The perfect job

Yesterday I spent a lot of time praying and daydreaming. This explains perfectly how I feel when I take a moment to think on things:

"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds; your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be." ~ PATANJALI YOGA (c. 200 BC)

My Hero's

Artists, creatives, visionaries and line-steppers are among my favorite hero's. My mentors have legacies I marvel at. Here are a few...

Pablo Picasso,
"I begin with an idea and then it becomes something else."
"You have to have an idea of what you are going to do, but it should be a vague idea."
"Others have seen what is and asked why. I have seen what could be and asked why not."

"The chief enemy of creativity is "good" sense."

"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
"Action is the foundational key to all success."
"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone."
"Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success."
"Give me a museum and I'll fill it."
"God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on trying other things."
"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
"My mother said to me, 'If you are a soldier, you will become a general. If you are a monk, you will become the Pope.' Instead, I was a painter, and became Picasso."

Amelia Earhart

"I want to do it because I want to do it."
"Never interrupt someone doing what you said couldn't be done."

"Adventure is worthwhile in itself."

"My ambition is to have this wonderful gift produce practical results for the future of commercial flying and for the women who may want to fly tomorrow's planes."
"No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind action leads to another. Good example is followed. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves."

Salvador Dali

"Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings."
"I have Dalinian thought: the one thing the world will never have enough of is the outrageous"
"There are some days when I think I'm going to die from an overdose of satisfaction."
"Each morning when I awake, I experience again a supreme pleasure - that of being Salvador Dali."
"When I was three years old, I wanted to be a cook. When I was five, I wanted to be Napoleon. My ambition has done nothing but grown, and now I only want to be Salvador Dalí and nothing more."

Antoni Gaudi

"Those who look for the laws of Nature as a support for their new works collaborate with the creator."

He may not be as quotable but his work speaks for itself Click to link

Stumbled upon where the obsession started

I was looking for I can't quite remember what, and it brought me to journals from a few years back. Where I stumbled upon journal entries with "the Louvre" in big letters. Sketches of the Eiffel tower. "Live in Paris" written over and over. I have been drawing this out for four years+. I know I really fell in love with the Louvre after watching something on TV.

During World War II the museum was cleared of most absolutly everything (except things that were too heavy) and put in secret hiding places all around the world. After the war everything was returned!

I just thought that was so absolutely beautiful. All of that art was saved by the virtue of so many people in such a ferociously destructive time. And not only was it preserved it all was returned! I just have to sit there and feel that space. That is a level of trust and harmony that is not often achieved.

Then, there's the volume of pieces! If you spent one minute. Only a minute on each piece it would still take you a year to see everything (that's only factoring in time to sleep). That many pieces put into hiding and all returned. It's not ten of your closest friends holding onto your most valuable possessions, but the whole world.

Come on, that's awesome.

Paris B*TCHES!

I met a gay guy last night who said Biches a lot. It feels a little foreign for me to say but totally relevant to the situation.

I, Samantha Najarro, am going to Paris in January. That's right.

I might have a two bedroom apartment right across from the Louvre.

I've said for a few years now that I wanted to live in Paris. I've been there twice now and didn't love it but still had this obsessive feeling that I neeeeeed to be there. I want to study art. Visit the Louvre everyday. Paint, write. Learn what it means to be a Parisian. Eat lunch on the lawn of the Tour Eiffel. Dress up, go for walks, go to museums, go to art auctions and flea markets. Drink wine. Travel to other parts of France on the weekends. Crush grapes with my feet. And, best of all speak French like I live there.

I still can recount the exact moment I realized I was listening to French, spoken by the French. I was on my first trip to Spain with just my Dad. He wanted to take me to see his family and spend longer then 4 days a month together. I was 11 and my Grandmother had wrapped a bunch of trinkets to open on the plane, sure I would be board. We had down time in the airport so I started unwrapping and together we'd laugh at the ridiculousness of the random gifts. My Dad being a seasoned traveler shook his head at the amount of unnecessary baggage he now had to carry. I started looking around with my ears, I would point to people speaking another language and my Dad would name it. Dutch, Italian, Portuguese.
Then the voices of two women floated over to me and captivated me. I've always had a wild imagination and to me, if there was magical people like faeries that's the language they would speak. Spoken so quickly but not rushed and so soft. The word I associate with it most is 'Secret'. That language was like a soft, light gold, secret that I wanted in on. In awe I asked what they were speaking. "French, you're mother speaks French perfectly" I was surprised that that's what French sounded like. I had been learning Quebecois in school since gr. 3 and this did not resemble anything that my teachers or classmates said. Hearing that my Mom spoke French and that I wouldn't be able to ask her about it for a whole month reminded me about what she had said the previous day: I should only go away for two weeks. (I learned later she was terrified that my Dad would never bring me back) So I brought up to my dad, "what if I don't go for a month what if we only go for two weeks?" Not realizing that plane tickets cost a thousand dollars each (if not more) and thinking it was as simple as getting into a car and going home. There was some tension in his face then he took a breath I could see him choosing his words "Okay, we'll see. We'll go, see how you like it and when two weeks has passed we can go home."
That had to have been the fastest two weeks of my life. We we're sitting on the beach and the sun was getting hot. We were playing cards and it was almost time for a huge lunch made by Abuela. A daily contest in which I impressed everyone by being a bottomless pit. Pialla, Fresh fish, poucheros, the best tasting food after a long morning of swimming and having fun in the sun. "Okay" sighed my Dad "Tomorrow, we go home." I took a sharp inhale "WHAT!?! NO!" I was in shock. "Well," He said "It's been two weeks, I thought you wanted to just come for two weeks" I quickly replied "No, no no no no" He laughed and we talked about how the only way to travel was to go somewhere for a month. That you can't really get to know a place till you stay for at least a month.
That's when the poison of the travel bug went from sitting on my skin to being absorbed by my pores. I already decided from that trip I needed to go back and see more of Spain. See where my parents met, see France, and Switzerland, Norway, England. The Russia and Poland my Grandparents in Canada spoke of became more real.

And it begins again

Just thought I should insert: Since my last post I went to London, France, Mexico, Mexico again, the States. Whateves.

Heidelberg, Germany

Went for a day trip to Heidelberg yesterday. Drove on the otobon not sure of the spelling but it´s the highway where there´s places with no speed limits. Heidleberg was awesome! there was a pharmacy museum which was basically an old herbal dispensary which i´ve learned about at college so it was amazing for me to see. there was a castle and some amazing vegan friendly sweet shops i was well fed :) A fireworks show too!

BARCELONA!

So September 4th has to be one of the best days of my life. I took a train from Madrid to Barcelona. I got to watch the sun rise which i kind of forgot was an actual activity since it´s usually well high in the sky when i wake up. It was really beautiful. Watching the Spanish country side with the sun slowly painting the sky different shades of warm hues. When I got to Barcelona I found the train station that i was to be leaving out of later that day but there was no luggage lockers so i went to the north bus station to find a place for my pack. I then went to The city hall where there is a bike meet every morning (barcelonabiking.com) I was the only one to show up for that day so i got my own private bike tour. About 3 and a half hours it was some great information. There was a whole building that they moved stone by stone which took 50years just to make way for a main street. It´s really neat to see buildings older then the county i live in. I took a dip in the ocean. I swerved through heavy traffic (on bike) following my safety first guide and remembered why i had my travel insurance with me at all times. It was a bit of a white knuckle ride but I really recommend it. It really helped me see the city and find places easily later. After the bike ride I went to the BioCenter an awesome Vegan-friendly restaurant. I got Gazpacho, salad, main dish of the day, cerveza and a dessert all for under 12€. Then it was a walk along the Ramblas (which means dried river, which long long ago it used to be but now it´s one of the most popular places in Barcelona for a walk) to the famous house of Antoni Gaudi which was amazing and breath taking. I went to courting Ingles (it´s a huge chain of supermarket in Spain with everything. Like a classy wal-mart with more then 7 floors, it has everything) for some vegan mint chocolate before heading to the chocolate museum which was closed so i went to the park of Barcelona instead. Afterwards I went to the train station and met 3 great women to practice my french which is a lot better then I thought it was. Great train trip and best day :)

Madrid Casa

My Tio and tia in Madrid were great with my being Vegan. The made a few totally vegan meals for the whole family which made me feel so great. Knowing that my decision was making waves right in front of me :) I have two cousins with the coolest play room ever. They have a fully functioning disco light show complete with disco ball and lasers. It´s also filled with a bunch of cool toys and close by two white rabbits. I was in awe. I spent most of my time just hanging out with my two cousins making puzzles, playing some classic games like pick up sticks and memory. Watched some Spanish tv. Went to the pool but it was pretty cold. only went into town that once to get almond candy (which i still have a bag full) and train tickets.

Granada to Madrid

There was some delay on my trip back to Madrid from Granada. I went to the train station for my ticket and they told me the seats were full and if i wanted I could get a 1st class ticket for 50€ So i opted for the bus instead for 16€ The bus didn´t leave until a bit later so i got a luggage locker and walked around Granada. Really close by I found a park. It had such a neat jungle gym! I have photos because it´s different from any that i´ve seen. so photos to come :)

Granada last day, Aug 30th

So on my last day in Granada there happened to be a huge bike event. The street my cousin lives on was closed off. There were a ton of extra trucks and the city was just packed. Since it was so crowded we went off to the gym. There was a Sauna and a Vapour room. The Vapour room was so cool if anyone knows of one in Toronto please let me know. Then it was laps in the pool with a great view ;) Fany and I could not stop making jokes about cute guys :P then it was the best Jacuzzi i´ve ever tried. There were all different stations of jets one was as high as a shower head with supper strong pressure but since it was water it actually feels like someones giving you a massage. Great for shoulders and back. Then to another hotter typical jacuzzi. After that we went outside to eat and take in some sun. We were both so relaxed it was the perfect ending to my time in Granada.

Bus to Granada

So I realize that I´m backtracking a bit but the funniest thing about the bus ride from Almunecar to Granada was when we were driving along a very narrow windy road up in the mountains. Very high up looking way down at the drop i was thinking, that´s nice that they finally put up a little ramp here, even if it does only reach the wheels of the bus. I then reasured myself that if there were more accidents the rail would surely be higher. Then I remembered signs I saw in Madrid. In Toronto you can see more police in higher crime areas. Where as in Madrid there are just some signs saying ´by the way, there´s tonnes of theives in this area so watch your stuff.´ Then as I was watching the last of the sea sceanery I saw a truck bigger then the bus laying on it´s side :P

Almond Candy

So i was going to write about Granada but that can wait. I just found these amazing candy coated almonds which i have to say was my salvation after finding out my train ticket was 72€ more then I expected. Ouch.

So... Granada...
Last day there went to the gym that Fany goes to. Amazing. Best Jacuzzi ever. I want one.

I´m in Madrid now, it´s cooler which is nice. I didn´t have a siesta today so i´m a bit tired. Hopefully i´ll find some time to write more soon. All is well, love Sam