Today I met up with the Tex-Pat for the first time. We went to the Brückenfest [bridge fest], it was a blast. We really hit it off, and it didn’t feel like we just met for the first time or awkward in some way at all. We wandered around the bridges, ate some yummy German junk food [bratwurst etc.], and talked for hours. These are the best things about blogging, you get to meet people you would have otherwise not met and make new friends. I am sure we will hang out again soon!

I also took some pictures at the Brückenfest which is part of the celebrations for Munich’s 850th anniversary. That’s right, my hometown turned 850 years old this year! Throughout the summer there are festivities on several weekends, and all kinds of activities going on. This was the first time I went to any of them, though.

Some random pictures from today …

I have no idea why they were dressed up like that, but I think the cellphone makes it all the more bizarre.

The Isar beach

Jamming out at a bus stop

Lots of people out on the streets

Yesterday I went to the sneak preview at the Cinema with Lissy. They have that every Friday night, and you get to see a movie that hasn’t been released in Germany yet, but you don’t know which one it is until it started. Yesterday’s movie was The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Not a movie I would have picked to see but it was fun and entertaining.

By the way, the interview for the internship is on Thursday! Cross your fingers please!

I have been having a really good time this past week. Thursday I went out for drinks with Julia and Sylvia. It was really good to catch up, especially as I hadn’t seen Sylvia since January! We went to Escobar which is where we always go, and it was really fun.

Then, Friday was the Spanish speaking meet-up [organized through a forum I post on], which also took place at Escobar. It was the first time I went since they started the meet-ups, and while I was nervous at first to speak Spanish again [after three weeks of not speaking it at all!], it went quite well, especially after the first drink. ;) It was actually nice to speak Spanish again. Of course it was cool that it happened to be at my favorite bar - it is always at a different Latin-American bar / restaurant. I’ll definitely be at the next one as well, and it looks like Tina might be joining me!

Saturday I went to Ruben’s food party, he made empanadas and carimanolas, they were really yummy! I also talked to a guy from Barcelona there, and had to realize I really don’t speak Catalan, haha. But it was nice to talk to someone who knows the city. After that I went to Nektar Beach, a restaurant / club on the Praterinsel [an island in the river Isar that runs through Munich] for the polka dot dress night out. It was so fun! We were all [well, almost all] dressed in polka dot dresses, and I really had a good time.

Sunday I did … nothing. But that was okay, I spent most of the day in bed watching Dexter. Today I went to work. My supervisor is on holidays for this and next week, and so I was by myself at the office, but I am proud to say, I managed quite well. At least I think I did. There isn’t that much to do but I ended up finding a few tasks to keep me busy. I was kind of nervous about today so I am glad it went so well.

After work, I went downtown and got a purse to go with my outfit for the wedding on Saturday. I finally found one at Esprit that was even on sale! I had been looking for one for a while now, but it was hard to find one in a color, style, and size that would go with the dress I want to wear. Then I met up with Sandra [my co-worker / new friend], Babs [who I know through aforementioned forum] and Theresa, a friend of Babs. We went to see Mamma Mia at the theater. And gosh, it was so cheesy, but really fun and entertaining too! But one of the funniest things was actually before the movie started. They showed a trailer for Wall-E and someone in the audience was laughing in such a funny way that it made everyone around them laugh, including Sandra and me. Man, I had tears in my eyes, but it was just too funny. And Sandra and I have the funniest conversations. I really feel like we’re already friends, even though I’ve only known her for three weeks. It’s a shame that next week will be her last week at work but I am sure we will keep in touch and hang out sometime.

Well, that is it for me for now. I am going to be in Heidelberg from Thursday to Sunday for Jenn’s wedding. I will be staying at my former neighbors’, actually it looks like I will be able to stay in my former room. Former because I have pretty much decided not to move back there, mostly because I didn’t really get along with the guy who I’d share the bathroom with, can’t believe he still lives there, he was supposed to stay there for a few weeks at most, and that was last summer! I’m really looking forward to spending some time in Heidelberg, hanging out with friends, and the wedding. I’ll make sure to take lots of pics.

Speaking of, I have a bunch of new pics, but I will make a separate password-protected post for those. You should [almost] all have the password, if you don’t, ask.

By the way, all my grades from UB are finally online. I am mostly happy with them. Of course the ‘No presentat’ aren’t so great but I knew I’d get them because I didn’t take the exams. ['Not present' is what 'No presentat' means.] But other than that, I am pretty happy - I only got one AP, and even two EX, and all NT for the rest.

I had my last exam yesterday. It went okay, especially considering how little I had studied. Somehow I was bitten by the lazy bug in the past few days and I didn’t study more than four hours which was only about enough time to read through and summarize my notes. I think I’ll pass the exam but we’ll see what grade I’ll get [the exam only counts 50% towards the final grade], not that it matters anyway. So now I am completely done with school here.

