First week of August staycation

I visited the Barri Gotic.  It was a crowded and claustrophobic, but still beautiful.  The Gothic and ancient Roman architecture is amazing and from the smell of it, the sewage system might be somewhat original.  There were street performers, merchants, people traveling from all over.  I took a tranquil moment to imagine the splash of chamber pots being emptied from above and the the trot of horses instead of mopeds.  No one who is actually from Barcelona will go anywhere near the Barri Gotic, especially during tourist season.  I saw as much free stuff as I could and took a bunch of photos.  None of the photos do any justice to the area, however.  There is so much detail that I could not capture - I was getting some high school flashbacks of Ms. Zierer's art history class the entire time.

Later on in the week, Duke and I went on a micro urban hike from my flat to Arc de Triomphe.  The Arc de Triomphe was, of course, grand and impressive, but it was all overshadowed by the best discovery ever: THE ASIAN MARKET.  It's no 99 Ranch, but they have the essentials: vinegar, tofu, soy sauce, seaweed, peanut butter.  It even had old Filipino dudes loitering inside.  Victory.  

 

After returning home with my prizes, I decided to get a haircut since it's been about a month since my last one.  I always get nervous when I cheat on Sarah.  We were seeing each other for 6 years before I left for Spain.  I chose the perruqueria with the Asians inside because they had cool hair and I figured they would take care of me.  Foreseeing an immense language barrier (they spoke Spanish and Mandarin), I looked up hairstyles online, took screen shots with my camera, and brought them in for nod and point communication.  I think they thought I was a riot because:

1. I was in Spain and couldn't speak Spanish
2. I look like I could be Chinese, but couldn't speak any Chinese languages
3. I brought them a photo of an Asian man's haircut.  

The whole process was a sitcom.  They did some strange stuff like shampoo my hair with a squirt bottle and Pantene while I sat upright in a chair.  I also got kind of nervous during the cut when I looked down and saw what appeared to be dried blood on the haircutting bib (I'm not sure what that's called).  All in all though, they delivered and I'll be back in a month or so.  

Yesterday, my Galician roommate, Reuben, decided to have a mini celebration because it was payday.  I got to partake in some traditional Galician food and drink: empanadas and licor café.  Galician empanadas are not like Filipino empanadas.  They are giant and you order them by the kilo.  The base of the filling is caramelized onions along with tuna or meat.  Licor café is the granddaddy of Kahlua.  According to Reuben, Galicians drink this like water and get wasted.  It's delicious, but I couldn't drink more than a glass of it.  We ran out of ice so we were trying to drink it straight up.  I thought my teeth were going to rot out of my face.  I also got to have some chorizo that was actually spicy.  It was really good, but nothing like Mexican chorizo.  It's really dry like pepperoni.    Reuben has been living off of garlic and rice for weeks now so it was a really big deal to have such a lavish  meal.  I felt totally honored that he wanted to share it with me.  

Put on your dancing chanclas

On Friday we received our TEFL certificates. It was a really sweet and informal ceremony. Afterwards, I went with some colleagues from class to the Mercat de l'Abaceria Central to pick up some food for lunch. This was the closest to a dinner party I've had in a looooooooong time. The food was delicious: loads of fresh lettuce, super sweet tomatoes, stinky blue cheese, crusty bread, sautéed mushrooms and zucchini, wine, olives, the best mango in Spain, and cured meat.

After this sweet, languorous lunch we headed up to Parque Guëll. It was absolutely packed with people and we lost each other immediately. Duke, Kendel and I walked to the top of a couple little mountains in the park, including Tres Creus. It was really beautiful with wonderful views of the city. There were performance artists all around including belly dancers, puppeteers, and musicians. At around 6 pm, Duke and I headed back home so I could rest up before the end of course drinks.

I wandered over to Plaça Virreina at about 10 pm. There's a great bar/restaurant/pool hall there and I got to hang out with TEFL alumni from previous classes. We closed down the bar around 2 or 3 am and then headed to the discoteca, Otto Zutz. The cover was steep for me, 12€, especially since I don't dance, but then Lady Gaga came on and I had to get my money's worth. Yes folks, I went dancing. It was a big deal. At first, I could not stop laughing at the playlist they had going: the Police, Elvis, a LOT of REM. It just wasn't what I expected in a dance club. Somehow I ended up on some kind of go go dancer box. After a few minutes I remembered I was afraid of heights, panicked, and then got down. Then I saw some friends across the way, forgot about my acrophobia, and climbed onto the VIP platform to hang out with them (later I was reprimanded by one of the bouncers). I headed home around 6 am. Halfway home, sheer exhaustion and dehydration got the better of me and I jumped in a cab so he could drive me 5 blocks to my flat.

