My Pre-Feria Week

Some pretty awful things happened this week.
Also, some pretty good things happened this week.
Let's focus on the positive:
I had to go buy more panty hose, so I went to the store. While I was there the CUTEST little boy ran up to me and threw his arms around my legs. His mom laughed and told him to look up and he wasn't hugging who he thought he was. He looked up at me with the biggest, most gorgeous eyes and smiled. Then he hugged my legs tighter.
If I can find him, I'll be coming home with a baby Spaniard stow-away.
Thursday was my roommate's birthday. We haven't spoken in about a week and a half, and it's been twice as long since mutual eye contact was made. So, I obviously had forgotten about the significance of the date. At lunch, Mari was running around the kitchen throwing things together so we could eat when my roomie got back. By 2 pm (the normal hour for lunch) Mari had told me her own memory had failed her and she had told her the night before that the 16th was her birthday. Mari'd gone to the store and bought a cake and prepared a normal lunch because she hadn't had enough time to prepare something special.
By 2:15 I was really getting mad. My roommate was always late to meals, but I'd mistakenly given her enough credit to believe she'd show up on time for her own "party".
By 2:30 we'd not even gotten a call.
2:45 and the bowl of soup in front of me was taunting me. Then, the phone rang. Mari jumped up to get it, assuming it was... her. It was her son Rai. He told Mari that he'd just seen my roommate walking down Calle Sierpes (the hub of commercial shops in El Centro, conveniently located 30 minutes from Mari's apt.)
Upon Mari's hanging up, she and I immediately began cursing her name and eating.
Sometime after 3, my roomie came meandering through the door. Mari jumped up to deal with her (these Spaniards don't beat around the bush).
She told her that she was being incredibly rude for not coming to the meals on time. She said she wasn't going to get mad at her because it was her birthday, but, seriously, she didn't even have a good excuse and she knew why she was late.
She apologized and incomprehensibly, as always, tried to say thanks for the food and cake.
We finished eating in silence.
When my roommate had finished her meal, Mari got out the cake. We (Mari) sang happy birthday to her and we began eating. My roommate tried (for once) to make things less awkward by talking about the differences between American and Spanish birthday parties. Mari looked at me while my roommate wasn't paying attention like she was wondering if I could understand anything the girl was saying (which I couldn't) and I almost choked on my cake from laughing.
Later that night, it was time for dinner. Jacobo, Mari's other son, was over with his new girlfriend. We were eating tapas and drinking tinto de verano when my roomie wobbled in. She had a crutch under her arm and a feigned look of pain on her face.
We all asked what had happened to her, but I already knew. She'd gotten another tattoo... On her foot.
No offense to anyone with a tattoo, but were I trying to get a job in the White House, like my roommate, I'd make it my business to stay tattoo free. I don't think tattoos say, "leader".
She explained her tradition of getting a new tattoo every year on her birthday. Mari asked why she did that and my roomie reasoned it was because she was a poet.
[Blank stare]
Oh, vale.
My roommate also mentioned she'd be dancing in a Sevillana show the next day (she'd never taken a lesson), getting drunk with her friends that night, seeing as it was her 21st (She has no friends. Literally.), and she didn't know how she'd do either with her foot in such a condition.
Dios mio.
She's just a pleasure.
I watched a movie with Mari that night, it had Colin Firth in it, but I still didn't like it. However, I DID understand it (it was dubbed).
I got to go to a soccer game on Saturday! WOOO. It. Was. Awesome.
Soccer really needs to catch on in the US.
I plan on going to the Sevilla v. Barcelona game on May 9th. It'll be the most incredible thing... To see Messi play... OMG. He's a legend. AND he's in his prime... I'm gonna pee my pants! haha

Like I said, bad stuff happened, too.
Heather Genovese died this week and it shook me up a little. We weren't the best of friends but I'd always had a good opinion of her. It was just hard because it was such a shock and brought back a lot of bad memories.
AND there was the whole volcano thing...
But seriously, Jenny from my school here is still stuck in some other country and can't get back till tonight. It's been 3 days that she's been there.

Next week is Feria. (Gotta love a city-wide party for no reason, and the pre-parties for said party).
It started raining again today. Bad sign. Last time it started raining, it didn't stop for about 7 weeks...