After the exam I went to buy a box to pack a bunch of my stuff to ship home. I found an inexpensive way of shipping it, and I really hope it works out. The box is 50×50x40cm and weighs a bit over 25kg I guess [just 15kg of that is books and notes]. I had called GLS, a delivery company, but they told me that they only work with businesses in Spain. But the guy gave me the number of someone who does individual shipments. I called her and she told me that she works with GLS and that it would be shipped with GLS, and I’d pay €32 for 25kg or €36 for over 25 up to 30kg. I assume the way it works is that it is sent through her account with GLS and she charges a little more to cover her costs. I really hope this is legit but I got the number from the guy at GLS so it had better be. She is coming tomorrow to pick up the box [I hope she shows up!] and I will make sure she gives me some documentation and also her full name and some other contact information. The reason I am not just sending it with Correos [through the regular post office] is that it would cost me about €90 for 25-27kg which is so expensive. And another plus is that with GLS it will be picked up. If something does go wrong and I have to send it with Correos [obviously I would not leave the stuff here], I will have to see how to get it to the post office on Friday evening or Saturday morning [before my flight].

I have also been able to sell most of the things I wanted to sell. My roommates have bought some of my stuff, and right now all I still have left is my desk chair and lamp. If I cannot sell them I’ll give them to my friend Clara, but it wouldn’t be that bad  as I’m only selling each for €1 anyway. The main concern was to sell the wardrobe and mattress which I did [and along with some other small things I have made a total of €67 so far. [Let's just skip the part where Nuria and I hauled the wardrobe - which thankfully was very light - down the stairs from 4th [US] / third [UK & D] floor because it was a tiny bit to big for the elevator.] Of course I spent much more in the beginning but I didn’t expect to get back as much anyway. I am also keeping some things [curtains, towels, blanket, comforter], most of which is in that 25kg box.

By the way, I decided not to make any more day trips. That does mean I will not go to Girona, Figueres, Tarragona or Montserrat, but I had so little time left after my last final that it would have been really stressful to do that, and I figure that I’ll come back to Barcelona sometime, and just have to wait until then. That way, I’ll still have some places left to see when I visit. Clara’s mom offered me a place to stay whenever I want to visit, which is very sweet of her. She’s a very nice lady. She and Clara also washed my laundry for me [I only put the first load in the washing machine], which was so so so nice of them! I originally just wanted to wash it there, and then take it back home to dry and fold, but Clara said it would be easier for them and for me, if they just let it dry at their house [only took a few hours anyway as it was very warm and sunny yesterday] and if I came back at night to pick it up, and by then they had even folded it for me. So amazing! The reason I asked to wash my clothes at their house is that our washing machine is not working very well and doesn’t spin-dry and worst of all, the clothes smell after coming out of the washing machine. It is pretty gross! Luckily I don’t have to use it anymore. I now don’t have any dirty clothes and will wash some clothes at one of the hostels I am staying at, and then again when I am back in Germany.

Monday, Clara and I went to see Indiana Jones at the movies. I am not sure I liked the whole alien part of the plot, but other than that it was fun to watch, just like all the other Indy movies. Yesterday I said goodbye to Clara and her mom, though I’ll actually see Clara again after I come back from Andalucia and before I leave for Germany, and to one of my roommates, Anais. She is in France until next week and then when I come back from Andalucia she will be in France again, so we won’t see each other anymore. That really made me kind of sad. I wasn’t too sad about leaving Barcelona so far but saying goodbye to friends is always tough. Tomorrow I am hopefully meeting up with Iveta for coffee or something and with Anna for dinner, and it’ll be time for two more goodbyes. Speaking of, a week ago, Carmen came to visit in Barcelona for a few days and we met up with Anna for coffee and it was really nice to see her again [but she is from my university at home so no doubt this wasn't the last time we hang out].

I went to the grocery store earlier, and I am not sure if you’ve heard but the truckers in Spain have been striking since Monday I think, and stores are running out of fresh products, water and fuel, as they block[ed] high ways from/to Madrid and the French/Spanish border. My grocery store still had some fresh fruit but no fresh vegetables or salad at all. And not much water either. It was quite a sad view to see so many shelves empty. I really hope the strike will stop soon. I won’t be in Barcelona after Saturday, but I doubt that Andalucia’s grocery stores are looking much better either. The fishermen are also on strike [for the same reason as the truckers, gas prices] and have been for almost two weeks, but seeing as that doesn’t affect me [I don't eat fish], I didn’t know until I read that CNN article I linked to. If this strike continues it will also likely affect the transport of above-mentioned box, as it will be transported on ground [in a truck], regardless of whether I send it with GLS or Correos. There is nothing in there I really need soon, and likely, even if the strike continues for another week, it would make it home before I do, but I would like to know my stuff has arrived at home safely as soon as possible.

Today I did the last bookings for my trip. I booked the bus trips from Sevilla to Córdoba and from there to Málaga and then to Granada [for a total of €35, can't complain]. I also bought a ticket for the Alhambra for June 23rd, my birthday. It is very hard to get a ticket on the day of visiting [my roommate Nuria told me they had to be there at 5am to get tickets], so the best idea is to buy them online before the visit.