(NOTE: I posted all of my Barcelona photos online.  Check out the link on the left!)

Yay!

I am TEFL certified to teach English and I passed my exam with a 94%.  I have the rest of the day off and then tomorrow is our certificate ceremony.  Huzzah!

August is vacation month for Spain and then work will probably start at the beginning of September.  I´ve got a little time to relax now and explore the city more.  I thought about renting a car and driving along the coast, but petrol is expensive here and people drive like maniacs.  

Anyone want to visit this month?  It´s hot as hell, but I have some free time to hang with people.

Self portrait.

Per request of my dad, here are some photos of me in Barcelona.  

In Spain, it is required to attach a photo to your CV (resume).  Do I look employable?

Some kind of sweet brown goodness...

My hairy leg and a dog bite (not from Duke)...

Los perros.

Pride in Sitges

This past weekend, Johanna and I went to Sitges again for Pride festivities on Saturday night.  We had a blast.  The little streets, which look like a fabricated neighborhood in Disney theme park, were stuffed full with an international mix of 'mos.  Dinner was at the Super Pollo, basically a Catalan El Pollo Loco.  The food was unexpectedly superb.  For about 11€ we had half a roasted chicken, a generous plate of fries, croquetas, and a bottle of cava.  Afterwards, we wandered the bars, encountered some fierce queens...and I now owe Johanna $1 for dancing on the pool table.

We were supposed to meet Jessy at some rave, but didn't end up making it to the bus.  The logical substitute was, of course, to jump into the Mediterranean with pretty boys cruising up and down the shore.  We were later informed by some Catalans that it is weird to go to the beach topless in the middle of the night since there is obviously no sun.  Oops.  After sharing refreshments with our new Catalan friends for the night, we made it back to the train station.

Like 13 year olds at slumber party, we stayed up all night and took the first train back to Barcelona in the morning.  It was silly, exciting, and appallingly difficult.  The train was packed with the haggard remnants of the night; we ran to the last car to snag some seats.  When I finally got to my station, Joanic, I zombie-crawled home wreaking of salt, sweat, wine, and dawn.  

More photos!

Photos at the TEFL school...

Jessy really likes snacks.

More photos around the flat...

Duke and my roommate, Reuben.

World Cup: Spain v. Germany...

People were literally chucking explosives into the middle of the square where everyone was hanging out.  The parties went on all night, but I was good and went to bed early so I would be somewhat functional at school.

On the way to Sitges...

This last photo was a gift from an artist that I met on the train.

Some photos FINALLY

I finally bought a digital camera today.  Here are some photos around my flat.

Condiments continued...

So apparently there are some condiments, but they don't go on sandwiches.  A "Russian salad" here is boiled vegetables and LOADS of mayo.  I bought what I thought was salsa the other day.  When I opened it up, it was a yeast paste with no more kick than a Taco Bell sauce packet.  Today after class, I went into what I thought was a spice shop.  Spanish food is really very simple and mild-tasting and I've been jonesing for some el pato or Sriracha...a little kick in the face.  Everything was ridiculously expensive.  I think it was 8 € for a bottle of sauce.  Hell no.  For my birthday send me Braggs and Sriracha and El Pato and nut butters.

Let me update on the latter half of my weekend...

After going to the beach at Sitges on Saturday, I made plans with Jen to visit Parc Guell with Duke on Sunday.  I hadn't done any of the tourist attractions yet so I was really excited to go.  The heat was unbearable that afternoon.  After polishing off a bottle of cava, we decided to ditch the park and go along with her friends to the beach (yay lezzie expats!).  More half nakie sun bathing...I didn't bring my swimsuit so I went in my undies.  I didn't think this was a big faux pas until I got out of the water and realized they were on inside out.  That happens to me way too often.  Anyways, there are guys on the beach that sell Cokes and beers (about 2.50 €) [I am so excited!  I just figured out how to type €.  It's on the same key as % and 5 and I couldn't figure it out].  That seems insanely cheap for beach-side service, but considering you can get a decent bottle of wine (hell yeah) for that much here, I usually pass.  Does no sin tax mean that I'm becoming a libertarian?  Somehow the Spanish government has figured out how to provide health care to its people without taking away all their fun.

