Biweekly Update From Ira's Intercontinental March on Being Proud of Myself #12

Haaappy New Year! In the last two weeks I've taken the first step towards taking the first step from defining myself by what I am and what I am not towards defining myself by what I am proud of and what I would not bring up on a first date given the option; this change let's me think about myself in a more productive way where I can celebrate my strengths and build a roadmap for the other shing. The three things I'm most of proud of from the last two weeks are: <ol> <li>Not running in horror when everyone was speaking French at Christmas - I celebrated Christmas with my Workaway host Mary, her family, and the other Workawayer. It was tough to follow everything that was going on but folks were patient with my French, I worked with the vocab I had, and events like this gave me good chances to see where I am still not able to express myself the way I want to and think (and sleep, perchance to dream) on it later. This is the kind of thing that needs to be done to learn another language, it's not always pretty but I'm lucky to have had the chance to immerse with so many people in French for almost three weeks. Sometimes you just nod and say "oui oui" and that's cool too, thanks for taking in this wandering Jew for the holidays Mary.</li> <li>Writing the music for a movie that Mary was working on with the kids in Lautrec - I got to try my hand at composition for film by writing and playing the music for a movie that Mary's been working on with a local director for a few months. Good call Mary with finding the right music to "borrow" and I'll pass along a link once it exists. It's not Mozart (or is it??) but it was a cool chance to think about music not just as a way to tell a story but a way to reinforce a story that's already being told. Along with practicing some French songs, writing poetry for the first time in a while, and playing the drums (check the photos link for a vid) I feel the creative juices flowing harder than they have in a long time.</li> <li>Doing my part in the Black Swan Hostel Kitchen - The Black Swan Hostel in Barcelona has hands down the best free food selection on the march to date - I had five feasts off the free food shelf, with one before check-in, along with two-thirds of a bottle of fine Spanish vino - a freegetarian's delight.</li> </ol> As part of the new-year new-me, I'm formally switching my main email to this yahoo address and letting iraseidman2@gmail.com go back to cyber nature; although an @yahoo.com address look a little funny it fits with my goals of decentralizing power and data alike. I write from Barcelona where there might be a balcony for every window in the city limits and the grid structure is refreshingly decent, for a European city. Peep the <a href= "https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gkHBkV9ZHZR8LZm59ASQ3Fq_JHSRMuzE?usp=drive_link" target = "_blank" rel = "noopener">photos</a> if you will and even if you won't and hat tip to Mary for setting a great example on what it looks like to be proud of yourself, sorry for the state I left your fridge and wood tip drum stick in. I'm heading to Valencia tonight and then it's Madrid, Seville, Granada, Lisbon, and Porto before flying back, my challenge to anyone who still needs a New Years resolution is to look at something about yourself that you aren't proud of and use it for fuel. Atentamente, Ira