Some of you have expressed concern that I have died.
Fear not, I still live.
I am currently in Seville enjoying my siesta (what would make it better: if I were enjoying my siesta at a sidewalk cafe with a glass of wine and a book but i decided to spend it with you people.). I love Spain. I really do. The culture here is amazing; everyone greets each other, friend and stranger alike, with kisses on both cheeks, everyone is very animated when they talk and the siesta is the best invention ever! The days here can be lazied away sitting in a cafe with a good cappucino or a glass of wine reading a book and the waiter never bothers you to have more.
I just got back from Morocco and i couldn´t enjoy this Spanish culture more. While I loved Morocco and it may be the best part of my trip, I was constantly harrassed, constantly haggled and never had a moments peace unless I had locked myself up in a hotel room. The culture there is sooo different than anything I have ever experienced. The people I met, I either loved or couldn´t stand. I met some amazing people, some very intelligent and open minded people who brought new light to a culture i knew very little about and some very closed minded people who only saw me as a passport; a promiscuous western girl.
I got to ride a camel out into the desert and watch the sunset, I hiked for 4 hours in the Atlas Mountains and drank tea with a nomadic, Berber family in their tent. I bargain hunted in Merrakesh and Fes, I laughed at kite surfers in Essaouira, and saw a Riad being restored in Fes´old medina. I was offered 1,000 camels, 3,000, 10 million camels and a riad, all marriage proposals by strangers in the street. I went to a Hammam and left my prudishness aside as I got very naked and very intimate with a woman with the largest breasts I have ever seen.
Morocco was a sensory overload.
I´m happy to be back in spain, back to the lazy days and people not looking to make money off of me when I ask for directions. I have only a few weeks left of this trip before heading home for another adventure: living with my parents. And after that, I will return to Europe to continue this lifestyle.
Being a nomad definitely suits me.
So as you´ve probably guessed, the saga continues with The Messenger.
Last time I saw him he was tripping pretty badly in Amsterdam off of a very strong special brownie and I had to babysit him for two days because of this. A week later and I am in Barcelona, where we meet up, YET AGAIN.
I have continued couch surfing since my awesome experience in Amsterdam and got to stay with 4 really talented and super generous jazz musicians in San Sebastian, a gorgeous seaside town in northern Spain. I stayed in a hostel my first night in Barcelona but the 2nd night I decided to continue couch surfing. I was all set to stay with this guy, and we had a lovely afternoon of showing me around the city, drinking spanish champagne and eating dinner at his place. We then decide to go to this party for Couch Surfers, where The Messenger would join us.
We meet up, I find out he´s interested in this girl so no more sex for me, and we continue the night talking with a whole range of people, telling the stories we have accumulated throughout our travels together. Most everyone was great, very friendly and interesting to talk to. There was one guy though that made his presense increasingly uncomfortable to be around.
See, I was supposed to stay with this guy but he cancelled last minute and set me up with his friend, another couch surfer. I meet this guy at the party and at first he seems nice but the more drinks he has, the more comments he makes about my getting raped. He would assure me he was joking but he kept saying it and referring to him and the two guys (including the one I was staying with).
The more the night went on, the more uncomfortable I became. Even other people could tell he was giving me problems. The Messenger didn´t feel I was very safe so he walked me back with them. Suddenly we are both being threatened, the guy telling me and The Messenger that we had to watch our backs, that the Messenger would have to protect me from them and that he was “dead” and I was “fucked”.
Excuse me?
I didn´t feel safe any more and The Messenger wasn´t allowing me to stay there by myself so we picked up my stuff and left and ended up crashing on the couch of the full hostel I had stayed at the night before.
So the story has come full circle with The Messenger. He starts by freaking me out about my safety and ends by saving my butt in a sticky situation.
Of course now I have two bad references on my couchsurfing profile since I left a bad reference for him. But seeing I am just called a dumb american idiot in my reference and I go into details on his, I don´t think it will affect me any. UGH.
The rest of barcelona has been great though! He taught me how to make flowers out of palm tree leaves, we´ve seen a fountain light show and have wandered the city. However, the story of The Messenger is coming to an end. On Thursday we both depart Barcelona, me to Morocco and him to France. I go to Morocco for 10 or so days, then back here to Spain. November 18th I head to Paris (!!) and November 22nd….I come back home from London. I booked my flight yesterday and on March 2nd? I RETURN. 
So. A lot has happened that I can´t possibly elaborate all in one post so i´m going to summarize on the one thing you all are dying to know: What the hell is going on with this stalker??
