Espana.

Day 1:
Reach Bush's house armed with passport, money, suitcase, myself...am greeted by bushra "Sam! i haven't packed yet...!!" *thought...WHAT?!?! we're leaving in an hour!*
Others come, one by one, someone was late *coughs*...remember laughing, can't quite remember what about...was happytime though. laughed at melo. They all laughed at me, something money related and me being a ditz (one of many times on this holiday). Got in mini van...airported. At airport a liiiiiiiiiiiiittle bit too early...made a table...played cards...start of the "you're so racist!" joke...(five asian girls and the token white girl...cmon!) Uh...toileted. Anneka's bladder was once again proved to be the size of a pea. Ate sweets :)
Walked through checkout thing, where they scan your stuff. So we were standing in the queue...watching people get frisked n stuff...(cos of heightened security i guess...)...everyone had to take off their shoes...thinking..."urgh! wierd! never been frisked before...ergh!" so we got to the front and i went through first...got frisked...so so wierd. And then noone else did!! I was the ONLY ONE! gutted...and confused. More laughing-at-sam time...guess i just looked more shifty :P
Walked to boarding gate...talked to funny guy at shop about A levels and lack of tills with Ann as she was buying a book. Sat on chairs, talked about...something related to chineseyness. Near a pub : *naomi..."lets get a drink! get on the plane drunk!..." proceeds to tell story of drunken-16-year-old-friend-being-transported-off-a-plane...* Anneka toileted again. Got on plane, ahead of all those suckers who thought they could get on first...mwahahaha :P amused some people.
Got on airplane...group A! woot! sat near the front of the plane. Next to...naomi and a window. Talked of randomness, ate pringles.
Landed in Barcelona..sunny ol spain. Was HOT. out of airport, into taxi, to apartment. Was around 10.30.
*Taxi driver is driving down back-alleys/streets, looks dodgy...Bush:"is this where we're staying? looks kinda scary, whats with the graffiti?"Can't believe taxi's drove down such small alleys...didn't even look like a road! Carries on driving...taxi driver looks lost...tries to talk to us in spanish...we all return the aparent instructions of some sort with blank stares. Naomi though, nods and looks insightful. Bushra " Nay, whats he saying?" Nay: "how am i supposed to know?!" Sam: laughs at the hilarity of bushra and naomi's face.*
Anywho, reached some alley, with some interesting looking people and groups of teenagers...taximan points, nods, points again, says something in spanish, seems to indicate the apartment is somewhere down the alley and on the left. We all nod, smile, say gracias (spanish!) and walk away to our doom...ok not quite...but it felt kinda ominous. Was excited to be in spain. Others looked tres nervous. Wandered around for a while...down a street...found road...!yes! found apartment...yes! rang buzzer...!yes! and waited...nothing. mmm...
*someone: "ring the buzzer again...maybe he's sleeping."*
(we were expecting the dude to be there to give us the keys etc...)
Waits some more...still nothing...
Waits for another 10 minutes...mel rings mum...in england...! credit disappears from phone...
tried to phone man...and agency which we heard about apartment from...talked to cleaner. prayed. Still waiting...sat on suitcase...nothing. Then some white guy came to the door of the entrance of apartment building...
*Nay:"excuse me, do you speak english?" guy nods. Naomi proceeds..speaking really slowly...and annunciates all her words..."do you know about the apartment 2.2?...says other stuff..." Guy starts speaking in perfect english...turns out he was from kidderminster. KIDDERMINSTER! of all places, ten minutes away from my home in england. *sighs* *
He calmed nay down a bit, he was called sam too *grins*. Waited some more...mel got call...the man was on his way!! *joy* relief all round...was about 11.50then? waited for about an hr n a bit.
Guy arrived, he was YOUNG! expected an old man with some hair loss, but ok sure. Had to haul our suitcases up six flights of stairs...burned some calories there...stairs looked kinda dodgy. couldn't open door...used wrong key...*oops* got laughed at again. Nay turned off the light with her back whilst we all thought there was a powercut...and we (finally) entered our apartment.
Hallelujah! God answered our prayers, and blessed us with a kick-butt place to live. It was NICE! although we sorta trashed it...moved stuff around...pulled down things off walls *looks innocent*...
so we settled in...cooked food...i was left to finish off all the bowls of rice...picked places to sleep...ann n nay fell asleep...leaving bush, mel, chrissy and i to play with the apartment...we all got hyper, ran around...took photos of our feet, talked of things related to hairyness...they all laughed at me again. got called iqbal. that was the beginning of that joke...*sighs*. im so uneducated about hair. Then we all fell asleep on a double bed...

