You can get lost anywhere

Exactly one week ago I was at the hairdresser's and I have never received so many compliments for a haircut like here. This confirms my belief once again that Spaniards are much more open and friendly than Germans. At the checkout or at the hairdresser's, you are always called guapa/bonita (pretty/beautiful) or cariño (sweetheart) and the cutest of all, cielo (heaven). A colleague always greets me with "Hola guapa!" which always makes my day better. However, it is said of the Catalans that they are comparatively cool and that people from southern regions are even more open. I will be able to judge that soon myself because in July I will fly to Sevilla with my friend Lotti for several days, which I am really looking forward to. It will be a great vacation. Something else I can look forward to is a concert that I get to hear next week at the Palau de Música. It's a Candlelight Tribute Concert where Queen songs are played by an orchestra (for about an hour). The Ed Sheeran Tribute Concert was unfortunately sold out, but since I googled the concert provider, I have been bombarded with advertisements. My roommate has already been to the Hans Zimmer concert this Friday. He really liked it. He only paid half as much as I did, but I was happy to make the purchase, I think it will be worth it.

Another thing that was worth it was spending €15.5 for Camp Nou. There were about 60,000 people in the stadium and the atmosphere was accordingly fantastic. Marie and I were sitting in the fan block, which was even better. We could watch a professional entertainer who was hitting his drum, singing chants into his microphone, and at the same time following the game. Not such a bad job. Beforehand, I didn't realize how big Camp Nou really is. But when the subway was overcrowded with fans and there was a real pilgrimage to the stadium, I quickly realized that Camp Nou is not the largest stadium in Europe for nothing. I was only disappointed by the popcorn that was too salty and it would have been cool if the game hadn't ended in a draw. But the 1-1 was enough for the women's team of FCB to reach the final of the Champions League. Unfortunately, the final is not taking place here, I would have loved to see that live as well. The way home was accompanied by happy chants from the fans and I fell into bed exhausted. We didn't do anything wild on Friday either, because from my last party experience I learned that celebrating while tired doesn't make sense. I also needed energy for Saturday because I had a date with a friend.

There are a few parks on my bucket list, including the one we went to. "Parc del Laberint d'Horta," the most exciting thing is already in the name: a labyrinth. In my travel guide, the park was even advertised with a picture, so I had high expectations. The park was really beautiful, even though we had to pay €2.23 for admission. But in reality, the labyrinth was much smaller than we expected, and you could even see through the hedges. That's why we agreed that it's impossible to get lost there. However, we were so engrossed in our conversation that even after we reached the center and wanted to walk back, we somehow still got partially lost. Well, it seems you can get lost anywhere. After a few dead ends, it quickly became clear that we were back on the right track, and we sat in the shade on a bench, chatting and listening to the sound of the river, which was a welcome change from the sound of the sea. The park was very nice and I liked it overall. If it didn't cost admission, I would probably go there more often. After that, I once again demonstrated my rather poor sense of direction when I tried to lead us to a café (the vegan corne), but we ended up at completely the wrong corner and even with Google Maps, I still had difficulties. As a reward, we had vegan coffee and because we were still hungry, we went to my trusted Indian restaurant (Surya-Mumbai Soul Food and drinks), which was a good way to end a nice and relaxed day. Overall, I have been there 5 times within 2 months, so I need a little break from Indian food. The rain didn't stop on Sunday and Monday either, at times I really felt like the world was ending. I didn't want to neglect Marie on the weekend either, so we went brunching at "Billy Brunch," where we waited in line for 45 minutes, but it was totally worth it. The breakfast was a solid 11 out of 10. The weather was still very good and hot while we were in Barcelona, so we also took a walk at the Arc. In the Ciutadella Park, which is right next to it, there is a pond where many tourists ride in boats. However, they almost all paddle in the wrong direction, which is funny to watch. Back in Premia, it started pouring again and I went to bed early with a slight sore throat. Monday was my day off, which was very relaxing. Although it was still raining, it's also nice to just spend a day at home sometimes.

On Tuesday, I had to go back to work, but unfortunately my sore throat turned out to be the harbinger of a cold. My sinuses were completely blocked and I had a splitting headache, so unfortunately I needed one aspirin per day this week. Taking a siesta at home partially saved me, I should listen to my mother more often: sleep is the best medicine. On Thursday and Friday, I was showered with love by the children, I don't know what was going on. Maybe they noticed that I wasn't feeling well. On Thursday mornings, I always spend time in the fourth grade. To wake up, the children always have to run several laps around the schoolyard, and to my dismay, so do I. But all the children wanted to hold hands with me, so for each lap, I always had two other children trailing behind me. That definitely slowed down my pace, but I don't want to complain, it was less strenuous for me. During the breakfast break, several children said that they want me to stay in Spain forever and work at the school. My heart almost melted and I thought it was really cute.

Friday was just one of those perfect days. It started with a trip to the forest, where the first, third and fourth grade were all present. After a 30-minute walk, where I was once again besieged by several children wanting to hold my hand, we played and had breakfast in the forest. All the children wanted to play with me and sometimes they even fought over me. They also generously shared their breakfast with me, so I received several dried fruits, fruits, and nuts. On the way back, a fourth-grader voluntarily carried my backpack. I had a smile on my face and I was motivated to paint a picture with the first graders in the art class. I did a really good job. I sat next to Pedro, a boy who is quite cheeky, including towards me, but on that day he was somehow really cute and sweet. Then the teacher praised the picture I had painted and said that you can tell that I sometimes paint and that I should definitely continue. That was of course a great compliment. The perfect day continued great because there were very few children at lunch. I had time to chat calmly with Berta (a colleague) who greeted me with two kisses and said she was really happy to see me. In the afternoon, I played with the children again, and after work, I was so happy and elated like I haven't been in a long time. I think this was really the best workday of my entire service here.

However, leisure time must not be neglected either. Lotti stayed overnight with me from Friday to Saturday, so I borrowed an air mattress for her. We chilled at home and then had dinner at the Italian restaurant in Premia at the Spanish time of 9:00 p.m. As is customary for an overnight stay, we talked for ages again. But the cold shower the next morning helped dispel any fatigue as our boiler is unfortunately broken. It will be repaired on Monday, after a technician was already here on Friday. Lotti and I went brunching at "Latin Brunch." We actually wanted to go somewhere else, but the food there was actually quite delicious. I had Tequeños (dough rolls filled with Nutella) and Arepas with chicken and Gouda, which is actually similar to tortillas. The food left us both very full, so we had to move and walked to several bookshops. I actually wanted to buy a new book, but I wasn't very successful. I had decided on "Forrest Gump," but I didn't see the point in paying the full price for a book with a scratched cover. Afterwards, we went to the Arc where we again had great conversations and simply relaxed in the sun. I enjoyed the time with Lotti as always. At home, I only had a short break because I went out again with a friend to eat vegan tortillas, take a walk along the beach, and have a McFlurry. There we witnessed something that you don't see very often in Germany. Several motorcycles were being towed away. Barcelona is the city in Spain with the highest density of motorcycles. I came home very late, around 12:30 a.m., and I had 23,000 steps for that day, so I'm really exhausted and my heels hurt. So tomorrow I will sleep in and have a completely relaxed day in Premia because I need energy for next week: on Tuesday, I'm going to the concert and maybe watching a roller hockey game on Saturday. Vamos a ver :).