My First US Visitor!

I reconnected with an old friend from high school, Johnny Smith last fall on FB, and when I'd come home we'd meet for drinks. It was nice, in a strictly platonic way (I'm moving to Europe for a year, what else could there be?). Until we kissed on New Year's Day, and things changed. We kept in close contact after I left and he finally came to visit me at the first of April.

He was taking a taxi from the airport and I was waiting on my balcony for him to arrive. My apartment is on a pedestrian only street that runs diagonal to the main road. It has tiny one way streets going up and down the hill, and I knew he'd be dropped off about a block away on the street that goes away from the main street. I finally saw a taxi with somebody in it looking up the street and knew it was him. The taxi pulled out of view, and I knew he'd be coming from around the corner, which he did two minutes later, dragging his suitcase. I was so excited, but wait- are those skinny jeans he's wearing? The man is almost 40 he can't be wearing skinny jeans. Oh my, does he really walk like that? Oh God no, how could I have been so wrong? Is that a fauxhawk? - This guys a tool! How am I going to spend two weeks with this idiot?

And then I looked down and the taxi was stopped right beneath my balcony, with the real Johnny Smith paying the driver and looking amazing, dressed like an adult with gown up haircut and everything. He looked up and smiled and my heart skipped.

It was so much fun to show somebody around, and be reminded of all the little differences between Spain and the US, that I just don't see anymore. It was also nice because Johnny speaks Spanish fluently. Actually the first time he started speaking Spanish I exclaimed- "Now THAT's what Spanish is supposed to sound like!" There's just such a difference between Mexican Spanish and Spanish Spanish.

But as Johnny soon found out, Catalonian's don't like speaking Spanish. And if you speak Spanish, well then you should speak Catalan too. So they'll just answer you in Catalan. I don't know how many times I'd ask Johnny what people were saying, and he'd have no idea.

The most important place for Johnny to see was the Familia Sograda. Still my all time favorite building in Spain. Johnny had mentioned that he was uncomfortable with heights. So I realized that taking the elevator to the spirals was not going to happen. I'm not afraid of heights, but the staircase is so small and twisty and there's so many people trying to get views that I had to take the elevator backdown. With all those people it was just nerve racking. So we walked around and I saw the secret elevator that goes up had no line. (the one when you first walk in had a 40 minute wait). I thought oh, well then it won't be bad, there's nobody up there to freak you out. So we got on the elevator, by ourselves (you're usually crammed in with 8 other people)and went up.

So we started walking up the staircase and all of a sudden I noticed Johnny was getting closer and closer to the stairs, oh my god is he on his hands and knees? It was like watching the evolution of man, in reverse. He turned around and sat down, "I think we should go". Ok, we can do that, as he butt bumped the way down the stairs, all I could think is "there's a big difference between uncomfortable and debilitating fear". But he was able to laugh at himself and I learned that maybe I should listen to what people tell me.

And to think, he was going to take the gondola ride because I wanted to go. We went for an amazing dinner at a 5 star restaurant, ate a bunch of tapas and cooked really nice meals at home. Shopping here for specific items is an all day adventure- but it was fun to pick out the perfect cut of tuna at the markets, haggle with the vegetable vendors. I took him to my favorite wine store in the market and he had a great time with the shop owner (Johnny is a beverage distributor- so he can talk with any bartender or wine expert there is).

Oh, did I mention Johnny brought me supplies from home? 12 boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese (Thick & Creamy), American measuring cups (2 sets- one for my friend Marc), a jar of Peanut Butter (also for Marc), Listerine Strips and two Secret Solid- Powder Fresh. Isn't it Romantic? Actually the best thing ever too, Season 2 of 30Rock! It was like heaven to be able to watch some American TV. And I couldn't wait to get into the Mac & Cheese.

The weather was on and off, so we kept our options open. One day it was finally nice out so we jumped on the train to Mount Serrat, which is an 11th century monastery in the mountains outside of Barcelona. We arrived at the train station and we looked up to see the gondola which takes you up. Johnny looked at it extra hard. My God, I'm such an asshole. I saw him at Familia Sograda, now I'm taking him a mile up a hill in Gondola?

He's was amazing good with this one, he did let out a big breath when he finally got out of it, The monestery is pretty cool, but no monks. Go figure. After spending a couple hours checking it out. We took the gondola back down and went for a drink at the bar at the base. The bar, is actually in a farmers backyard and we were the first to arrive. The family was having lunch and their 12 year old kid jumped up and poured our wine for us. More people came in, but then they heard the train and they all took off running. I looked at our hosts and said, the train doesn't arrive for another 30 minutes right? She laughed and said, right, that was a different train, we'll let you know when you have to go. Another farmer that had been there gave me plant that he grows. It's a hybrid between Rosemary and Heather. he explained that it was good luck and you get to make one wish from it. So I did.