Well guys, CBQ and I have decided that we don’t have the resources necessary to move to Barcelona this year, so the project has been put on pause. I guess that leaves more time for me to get my new website up so you can oogle at my architecture and artwork (just kidding, you don’t have to oogle if you don’t want). I am really enjoying my job at Eclipse di Luna, and CBQ has decided to work there too. He just left for his first day of training. Since we know we are staying here a little longer, we are both looking for jobs requiring the skills we learned at school. I have made a pretty nifty resume, I must say, and I even eliminated enough info and wordiness to make it fit on one page. So hopefully now I can get my portfolio done before I get any interviews from this resume I am sending out. CBQ has some pretty promising leads on jobs that he deems worthy, so although one big door has closed for right now, some new ones are opening up.

Just thought some of you might like to know the new update on my life……

I promise I have been job-hunting, but while that isn’t going so well, I have been spending some quality time with this boy. This picture was taken by my friend Lauren, who has the new sprint phone that takes digital pictures, at a mexican restaurant the other night. We emailed it directly from her phone to my laptop. Isn’t technology so cool. Anyway, I kinda found a job, and my day of training starts later this afternoon, but the bad part is they don’t really have any openings in the schedule yet. They still “hired” me though. Quite complicated and confusing, but isn’t everything in my life? I guess I will see how things are going today, and then maybe apply for some other jobs. I will keep the updates posted.

I do have a lot of projects going on right now……#1, searching for jobs and apartments in Barcelona. CBQ and I have been really motivated lately to make this a reality, so hopefully we can do it. #2, I am assisting a friend with a loft renovation in Carrollton, GA. Should be a great learning experience, and also really fun. Hopefully soon, in my new website design, there will be a section dedicated to cataloguing the progress on this project; should be quite nice. #3, I have a few art projects in the works that will also be catalogued on my site. #4, I gotta get back in shape! I am starting a new workout schedule, and hopefully I will be strict with it even though I don’t have my nazi trainer, Wes, to make me.

Well, that is all I have to say to update you on my life right now. Thanks for still reading, even though the entries are much less exciting. A bientot!

OK guys, I guess I am finally less bitter enough about being back to write again on my website. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be redesigning my site to also hold my portfolio ( I know I have made these promises before, but this time I have actually started my portfolio). Atlanta isn’t so bad, thanks to my boyfriend, CBQ, for taking such good care of me, and James for letting me stay in his great condo. Oh yeah, and the rest of my family and friends have been spoiling the crap out of me as well. This is the best Jodi Appreciation Month ever! So now that my resting place is on this side of the world, I am living vicariously through a few of my friends who left to go to Europe a week after I got back. Kristin is attending the same study abroad program in Barcelona that CBQ did last year. She is staying in the same hostel and probably trying out all the same restaurants and venues since I sent her way too much info on the stuff that CBQ and I like to do there. Her website is www.kristinvadas.com if you would like to live vicariously through her too. CBQ just got it up for her, so hopefully she will update it soon. Also my friends Kevin and Omar are travelling through Europe for a little over two months. I am sure they are also having a blast, even though I haven’t heard from them or seen any updates on Omar’s website (www.omarzaki.com), but I am sure there will be news from them soon.

My friend Carl, who stayed in Paris after our trip, is doing well from what I heard. He went to the Greek Isles last week, and he said it was gorgeous. I guess since I don’t really have the opportunity to make a weekend trip over there to see it for myself anymore, I will have to bookmark it until the next time I am in Europe.

As for me, I am job-hunting today. Wes is job-hunting at Commune, where CBQ works. They seem to like him, so maybe I will get to see him more if he is working with my boyfriend. Also, I had to mail my keys to my Parisian apartment back to Anja a couple of weeks ago, and they still haven’t arrived! The French postal service was on strike last week, so maybe that has something to do with it, or maybe they are just generally slow. I guess that is one reason to appreciate the US. You can count on companies executing what you paid them to do. I better not speak too soon, though, because I haven’t talked to the US postal service to learn the real reasons for the delay. Since this is the most exciting thing going on in my life right now, I will keep you updated. A Bientot - Jodi

OK guys, I guess I am finally less bitter enough about being back to write again on my website. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be redesigning my site to also hold my portfolio ( I know I have made these promises before, but this time I have actually started my portfolio). Atlanta isn’t so bad, thanks to my boyfriend, CBQ, for taking such good care of me, and James for letting me stay in his great condo. Oh yeah, and the rest of my family and friends have been spoiling the crap out of me as well. This is the best Jodi Appreciation Month ever! So now that my resting place is on this side of the world, I am living vicariously through a few of my friends who left to go to Europe a week after I got back. Kristin is attending the same study abroad program in Barcelona that CBQ did last year. She is staying in the same hostel and probably trying out all the same restaurants and venues since I sent her way too much info on the stuff that CBQ and I like to do there. Her website is www.kristinvadas.com if you would like to live vicariously through her too. CBQ just got it up for her, so hopefully she will update it soon. Also my friends Kevin and Omar are travelling through Europe for a little over two months. I am sure they are also having a blast, even though I haven’t heard from them or seen any updates on Omar’s website (www.omarzaki.com), but I am sure there will be news from them soon.