Day two:
Woke up tres early to go market, (was two seconds away...JOY!!) Went with nay and anneko whilst others caught up on some lost sleep from the night before. Bought groceries...
:)
Got back to apartment...started making pancakes..!! :D nay is a spaz pancake maker...anneka is the QUEEN of pancake making :P mine looked kinda...un-pancakey :P Funtimes. Eating them was so good too...eggy bread! the breakfast of our group.
Didnt leave apartment till middayish...wandered around whilst nay stayed in apartment...took photos...laughed at/with bushra...got bearings of where everything was.
Ate some of the best ice cream ive ever had...mmm...saw some wizz xylophone and violinists...
Went back to apartment...started cooking dinner...pasta... :D I think...was it pasta? Oh and soup! pasta + soup + pasta sauce + herbs = YUMMY.
Found out about peoples ambitions, dreams, hopes...was awesome.
Started watching alias...season 2...got hooked...ended up watching about 7 hours of alias...nay and mel fell asleep...ann, bush, chrissy n i got REALLY hyper...pretended to be spies...hid food in washing machines, was highly mature...had hysterical laughing fits in the kitchen...little breathing...much vibrating of chinese girls again due to spaz attacks. Hid under chairs, behind curtains, took photos...goodtimes.

Day Three:
Woke up tres early again to go markets n get foodeo and stuffs...with nay n chrissyo. looked at olives... :D got fruit...back to apartment...breakfast...left for wanderings...saw a donkey standing on a balcony...went inside some HUGE churches (so beautiful....) went to cathedral...AMAZING architecture...at some point day before had decided to go zoo...so...walked to zoo...
The zoo was awesome! best zoo ever. Saw lions, dolphins (which apparently liked me:P), chimps (which looked like my dad...no...really.) chrissy called an emu an emo...took many photos...feet got tired cos zoo was so mahusive.
Walked out of zoo...went to park...*cue lying on grass and many photo-takings.*
Saw some spanish kids playing football with their dads, so cute...very cool.
Wandered back to apartment...got pizza from pizza hut on the way...man collapsed...was kinda worrying, but was ok - he was breathing. waited for ambulance, spoke to some spanish lady...back to apartment...
Watched more alias :P :) chatted some...laughed more. Had intellectual, mature conversations about hitting burglars over the head with frying pans.
Me n chrissy slept outside near TV...ended up chatting till the wee hours of the morning, slept somewhere between 5.15 and probably 5.45. Time goes so fast when you're talking!

