Katherine made travel arrangements with her friend Carlos who would be putting us up for the weekend. A week and a half ago he moved into his first apartment with two friends from highschool, Santos and Mireia, both of whom are the nicest people you will ever meet. Thursday night we got about two hours of sleep and woke up at 3am to catch our cheap, dirty, and much too early plane flight out of BCN. We met with our friends Jess, Erin, and Kristine at the airport and popped on over to the best island in Spain.
Carlos met us at the airport in the only matter that is suited for him... by barreling out of the parking garage and heaving Katherine over his shoulder. He then gave us the keys to his apartment, gave us directions home, and told us he'd see us at 2 when he got off work (unfortunately real life doesn't stop because your friends are on vacation). When we got to his apartment, we barely had the keys in the door before his roommate Santos swung it open with a big "HELLO!" and welcomed us in. He was on his way out to work too, but made sure to try out his English speaking skills and suggest a great coffee place down the street where we could get breakfast. There was some confusion as to whether his job was as a "dentist" or an "artist"... and he later admitted to only saying yes to painting the picture above Carlos's bed because he didn't understand what we were asking, hahaha. In case you're wondering, he's a dentist (que intelligente!). We also got to meet Carlos's two turtles, named after his favorite women in his life: his sister Sylvia and his mom Margherita. Apparently they were not pleased by their names going to turtles. I can't imagine why they wouldn't be!
Unfortunately... typical of tropical weather (god love it) it started to pour while we were checking Erin and Kristine into their hostel (they had plans to sneak Jess in late at night before bed which later failed), so we ran through the hurricane downpour to a cafe and waited out the storm with coffee. Once it finally let up, Carlos took us to a thrift store his friend owned. It was called Seattle, and had some of the coolest old clothes I'd seen yet in Spain. We spent a long time in there, trying on everything we could and picking out clothes for Carlos to wear/buy. Then he took us to the most romantic place in Palma, Mallorca. He brought us to an old army fortress that stood in front of the most beautiful cathedral. Everything was lit up with street lamps and glistening in the afterglow of rain, not to mention there was a jazz sax player serenading us and a pond with swans where Carlos said his grandfather used to take him to feed the swans. It was so beautiful. We took about a million pictures, then headed home to make dinner. On the menu? Spanish potato omlette, a la floor. In the process of flipping it over in the pan, Carlos and Katherine managed to drop the entire thing on the floor. There was no question of whether or not it was going to be eaten... so we popped it back in the pan and continued to cook it. No harm no foul. We also used the leftover potatoes to cook up with some spices and oil. The entire dinner was cooked to a soundtrack of Bob Dylan and Deer Tick (boy also has good taste in music). It was a meal of starch and made everyone lie around dead and full for hours. Eventually we all got ourselves together and went out to meet Carlos's friends though, where we classily had some drinks in a park. Carlos and Jess played a game of rock paper scissors forever... which Carlos first named "Stone, scissors, paper"? Hahaha. We then went to a bar that local Mallorcans frequent. Unfortunately all of us were so delirious and tired from sleeping a grand total of three hours since wednesday night, so after playing a very tricky "yes/no" game with some drunk Irishmen outside of the bar, we took a cab home and riffled through the kitchen/fridge. Carlos and Santos wanted to stay up because they were so used to staying up all night, so I tried to keep awake and listen to music with them in Santos's big beautiful suite-like room. He clearly got the best room in the apartment. But I was exhausted, so I found my way back to Carlos's room where Jess, Katherine, and I were supposed to share his bed. Of course though, they looked so comfortable all snuggled in, and I was not trying to wake up drenched in body-heat sweat, so I made Carlos share the couch in the living room. Of course we couldn't sleep without first him beating me and me smothering him with a couch cushion. Children.
We spent the rest of the beach portion of our day curled up on towels learning funny phrases in Spanish from Santos. Examples? "You're uglier than the back of a fridge" hahaha. They actually use this. We taught him what "tangle" means... which was our only contribution to the educational session. Then, because the boys are perfect little angels, they took us to get Mallorcan almond smoothies and delicious Mallorcan cakes at a little cafe. SOOO GOOOOD. The smoothies tasted literally like almonds and cream pureed together. Fantastic. We were all so full from treats we just went home to start the night of drinking. Our dinner was just bread, tomatoes, and cheese from Menorca (smaller island).. It was still fantastic.
That night we went to a discoteca that Carlos and his friends go to all the time. To be honest we spent so much time in the apartment, we didn't even get to the discotec until 3am. We were there for only a few hours until we had to go home and pack for our 7am flight. When Carlos said we would just stay up and night and leave for the airport from the club he was not kidding. We went to the airport, drunk. Went through security, less drunk. Took the plane, hungover. And came home and slept until 6pm. Woof.
I just want Carlos, Santos, and Mereia to know just how thankful we all are for allowing us to stay with them all weekend, for feeding us, taking us out to see the sights, showing us a great time. You all are unbelievably kind and generous. I am so happy I got to meet you all, especially Carlos and Santos, who we really spent the most time with. You guys are fantastic, and if you're ever in the states, you better be giving me a call. This weekend was amazing, and definitely made my entire study abroad experience. It was exactly what I needed.
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