My friend Carl, who stayed in Paris after our trip, is doing well from what I heard. He went to the Greek Isles last week, and he said it was gorgeous. I guess since I don’t really have the opportunity to make a weekend trip over there to see it for myself anymore, I will have to bookmark it until the next time I am in Europe.

As for me, I am job-hunting today. Wes is job-hunting at Commune, where CBQ works. They seem to like him, so maybe I will get to see him more if he is working with my boyfriend. Also, I had to mail my keys to my Parisian apartment back to Anja a couple of weeks ago, and they still haven’t arrived! The French postal service was on strike last week, so maybe that has something to do with it, or maybe they are just generally slow. I guess that is one reason to appreciate the US. You can count on companies executing what you paid them to do. I better not speak too soon, though, because I haven’t talked to the US postal service to learn the real reasons for the delay. Since this is the most exciting thing going on in my life right now, I will keep you updated. A Bientot - Jodi

OK guys, I guess I am finally less bitter enough about being back to write again on my website. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will be redesigning my site to also hold my portfolio ( I know I have made these promises before, but this time I have actually started my portfolio). Atlanta isn’t so bad, thanks to my boyfriend, CBQ, for taking such good care of me, and James for letting me stay in his great condo. Oh yeah, and the rest of my family and friends have been spoiling the crap out of me as well. This is the best Jodi Appreciation Month ever! So now that my resting place is on this side of the world, I am living vicariously through a few of my friends who left to go to Europe a week after I got back. Kristin is attending the same study abroad program in Barcelona that CBQ did last year. She is staying in the same hostel and probably trying out all the same restaurants and venues since I sent her way too much info on the stuff that CBQ and I like to do there. Her website is www.kristinvadas.com if you would like to live vicariously through her too. CBQ just got it up for her, so hopefully she will update it soon. Also my friends Kevin and Omar are travelling through Europe for a little over two months. I am sure they are also having a blast, even though I haven’t heard from them or seen any updates on Omar’s website (www.omarzaki.com), but I am sure there will be news from them soon.

My friend Carl, who stayed in Paris after our trip, is doing well from what I heard. He went to the Greek Isles last week, and he said it was gorgeous. I guess since I don’t really have the opportunity to make a weekend trip over there to see it for myself anymore, I will have to bookmark it until the next time I am in Europe.

As for me, I am job-hunting today. Wes is job-hunting at Commune, where CBQ works. They seem to like him, so maybe I will get to see him more if he is working with my boyfriend. Also, I had to mail my keys to my Parisian apartment back to Anja a couple of weeks ago, and they still haven’t arrived! The French postal service was on strike last week, so maybe that has something to do with it, or maybe they are just generally slow. I guess that is one reason to appreciate the US. You can count on companies executing what you paid them to do. I better not speak too soon, though, because I haven’t talked to the US postal service to learn the real reasons for the delay. Since this is the most exciting thing going on in my life right now, I will keep you updated. A Bientot - Jodi

OK, it is finally starting to hit me that this is almost over. My last day has come. The shuttle is picking us up in the morning to take us to the airport. Where did the time go? What have I done here? What am I doing with my life? You can see how these questions can quickly spiral me into devastation. So those of you who were worried about me getting all my stuff back home were completely justified in doing so. My big bag weighs a whopping 30 lbs. over the limit. Luckily they will charge you $50 for an overweight bag not exceeding 100 lbs. (which is what mine weighs), so I figure I am getting the most for my overweight fee. I am also wearing a couple of layers of clothes that wouldn’t fit in my bags. Thank goodness they don’t have a weight limit for passengers. So I will be seeing all of you pretty soon. I am looking forward to it, especially CBQ. He doesn’t know what he has gotten into. He has to put up with me full-time now, as if putting up with me on the other side of the world wasn’t hard enough.

And one thing that I would like to complain about is our idiotic flight home. We are flying from Paris to Houston, TEXAS, completely passing over our final destination, extending the flight time by a couple of hours, and putting us 7 hours behind in a different time zone. Then we wait around a little while, hopefully find some Taco Bell in the airport, and get on another plane to come back to Atlanta, where we go back one time zone to finally make it to Atlanta at 10 p.m., which is actually 4 a.m. in the time zone where our bodies are adjusted. But if you have ever met the woman who scheduled this for us, you would understand how something so asinine could happen.