Sunday night was spent watching soaps in Spanish and negotiating my laundry situation.  The teeny tiny washing machine in the flat is broken so I have to hand wash bits and pieces of laundry as I need them.  It's incredibly efficient and cheap to hang dry all my stuff out the window, but there are terrible, horrible, utterly useless things called doves.  If anyone or anything is going to shit my pants, it should be me.  They no longer symbolize peace, but vengeance.

I'm going to try and buy a camera in a bit and attempt to go to Parc Guell again.  I wanted to try earlier, but the shops are all closed in the middle of the day for lunch/siesta time.

Half nakie sun bake

I went to Sitges yesterday with a new Canadian friend, Jen.  I am definitely a fan of the Mediterranean beaches.  Apparently Sitges is the gay beach hub in the Barcelona area.  It was fantastic.  Lots of dudes in little hot pants and speedos.  We tried to find THE gay nudie beach, but gave up after walking in the hot sun for about 20 minutes.  Since it's Europe everyone gets to go topless so I figured halfway there isn't bad and we plopped down somewhere in the middle of the string of beaches.  

It seems like the Spaniards don't actually eat much.  I think my roommates eat breakfast at 2 in the afternoon...I've only seen them sit down to have a meal a handful of times.  For some reason I had this expectation that people would be real foodies, but as far as I've seen, they don't cook much.  I made arroz caldo the other day and my roommates were totally blown away.  Maybe it's a generational thing since they're all in their 20s.  If so, then that's something they have in common with the American boomerang generation.  Whenever I try to feed them the look confused - this contradicts my Filipino sensibilities.  I feel really self-conscious about always eating and cooking.  Oh well.

I did have some dulce de leche gelato that was absolutely to die for.  I also had a sandwich which is always anti-climatic here.  I don't really think they believe in condiments at all and I miss my Veganaise and stoneground mustard.  I don't really even use ketchup much, but I bought some because I felt obligated to have it in the kitchen.

Next weekend there is a gay pride celebration in Sitges which sounds really exciting.  Hopefully I'll have some scandalous things to report on.

New faces

I haven't been able to access Blogger for the last couple of days, so I will try to sum things up as best as I can.

School

I ended up missing the whole day of school on Monday because I was hangin out in customs, so my first day was Tuesday.  Almost all of the employees there are British.  The one American staff person, of course, talks the loudest, quickest, and is the most outgoing (she's also very very Michigan).  It's definitely comforting to be surrounded by adults that have all made the expat leap and are [I can totally hear someone boning right now!] leading happy, productive lives.  

Most of the students in my class are American women in their twenties who recently got out of college.  Sometimes I feel a little funny reconnecting with mainstream America.  Then again, if you're going to move abroad just because you feel like it, you can't be too mainstream.  I'm definitely the only obviously queer one, but I'm not sure if my 'dar works internationally.  I keep wanting to make gay jokes all the time and then realize that it is probably totally foreign to them.

I taught my first class yesterday afternoon and it went alright.  I worked with a seasoned teacher, Luke, on a lesson plan and then he sat in the back and observed me during my first lesson.  It was definitely one of those black out/out-of-body moments where I came to afterwards and wasn't quite sure what happened.  Apparently I did ok and the students seemed to enjoy the lesson.  There is one student in particular that I really enjoy.  Her name is Marta and she looks like she came out of a John Waters movie - very Divine.  Who doesn't love a natural-born drag queen?  She's a terrible flirt and probably the most advanced student in the group.  There was also another person in my class...her name is Lilith...and she has short, spiky, bleached hair.  My 'dar can't be that broken right?  

I have a half day of class tomorrow.  Afterwards, a bunch of my classmates will be going to Sitges.  It sounds really lovely, but I feel self-conscious going with a bunch of gender normies.  My teacher, Lisa, said it pretty damn gay though...I haven't decided yet.

Roommies

Duke and I share the flat with Ruben, Marina, Miriam, Yola, Otto (French bulldog), and Zoe (cat).  All of the humans are in their twenties and recent college graduates.  I really like all of them.  

The funny thing is that Spanish is not the first language for any of us.  Ruben is from Santiago in Gallicia and speaks Galician.  He is also fluent in Spanish and knows a bit of French and English.  Marina, Miriam, and Yola are all from Girona and are very Catalan.  All the Catalonians here are also fluent in Spanish and my roommates speak a tiny bit of English.  It's fun to talk with them because the conversation becomes a hodge podge of FrenchSpanishCatalanEnglish.  Catalan is like speaking French with a Spanish pronunciation.  I can somewhat understand written text, but hearing it totally throws me off.

BTW - Spanish olives are the best and there are bottles of wine for 0.99 Euros.