  So I am in Spain and hooked up to the internet.  I searched the whole city for an internet place and finally found one today.  Yeah!  It is costing me 4. 8 euro an hour but well worth it.  Just signed on to AOL IM,
 and was super charged that I might be able to actually IM with someone,  and then I remembered that it´ s like 6 am in the States. boohoo.  So here is what has happened on my vacay since I last spoke to you.  I left on Thursday and tried calling everyone I could.
 My mom and dad dropped me off and that was an experience in itself.  They were driving me nuts and making me even more nervous then I already was.  Once they left I was left with the dreadful thought of " Oh Shit,  I´ m going to Spain.
ALONE!  So I panicked for and just sat there in the terminal trying to breathe deeply and regain my composure.  Thats when I looked out the terminal window and saw a massive fire.  I immediatley thought,  Holy fuck,  a plane just crashed!
 The flames were so high and the black smoke was billowing into the air.  I was like thats it,  Im not going!  So I walked up to a JFK worker,  who was playing a game of Ms Pac- man,
 and I asked,  " Excuse me sir,  but could you tell me why there is a huge fire down at that other terminal?  He glanced up from his game,  for about a sec and casually said,
 " Oh that,  yeah they set practice fires sometimes,  so that they´ re ready for when the really thing happens"  and continued to play.
 Well,  I usually am not that afraid of flying but when you are on line,  about to board a huge hunk of metal filled with fuel for a cross atlantic flight and in the distantce you can see what it would actually look like if you plane came crashing down to Earth,  Well let me tell you,  it was more then a lil unnerving.  Can´
t they practice that shit somewhere else?  I mean seriously that is the last thing a person wants to think about before they board a plane.  So I boarded what i thought would be my last flight and in the back of my mind I kept thinking,  if patty were here she would DIE!  There would be no way she would ever get on this plane.  So what can I say about the my first Virgin Atlantic fligh to London.
 It was a JuMbO plane,  with stairs and some cheesey neon bar,  Yeaaah Baby! I guess the British like that stuff,  Very Austin Powers.  The flight was good,
 long,  but all in all not to bad.  You have your own TV in front of you and shows,  movies,  music and games on demand.  Watched a flick,
 listened to some tunes. and challened some other passengers to a lil trivia. of course I dominated the science/ technology catergory :  Landed in Heathrow airport, and looked out the window and quess what?
 you got it. It was raining and cold. and let me say a few words about Heathrow airport . what a pile of $  It was by far one of the ugliest,  ghettoist airports I have ever been to.
 But on the up side. I bought the next shopaholic book (  Shopaholic and sister) which I bet some of you haven´ t even heard of. Anyhoo,
 I read it and it was Great!  So when I get back to the States my fellow booknerds can borrow it.  Got to Barcelona a lil behind schedule and my moms friend was already there.  It was a huge relief when I saw him,  and let me just tell you he has been such a lifsaver.  So he drove me to my apartment.
 And it is just like the pics on the web ( in case you want to check am out. go to www. rent4days. com its the miro apartment.  Got that the aparment all squared away and then I was on my own.
 So since then I have been some what straving b/ c I arrived on friday and everything has been closed till today. well sorta of.  I am getting used to siesta and the fact that people here eat late.  I went out to dinner the other night with my moms friend,  Dago,
 and we ate at 10: 30pm,  well actually here yo say 22. 30.  So I have been trying to adjust to the way of life here.  I haven´
t done to much site seeing since I have been just getting settled into my apartment,  and have been trying to find a place I can buy food.  But when all seemed desperate and lost. on my endless search for something that was open Sunday after 5,  I saw it. like a beacon of light,
 welcoming me. STARBUCKS!  God bless America and its need to conquerer the world!  I strolled in to Starbucks,  ordered a mocha frapp and LOVED IT!  I know I am such a sell out,
 I´ m in a different country,  and being so American.  I should be drinking sangrias and eating tapas.  But let me just tell you,  it is so much easier going into a place where I sorta of know the menu instead of trying to see if the person behind the counter can deceifer my Spanglish.
 So here I am Monday,  July 12,  2004 in Barcelona doing the same thing i would be doing if I were home,  on the internet.  And when i go home guess what I´ ll making for dinner,
 if you guessed peas,  your a winner!  To answer some of your questions:  1)  No,  I still don´
t have a phone no.  but I am working on that,  hopefully by tomorrow.  2)  No,  I still don´
t know my address.  Well actually I do,  but I can´ t figure out which is my mail box in the lobby and let all how to open it.  So please hold off on mailing the I Miss You Rose,  Tiffany packages :
 3)  No,  I haven´ t met that spanish hunk that is going to sweep me off my feet,  or anyone else for that matter.  but that due to two reasons:
 1)  being that it has been bad weather,  rain for two days.  2)  you have to leave your apartment to meet people and I have been spending most of my time couped up. thinking about venturing out :
 I´ ll end with things I have learned since I have been in Barcelona 1)  Smoking is allowed everywhere here,  and I mean everywhere.  Walking around the airport,  resturants,
 stores. I am in smokers heaven and it´ s killing me!  I have to soak my eyeballs in water when I get back to my apartment.  2) They love to use every hour of the day to the max.
and you can find poeple eating dinner as late as 12pm some nights 3)  Everything is compact here. including my luxuary IKEA apartment,  little elevators,  and lil cars.  Patty´
s old metero ( Puparita)  would have felt at home here!  3) Barcelona is gorgeous,  just one block away from my apartment is a cute park and some beautiful sites.
I will send pics when I figure it out.  I will right more so keep in touch. love ya all and miss you tons!  Rose:
