Birthday, birthday, birthday! Today was my birthday! I spent my special day sleeping and shopping! My two favorite things. I shopped, and I shopped, and I shopped some more. While it may seem like I went crazy, I didn’t spend too much and got quite a bunch of things. For dinner my friends and I went out and got yummy Mexican food, nothing too special. No matter how much I tried to rejoice in my birthday, something still was missing. This time it was tough not being home for my birthday. Though my birthday falls on a month where typically I would be away for school anyways, it was especially hard this time being in Spain. Even when I talked to my parents the time zones were all different and it just didn’t feel right. Today more than ever I missed home. I bought lots of things that I thought were nice, but I would have bought nothing at all just to have a family member here for my birthday. I miss the cake my dad would have gotten me. I miss how my mom would have nagged me early in the morning on my birthday. I miss my sister acting like she is too cool to hug me on my birthday. I miss the friends that would make me feel extra special on my birthday. And today I just wish I was home. Many people told me how cool it must be to have my birthday in Europe, but today just felt like another day. Yeah I could have gone out and partied, but that’s not me. I’ve come to appreciate quality time and enjoy just being surrounded by loved ones. Looking at today, it wasn’t amazing. Yet in the long run it’s not ‘wow I had my birthday in Spain’ it’s ‘wow I spent 4 months in Spain.’ Years from now I won’t remember the details of how I spent my birthday in Spain, but I’ll remember what an amazing blessing it was. So as non birthday like as today felt, I’m still in Barcelona, and that’s still pretty darn amazing. Adios!