Damaly arrived on Thursday morning and we were so happy to see each other, that we actually shed tears (if you know us, you know they're rare). We then went straight to Amsterdam with Lizzy where we cleaned up then hit the shops! There were all sorts of sales and I took her to Wok to Walk which is hands-down, my favorite place to eat. That night we went out in Amsterdam to some anti-fashion party before waking Friday morning to start our true journey to Barcelona!!! We flew out of Dusseldorff, Germany and arrived in Barcelona around 3:30 PM. The weather was surprisingly warm and my heavy winter jacket was completely unnecessary. We stayed at Kabul Hostel which was fantastic! They made up for the lack of outlets in the rooms with an insanely fun lounge area that had all the characteristics of a bar. We met the most wonderful Romanian girl named Andreea, because she too was searching the hostel for an outlet (we found each other in the laundry room where we tried to unplug a machine so we could plug in our flat irons; it didn't fit so we unplugged a vending machine instead).
Showing is better than telling so I won't bore you with too many details but I will say that Barcelona is definitely the type of place I'd love to visit several more times, if not live there. Besides gross Spanish men grabbing my ass, it's a beautiful city with so much to see and do.
The day after we got back was my 23rd birthday! Ewwwwwww, I'm getting soooo old! I spent the day showing my sister around my neighborhood and introducing her to my peoples. The family was kind enough to get me some birthday gifts and the kids were so sweet and cute.. Damaly definitely fell in love. We then ventured out into Haarlem where we met up with all the girls and I proceeded to get RIDICULOUSLY drunk. How drunk you ask? Drunk enough to pass out on the toilet, forcing an employee to come take the doors off the hinges since I wasn't responding to the banging. I remember taking a cab home but I don't remember falling asleep in front of my front door while Damaly slept in the bakfiets (it's a popular bike here with a big wooden basket meant for transporting children). Anyidrankwaytoomuch, we awoke at 530 AM, trying in vain to get the door open. We eventually had to ring the bell and my host family was not happy. I ended up sleeping until 10:30 which was also frowned upon before having to bring Damaly to the airport. Sad face for days. I miss her so much already. Having her here really made my life and I'm extremely grateful that she was able to come.
Things with the family are going great. I had great conversations with Thomas and Eline about how things were going and improvements that could be made on both ends. I don't think I'll be joining them to Switzerland anymore because it would be a good time to finally see different places in Holland as well as have some more time to myself. The kids are doing well; they're so sweet and so cute and I really do enjoy spending time with them.