Maybe you´re not dying to know. Maybe you´ve forgotten. Let me refresh your memory.
So the story picks up about a week later in Edinburgh. Its my last day and I finally get an email from the Messenger. Turns out, he was playing a prank but hadn´t meant to freak me out. After a lot of yelling at him and threatening to kick his ass, I tell him he owes me a drink.
The story is this: he met Roy in a bathroom in a town just north of where I first met him. They got chatting and the town´s name came up and Roy said oh, I just gave an American girl a ride there, and proceeded to give some information on me and tells him to say hi to me for him if he runs into me. On the way down to this town, the Messenger gets a ride from Robert, who then proceeds to hear all about me and decides to send his regards. The Messenger thinks it´d be hilarious to play a little prank on me so he begins with Robert and doesn´t even mention Roy until later. Thats the story in a nutshell.
Little bastard.
After walking down a dark alleyway with him (exceptionally smart of me, which he was quick to point out) we found ourselves in a bar, laughing and chatting away. Turns out, he´s a pretty decent guy with a great sense of humor and amazingly blue eyes with a nice tan and curly brown hair. Features I cannot resist. Suddenly we´re flirting; suddenly he´s walking me to my bus to London, suddenly we´re MAKING OUT.
Like full out, steamy make out against a wall type of make out session.
Flash forward two days later. I´m in London and I get a message: he´s in London. He hadn´t been joking when he said he wanted to see me again. We meet up and hang out for a couple days. At the end of one night he goes, hey, why don´t you come with me to Amsterdam?
Hello, opportunity knocking? I ANSWERED. I hmmed and hawed for maybe…an hour before deciding to skip out on the rest of England and head to the one city i´ve been dying to go to this entire trip: AMSTERDAM!
We caught a ferry across where I may or may not have hooked up with him in the bathroom on the cabin deck. Maybe.
We get to Amsterdam and I move into my hostel in the red light district (mom would be so proud) and then meet up with his cousin where we consume only the most amazing food EVER. (i´ve lived off of a backpackers diet, anything better than pasta is AMAZING) I then sleep in a room full of guys (ummm…) before high tailing it over to his hotel where I reside in his bed for the remainder of the morning (after his cousin left of course).
Thanks to Mickey Mouse we got a free lunch (mouse ate through his food at the hotel) and more amazingness was had. I was loving Amsterdam already and I hadn´t even been outside the hotel! From tehre we moved onto our other hotel, no hostels for us. We wanted alone time Which we may or may not have gotten.
The rest of amsterdam went like this: we went into every sex shop in the red light district and I walked away with a vibrator, thanks to Mr Messenger. We went to a coffee shop where I got high and he proceeded to eat AN ENTIRE BROWNIE and ended up having the most hilarious trip ever in the hotel room later. (his first time having pot too) The second brownie he had though?? Holy hell did he have a BAD trip. Two days strong. So I babysat for two days before he took off for spain, ahead of me. Pretty scary stuff. We went on a tour, I went to the Ann Frank house (AMAZING) and we ate a lot of frites with mayo. (my stomach officially hates me)
Safe to say Amsterdam was AMAZING. My favorite city so far on this trip and I had so much fun, which definitely was helped by the Messenger. While it was all just sex between the two of us, he would make a great friend AND he introduced me to couch surfing. The most amazing way to travel EVER. I met a wonderful girl who let me crash on her couch, who I will most likely be traveling to Morrocco with! (if the country lets me in, my passport expires exactly 6 months from now) Not to mention he´s taught me a lot about the attitude I need to take with traveling and has probably had the most influence on me so far this trip.
I´m still riding on the Amsterdam high, even after a bout of bad luck in traveling today (Brussels? Me no likey). My luck has turned though and I find myself in a cheap pension in Spain where I have my very own room and tomorrow? I travel to the seaside town of San Sebastian where I will spend 3 nights couch surfing, then its off to Barcelona where I will meet up with the Messenger, once again. That won´t be the last time I´ll see him either.
After Barcelona we part ways again, I will be going to Morrocco for 10 days where I will ride camels, get harrassed by men and live cheaply before returning to Spain. From there I will meet up with him AGAIN and depending on how my money situation looks, I will continue traveling until thanksgiving, when I promised my parents I would come home. (WHY did i do that?!¿) (Had to throw in that little upside down question mark. Spanish keyboards are fun!)
Now I am in spain to enjoy warm weather and the BEACH!!!!!! Adios amigos.