What can I say? I have already promoted Barcelona until I couldn’t talk anymore (yeah right, like that would ever happen, but anyway). The top left picture is on the metro, and I took it just for CBQ. If you look closely, you can see the metro stop is Joanic, where he used to live. Becky and I invaded his old neighborhood, and had a great time. I even made a new friend, Eamon, who is an architect from L.A.
So anyway, the other pictures are from Parc Guell, with a great view of the city. And the bottom picture was also taken in the metro. This is an advertisement (right next to a Calvin Klein ad) protesting the war. If you didn’t know why the rest of the world hates us so much and thinks we are spoiled money-hungry aggressors, here is a little insight.

Becky and I had a wonderful time in Mallorca. We stayed in Can Pastillo, a small town east of Palma. It was the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. We rode bikes down the coast and through the city, got a little sun, and just relaxed. We didn’t mind that we were the only people under 65 in the neighborhood; we even went to German Bingo night at the hotel (oh yeah, and they were mostly german). We know we are wild and crazy. You don’t have to remind us!

These are pictures taken from our 7-hour ferry ride back to Barcelona. The first is a picture of Palma, and the second is a lighthouse that we saw a couple of miles afterwards. The bottom two really could be used as blackmail. Becky is eating lunch while laying out, compliments of the free buffet breakfast at our hotel. I don’t know how to explain myself in the other picture, except by saying that there are no gyms in France. But don’t worry; I am already in the process of trying to re-tone my muscles so that I will no longer look this flabby. At least on the boat it didn’t matter. From looking at the other passengers, I don’t think there are any gyms in Spain either.

I am just looking through her pictures and I found these, from Damien’s Class, where we made a newsletter for the class coming to Paris next year. We learned how to etch and make prints, and we got really messy, which was the best part. I miss that class. Somewhere on Becky’s webpage there are pictures of the two of us in a paint fight, and I know Casey has pictures of me in these huge gas mask-type goggles making stupid faces, but I can’t find those yet. Maybe I can post them next time. Anyway, this is making me a little sentimental, so I am gonna stop now, and do something productive like lay out on the roof terrace and read a book
I will see you guys soon!

This was from the beginning of the year (after we had only been here two weeks).
I haven’t been home in a few days, just been hanging out at the dorms, because they have movies that I haven’t seen before, so I still haven’t posted stuff from my Barcelona trip. But I promise it will be soon. We have almost exhausted their movie supply here too, so Wes and I might have to find something else cheap to do to pass the time of the next week. Anyway, I am on Casey’s computer right now (the dorm kids are so organized and friendly; when one of them is out of town, they have a secret hiding place for their key, so anyone else can use their room, or their computer and movies, while they are gone). I couldn’t go any longer without updating my site, plus I found this picture from what seems so long ago and it brought back memories of how clueless we were when we first arrived….all the bizarre stories we had about these weird French people and their habits, and how it all seems normal to us now. And I am sure in a week I will step off the plane in Atlanta and start those feelings all over again, except the weird people will be my friends and family and I guess Americans in general. All I can say is, what a year, what an adventure I have had as well as what is to come!

I have to admit I feel a little guilty for being in Spain without CBQ, frequenting his favorite places, calling him from his old dorm, but then the guilt fades away once I realize, “I�m in Spain!” It took a lot to get here too. In the nature of France the train system was on strike, and somehow they coaxed Spain into striking too. So our train was no longer running to Barcelona, however we talked our teachers to getting us on a train going to Toulouse (the closest city to Barcelona we could get to). From there I almost got to drive a van through the Pyrenees into Barcelona, but I was the only one excited about this plan, since everyone who would have been riding with me has seen me drive before. So we took a bus, lost half a day of the field trip, but we finally made it in one piece. We had a blast with the class, even handed out two awards - Catie got the one for best person alive and somehow Wes got an award for being a loud obnoxious flirt (it had a title relating to being an “international” socialite, but I don�t remember it). I am proud of them both and a little surprised that Wes can get an award for being himself

Even though the Spanish government support the war, the people don�t, and they are more aggressive about showing it than the French. “No a la guerre!” is on the street, in the subway, and on an average of every building in sight. But we are safe; people don�t protest violence by causing it.

Becky and I hopped on a ship to Mallorca and we just returned yesterday. It was absolutely gorgeous, and we managed to get a bit of a tan. We rented bicycles and rode around the coast and through C�n Pastillo (the town outside of Palma where we stayed) one day until it got too cold, so we sought shelter in a tattoo parlor where Becky got her eyebrow pierced. Unfortunately our resort area had many old Germans in it, none taking advantage of the nude beaches, so we didn�t get the chance either. But it was fun, even German bingo night at the hotel (because it was too cold to leave the building and we couldn�t let those senior citizens out-party us).

We are back in Barcelona now, about to go shopping, eating plenty of arroz negro and patatas bravas con ai�li. If I must reiterate once again, we have a really rough life!