La dee dah

Hello all!

Can you believe it’s been two weeks?

I have to tell you that siesta’s are the best invention, ever! The life-style here is so intelligent – which is probably why the people seem so relaxed, so content, so….. together. I know, I know….they can’t be reduced to such a general observation – I am just loving the “la-dee da” stroll that seems to permeate the streets. Summer’s almost over though, maybe I’ll see a change in the energy.

I moved into my new flat. Yes, I had to say goodbye to Gloria and her wonderful hospitality (and I must add this embarrassing little note….her name isn’t Gloria. It’s Maria Dolores! Please don’t ask how I got Gloria from that, or why she never corrected me when I said “Gloria, es me Angel!” I have no answer!). She insisted on having my mobile phone number though so she could invite me to her Paella dinners. It’s nice to think that perhaps she enjoyed me as much as I enjoyed her. My other friends in the building: Ramon – the doorman and (another) Maria (and her two delightful daughters Arriana and Lucia) also insisted that we stay in touch and find occasions to meet up again. Little Arriana intelligently planned a cooking day (peanut-butter bears!) for me and invited me to her 5th birthday party. She cried when I was leaving ☹ I was a bit sorrowful to leave the beautiful, tree-filled foothills of Sarria, Sant Gervasi too – especially since I was headed to L’Hospitalet.

L’Hospitalet de Llobregat is, shall we say, rough around the edges but not without charm. It’s a barrio (neighborhood) just on the outskirts of Barcelona proper. It’s a working-class area backed by an industrial-fiesta of production warehouses. The ‘town’ itself has the magic that areas with little ‘extra’ money often have – a creative flair, tons of Asian restaurants, active people (women carrying 8 HEAVY plastic bags full of groceries and laundry) and raucously-wild teenagers. I’ve also seen a prostitute or two……I think. It’s hard to say. My gay-dar and my whore-dar are apparently not working very well in Europe. My school is a 10-15 minute ride on the metro in an area known as Sants – which is in Barcelona. Also a working-class neck of the woods but with a little more of interest than here in L’Hospitalet. (I start classes on Wednesday)

My flat is an oasis in the middle of no-where-land. It’s on the first floor (a hop up from ground level) of a modest 4-story building. The entire floor is big Spanish tile and the décor matches. (pottery, odd-shaped bottles, old native tools, wooden barrels, bull skulls. It’s very Spanish-Mediterranean – and I like it.) It’s very roomy…plenty of ‘living’ space….which is rare for this price range – rare in fact for most ‘student’ flats in Barcelona. My room is the smallest of the three but it is the ONLY room that has French doors that open up to the HUGE private terrace! Being as how this is summer and I’m in Spain…I’m very happy about this fact. Come winter, I may change my tune….but that’s later.

I’ve yet to find a food market near my new home. The only thing I found was a market called Dia – which sells things that resemble food but are actually just processed chemical experiments wrapped in colorful packages. They have a bread called “bimbo”. Need I say more? I think that the Sants area will have more to offer me. Then I can get one of those old-lady wheely carts (just for you mom!) to truck my groceries home in ☺

Onward and forward with project Barcelona!