I have a lot to write about, and I'm not going to write about it now. Granada, Paris, and the hellacious week of coursework that came in between deserve a little more brainpower than I'm able to give right now.

But my roommate Anne and I were just up on the roof of our building, eating some cheese we found at a market in the city center with some fresh bread and a bottle of sparkling rioja, looking out at Placa Espanya, the lights coming off the Palau Nacional on Montjuic, and the Olympic monument right behind it.

Have to make sure I make this clear - that I at least put down in writing for posterity, for my parents who have made this possible and for myself - that rare is the moment that I'm not entirely aware of how lucky I am to be here. This is likely to be the time I look back on as the best of my life, young and without any real responsibility, living in Europe, experiencing a world that has something new and gorgeous to offer every time I turn a (literal street) corner.

There's something about the roof that makes me want to talk about it. All of the things that living in Europe has offered me become incredibly clear when I'm standing on the top of our building, seeing what I've got around me.

Anne and I were talking about it, while we were up on the roof having our wine, cheese and bread meal that would have set us back thirty dollars in the States that cost us, all told, about twelve euros here. Even though we've both been keenly aware of it the whole time we've been here, we've never talked about it before - we're both in a class of people who go to four-year universities that encourage spending a semester abroad, families who give us the means to actually go and do it, and have a sensibility that allows us to look around and absorb as much of it as we can.

How lucky can you get? What on earth have I done to deserve a life like the one I'm living here?

At the very least, my own children will be lucky. Mom's gonna run her mouth about "when I was in college and spent a semester in Europe" so much there's no way I'm gonna be able to dodge making it possible for them to have semesters abroad themselves.

Meh. Spoiled, already.

Fireworks display at Placa Espanya.