Un Grande Dia

Most of my weekend is not worth mentioning. Dancing on Friday with Real World and crew (guilted into it), pub with Justin and the Colombians on Saturday night (too many beers), and boring shite like that. Ok, not totally boring, but I'm so sick of the club scene and the pub we went to was so packed that you couldn't sit or even get inside (spilled out into the street), which was fine until the sun went down and we started freezing our asses off.

On Friday, however, I finally broke down and got a new mobile phone. And I have to say, I love my new phone. It's an awesome little piece of technology and it doesn't drop calls and prevent me from making calls like the old one did. I ended up getting a year contract on the phone (that way it was free and I only pay the monthly tariff). Will I be here for one more year? Unknown, but it's probably going to save me money anyway. Not only did I not have to make an investment in purchasing a new phone, but I can use this phone in the US as well. Plus, after 6 months, I can go to the lowest monthly tariff (£10 or so) and when I leave the country I can cancel the subscription by paying off the remaining money owed. Meaning, that if I leave in November, I would only owe £40, more than worth is since it's a £250 phone.

The other really nice thing that happened over the weekend is that I went out with Miss Colombia yesterday. I've been told that Colombian women are very conservative and you have to take things very slow with them. That's fine by me. So yesterday was essentially a pre-date, one that lasted for about 8 hours or so. I find myself really liking this woman, and surprisingly, liking her in ways that I have never liked the Prototype. She has a really strong personality, filled with little quirks and nuances that she doesn't try to hide or reserve. She is who she is and you either like her or you don't. I love that attitude because it speaks to a self-confidence that you don't find in many women. At the same time, she's feminine and fairly traditional in terms of chivalry and things of that nature, yet she insists on sharing costs because "that's the English way". She is probably more conservative than I am, but that's ok. Yesterday was a really nice start and I really can't wait to see her again. She's a proper sort of woman - nothing dodgy about her, she goes to mass regularly (Mama likes her already), she lives a healthy life. I think she would be very good for me.

Anyway, we met up at Covent Garden. One of her friends was tagging along because she needed to purchase a gift for someone. After having had a few too many drinks the night before, I was feeling like total ass, but there was nothing to do about that. I put a good face on things and of course it helped that Miss Colombia was captivating from the start. After walking around a bit, we settled on some food which we ate in Leicester Square. It was a gorgeous day and we didn't want to waste any of the sunlight. After we ate, her friend went away and it was just the two of us for awhile. We walked around for a bit, but she wanted to go to mass and asked me to come. I accepted. We took the bus to Holborn to meet some of her friends; they were coming to mass as well. These things take time though, so by the time we got there, we were 20 minutes late. We had two options, either miss 1/3 of the service or wait until the 6 pm service which is in Spanish. The choice was mine and I opted to wait. I could tell she wanted to be there for the whole service and it scored me major points that I was flexible on that issue. I can't overstate how important that was to her.

I didn't mind the service much. I didn't know what was going on really, but that was ok. It was interesting to attempt to piece together from memory what was going on at the various stages. I'd also have to say that the Spanish mass is much more chaotic and disorganized than English ones. But, at the least, I didn't get annoyed about some of the rampant sexism that dominates the Catholic Church (thank you John Paul II). After mass, the four of us had coffee before heading back to Holborn and then finally Miss Columbia and I went home. I took her to her connecting bus and waited with her. Neither one of us wanted the night to end but it finally did.

I think that this woman is utterly fantastic. We laughed all day, she has a strong sense independence, yet retains a desire for companionship, and even though I was feeling like shite all day, like sergeant Al Powell, "You couldn't drag me away" (always good to have a Die Hard reference). Not only that, getting to know her a bit has only fueled my desire to learn Spanish (poste haste!). I'm toying with the idea of taking a proper Spanish class after my MA is over in July. There are a variety of ways to do it, but it's actually quite affordable and it's a question of what I want my next move to be, not what it possible or impossible. That will sort itself out in due time.

Anyway, as is evident, I really like this woman. When I saw her at the party last week, I thought she was attractive but assumed she was with someone (one of the guys at the party) so I sort of dismissed the possibility. Later, I got to chatting with her and things sort of went from there. When I found out that she was single and looking, I was pleasantly surprised. Now that I've spent an entire day with her, I can't wait to see her again. So I'd say we're off to a rather good start.