things i wish i'd brought to spain
i was very last-minute when it came to packing for barcelona. my suitcase sat in my room half-empty until the day of my flight. ISA, my parents and everyone else i had consulted had told me to pack as light as possible' so i did. now, after living in spain for a month and a half now, there are several purple dresses for women that i really wish that i had brought with me.
1.) pens, folders and notebooks - i only came with 3 or 4 pens that i put in my handbag right before i left. i didn't realize that pens would be expensive here, or that they wouldn't have normal, two-pocket folders! they have portfolio-style ones here that are really inconvenient. the notebooks they use in spain are graph paper which i find to be really weird.
2.) more makeup - i was shocked the first time i entered a department store and saw their makeup section. in spain they display brands like maybelline, rimmel, revlon and l'oreal as if they were really mac, chanel or bobbi brown. not only do they put these mediocre makeup brands on pedestals, but they charge A LOT more for them than we do in america. for example' the rimmel bronzer that i buy at home for 3 or 4 dollars is 10.5 euros here. most of the mascaras that are 5 or 6 dollars in america start at 12 euros in spain.
3.) my own laptop - erika and i share her macbook and ipad and alternate with who uses which one. i'm so glad she's willing to share both of these with me because my laptop had been broken for weeks before spain. when we both have to do homework, a paper or research on the same nights, however, this is difficult because we both need laptops and to be able to type. :/
4.) vitamins and cold medicine - i haven't been feeling well for the last few days and i'm kicking myself for not throwing some halls, pseudafed or benadryl in my suitcase. i bought some cold medicine at a pharmacy here but i really wish i had the medicine that i'm used to and know works from home.
5.) certain types of clothing - by this i mean purple dresses 2011 and more clothes to wear out at night. i only ended up wearing one pair of shorts that i brought and had to go buy a pair of jean shorts because mine at home were too short. erika and i have both already ran out of clothes to wear out at night and we've been sharing!
6.) broccoli and vegetables - okay, i am aware that it would not have been realistic for me to have put vegetables in my suitcase. in barcelona, however, they do not eat many vegetables, salads or anything that healthy at all. at our homestay, a salad is a rare treat and even restaurants only offer a maximum of four to five options for salads. while eating bocadillas, pasta or tapas, i find my mind wandering off to salad works. weird.
what i should have left behind'
1.) super conservative clothes -before i left for spain, i was informed that the spanish dress conservatively. i was under the impression that none of my clothes would be acceptable here, so i went out and bought a bunch of more conservative clothing'. which i haven't really worn. for the record, spanish locals dress more 'grunge' than anything else and are not particularly conservative from what i've seen.
2.) quarters and other change - i found a bunch of quarters, dimes and nickels at the bottom of my handbag after i arrived in spain. i have no idea what to do with them and i often accidentally grab them when i need euro coins. i should have completely dumped out my bag before leaving.
estoy harta de: 'i'm sick/tired of'
for example, i'm tired of our host brother wearing footie pajamas around the apartment because he is 21 years old and looks ridiculous.