Day 4:
Woke up - markets again - went back - breakfasted...went to bus stop...got on bus...(tourist one...drove round all the tourist locations...) drove around...well the bus driver did...anneka took photos of spanish guys *sighs* funny though...saw the capsule which bushra's mum landed on earth in...went to the gardens! Palau de mer. Beauty in a wrod...took WIERD photos...mel was the owner and chrissy and ann were pets...was sandy...cold water fountain! Chrissy walked in on a man peing...haha...laughed so hard with bushlala. Nearly took photos of the wrong couple when they asked me to take photo...Some awesome choir/group/singer/chinese/people sang in this hall, awesome, AWESOME acoustics...had goosebumps...*sighs at the memory...* so good...did some rock climbing into a hole in the wall so we could take photos...saw a giant lizard thing...ate ice cream...such amazing views...
After the garden thing...got back on bus...saw barcelona players! on their bus...so cool...was the only one excited though...everyone else was like...who? what? where? was cool...saw some funky buildings...all those famous places whose names escape me...waved at an elderly couple on a balcony...
The bus was open-top...hair blew everywhere...was amusing...
Uh...went past the olympic stadium...
Went back to apartment...had fried chips...none of us had made them before...made bushra out of potato...had fajitas! and fish fingers...salmon, peppers, mushrooms, lettuce, tomato stuff, cheese! in fajitas......bought superman crisps for ross on way back...haha...last packet!
Tried to run up all the stairs to apartment...counted in bushras....chrissy took 13 bushras.
Was amused...
Watched more alias...chatted more...had more intellectual conversations...slept late.

Day 5:
Possibly one of the most fun days...probably cos we did lots...
woke up early...(ish)...walked to aquarium (*grins* thinks...alan!) chrisssy and i had a stimulating conversation in american accents in which we covered a wide range of highly educated topics...mel joined in...was tres sunny...little shade on the pier!
Walked into the aquarium...found bushra fish in EVERY tank...one of which was eating gravel and then regurgitating it back up agaiain...we named it...the puking-bushra-fish...haha.,..was so funny...tried to take photos of the fish being sick...didnt work...blurry cameras without flash! saw gangsta fish...one fish tank was just full of gangsta fish + sharks...don't wanna mess with them fish! Saw a polka dot fish...! :D was purdy. Uh...SUNFISH! was awesome...had no tail...have no photo of it...but...look it up! google it! was so funny...
After aquarium went to lunch...some gangsta place with strange music...accordion n clarinet duo...but...bizzare...had salty pizza...paella! (was nice...seafoody...shared with chrissy n mello...)...then nay went back to apartment and we went on to the pier...took photos on bollards...bushra fell off...beach! good times...walked in sea...just along where it meets sand though...got splashed...and WET....none of us had changes of clothes,m cept ann...so...had to just dry off...landed somewhere near the end of the beach...took off shoes...chrissy n ann started digging a hole...then moved on to making bushra in the sand...we all joined (much to the amusement of all the spanish people around us...), she was a pretty bushra-mermaid...we buried bush's feet...found out that her skin tone is "deathly white with a hint of gold!" dusted off...jumped on bushra...(her sand-counterpart)...went to clean feet...found out how to get back to bus stop,,,walked down pier...such a beautiful day...sun sun sun...! Bought ice cream/drinks...wandered some more...found bus stop...got on...talked about CRAZY things...english couple in front of us kept looking around looking at us REALLY wierdly...probably wondering if we were sane...and older than 3 years old...dont think they wanted to be associated with us...went all the way around...then got back to apartment...decided to go out n get starbucks...wandered around outside apartment instead...found way to certain shops...went to starbucks...ann had choc frappe...yummy...chrissy had funky tea thing...mmm...from the states...cool bottle...back to apartment around 9...started cooking dinner...fried rice (eggy) + vegetables...more alias... :)funness in apartment...

