I Heart Opencor

I was originally going to title this post "Best Weekend Ever" because I went to London to see mi novio (MN) but that was quickly vetoed when I discovered that there's an Opencor convenience store in my neighborhood on the way home from the gym. You will recall that: A) Spain is not a country that can be labeled convenient in any fashion except maybe geographically and B) shit closes at 8-9 and always on Sunday. Well, Opencor is a subsidiary of the horrendously overpriced but convenient Western department/grocery store, El Corte Ingles, and is the most triumphant of stores. It's open almost 24-7, which in Spain is like asking God to work through a 2-hour lunch and siesta. It resembles CVS only without the pharmacy and with the odd addition of underwear, alcohol, and a bakery. Best of all, it carries exotic food items like beef and chicken (packaged in plastic, too!). I will shamefully admit that I bought the super-trashy and low rent Life & Style under the guise of practicing my Spanish but, really, I want to know why Vaughniston is over and why she has her eyes on the shirt-phobic Matthew McConaughey. See, my espanol is improving already.

To add to my excitement, I just discovered that there's also a real supermarket, not a Spanish supermercat, called Mercadona, that has the capability to let you shop online and will deliver groceries. Don't worry, I'm not actually going to order/have groceries delivered. Now I am going to sound like the worst of ugly Americans but there is nothing like moving to a foreign country, except maybe Canada, to make you love love love America. I am not going to be an imperialist pig and say things like "Spain should be efficient" because, well, c'mon this is Spain. But even though America can be horribly wasteful and spoiled, I miss the variety and convenience and the postal system. My sister express mailed me something like 2-3 weeks ago that hasn't arrived and my Amazon order will take one whole month to get here by DHL. How can I learn vocabulario if it I can't watch Gilmore Girls and The Office in Spanish subtitles until November?Also, I dropped my underwear on the ground when I was taking it off the line the other day. My granny undies are in plain view of anyone who's doing their laundry and I have no idea how to/if I can retrieve them. However, it's a common occurrence as I can see that the person across the way dropped his/her underwear too. Speaking of laundry, I think a pair of my jeans are starting to mold...it was inevitable.

So I saw MN this weekend and it was wonderful and exactly what we needed and felt like nothing had changed except for the fact that we live in different countries and on a different continent now. My mobile doesn't work in London (surprise!) so I spent an hour waiting in Citibank while he waited by the tube stop. Clearly we are geniuses and will obviously be shortlisted for the MacArthur grant. Friday night we went out for Indian (30% off plus free beer) in Brick Lane, which is almost exactly like 6th Street, and met up with his suitemates for drinks. This one place that we did not go to was basically a gated outdoor park with picnic tables and a bar (read, card table with beer) that had the cojones to charge 3.50 pounds entrance fee. Then we walked home 3 miles because no one could figure out where the right nightbus was. The next day, he took me to the Giggling Sausage for a proper English breakfast. Not only does this fine dining establishment (a cafe and a restaurant) feature a picture of the aforementioned namesake but also has a little "Ha ha" caption in case you didn't understand that the sausage is, in fact, giggling. But it was yummy and cheap and had entertaining customers and employees.

What really made me homesick earlier was not having someone, not just Mark, to do things with and I knew that Mark missed me when he actually agreed to go shopping with me on Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon. It was like the worst of Soho-Times Square-Union Square combined and he didn't protest when I spent too much time looking for books, belts, and school supplies--all things I can't seem to find in Barcelona. I don't need a belt because I'm losing so much weight but because my jeans sag since they don't shrink since I can't put them in a dryer. Then I knew that Mark really really missed me when we went to Selfridges and he waited with me for an hour at the Starbucks instead of going home like I offered so I could get my eyebrows threaded. We met his friends for gourmet burgers that night and saw The Departed. I have never seen so many people shot in the head but everyone, especially Leo, was so good that I felt bad about judging him by who he sleeps with.

We had really good Chinese food Sunday and MN accompanied me to the EasyBus stop. We said our goodbyes prematurely since I tried to get on the wrong bus and then I ran after him so we could spend 10 more minutes together. I got to the airport super early so I shopped at one of my favorite stores: Boots. Today I started my second full week of classes and (knock on wood) they are so easy that I have enough time to go to the gym every night and read books and cook dinner even if it is only eggs. Most days I start classes at 12:30 so I can stay up until 3am planning trips and not writing cover letters like I should be doing. MN and I are meeting in Vienna next weekend and, since it's yet another school holiday, I'm going to meet up with some classmates in Rome. I am also going to Morocco in November and when he visits in December, we're thinking of going to maybe Sevilla or Cordoba. This weekend is another long holiday but I have a Friday class and rapidly dwindling funds so I'm going to stay in Barcelona and do all the touristy stuff I haven't yet done, which is a lot.