Wednesday, November 14, 2007

ESSSSTUPENDO!!!

It dawned on me yesterday in the middle of my work day that one of my favorite words in Spanish is "estupendo." I love the way it sounds, the manner in which it is used, and also the fact that it actually has the "e" in front in reality, unlike other words such as "escooter" and "espaguettis" which have a silent "e" in writing but a very loud "e" in pronunciation.

Another phrase I like is "estoy instalandome..." I'm installing myself back in Barcelona. It sounds weird in English, but in Spanish for some reason the idea of installing myself sounds perfectly natural and appropriate. So please forgive my lack of posting of late... I've been busy instalandome, and I'm getting there slowly but surely.

A phrase I like in English is "I have no complaints," and it's one I've been using a lot in the past week and a half. The weather is beautiful, my apartment rocks, my job seems to get cooler by the day, my colleagues are really nice, and I'm living in the same city, time zone, country, continent, and hemisphere as Frenchy for the first time in nearly five months. Even Spanish bureaucracy has been shockingly easy. I got a social security number in a total of about 12 minutes last week. And I re-empadronamiento'd myself (registered at my new address) in a grand total of 15 minutes.

Maybe THIS is what I get in return for all my crappy travel karma! And I tell you, I'll take it!