"You're the one I want...oohoohooh..."

I love Halloween and although the Catalans aren't big on it, Julia and I decided to reinvent ourselves and go as the one and only Sandra Dee from Grease! Julia was the before and I was the after. All that was missing was our Danny Boy, but we decided to go for the Duquesa de Alba who I must confess is my new favorite person.
He made us laugh so hard that night and we managed to engage into the Halloween spirit as much as we could as we sang Grease songs so people got who we are...leather jacket, pink cardigans and all. It's nice to know I haven't gotten too old to play dress up.

On November 1st, Catalunya celebrates their own holiday, hence the wonderful four day weekend I had, by roasting chestnuts, sweet potatoes and drinking muscat. The streets linger with the smell of burning wood and the cold that has suddenly swept over us makes it feel so much like winter, reminding me that soon, so soon I will be home to visit again.

On the 1st I was invited to my first Spanish style basketball final and I had a blast. The only thing that was missing were the cheerleaders, but that was kindly replaced by an all too fanatic large man banging on a drum whilst wearing a Catalan flag and hat as the band played typical flutes from the region. All in all it was a great experience and I can actually admit that I liked the sport...of course, they were no Lakers, but they still played great and the team spirit was inspiring. And then there was today. Last night I traded staying up all night for waking up at 8:30am on a Sunday to go to the center, have breakfast with my good friends at cafe de l'opera, a beautiful antique cafe on Las Ramblas and to take advantage of free day at the museums. I saw an impacting exhibit of the World Press, which moved, tortured and made me think about our situation on this planet (more on that later), then we walked to El Born, saw the Pre-Colombian archaeological museum, ate delicious Shwarmas, drank mint tea and then went to another old cafe to drink coffee and chat about the day's events and art. On the way home as I rode my bike in the warm autumn sun and felt the now much chillier wind on my face, I thought, what a life. I have absolutely nothing to complain about. I live in an amazing city full of culture, stories, history with friends who are more than happy to jump on the ride with me.
As I told my mom last night, I am so blessed and so fortunate and the exhibit today reminded me of that so clearly. Thanksgiving is coming and although we have so much to be thankful for, there is so much we need to do so others can live more at peace and have the same feeling of gratefulness I felt today at precisely 5:05pm.