Hola Therveza Agua, Beerwater

Today began as most days in a Hostel began, waking up sweating, lights off, people passed out, smelling like funk, just a general day. For some reason, Erin and I were not prepared because I swear we walked in and out of the door at least a hundred times this morning, and the little asian guy (who was probably 14) kept sitting up everytime we walked in; sir, you can't have the hearing of a bat. I actually got so hot that I went out to the reception area and asked the guy if the kitchen was open because we had the reusable water bottle in the refrigerator...he said no, it didn't open until 7 (it was 6:38 at this point) and so I wet a paper towel and put it on my neck haha. Hilar! I finally went back to sleep. Annnddd, btw, we literally JUST, as of two seconds ago thanks to our Australian roomate (10:30 PM), found the air unit in our room...it's on full blast right now-awesome!

After getting a shower and some breakfast we began our trek to the beaches at Barcelona, what a fantastic idea (delicious croissants from the grocery store...and btw, Stephen is eating! I swear! We eat lots and lots of snacks, just not big meals), that was! We walked to the same subway station that got us to the hostel the day we arrived, and hopped on, only to be joined later by the tiniest woman I have ever seen, none midget. She looked to be South American, and of course she got on the subway and stood right next to Erin the entire time she was on the train, and came up to her shoulders, standing up! I've never felt so tall in my entire life. and Stephen was gawking, muttering over and over "literal miniature.." it was great. Unfortunately we were only on the metro together a few short stops...Crazy..

We arrived at the beach, and it was great, the water was really clear and there were sail boats, wind surfers, and all kinds of fantastic stuff. We walked down a ways to a little shop to pick up some chips and stuff (a towel was 12 euro which was ridic, so we settled for the cheapo mat instead). Of course the beach was packed with topless women, but less of the little male bathing suits, which was odd. It was almost more commonplace to be topless than have your top on...but it was pretty natural to everyone. We also talked to the receptionist at our hostel and learned to move down the beach to more so avoid pickpocketers and theives, deal! and we did! The beach itself was so beautiful, the only downside being the sand was like gravel (but it didn't stick to you as much), and the beach part was only like 40 feet wide, but the water was great. So we proceeded to lay there all day, read, watch people, and get burnt. The title comes from our experiences there, i.e. there are these south american men who roam around the beaches selling beer and water at a jacked-up rate, with a rehearsed speech, "Hola Therveza (Cerveza) Agua, Beerwater with no pause in between anything...one long run-together word haha. Also, one of them tried to leave their pack with us (en espanol) but we just repeatedly said "No." haha, he was probably harmless, but we take no chances.

After wondering around on a pier and having 100 self-timed pictures taken, we decided to get something to eat (and of course here comes the Stephen daily awkward moment...). We found a restaurant that was somewhat empty and were seated to enjoy a really good meal. I had the Jamon y queso pizza (w/ mushrooms, which I don't know how to say in Spanish) and Erin had the seafood pasta (pasta fresco con marisco. Delish! It had shrimp and mussels and was incredably light). We also had a bottle of wine, some olives, and bread with tomato. All in all it was a fantastic meal, although a bit expensive. (which isn't really, but when you're across the ocean with no money, everything is a bit expensive haha). I will let Erin tell the story of the awkwardness, but unfortunatley I had to ruin our good standing with our waiter....of course. Ok, 1) the restaurant was nicer than we thought...we walked in wearing T-shirts, cotton dresses and bathing suits, awesome. 2) We sat outside ON the beach in a beautiful porch/terrace-amazing 3) Ok, let me first preface this by saying: In England, a takeout order or a to-go anything is called "take away" so you get a "take away" order of whatever you want, etc. Soo, Stephen gets the pizza and we pretty much finish eating and the waiter comes back (who speaks pretty basic English, or so we thought) and asks us if we need anything (a first since we've been in Spain) and Stephen says, "can I take this with me" or something similar...anyway, the poor waiter only heard TAKE so he says "take away" and panicking, includes a hand motion of bringing the plate away from our table. Stephen (also motioning something with his hands), oblivious to it all, says, YES, thinking the guy is bringing some of his knowledge from England (and the takeaway sayings there). The waiter grabs Stephen's plate in a hurry and then asks me if I need anything. All the while, I'm noticing the panicked look on the waiter's face and realizing what's happening (the waiter only heard TAKE and so assumed that Stephen wanted his dish taken away---including Stephen's motions he probably thought he said something dramatic like, "TAKE THIS AWAY FROM MY SIGHT.") Anyway, I stepped in (to save the poor waiter from tears) and said "to go" en espanol, which, for those of you interested, is llevar. The guy finally clued in to what was going on and I'm sure felt much better, or at least I like to think so. :) Also, several little birds visited us.

We since have returned back to the Hostel, only to be greeted by a drunk 18 year-old canadian, and a blazing hot room, which Erin has fixed with her amazing conversational skills and good looks (Steve, please...and btw there are two canadians, hysterical.)