Spanish diary : Part-1

Hola people!

How’s 2014 treating you?

The new year did not start in a very good note for me, but then things fell in place and things are back to – okay. I’m beginning to enjoy this life- with new people, new place, and new things to learn from. Barcelona is beautiful- I love the sky here- the ‘blue’est I have ever seen, I love the way the wind gives me company on my lonely shopping trips, I love the way strangers smile and say ‘hola’ to me. I started my Spanish classes some weeks back and I’ve learned (only) enough to ask the shopkeeper for things and end up puzzling him.

The first months are always tougher than the rest and I’m hoping I can overcome all the hurdles with time. I have lost count of the number of times that I doubted my abilities, which is new to me.

There were even moments when I felt like the dumbest person to have walked the earth. But I have people who can make me feel otherwise, restore my faith in myself even when they are miles away.

In the last one month and a half, I have been doing more experiments in my kitchen than in the clean room. *Sigh.*

I guess all my bad luck is getting used up in the kitchen. Good for me. ;)

To top it all, I have friends who send me ‘appam- egg curry ‘photographs straight from their dining tables. These photos arrive right when I am mourning over the sambar-like-gravy that tastes nothing-like- it. Talk about timing.

After I posted my first few pictures from Barcelona, I’ve had people telling me how far I’ve gone in life. I think it’s mostly because I’m in a ‘phoran’ country and in India everything that is ‘phoran’ is so cool. I don’t mean that I’m not a happy person now; in fact I’m living my dream now, but it isn't that easy.

Trust me when I say that life abroad may be fancy in pictures- the parties, the places, the multinational friends- but nothing ever compares to the carefree life we had in the cocoon of our families. These, I think are the side-effects of growing up. I don’t like the fact that two of my closest friends – one’s the girl who exchanged her skirt with me when mine got muddy after a game of kabbadi and the other is someone who always wanted to be in my team even when I was a total loser in sports- are getting married.  I can’t be happier for them because they are both getting married to the love of their lives, at the same time I cannot get myself to face that in no time our conversations will change to what they cooked that day and their adventures with the saas.

I cannot make it for their weddings, and it sucks. Learning my lessons from this, I sent messages to my other close friends giving them a strict notice that either they are getting married in December or not. I know I am a lucky bitch when some of their parents agree to that. :D

With my first salary, I made my decision to bring smiles on the faces of people who were not as privileged as many of us. So, this June when the schools reopen one child in rural India will have a new school bag full of goodies that he/she badly needed. This was a small promise that I made to myself when I got my first PhD offer.I don’t mean to advertise this tiny donation and get applauded. For me knowing that I could bring a smile on child’s face is enough and it gets me a high. But, I mean to persuade people to donate; I mean to encourage people to share their little joys with those who were not as lucky, just like Dhanya inspired me to. Did I tell you she sponsors a child through Worldvision? Yes, she’s one of those nicest women on the planet. For those who did not know, Worldvision is a humanitarian organization which has been making lives better for a lot of people in India and many other third world countries.

Got your first salary? Kid’s first birthday? Parents’ wedding anniversary? 

Like they say:

*Wink* *Wink*

Share happiness. Spread happiness.

KKG