Me llamo Fierce

For the grand finale of the Month of Molly, my good friend and fellow Information Guide MelGrau came to visit for a long weekend.

MelGrau

She kindly interrupted her semester abroad in London for the sole purpose of closing out my birthday celebrations, and to bring me this:

"What an appropriate (and awesome) birthday treat!" I thought. In her birthday message, she did explain that the card does not really apply to me considering my "eternal reign as a Boss Lady" obviously will never be constricted to one day (which is exactly what I thought when I read the front. Pfff, only one day? Yeah right.), but it still gets the point across. She also explained that one of the primary reasons she got me Dragon Hands, which are tattoos for your hands to make them look like dragons (as if you need a reason to give me those!), was that I can use them to teach my students "My name is Fierce." Sweet.

Unfortunately, I was still quite busy with classes while she was here. But we got in plenty of sightseeing over the weekend! And lucky for MelGrau, I have perfected my Tour de Barcelona. She is my third round of visitors in less than one month, so it would be an understatement to say that I'm familiar with the tourist routes. Indeed, MelGrau and I took the same walking tour I did with VIP on my birthday, and Jojo before that. I've also learned a lot of fun facts and historical tidbits to share with my guests to ensure they are getting the full and well-rounded cultural experience. Gosh, it must be great to travel with an Information Guide... (Should I start charging people for this?)

When I finally finished my busy work week, we got up early on Saturday to begin the tour. First stop: La Boqueria

 

I wasn't joking about the tastiness of the juice, MelGrau.

Freaking out about cheese. A true Badger.

Next stop: The Gothic Quarter

The Cathedral

When our bellies starting grumbling, we stopped for a hearty helping of paella at the same restaurant we went to on my birthday the previous weekend (A huge platter of delicious paella for 7 euro? What a find. Twice in one week? No problemo.)

In the plaza in front of the restaurant in the Gothic Quarter

After lunch, we wandered through the Gothic Quarter some more to my favorite dessert cafe for some Spanish hot chocolate and churros.

Next, we fought through our food comas and the urge for an afternoon siesta, and headed to the beach to eat our strawberries and cheese we bought from the Boqueria and watch the sunset.

On the pier with our snack

On our way back home, we walked through my neighborhood, one of my favorite parts of the city, for an evening stroll.

Arc de Triumf

We stumbled into a children's festival of some sort (I think it had something to do with nutrition?), with lots of tiny Spaniards painting on the street and jamming to a live concert in front of the Arc.

Concert in front of the Arc. Lot's of little kids screaming and jumping up and down. Yikes.
Never a dull moment in Barcelona...

Next thing on the agenda: A night out on the town. So I took MelGrau to one of my favorite tapas restaurants. Again, the same one we went to on my birthday. So again, twice in one week...It's whatever. They're really good! And it's a great way for people to try lots of different tapas, so it's become my restaurant of choice for tapas newbies.

So many to choose from!

"Just pick one of each, MelGrau!"

After our bellies were stuffed, we headed to Razzmatazz for some dancing and to also celebrate the birthday of my new friend, Mark from Liverpool. Yes, yes, I know. Twice in one week. It's whatever! It made for a great end to a great trip!

MelGrau and I at Razzmatazz

Just like with other members of VIP throughout this month, it felt really good to have a really good friend around. But this time for different reasons.

When Jojo came to visit, I was just starting my new classes and life in Barcelona. I had lots of questions and doubts. I was figuring things out. But this weekend, and only a mere month later, things have already changed. I now have quite a good handle on things. I have a full schedule of classes (probably too many, to be honest), and they are going really well. I don't have a real future plan yet, but I do have an everyday routine. I have answered a lot of my questions that used to weigh on my mind. I even have a plan to get a Spanish bank account!

And so now, I've moved on to bigger and better challenges. Living in a foreign country in a foreign language can take it's toll. I don't notice it every day. Primarily because I love it. I love speaking and living in Spanish like a real Spaniard. I am also really busy. Between classes, fiestas, and visitors every weekend, I don't have time to dwell on my life in Wisconsin. It's easy to push it aside and continue with the day.

But every now and then, when it's cloudy outside and I stop running to catch the Metro, I feel the stress of being outside of my bubble. I know a lot about Spanish culture, and most of its customs fit me well. I can speak the language fairly fluently, so I hang out with my roommates and build friendships. And yet, it is still a challenge to completely be myself in a foreign culture. Sure, I know how to say "cool" and "shit" in Spanish, but it's still not the same as the way I say "sweet" or "dang" or "dude" in English. Sure, I have adapted to the Spanish lifestyle pretty easily, but sometimes I want to go to the Terrace or eat a greasy cheeseburger. Sure, I have made a few good friends here, and we have made lots of good memories already. But I don't understand all of their jokes, and they certainly don't understand mine. They get a sense of the kind of girl I am, but have never seen me or understood me within my own context. They don't know what it means to be a Badger, an Information Guide, or a Boss Lady. They don't know how politically involved I used to be, or how much I really love to dance, or how silly I can really be. I haven't even gone off on a feminist rant for months. And that's one of my things. It's all part of the Molly package.

So this time, my good friend supported me in a different way. Always a reflection of your best qualities, a good friend reminds you of your strengths, your essence, your charm. During our long walks and in depth conversations about our lives at home and abroad, MelGrau helped me to remember how I am in everyday life, and gave me an escape to relax and just be myself. The truth is, when I read her card, I realized that I had somewhat gotten away from myself--that for a moment, I had forgotten that my name is indeed "Fierce."

It's not to say that I have changed in any way, or that I don't still have a fascination with fake tattoos and T-Rexs and all things feminist. But when your life changes in almost every way possible, it's easy to forget those types of things. When you're living in a completely different bubble, surrounded by people who constantly understand more than you, it's easy to be shy, introverted, and apprehensive. Lucky for me, MelGrau brought me Dragon Hands and stood by my side for a long weekend.

And so when she left after our action-packed weekend, I realized how much I had needed her, and how good it was to have her around. And even though she's back in London, gallivanting around for the rest of her semester "studying" abroad, I know she'll always be there. Boss Ladies stick together, after all.