Hasta el infinitvo y más allá

Oh. My. Goodness. It has been QUITE a week. First off, to all who were sympathetic to (or laughing at) my monetary crisis, it has now ended and I have my own money thanks to my mother, who somehow got a two week wire transfer to happen in one day.. Apparently when you tell the bank you have a starving kid in another country, they take pity on you and give your daughter the money before she keels over and dies. Also thanks to my dad, who fixed the scanner (he's exceptionally handy, a trait I did not inherit) without which I don't even want to think about the negative euros I would have at this point. With this much needed dinero I have paid my rent (thank God my landlord is a patient woman, gotten groceries (because I was in a perpetual state of starvation) and bought my soul back from Er so she no longer owns me (I had to borrow money in my time of need).

It was a relatively slow week for us, lots of wandering around town and Netflix and reading, along with a blur of intensive classes, sangria, friends, presentations, markets and perpetual happiness. Also I feel it important to mention that I had my first ever paella this weekend and not only was it wonderful, it was made with freakin' rabbit. Be vewy, vewy quiet... the Spanish are hunting bunny wabbits. OH and I took shots that were on fire and then others that literally froze my lungs, which is probably the coolest thing anyone did this weekend unless you're like Bear freakin' Grylls. But truly, I have never had so much free time in my entire life, and while it is absolutely liberating it is also entirely too much to handle all at once. I don't "do" perpetual relaxation. If you know me, you know the only reason I stop moving is because I'm eating, sleeping, or (most likely) I just tripped and fell. But the free time has been healthy for me, I think, because it's new and it's a break from the craziness that is my life, I just have to utilize my time - which, by the way, did involve getting myself a gym membership. The girls and I are signing up for dance classes next week and since the money for both is coming out of my own pocket, I have found a whole new meaning for the word "motivation."

So, I'm not sure how many of you know this but I have never really been one to advertise my birthday, I mean it's just another day. But with days like the one I just had and the night leading into it, I think I'll have birthdays more often. Yesterday started off with Er and I going into the city center in search of a nice pair of brown leather boots and a backpack for me. Suffice it to say I came back with neither of those things, but did find two new dresses and the perfect cardigan, as well as two new rompers! Oh, so all of January is just a bunch of crazy awesome sales in Spain in literally every store INCLUDING ZARA *drool* because it's a month long festival, which is pretty awesome if you ask me. Anyway, after we got back from shopping at around 9, we started to get ready to head out for the night! I did my hair for once and even wore a dress so most of you who know me probably wouldn't recognize me considering I actually looked like a girl. We finished getting ready at my flat just in time for our friends to come over! We taught our Spanish friends some American drinking games and then Er and Be gave me my birthday presents - my FAVORITE gummy bears, a chocolate bar and some delicious sparkling white wine! I've also heard tell of some cake that may or may not be occurring tonight - no argument here - but after my gifts we headed for the club! Oh, I almost forgot to mention the fantastic Spanish rendition of Happy Birthday that I was serenaded with at 12:02 our time - I didn't know I was capable of turning that red, but what can I say, I even surprised myself. Andddd before I tell you how late we stayed out, I'd like to preface this by saying that they start and end later in this country, okay? So the fact that we headed out of my house at 1am and I got home at 6am? Absolutely normal, I swear. AND we made new friends! Which is awesome! So we have more people to invite to family dinner! Personally, I'm excited.

This morning, after going to bed at 6:30am, I got to wake up at 10am to meet with my landlord (which sounds like evil torture but actually wasn't bad because my body took my sleep more as a nap than as something to actually sustain me and help me function properly in everyday society - which is unfortunate because now I lack the will or strength to move from my desk chair). My flatmate and I cleaned the kitchen (shocker - I actually hate when it's dirty) and then I headed out to meet Er and Be for my 2pm birthday breakfast of a delicious Turkish Kebab, which was, as usual, life altering. Soon afterwards, Luis, Edu, Jorge and Pedro picked us up from my place to go hiking! Honestly this was such an amazing experience. Facebook friends, take a momentary pause from the riveting post you're reading to check out my pictures (ignore the ones with my face in them). Technically the boys brought us there to get to the top of the lookout, but as the opportunity presented itself we decided we had to make it down the face of this compacted sand mountain thing to the beautiful water, which slowly changed from a crystal blue to a sea green to a darker blue as your eyes swept across it. It was not an easy journey and I wouldn't advise anyone who has a serious fear of heights (or small spaces that have a high probability of you falling off of them to your probable death) to do what we did. That being said, I'll be damned if you put something as beautiful as that water in front of me and expect me not to literally get amongst it. So, we did. We would have gone for a swim but we'll have to give it another month or so because arctic plunges are so not my thing. Speaking of which, the weather today was a birthday present in and of itself, it was an absolutely perfect day out and I couldn't have asked for better weather in which to appreciate our hike. On the way back, Luis stopped the car on the side of the tiiiiny little jeep trails you take to get up and down the mountain (while praying no one is trying to go in the opposite direction that has a bigger car than you do) and we picked (stole) some perfectly ripe oranges and lemons from the orchards lining the road. I actually just got home about an hour ago and am writing this while eating dinner (leftover pasta from yesterday) and avoiding taking a shower. Probably headed over to Er's soon to bake a cake and watch some Game of Thrones and cuddle - the past 48 hours wiped us out, I don't know how I'm even gonna get my legs to walk the 10 minutes it is to her house, but what can you do. Oh, and we're doing our first family dinner tomorrow! I'm gonna make Mexican, it's a fan favorite and anything my mom gives me a recipe for is going to be amazing regardless. All in all it has been the best birthday I could ever have asked for in a country as perfect as this one and I am so blessed to have spent it here in Murcia!

Ah, yes, the word of the day! Today it's more of a phrase, but "hasta el infinitvo y más allá" literally means to infinity and beyond. As Buzz Lightyear-y as that sounds, it's kind of how I feel. It's like the opportunities are endless, and not in a dreamy-maybe kind of way, but like an actual real way. Like, I'm going to Milan next weekend. Why? Because it's my friend's birthday and because I can. MILAN! Who gets to do that?! I am repeatedly struck by how truly blessed I am with not only my life but specifically the people in it. I don't know what I would do without them and I hope to God I never have to find out. Point is, there is an infinite number of ways and directions my life could go from here and not only am I not scared of them, I'm not even worried about them. Why? Because I feel as though truly, anything could happen. To infinity.. and beyond.