I am now pretty much ready to leave, I have even packed most of my stuff already. [I did that while also packing my other suitcase, to figure out what to put on top and bottom for going back to Germany in two weeks. I also printed out all tickets and hostel confirmations at the library today. Unfortunately I thought I had already printed out my flight ticket but actually hadn't so I have to go to the library again tomorrow to do that. I looked up the weather forecast for the cities I am going to for the next 10 days, and what can I say, [as you can see] between 29 and 34°C [84 - 94°F] throughout the entire time [the last few days of my trip aren't in the weather forecast yet, but I doubt they'll be much different. I'll probably be whining about how hot it is there soon enough. Summer has actually broken out here too, finally, with all that bad weather in the past month. It was 28°C [82°F] here today and it’s supposed to stay sunny. Looks like the low has finally moved on.

Okay, this post has gotten really long, but I hope you can bear with me. I will post my SPF tomorrow, but except for that, this will be my last post before I go on my trip. Depending on computer access [which should be fairly good] I’ll be able to post on my trip though and maybe even upload some pictures already. I’ll definitely keep posting short messages on Twitter though, so keep an eye out.

I ate a ton of strawberries earlier, and one was so big, I had to take a picture of it and post it on my blog [yes, had to].

My weekend was spent watching a lot of Lost, eating a lot of strawberries, taking a picture of one of them, taking a picture of bananas at the grocery store [yeah, really, they looked kind of cool], buying a pair of awesome turquoise capri pants, drinking some Iced Chai Tea Latte with Anna, and watching more Lost. Absolutely no time was spent doing anything productive. Because, damn, that TV show is too addictive. I will not say how many episodes I have seen because you might just send me to an asylum, but what I can say is that at the rate I am going I will be up to date with the current episodes within a week. That is if I haven’t melted from the hotness of the guys on that show.

While I am going through my pictures from Madrid [was great by the way, and I got home safely yesterday] until I am ready to post a recap of my trip, I am posting this meme again. Seeing how fun the first round was [and I am very surprised with how many of you commented and how quickly y'all got the movies, by the way, there are still two quotes that haven't been guessed, so take a look at that one again, if you like; I will eventually post the ones that remain unguessed from this round and the last one, though], and that there are many more movies I love, here’s another one. Lurkers, feel free to de-lurk and take a guess, too! And fellow bloggers, feel free to borrow the meme. Here are the rules again:

1. Pick 15 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly in the comments, and put who correctly identified the film.
5. NO Googling or using IMDb search functions. (That’s called cheating, folks.)

1. It’s not everyday you find a girl who’ll flash someone to get you out of detention. 10 Things I Hate About You, correctly guessed by Ellen.

2. As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. Very odd, what happens in a world without children’s voices.

3. Where the hell are my spanky pants? Bring It On, correctly guessed by alyndabear.

4. I wait all day, just hoping for one more minute with you, and I don’t even know you. City Of Angels, correctly guessed by alyndabear.

5. Dear Lord, we ask that you bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies. And we ask forgiveness, Lord, for the fornication that Mr. Sprock and me committed this morning on this very table. Where the Heart Is, correctly guessed by Kirby.

6. Guys just get a stick, lets play some pool, alright? And if ya can’t find a cue just pull the one shoved up her ass. Sweet Home Alabama, correctly guessed by Tanja.

7. If I hear so much as a mouse fart in here the rest of the night I swear by God and sonny Jesus you will all visit the infirmary. Every last motherfucker in here.

8. And then one time I ate some rotten berries. Man, there were some strong gases seepin’ outta my butt that day! Shrek, correctly guessed by alyndabear.

9. Maybe we’re lying here because you don’t wanna be standing somewhere else. Serendipity, correctly guessed by Kristen.

10. People wait their whole lives to see an ex when things are going really good. It NEVER happens. You could make relationship history! Music and Lyrics, correctly guessed by Kirby.

11. You know, I don’t know… They have a class system. He’s an aristocrat and, you know, we’re… we’re commoners. In fact according to his system, we’re… I think we’re probably classified as scum.

12. Mind your distance, though. Those balloons can be a bit dodgy. You wouldn’t want one of them to pop. Finding Nemo, correctly guessed by Evi.

13. That’s the spirit. Thank you. Thank you for your honesty. Now fuck off and die, you fucked up slag. Closer, correctly guessed by Maria.

14. Look, we all go way back and uh, I owe you from the thing with the guy in the place and I’ll never forget it.

15. All I know is that a man who didn’t know who you were was with you in that room for a half-hour and came out completely besotted!

By the way, all of you who have e-mailed me lately [this month], sorry about not replying, I am very much planning to, but have been very busy the past two weeks. Anyway, I will eventually get around to it, hopefully in the next few days. The same goes for commenting on your blogs. I still haven’t caught up with all the blogs from the pas five days, not to mention commented. [But that does not mean you cannot comment on my blog, *hint hint*.]