Things are getting better :)

I've been so busy looking for work lately that I haven't posted in forever!

I found more teaching positions so now I have enough for rent and food (barely).  I still need to find more hours, but it's a load off of my chest to mostly afford living here.  The classes are all over town so I'll be traveling quite a bit, but that's the way it goes for your first year of teaching.  On Thursday I move into my new place near Universitat.  The common areas are quite small, but my bedroom is going to be a lot bigger with a full size bed and an external window (yay!). 

This week is the Mercé festival which is the biggest festival in Barcelona.  It is a week long and there are free events every single day.  Over the weekend I saw Belle & Sebastian and Goldfrappp among several other bands.  There were fireworks on Sunday night, but I flaked out on going because the thought of being smooshed by sweaty strangers in  a crowd for the third night in the row did not appeal to me. 

I have a job interview today in Badalona, just at the edge of Barcelona, and then later in the afternoon I have my first in-company class.  Now it's time to walk Duke the duker.  Yesterday an old lady got really mad at me because he diarrheaed on the street and I couldn't clean it all up.  Hopefully, we won't have the same problem again.

Not so cozy

So...I have to move out.

It turns out my new roommates are very intolerant evangelical Christians.  Apparently I am not allowed to have any visitors sleep over and absolutely no hanky panky in my room.  The other day, they sat me down and told me not to open the door for strangers.  They keep sending my conversion emails and trying to save my soul.  I think I would rather go to hell with all the other fun people.  So, I talked with them and let them know that this was not a good match for either of us.  They were ok with that and I am moving out at the end of the month with my full deposit back.  I am glad that inconvenience and awkwardness are the only real consequences of this situation.

Last night my friend, Dario, had a jam session at his place.  It felt like being at the mods again - hanging out with a bunch of guitars drinking cheap alcohol and eating vegan dip.  Oh, and earlier that day, I went skinny dipping with a bunch of bears in Sitges.

Now I am at home boiling some arroz caldo and nursing a sore throat.

Gettin' cozy

This last week has been fairly busy for me.  I moved into my new place on Wednesday.  It's in the same barrio as before, Gracia.  Duke and I share the space with 2 people and 4 cats.  The salon is painted like the Catalan flag and there's is a nice terrace to hang out on.  My room is small, but I love the location and the creatures I live with.

Since it is the beginning of September, everyone is back from vacation including all the language schools.  I hit the streets and sent out a blitzkrieg of job applications.  I nailed one interview to tutor people for SAT I and II and AP tests.  She'll be sending me clients as they come in, so for now I'm not sure how many hours I will get.  The pay is good (20€/hour) and they provide all the teaching materials. I met another person yesterday who will be handing over some of her private classes to me at a similar rate.  On Monday, I have an interview in Montgat for an English teaching position.  I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that I can start bringing in some dough soon.

Stay tuned for photos of my new place!  Duke and Ourso, one of the cats, are napping in the salon.  It's really cute.