Life: Idiotropic

No, this isn't a self-deprecating rant or a plea for compliments.  I am not being negative at all.  However; I am a realist who owns a mirror, a real mirror and not one of those slimming ones you'd find at a carnival fun house.

So, being that mirror-owning realist, I can say with certainty that though I look pretty good for a 35-year old mother of four, I do, in fact, look 35 and my jeans fit me like a mother of at least one if not four.

And this is where the title of this post comes into play because these next two moments to me were just funny and proved that Spanish beer creates the same "goggle" effect as beers from other nations, especially around fallas.

Moment 1 - March 18th:  This young bunch saw my camera and quickly gathered for a picture, smiling, raising their beer, then asking (several times), "Where are you staying?"  He he he.  Uh...  That took me off guard.  Wasn't sure how to respond.  "In Puzol,"  I shouted back and kept walking.  Uh.... I think they were off guard now.  Clearly I'm not a tourist looking for a "good time."

Moment 2 - March 19th:  I'm standing at Almirante watching and waiting for La Crema and talking with Tiara.  There's a cafe table between us and the fence where three "kids" in their early 20's sat smoking and re-ordering tall glasses of beer.  They had American accents.  At one point the guy said something to us and I responded immediately (habitually) in Spanish, then corrected myself and answered in English.  That began a conversation.  He asked where we were traveling from. 
     "We live here," I said. 
     "Oh, where to you go to school?"  Uh...
     "What???" 
     "Where do you go to school?" he asks again.  I am absolutely confused, standing there looking rather stupid because I don't know how to answer this basic question.  But he's looking at me.  It's directed at me.
     "I've been out of school a long time.  I'm a mom with 4 kids."  In their three youthful faces was shock and awe.  I'm quite thankful that beer didn't squirt out their noses.  They all three started talking at once.  "Really?!?!"  "Oh, well you don't have any wrinkles!"  "It's a compliment, really, don't be offended... you look young!"  And on and on.  They'd had a lot of beer and apparently their mothers must have A LOT of wrinkles.

Hmmm... so apparently fallas can be good for the ego if you don't count the empty beer mugs on the table.  ;)