oh boy, did i learn a lesson...

It may seem that I vanished for the past couple weeks- all because I've been under the weather.  The past week and a half has been a roller coaster of unhealthiness.  It started with with me waking up with a sore throat and a fever one morning, but I wanted to be a trooper, so I went to work anyway.  However, once I got there, I failed at fighting the sickness and ended up going to Andre's and pretty much passing out there for 3 days.  Luckily, he's got remarkable nurturing skills and took care of me.  He brought me to the doctor and I found out that I had strep-throat. But thank god for antibiotics... I started taking them immediately and felt better in a matter of days.

Until.... I thought I was better last Tuesday and stopped taking them because I wanted to go out for drinks and I didn't want to mix them. Worst idea ever.  Thursday night I had lots of wine/sangria (note the picture) at a friend's birthday party and ended up waking up in the middle of the night with the chills and a fever.  As well, my throat felt like it was the size of Nebraska, so I didn't go to work on Friday (yesterday).  Today I took it easy and read by the pool..and didn't feel too bad. Hooray for drugs!  But I did learn that I need to finish all of my antibiotics before consuming an abundance of alcohol, or just finish them in general!

On a happier note, Andre and I are officially going to Santiago de Compostela and Porto, Portugal in 2 weeks! I am absolutely thrilled. It will be the perfect way to end my Spanish escapades- I can't see myself doing anything better than this. :)

xoxo,

mp

on a more serious note...

Relaxing. A great adjective to describe my week. I actually didn't work as much as usual- which was lovely! I found some alternative activities to keep me busy-such as going to the beach, getting tapas/coffee, napping, and spending time with marvelous friends.
I spent the Fourth of July the most American way ever...by going to FRANCE. We went to Carcassonne- absolutely stunning. It is a fortified French town-meaning it's surrounded with defensive walls. It's complete madness that people actually live there. It looks like something from the History Channel or a movie set...unreal beauty.
This coming weekend, my roomie and I are going on a little getaway to the island of Mallorca- can't wait. The following weekend we're going to the beaches at la Costa Brava and godwilling I am going to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia [northwestern Spain] in a few weeks. I would die happy if I went there.
Speaking of Santiago de Compostela, I started reading the book, The Alchemist [but in Spanish] -which is about a young Spanish man, Santiago who is trying to pursue his personal legend.
The cover of the book says, "una fábula para seguir tus sueños" [ a fable to continue your dreams] and this got me thinking about life. I'm a true believer in the fact that you have to fight for what you want. We as humans fight for what we want everyday of our lives. Whether it's for a promotion at work, to get that cute boy or girl to notice you, or an A on an exam- we're all fighting for something.
Obtaining what you want takes an abundance of courage and patience. The book reads, "Pero el secreto de la vida esta en caerse siete veces y levantarse ocho" [ but the secret of life is falling over seven times and getting back up eight]. This quote not only shows that life isn't always easy, but that we all have the strength to jump back on that horse and keep going. However, some of us fail at getting back up because of a little thing called, doubt. This single feeling has the capability to deplete any motivation and causes uncertainty. It's impossible to achieve anything in life if you're insecure. You have to have faith. It's not called a fight for nothing- you're striving for something that you can't live without. So now it comes down to this, what's worth fighting for?
Naturally, here is a very fitting Mason Jennings lyric to end this post, "Be here now, no other place to be, all the doubts that linger, just set them free. And let good things happen and let the future come into each moment like a rising sun."

xoxo,
mp