Sunday, June 22, 2008
As I am gearing up for my trip to Barcelona with Jen I decided to experiment with a travel blog (inspired by Anna's beautiful Barcelona blog: http://barcelonass.blogspot.com/). My former blog is a bit dusty and on lock down for various reasons (http://www.xanga.com/PaleDahlia), and besides, a fresh start sounds great right about now.
I leave in exactly nine days and it seems so surreal. A month in Barcelona - no work or school or major obligations of any sort. I'm feeling a little guilty for taking such a huge departure from "life as usual", but really, I think it is needed at this point. I've become so caught up in work lately that I have lost sight of what is most important - my family, my friends and myself. I think this will definitely help me get back on track (I'm suddenly compelled to compare it to How Stella Got Her Groove Back, minus Taye Diggs).
Luckily I'm slowly starting to resurface in my social network of friends (I seriously miss you guys!). I got to see Jane, Phoebe and Rebecca (from Paris days) last night for dinner. Phoebe took us to this incredible place called The Boiling Crab. And really, I don't think her description did it justice... "seafood finger food" did not fit the setting of butcher paper-covered tables, bibs, no plates, no utensils and giant plastic bags full of shrimp, crawfish, sausage, corn on the cob and super-garlicky sauce (which served as everyone's meal). Yes, the shrimp were still whole animals (eyes and legs and everything); yes, you're supposed to suck the guts out of the crawfish (I shied away from that part); yes, you eat EVERYTHING with your hands and nonchalantly leave your trash on the table. It was completely unexpected and entirely DELICIOUS. I'm still salivating and still full from the fantastic (and incredibly cheap) meal. Well, I still reek of garlic, too, but it's a price I'm willing to pay...
Some pictures of our culinary adventure:
The aftermath of my meal... and I wonder why Kundai never wants to take me to nice places...
Jane attempting to clean her hands after dinner.