The Things That Make People Happy

Happy Valentine's day! And if your Valentine's day isn't happy, this post is. In fact, other than being about Barcelona, it's all about happiness. 

So what I neglected to mention in my last blog post is that I had decided to go out last. I did not mention this because I felt like it might fall through and I didn’t want that to become a pattern. But it didn’t fall through. I went. Woo hoo.

No, it actually was a very interesting experience. Maybe not my favorite thing I’ve done, but interesting nonetheless.

So after much waiting and waffling and confusion, we left the hotel at about 12:45 for the club. It’s called Opium and is right by the ocean, so we had to take taxis from the hotel. We got there and since one of the girls on the trip knows someone who works in the clubs, we got in free, which is nice.

So once inside it was… loud. And dark. I was very…  it was odd. Everyone kept asking me if I was excited, but really I was far more nervous and confused than anything. We sat around and shouted at each other in a corner for a while, because 1am is still very early for the Spanish clubs, believe it or not, and the club was still pretty empty. There were some interesting characters around at this point, including a guy in full Joker makeup WEARING STILTS. So cool. But my favorite was this woman, probably in her mid to late 30’s who was out there dancing all alone by herself and having the time of her life. It made me smile to see her that happy.

By this time the DJs had arrived and we went out to the dance floor. I thought I knew the meaning of a loud club with flashing lights before. I was wrong. The volume must have tripled and I could feel the bass in my chest. Plus, the lights were doing that effect they sometimes do in horror movies where things flicker on and off really quickly and it makes people’s actions look really fragmented. It made me dizzy.  I’m sure that there were people who thought I was drunk from my inability to walk across the dance floor, but, for the curious (or concerned), I didn’t actually drink anything at the club, alcoholic or otherwise. It was all way too overpriced.

So after standing there sort of deer-in-the-headlights paralyzed by the absolute sensory overload, (I was actually telling this story today and Jess said I basically was frozen and looking terrified) I managed to relax a little bit and dance some. Some of the songs were really fun to just groove to, and then the bass dropped and the first few times it happened I reverted back into my previously paralyzed state of confusion. Some of the people in our group met people, including one boy who I didn’t even have to hear speak to know that he was British. I swear, he looked so stereotypical. It was hilarious.

More than anything going to the club was interesting on a sociological level. For example, there was a mix of Spanish and foreign students there, as well as a pretty wide age range. What I found fascinating was that the disparity between the fashions of girls and guys remains even on this side of the Atlantic. The girls were all in black dresses and heels and makeup and jewelry, while the guys were wearing button-downs and jeans. Though I will say that the Spanish guys seemed better about having button-downs and jeans that looked nice and fit than some American guys do. It was also interesting to see how physically close people were. The noise made it difficult to talk to someone unless you were right up next to them, so everyone had to get up in each other's person space to talk. There also seemed to be a lot of English spoken in the club, even the DJs were from New York. It was very odd. 

But I think, and this probably isn’t quite as sociological, that the thing that struck me most about being in the club was the look on some of the people’s faces while they were dancing. They were happy. I was glad I went, but I wasn’t enjoying myself the way they were. But the look on their faces was so genuine that it made me smile too. There’s something really wonderful about seeing people that happy. And I don’t get that from a club. I’m not sure I ever will. Will I try again? Maybe, but for now I think I’m going to stick to the things that make ME that happy: good books and rainy days and having short hair and sitting in a park and going to cathedrals and eating strawberries and... what happened when we left the club.

So the club is right on the edge of the Mediterranena, and you have to go out by the beach in order to exit the club. So seeing the waves so close, we all went down to see them (It was like 2:30 at this point and there were four of us that decided to leave for various reasons) We walked down in our nice clothes (or their nice clothes anyway. I didn’t pack much, and have no experience in what to wear to a club) and just stood and looked out at the sea for a bit. We took silly pictures and listened to the waves and felt the wind, and it was wonderful. There’s something really special about being out there at night with the moon and the waves and I’m so glad I went to the club, for a lot of reasons, but that moment by the Mediterranean was worth the whole thing.

And then we pretty uneventfully caught a taxi back to the hotel and then showered, I wrote this portion of the blog, and went to bed. Today was quite busy.

SO we woke up and went to breakfast and I answered lots of questions about my first club experience, and then we got on the bus (there had been bus drama, but it worked out. I don't even know.) and went to La Sagrada Familia, which was just incredible. I mean, breathtaking and insane and beautiful and wonderful and utterly indescribable. There is so much to say, but due to internet speeds I can't really upload pictures right now, so I'll show you what I saw when I get back to Valencia. Suffice to say, that it was one of the most amazing and moving places I have been in my entire life. There is so much to it and I could spend ages exploring it and learning about it, and it's not even finished yet!

After the Sagrada Familia we got back on the bus and went to this restaurant called "Un Lugar de Gracia" which I mention the name of because I think it's lovely: "A place of grace." It doesn't rhyme in Spanish, though. And lunch was delicious. I had a nice salad and good pork chop and some blueberry cake. And the conversation was nice and fun. 

We had some free time after lunch, and we were planning on going to Montjuïc, which is some hill in part of Barcelona, but people seemed to tired and went and took naps. Elena, Alexz, Jess, and I did wind up going, and it was wonderful. 

We had a bit of trouble at first finding the bus, but it took us right up to the top of the hill, which was where the old Olympic stadium was from when the Olympics were in Barcelona. We took some pictures there and chilled for a bit, found some cool fountains and a nice view and such, then we walked towards what looked like a church, but turned out to be a museum. We also found a botanical garden and wandered around in it for a few minutes before it closed, which was nice. European cities are much greener in general than American cities, but we all missed the smell of damp earth and the feel of being surrounded by plants.

We then walked around to the front of the museum and got this incredibly beautiful view of the whole city of Barcelona as the sun was setting, and it was amazing. We took some silly pictures (for Valentine's day the 3 of us who were single did some Beyoncé poses) and generally had a great time. We then went back to the Olympic park and watched the sunset over the mountains. We just chatted and chilled and sat while the sun went down. It was perfect.

Then we went to walk back home back around by the front of the museum. There were a bunch of fountains in the front and they lit up at night and the museum was big and imposing behind all these rows and rows of fountains going up the hill. When we got to the fountain at the bottom, we found that for Valentine's day or some other reason there was a show going on at the fountain with different colors and light and water and fun music, and we stayed and watched that for a little bit. I climbed up on a big pillar to watch the show over everyone's head. It was very calming and fun. 

We then came home through the city and when we got back we shortly went to dinner. Dinner was lovely again. Still very tasty and very filling. On our way back, Alexz, Elena, Jess, and I, who had earlier decided to go have Valentine's dessert together, stopped for some good Valentine's gelato. A wonderful way to end a fantastic day. 

And that's the thing. I know that a lot of people dislike Valentine's day for one reason or another, and that's just fine, but for me and the people I was with, today seemed to contain a lot of joy, and almost none of it because of romance. There are things that you do in life that just make you happy, and they can be really simple, like eating ice cream or taking a walk, or a bit more... extravagant, like visiting the Sagrada Familia or watching the sunset over Barcelona. And not everybody has the same idea, but I tend to think that Valentine's day (and  Christmas and your birthday and Saturdays and every day if you can manage it) is best served by focusing on those things that make you happy, or the things that make other people happy, and I am so grateful and lucky to have so many of these things in my life in the past 24 hours. So happy Valentine's Day, guys, (or whatever day you're reading this) I hope it's filled with the things that are happy for you.