Day 6:
Day of shopping...woke up...walked to pier...got on boat! Bushra's first boat trip...was fun...peaceful...nice...saw some mad birds...chrissy got an apple crepe...walked to meet nay on la rambla...went to fruit market...fruit smoothies! so cheap...so nice...kiwi! bought dried fruit + normal fruit...yummy...kept walking along la rambla...to other shops...sephora!!walked around...girly shopping...fun...BIG mirrors...pretty shops...so much more trendy lay-out of shops in Barca...Wandered back to apartment...rested for a bit...had muchos fun getting ready to go out that evening...eye liner! mwahahaha....walked out of apartment...took photos outside...took in turns to be photographer...went to dinner restaurant place...no air con...HOT! had tapas...nice...mmm...chicken + pineapple + mayo...yummyness...spicy potatoes...mmm...anneka went back to apartment to*coughs*...got HUGE choc cake...didnt all get eaten...profiteroles! Went to get taxi to salsa club...got there...had turned into a strip club...:S...was a wierd place...walked around down random street...found macdonalds...went in...ann got a mcflurry...walked down rambla de catalunya...it met la ramble eventually...kept walking...ran across all the roads...skipped some...laughed...crab walked...acted like crazy tourists...got onto la rambla which was MUCH more full than the street which the salsa club was meant to be on...walked down...mel got sniffed...:P!!! SO hilarious...found an AWESOME busker...sounded like bob marley...huge crowd gathered...was so cool...singalong! took photos...sang "everythings gonna be alright...everythings gonna be ok..." he finished up...walked down pier...so pretty at night...lights! wandered back up long road to apartment...got into apartment kinda quite late...watched last two episodes of alias...felt sad cos last night in apartment (we all grew kinda attached to it...well...it did rock hard) slept relatively early compared to before-nights...

Day 7 - LAST DAY!:
Got up fairly late...finished packing...tidied...went back to the one euro shop...bought boxes with chrissy...(they were really cool...and useful...*nods*...) went back to apartment...finished up packing...had breakfast which consisted of everything we hadnt eaten yet...eggs...bread...cake...noodles...frozen grapes...normal grapes...cheese...tomatoes...was probably the best breakfast ive had in a long time...) tideid...took CRAZY photos around apartment...climbed into a wardrobe...all climbed into the shower...(the shower was SMALL! we got five in it...:D...such an achievement...)took photos on balcony...got suitcassses...hauled them DOWNstairs...got in cad to train station...shoved them in BIG butt lockers...walked out...had lunch at pans...(like baguette du monde...but expensive...and posher...their toilets were yucky though...) walker around to find shops...found a cool chinesey shop...everyone went mad, bought a fair bit in that shop...giving the chinese family service ok...founda really cool park...played...got on the COOL swings...back to train station...in cab...to airport...cue more table making and card playing...checked in...went to duty free...more shopping...more toileting...to gate...heard announcement "plane to stanstead will fly at 11"...WHAT?!?!?! (we were meant to fly at 9)...so me n chrissy got a baguette (mmm...yummy tuna...) then played some word stuffs with pens n paper, tried to analyse each others handwriting...wrote "everybody loves bushra..."(so true)got another baguette with chrissy...tortilla...just had hash browns in it...was so YUMMY...plane started boarding...got on......next to chrissy n bush...most slept...stayed awake, pondered. Something about long journeys makes me thoughtful...and reflective...and prayerful. Thought about some stuff which im finding hard...landed in brum...walked out abt 11.30...started waiting for the dude to come pick us up in the mini van...waited more...waited more...phoned bushs sis...waited more...then got a phone call " the guy forgot to pick you up...[insert expletives] we're coming to get you...just wait....go inside...!" mooched around outside airport with nay, got cold...(darned weather in england)...went inside...got hot chocolate...so gooooood....hung around...chatted some...rested...then they came! hallelujah! They got there about 3.30...(3 n a half hours waiting in an airpoirt! brain numbing...so glad i had those guys with me...) Got in van...nodded in and out of sleep...but mostly stayed awake...sat next to a window and chrissy...got cold again (draft from window)..everyone was sleeping...cue more pondering and much thoughtfulness...darned long journeys...arrived at bushs about 6am...ate kebabs n samosas...slept...woke up at 9.45 to leave for home!

And that is a round up of our holiday. Not all the details...just some...but yeah...enough for you guys to read and for us to remember when we look back on this post...

All in all...was awesome. HILARIOUS. Just relaxing with friends...had a few minor hiccups...but was to be expected...nice to get to know them better...find out more about them...before we all kinda go our seperate ways n grow up (or not...) but yeah...will miss these guys.

Gracias for reading...adios.