Settling In

I haven't created a new post in a while, because nothing really exciting has happened! I've been spending my days just walking around and window shopping all the lovely little boutiques there are here, or read at the beach. I take long walks to the market to get fresh and cheap produce and poultry, having to weave through tourists all the time! I'm glad I saw nightlife my first few weeks here, because with all the trips I'm planning, I'm now on a very tight budget. So tight in fact, that I will be home when my contract for the apartment rental is up, at the beginning of November. I'm definitely not upset about this, if I wanted to stay longer, I simply wouldn't be able to leave the city to see other countries. I consciously chose to see other countries, so though my stay will be shorter, it will be more fulfilling! I've decided not to work here. After talking to some friends, working will just be miserable. Since I don't have a visa, job opportunities are limited. I could either be a waitress, which is poor hours, as much work as waitressing in Canada, and the average income is so low for the cost of living here, that tips are a joke. This wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to work hard. I could still meet people and make a little extra money, but it's not worth the extra stress of working so hard. Running around all day wouldn't allow me to talk to many people, the pay wouldn't amount to much, and I figure I can spend my time in a preferred way. Another option is to hand out flyers for bars. This is significantly less work, however it is also much less money and you're working alone, on the street, for hours. I'm sure one could make this fun, but I've seen the faces of people doing this, and they do not look impressed. You'll have to pay me a lot more to spend my hard earned vacation that way!

Other small events that have occurred are such trials as cooking an entire turkey breast in a tiny frying pan for over an hour, just to taste that it has turned. It seems much of what is purchased at the market has a short life span. Another day, I was in a somewhat poor mood. I went to the grocery store, just to drop a bottle of wine I had just paid for. It was interesting trying to communicate with the two sixteen-year-old Spanish girls at the check out what happened, what bottle it was, etc. They were sweet enough though. That evening, I sat at Placa Catalunya for a while hoping to shake my poor mood before I returned home. It wasn't long before a guy from Somalia sat with me. He only speaks French, Spanish, and a tongue native to Somalia I believe, so our conversation consisted of about two phrases every five minutes. His persistence cheered me up, and we "chatted" for about half an hour. One of those guys I mentioned before who sell beer on the streets approached us, and this poor boy who was so determined to talk to me convinced the beer guy to translate for us. I'm sure I could have understood the Somalian guy just fine with Spanish, or even French, but there is a certain sense of security to be felt in convincing one there is an impenetrable communication barrier, especially since I was by myself at night not knowing this person. We enjoyed what little we chatted about, then I carried on home. The next day, I got lost. I went out walking around as I normally do, just checking things out, and I horribly lost my bearings. I ended up walking up Montjuic and standing atop the hill to see the sea. Realizing my error, I descended the hill. APPARENTLY you can only go down one side of the hill. The side I chose to venture down led me to an intimidating industrial district. It was empty, except for a few women, just standing around. I figured I could keep heading to the sea then just follow it home. The roads just became increasingly busy as I headed to the water, and eventually there was no walking in the area. I asked one of the women in broken Spanish how to get to a couple land marks I know. When I hit one she knew, she kindly directed me. I ended up just going back the way I came. After five hours, I had never been so happy to see tourists!

My itineraries are almost all set, and I will reveal them nearer to my departure. In the mean time, I've made a list of places I'd like to see, and things I think you would like to see pictures of. Today, I visited Parc Ciutadella. This is similar to Central Park in NYC, however on a much smaller scale. It has a zoo, a zoology museum, a place to rent and go canoing, parrots in the plethora of fauna, a geology museum, some political buildings, and one of Gaudi's first works. The park is beautifully laid out. There are statues everywhere, and each seems to have a section of the park dedicated to it as they are all encircled with plants. It seems like the park is made up of many circles, each circumferenced with a type of plant and each with its own flare. There are also long walkways with many benches and trees.


This is a statue in the south west corner of the park.


This is considered the centre of the park.


This is a fountain designed by architects Josep Fontsere and Antoni Gaudi.


I find it incredible the detail that goes into the architecture here. This is nothing more that a light post in the park. Each light post has five benches as part of its foundation.


This is the Arc de Triomf.


This is a pretty fountain I saw.


This is the view I had where I was reading. You can't really tell by the image, but the fountain was completely encircled with trees. You can only see the two behind it in the photo.


This is the Justice Palace (Palau de Justica).

The only unfortunate thing about the park is that nearly all the buildings were closed off, and they were doing a lot of construction on them. Some areas of the park all you can hear are jack hammers. Other than that, it is lovely.