Life Lessons from Barcelona

Here are some of the most important things I've learned in Barcelona, in no particular order but I have a thing for numbered lists.

1) Do what you love.  This one sunk in when I was waiting in line to enter the Sagrada Familia.  I was watching a man busking (buskers are street performers.  This man was playing a guitar) when I had a revelation: this man is doing what he loves doing.  This is not always the case with buskers but this guy wasn't very good and still seemed to be enjoying himself.  He's probably making enough money to get by and every day he gets to do something he loves.  So the moral of this one is to be happy... support yourself but don't feel like you have to earn money to meet societal norms and standards.

By the way, some people who started out busking (according to Wikipedia) are: Bob Dylan, Steve Martin, Jimmy Buffett, Robin Williams, Cirque du Soleil and The Blue Man Group.  For more information, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busking 

2) Accept a culture for what it is (not what it's not or how it compares to another one).  The culture here is far different from in the US.  Back home, I'd never think of having tomato spread on toast for breakfast or take my time doing nearly everything rather than bustling around.  I probably wouldn't try chicken liver or walk by a stand in a market selling sheep heads without giving it another look.  But Barcelona isn't in the US so I have tried to embrace all of these things.  I don't put my napkin on my lap, I use a piece of bread as an edible utensil, I wear a jacket and scarf when it's over 60 degrees.  Besides my eating, walking, and dressing habits, my ideas have changed too.

3) Be flexible.  You can't predict that your bus won't come or that you're going to wind up with lamb ribs on your plate for dinner (sorry, I obviously have a food obsession) or that you're going to wind up walking into a rally or see some fascinating street performance.  Take the interesting road, not the one you'd planned on taking.  When you're walking and something catches your eye, check it out.  Turn down that windy street or stop to watch people dancing, buy a pastry from the delicious bakery (here I go again) and snap a picture of the door painted a brilliant turquoise if that's what floats your boat.

Okay, okay, this door was in Italy.

4) Really, it's not going to matter if you're a few minutes late (did I just say that?!?!).  Take the time to appreciate where you are and the moment you're in... you'll only be in a moment once so make the most of it.

5) Whatever you do, do it right... no regrets.

Sarah doing it right at a Barca game (it took a few tries but she got it!).

7)  One last thing since I know this list is probably boring but... EAT MEAT!  As a former vegetarian, I know I would have hated hearing this only a few months ago but it's kind of a metaphor.  Being open to food (or, on a larger scale, the culture) means that you can order anything on the menu and eat it (I'm losing track of this metaphor and am probably only thinking like this because I'm starving but... when you're open to whatever comes your way, you'll always be able to give it a shot and who knows when you'll try something delicious or, um, do something life-changing!).  Okay, now that I have figured that metaphor out, I'm going to go count the minutes until dinner.

Cheers, everyone!