GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLL

When I got to work today, I was well rested and, for once, not the butt of the who-had-a-crazy-weekend jokes.  That honor was bestowed upon Celia, who wore her sunglasses around the lab and would absolutely not take them off.  I joined several coworkers at coffee hour to chat and learned that Celia had flown home to her Spanish town and gotten eyeliner tattooed on her upper eyelid.

This was what Celia wanted, but she'd only had the top half of her "permanent eyeliner" tattoo completed.

Now, it didn't even extend all the way across her eye and it was apparently so painful that they couldn't do the lower lid, as she'd anticipated, but she was psyched about it.  She was so excited that for the next five years, she'll wake up already made up and ready to go.  That's it.  I quit.  I will never be a fabulous Spanish woman because I will not risk that proximity of needles to my eyes for purely cosmetic purposes.  Then again, Ellie was giving me a wide-eyed WTF expression, as if to confirm that this was not the norm for Spanish women.  Still, the piercings and tattoos that I see around the research center and watch my labmates get are part of a striking trend.  What's rebellious in the US is mainstream here.  The punk rock aesthetic is pop rock cool.

After work, I had a hankering for something sweet, so I finally got a chance to stop at the bakery RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW, called D’Aqui (or “From Here”).  It’s not completely my fault that I haven’t tried out their culinary offerings earlier.  I’m actually not sure how the café even succeeds, because it’s basically never open.  In the US, people would say this was a front for the mafia or a money laundering business for it to be economically viable, but the two ladies who seem to be the only employees are so sweet and innocent-looking.  Anyway, they offer a few daily dishes, some tasty-looking quiches, and a few baked goods, all of which rotate and all of which are written up on a daily menu posted on the shop’s website.  I decided to try a pistachio-topped muffin with a fancy name, which was supposed to be sweet.

 And sweet it was.  The inside melted like honey.  I think honey may have actually been involved.  But I’d really been craving a pain au chocolat, and it was still on my mind as I set off to meet Naaman in the Barri Gotic.

Crashing the set of a currently unnamed movie by an Italian director.  The actors joked that it was Lord of the Rings, the final unexpected installment.  When they saw that we weren't buying it, they said it was a spoof called Lord of the Homeless, because they play two homeless men and they pester a businessman in a suit in the 30-second scene that we watched them film.

Last night, I realized that tonight was Spain’s last for-sure game in the EuroCup, and since I hadn’t seen one yet, I was NOT going to miss it.  So Naaman and I cancelled all of our well-laid plans and decided to find a bar full of rowdy fans and engage in some action-packed futbol-watching.  We met up a bit early and wandered around, which gave me a chance to buy my pain au chocolat (highly disappointing) as well as try a few more local items including:

(1) A dough circle covered with sugar which was called something like coco de caramel

(2) Orxata, or tiger nut milk.  This is a traditional Catalan drink that tastes like sweetened flavored milk.  It’s pretty strong; they consider a large paper cup full to be a HUGE serving.  Between the two of us, Naaman and I couldn’t even finish this serving.

 Pepped up by the enormous amounts of sugar that we had consumed, Naaman and I went in search of a rowdy futbol bar.  First, we tried the bar that had been so loud during Spain’s game while I was at my cooking class.  It turned out to be Ryan’s Paradis, part of the infamous Ryan’s Irish Pub chain in the city best known by backpackers on Las Ramblas for its 5 euros for 5 shots special.  Skeptical, we walked in.  the ground floor was packed with Croatia fans, who sang along loudly to their national anthem.  The lower floor was packed with Spain fans and a few tourists, but there wasn’t a seat to be found.  We didn’t bother with the top floor, and sadly took our leave of Ryan’s Paradis so that we wouldn’t have to stand for the next two hours.

We ended up at Cheers, which is close to Las Ramblas on one of the little side streets.

The ceiling, covered with signed jerseys from every soccer team imaginable.

Though far more touristy than our previous stop, we managed to score a booth AND the commentary was all in English.  Doubly good.  After a few minutes, we’d figured out the basics and were swept up by the energy.  I do not enjoy watching sports; I get too antsy and want to play them, or bored and would rather go play them.  But something about this game and this bar and this moment was incredible.  I couldn’t look away, and suddenly I was that screaming lunatic fan who shrieks as the offense approaches the goal, sighs as the shot flies wide, and hoots when the team steals possession of the ball.  Me.  Proper New England me.  I have become a Spanish ruffian of the best sort.

Note the serious futbol being played in the background.

The game was tense, a 0-0 tug of war between Spain and Croatia.  Since Italy had scored against Ireland in their simultaneous game, a nonscoring tie meant that Croatia was out.  In the second half, Croatia was out for blood and far more aggressive.  It almost seemed like Spain, the defending champions from last year and the World Cup champions from 2010, might lose.  BUT! Never fear.  Spain’s wonderful goalie deflected each shot and in the last few minutes, Jesus Navas of Sevilla FC scored a goal.  It was two baby blue-clad Spaniards and the outnumbered goalie.  Croatia didn’t stand a chance.  And the bar! The bar erupted.  If we’d been closer to the other people, hugs and kisses with strangers would have been exchanged.  Instead, we dug into the most terrible nachos this world has ever seen and did our own little victory dance in our booth.

Did I mention that we’re now sworn fans and will be watching all of Spain’s remaining matches?  As they (should) say, when in Barcelona, right?  Go team, go!

Spotted: Hilarious and/or slightly surprising items for sale at my local grocery store chain, Consum.

Carcasses alongside all the other meat offerings.  Have I just missed this in the US, or do they usually not sell the de-meated bird bones at home?

 How can you resist buying a box of Crack Balls as you wait in line at the register?  They're Crrrrack!