Gratuitous Weekend Update

WHAT I LEARNED TODAY:
If you're going to mess with Germans, it's best if you don't speak German.

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So, with a holiday tomorrow/Tuesday (meaning no class) and no teaching today or assignments due, it was a killer weekend. Highlights include:

1. Adam almost having his pocket picked as we danced with street vendors in Plaça Reial (our usual hangout):
He was having a gay old time dancing about when he suddenly realized that his street vendor companion had grabbed his wallet. In a stern Manchesterian accent, he demanded it back. The vendor smiled sheepishly. Adam insisted with slightly more gusto. The vendor responded with Spanish expletives. Kelly, smelling danger in the air, ran from the other side of the plaça and pointed her cigarette in the dude's face, insisting that he "give me baby back his wallet" (Kelly refers to all of us as "me babies"). Knowing there was no messing with Kell-Kell, the vendor surrendered the wallet and took to the hills.

2. Watching the England vs. Wales World-Cup-qualifying football match in a dodgey English pub:
There were English with pints, there were Welsh with pints and leeks (the symbol of Wales), but most importantly, there were 9,000 of them crammed around me in a bar the size of a pint. Surrounded by half-joking cries of "C'mon Wales, smash those damn imperialists!" and "Get yer leek outta my face!" I watched as Wales put up a good fight against England, only to lose 2-0 after David Beckham made a mind-shattering goal with about 8 minutes left.

3. Pretending not to eat McDonald's:
We were HUNGRY, ok? We had just walked from the football game to the port to catch a movie only to find that we had gone to the wrong theatre and had to treck back the way we had come. We were there, the hunger was there and the McDonald's was there. Just know that we took great pains to hide the golden arches on the carry-out bags as we sucked down bite after salty bite speaking in our touristy British/American accents. I have to stop writing about this now; I wasn't even supposed to mention it to anyone.

4. Miscommunicating in German:
Kelly was being acosted be elderly Germans and Oliver tried to come to her rescue. Grabbing her around the waist he kept saying what he thought was"Dies ist mein junges Mädchen" or "This is my young lady." What he actually was saying was "Ich bin ein junger Junge," which translates as "I am a young boy." Suffice to say, the Germans were freaked out and moved on and we all understood why once Valerie, who actually speaks German, filled us in.

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In more boring news, I have a cell phone now. If you're at all interested in having the number, email me. Additionally, once I have internet in the apt, I'll post some photos. Be aware, these will be establishing shots like "look, this is my bedroom" or "here is my teaching cohort," which will be posted for the sake of my mom. Love ya, Kath!