The sound of water, couchsurfers and good byes...

Los Cahorros is beautiful. This country is. The people here are. It's so sad when the beautiful people has to leave the beautiful country. Luckily not everyone. Gjertrud, Lucie and Cecilia came with me to Monachil and Los Cahorros and will follow me on many more adventures untill my main Spain adventure comes to an end in July, together with many other beautiful people.

The last weeks have, however, deprived Granada of many other beautiful people. Some of the first friends I made in Granada, the first friend I made in Valencia (who followed me to Granada, and what would I have done without her help my first days here?), people I wish I'd gotten to know better, people I share unique experiences with, friends who have helped me, been there for me, made me laugh, invited me into their lives, given me Belgian beer (I still owe you a Norwegian in return!), and contributed to making my first semester as an Erasmus student completely wonderful and unforgettable. I look back with mixed feelings: happiness for being so lucky to get to know you, - and a touch of sadness for not seeing you as often as I could. I look forward with mixed feelings: I'd wish you could stay longer and enjoy the hell out of the whole year here with me, - yet I'm looking forward to meeting knew people all the while keeping in touch with you and hearing about your lives back with family and old friends. Together dreaming about visiting and travelling with each other. Crazy girls!

In the beginning of this week I had a visitor from France. A couchsurfer with many interesting stories and experiences, - and many wise words. Besides cooking and caring for me after my night in Hell - spending Saturday night running to and from the bathroom vomiting - he reminded my that we can't stay best friends with everyone. You have to let people go in order to let in others. The Chinese said that. He's lived in China for 5 years and is now slowly making his way back home to family and the friends who've stuck. I know that it's true. But that won't stop me from trying to keep in touch and stay friends, - even if huge distances and differences will guide us our separate ways. Our hearts are like the surface of the moon - no, I don't mean cold and lifeless - but in the way that a footprint left by someone will stay preserved forever. Friends will always stick, - if not forever than at least in that tiny part of history you were with them and made footprints in the moon dust.

We've written and said many words of good bye and good luck to each other. Many words of praise and love. If we meet again as friends or strangers; if we loose touch and forget each others' voices, or if we keep in touch and send photos of each others' families; we will have been important to each other here and now. You have been important to me. Some words have gone lost between us, which at times makes me a bit sad. But in the end - no matter how it will look - the most important words will stay: for a small, yet immensely important part of my life you were my friends, you shaped my, you opened my eyes, you challenged me, and I loved you.

Deja tu cuerpo, haz tu vida

Uuff... Where to begin? It's nearly been two weeks since my last post, - sorry mom...

Allright! We'll go back to Wednesday the 9th. I'd been at the library studying all day, like the days before, and was about to tell you about some of the things I'd learnt, - such as:
- More men kill themselves, even though 3 times as many women try to do so.
- During ovulation women will be much more curios than normal, and than men, probably in order to investigate the environment in look for a decent sperm donor
- Addison's disease will make you confused
- Hypothyroidism can cause acute psychosis (love the sound of that).

And so on... When I got the message that my brother had just woken up in the hospital in Barcelona without a clue about what had happened. He was spending a couple of days solo, checking out the city, after having done a photo shoot of Gypaetus barbatus (a big bird) with some colleagues, up in the mountains. Wednesday afternoon he got disconnected to the Matrix and went down like any 192 cm tall guy loosing consciousness will go down - hard.
A lot of confusion, language difficulties, worried parents and total uncertainty about what had happened ended in my buying a flight ticket to Barcelona for Thursday morning. Sure, I wanted a break from studying, but this wasn't exactly the kind I'd hoped for... I got up early the next day, went to the airport, had breakfast there, waited a couple of hours, and then went back home... Morning well spent! By then my brother was getting help from the very nice manager of the hotel where he was staying, and I could go back to my books and endless hours in the library - not without checking my cell phone ever so often for news. A night with only a few hours of sleep combined with the freezing trip to the freezing airport was just what my sore throat needed to get a strong hold on my well-being for the week to come. I can't say I really felt that sorry for my brother when his insurance company finally got him in a fancy 4-stars hotel - paid for by them of course - and told him to stay 2-3 days and rest. Does that make me a bad sister? Here's some brother bragging to make it up to him:

 

Gypaetus barbatus    Photo by Andreas Kalvig Anderson

So he's fine! He went back home last Sunday and is waiting to do more tests. Scary though... Wierd...
And what's even wierder is the satus update a friend of a friend of mine wrote on facebook, saying that his day in Barcelona was so strange! He'd been doing a city tour with a group when he saw this guy who suddenly blacked out and went face first in the ground... Coincidence? Waiting to hear from this friend-of-a-friend. It can't be too difficult to remember if the guy he saw was tall, blonde and was wearing an orange and yellow jacket.

So, no blogging last week. Preoccupied with black-out brother and exams. And after having done my last exam, Tuesday this week, I've been busy enjoying some tiempo libre, - por fin! When I was rotting away in the library the sun was shining and those who already had done all their exams were out enjoying it, - drinking coffee in the sun, lying in the park in the sun, walking in the sun, being in the sun, in the sun, in the sun, the sun, sun sol sol! So when I finally finished my last exam on Tuesday and went to help a friend - Lucie - move to a more central apartment to live with nicer people, there was no reason why the sky shouldn't open every pore and shower Granada for 2-3 days. We went shopping. In the rain.

Yesterday we went walking in the sun. And we did so so well that my face is still burning... Me pongo roja! We - Cecilia, Lucie, Gjertrud y yo - went to Los Cahorros. Stay tuned for more on that and pics! Now: siesta and then tapas with a bunch of couchsurfers and good people of Granada <3

Time for a change!

And a distraction...

I'm sick of the brown and unoriginal layout of my blog. Have been trying earlier to change the background to one of my own pics, but are having trouble with Bloggers size-requirements. Photoshop, I wants you, needs you, gotsta have you...

Maybe some good friends with PS want to help me untill I get it myself? Kristine? Andreas?

Anyhow... Shouldn't spend time on blog renewal right now, for two reasons: Neuropsychology exam 14. Feb. and Psychoendocrinology exam 15. Feb... In other words, - I WANT to spend time on blog renewal.

But right now I won't spend time on either one, - it's Sunday! And Sunday night means tapas followed by jazz jam sessions in Booga!

Jeg bor i et granateple <3

Mens vi venter

I miss having the time and inspiration to blog.

Haven't had the time because of people. Which is ok.

Beautiful people in my piso drinking wine and beer, eating salchicha, empanada, pankak and lots of queso.

Brother bringing beautiful pictures, brown cheese, and beautiful music.

Coming to Spain to take more beautiful pictures and cook beautiful paella for me.

 

Beautifully postponed birtday present making my toes beautiful.

Now I'm on my way to a beautiful fellow psychology student to study for a couple of ugly exams.

Catch you on the other side.