day, my father and I made our way into the Sahara desert to round out our Moroccan experience. On the way to our desert camp, our driver asked if we wanted to visit a nomadic Berber family that had set up camp nearby. Nomadic family? Berber locals?! Observing a rare gem of African life?…
Read MoreLa Rubia Goes to Africa
I think the best way to describe my first days in Morocco is to start with a joke. I’ll try my best not to screw it up. A red-head, a brunette and a blonde were running from the cops, when they spotted a farm and decided to hide out there. Once at the farm, the red-head ran into the chicken coop.…
Read MoreAdéu
Adéu. It means goodbye here in Barcelona. And the goodbyes have begun. I had my first round of goodbyes this past weekend, with friends that were also studying abroad and had finished their program midway through April. I didn’t imagine it would be this difficult to say goodbye to people I had known for such a short period of…
Read MoreJesus and Jolie
I spent my birthday weekend relaxing with Mama Kulka in the beautiful country of Malta. Don’t know where Malta is? That’s okay. I’m not completely sure either, and I just spent five days there. Malta is a little country below Italy, half way between Siciliy and North Africa, and it encompasses five islands. It is the world’s…
Read More21 Before 21.
At the start of this year, I decided that I wanted to have 21 incredible experiences before my 21st birthday as a birthday gift to myself and motivation to constantly be seeking adventure. These were the moments that made me feel alive, took my breath away, made me smile or made me cry from joy. Without…
Read MoreA Birthday
I’m turning 21 tomorrow. I’ve talked to my mama about this and we both agreed that it somehow felt strange, considering I’ve been “21” for at least three years now. I’ve always felt older than I am, and I suppose it has something to do with the fact that I have lived more than most…
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