La Flaca by Jarabe de Palo

It was my first weekend in Barcelona in late summer, 1997.  I was beyond excited because I was about to take a bus to the Mediterranean.  In fact, I told my dad this very thing when he called the dorm right before we left.  I couldn't get over it.  A short bus ride across town to the Mediterranean.  How cool is that??  My dad responded by quoting skin cancer facts and horrors.  I was so disgusted that I told him I had no intention of wearing sunscreen and I had a bus to catch.  I mean, honestly!  Sunscreen in hand, I headed to the beach with Anhchi L, Christy R, and Lia B. It was everything I hoped for and more.  Topless sunbathing.  Cute boys everywhere.  The beautiful, sparkling Mediterranean.  Vendors with funny songs promoting their snacks (my favorite: Agua!  Coca Cola!  Cerveza Fria!).  We settled in for an afternoon of sun, sand, and fun.

At some point we were joined by some cute Barcelona boys.  I can't remember how we started talking to them.  Anhchi might have joined their soccer game and then they came over and sat with us.  There were 2 of them and they were obsessed with their soccer ball, to which I thought, of course they are!  Spaniards love soccer!  The boys shared some of their music with me since I was listening to music on my Walkman.  Pretty sure it was a Walkman back then.  Some of the music was not to my liking, but then they played La Flaca.  I might have heard it before then.  It was totally the song of the summer in Barcelona definitely (the band is from Barcelona) and possibly all of Spain.  It has a clever beat, the singer's voice is really sexy, the chorus is fun.  I was singing along, but since I didn't know exactly what they were saying, I wasn't singing the correct words, which are:  "Por un beso de la Flaca daria lo que fuera.  Aunque solo uno fuera".  On a nerdy note, this song would be an awesome example of the subjunctive for a lesson in a Spanish class.  Just saying.  The boys corrected me and I later learned precisely what I was saying and I love everything about this song to this date. 

After the beach, we proceeded to follow the boys back into Barcelona.  They kicked the ball the entire time and I am not sure where we thought we were going.  I hoped we were going somewhere fun, perhaps to a bar to grab a drink, but no.  We just walked around aimlessly, watching them kick that stupid ball.  I think we eventually said to heck with this and got back on a bus to our dorm.  And that was my first trip to the Mediterranean!