St. Patty's Day

Next to Christmas, St. Patrick's day is my favorite holiday to celebrate. Every year, it's always crazy and fun. Well, except last year when I passed out at 5 PM and never recovered. I usually pass out early and recover shortly after. But those are minor details...no need to talk about it. The point is, I heart St. Patrick's Day. It really brings out the Irish inside of me (ha!). I knew this year's St. Patty's would be a bit different, but I was determined to celebrate it in any way possible.

Saturday, I made plans to go to an Irish pub with Sara and Andrew. Before going out, I made sure to make a phone call to my friends who were getting drunk at the annual St. Patricks's Day Party. I was very sad to miss it so I knew talking to them while they get drunk would be the closest thing I could get to celebrating "with" them. It was wonderful talking to them. I definitely wished I was home.

But I had to persevere...none of this wishing shit. So I put on my green shirt and went to O'Neills Pub. I was there a week before and I saw signs for St. Patrick's Day weekend. I have to say I was a bit disappointed. I was probably one of three people wearing green. But I tried to make the best of it anyway and drank my beer. And yes, it was still nice hanging out with Sara and Andrew, especially Sara since I haven't seen her since December. One thing that I did though that would make most people proud is that I vomited. Yup, it was gross. I was totally fine, only had one beer. I went to the bathroom to pee and as I was waiting in line, I suddenly felt sick and there was no stopping it. I just vomited everything on the floor. And Natania this one was for you, I tried really hard to catch it all on my hand, but it was just too much. I have no idea what came over me. Maybe it was the fact that I just had a salad for dinner three hours before. You could totally tell what I had eaten too. It was just this clear green liquid with pieces of leaves. My vomit was like St. Patrick's day!

Well, now that I've just grossed you out, I'll move on with the rest of the story. Yesterday afternoon, on the actual St. Patrick's Day, I went for another long walk. As I was cutting through Plaza Mayor, I noticed a group of people all decked out in St. Patty's gear: green shirts, irish flag color wigs, shamrock painted faces, etc. I stopped to check it out. They all started singing and dancing to some Irish jigs. It was great! Check out the videos I took below.

Later on that night, Iñaki was nice enough to celebrate it with me...I'd been talking about St. Patrick's Day for weeks. I was telling him about green beer and I think he was really curious about it. We went to a different pub this time - I didn't really feel like going back to O'Neill's where I left my mark. So, we went to Fontana de Oro, where there was NO green beer. However, there was a live show with a Spanish band playing Irish music (see other video). It was a lot better than Saturday. People were decked out in green and over-sized Guinness hats. I really wanted to steal someone's hat (I wasn't about to pay just to get a hat!), but there was just no good time to do it. It made me wish Brian was there so I could use his Guinness hat...he always let me. Anyway, we only stayed there for a couple beers; Iñaki had to work the next day, which was probably better because I was getting really drunk.

So that was my St. Patrick's Day, spanish style. It was fun but obviously nothing like Chicago. I really wish I was drinking green beer, playing flippy cup, and watching my friends break things/pee in non-toilets/Irish dance/get completely wasted. My group of friends might be getting "older" (getting engaged/married, having babies, buying houses), but on St. Patrick's day, we all relive the good ol' days and I love it!

St. Patrick's Day