viva la vida

Part 1

Live Just Today.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow. With this consistency of time, we have no concept of “just” today. You see, today is after yesterday and today is before tomorrow, and therefore today is today. But why can’t today just be today? It is “a” day, - take ownership and live the day. Don’t let it belong to tomorrow or yesterday. But you have to grab it now because there’s no stopping. It possesses steady beats of 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86400 seconds. This never-ending percussion will not wait for you. You need to listen to its rhythm and harmonize yourself with the elastic shadows. You need to form your dance in the bends of light and learn to live through times like these. Laugh with tears and cry with smiles. Dance in the pouring rain and sweat it out in the burning sun. Balance it out, breathe, blink, and sigh cohesively with your timed environment. Too much rain will cause floods and too much sun will cause fires. You don’t need to fight these battles. Stop this war. If it rains, let it pour. The sun will be shining soon because its time will come. There is a time, a rhyme and reason for everything. It is up to you how to deal with it, and how to live with it. Create your song, create your beat. The time signatures are already there, and they are waiting for your melody. Play it as you wish because it is yours. As for yesterday and tomorrow, let it be – be just to “day.”


Part 2

Where to start?

I went to Sitges for a well-deserved weekend a couple of weeks ago, with my friend Diana. It was a 30 minute train ride south of Barcelona to a quiet and small beautiful city. Laying down on the beach and eating gelato was pretty refreshing.

I had a great time on Eid. I went to London and visited family and friends. I missed the sun that weekend, but I did enjoy the cloudy and rainy weather while it lasted. I did not care too much for the cold though... I felt as though I was back at home, spending time with the fambam in London and making new memories with missed faces. And yes of course, my closet is currently filled with boxes of chocolates :)

We had a dinner for the BCA students on Thanksgiving last weekend. It was nice to see the smiling faces of the BCA students after a while - everyone has been busy doing their own thing. The turkey was yummy, and so were the mashed potatoes. mmmm. I do miss home cooked food, and Soka food. But I will be having that shortly - I have 2 days left of class, and my finals next week. Who ever thought I would be writing an essay on the Spanish Civil War in Spanish? fun stuff.

It's just a matter of a couple of weeks and I will be done with my term here in Barcelona. I gotta live up every minute of it, and every second of it. I keep telling myself that I don't have time to miss home.

Last night, there was a partido de futbol: Barca vs. Madrid. Barca won 5-0. I was comforted by a joyous atmosphere. Bars were completely full, with people trying to peak in windows in order to get their eyes on the screen. It was drizzling outside, and people were bundled up with their bubbled jackets and FC Barcelona flags. They were all yelling and singing - and it all began when the score was 0-0. The vibrations of their excitement was a lot to take in - I did catch myself smiling and laughing a few times... just listening to them and watching their smiles made me happy. The feeling of life here is a lot different to that in California. I will miss this for sure.

P.S. Shakira is an amazing performer. I was lucky enough to see her here in barcelona :)