Priorities

I found that my schedule of six hours a day of classes from 9.00 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily was too much (demasiado). The first four hours are instruction, and the last two are conversation with a native speaking teacher. I decided I needed the afternoon to eat, study, and check my email and investments on the computer. And so I did that this week and it made a world of difference. Now I have a routine of going to a great health food restaurant nearby where you get all you can eat of both a salad (serve yourself with every great thing under the sun), and hot foods (I usually get the stewed lentil soup). Along with that you get all the deserts, coffee, etc. you want, but I usually only partake in the salad and soup, which is plenty. All this for 7.80 Euros. I make this my main meal of the day and find I don't need anything else but a small snack the rest of the day. Very healthy and economical. After lunch I head back to my room to do homework, review my notes from class for the day, and check my email. The U.S. stock markets open 3.30 my time and I monitor that for the rest of the day, or I might head out and explore the city.

I had a bit of a relapse on the chest infection and went back on the antibiotics. It may be the cigarette smoke that is everywhere in Barcelona that is conspiring against my getting completely well. But today I feel well.

Last weekend I walked to the Bari Gotic and checked out the old architecture and the narrow pedestrian streets, and the Cathedral. As I walked the narrow streets I imagined what it must have been like before the automobile and saw horse-driven carriages passing casually through the narrow brick/cobblestone streets as pedestrians with big hats courteously scampered out of the way. I saw people laughing and saying hello to each other. Then a whiff of someone's cigarette smoke brought me back to reality. But the charm of the streets is still very much evident and alive. I can see why this part of the city is many people's (gente) favorite.

I visited the cathedral during the afternoon hours which apparently is the "not" free time. During these hours they charge visitors to help collect funds to restore the old place. I decided it was worth the 4 or so Euros to go in when it was convenient and probably less crowded. And it was worth it. It was like many old European cathedrals I've seen, but this one had an inside, open-air, courtyard with a garden and geese. Inside one of the small courtyard ancillary chapels I heard some beautiful music which at first I thought was being piped in through a sound system, but it turned out to be a very talented musician playing his guitar outside the church walls on one of the narrow streets surrounding the cathedral. Later, after leaving the cathedral I saw him and paused to listen for a while and then dropped a Euro in his guitar case before moving on. But before I left the cathedral I took the elevator to the top of the cathedral where they have outdoor pedestrian observation decks (much like at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris). Although the views were not as spectacular as Paris, it did give me an interesting perspective of Barcelona, and I could see the Mediterranean.

I worked out at a local gym this past week. This is the first time I've exercised since leaving the U.S. While working out I saw a whole lot of very hot looking guys! I also saw a row of about 10 televisions each with a different station that you can tune into through various radio frequencies. Which station do you think caught my eye? Not the soap opera where two lovers, nude, were making love (although I did pause there a minute or so), but rather the giraffes that were obviously being intimate with each other. Not sexually, but gently nudging and showing affection for each other. It was then and there that I remembered how much I loved nature and animals as a child. I decided that my next Barcelona destination would be the zoo.

Today I went to the Barcelona zoo. I walked from my room in the school on Gran Via to Via Laietana and down through the Bari Gotic, worked my way to the Mercat del Santa Caterina which was filled with people. I bought an apple from one of the hundreds of vendors and proceeded away from the crowds on towards the zoo. Without a map and just following my instincts, I ended up passing by the Picasso Museum and made a mental note of where it was. I proceeded in the direction I knew the zoo was and passed by an interesting structure that turned out to be an ancient site called Born. Inside this giant structure they have preserved the ancient ruins of the city as it was over 400 year ago. The information there said this was the only place in all of Europe that had such a site preserved for posterity. They are planning to renovate the site and make it a museum that shows what the old homes, streets and markets looked like in "ancient" times. I proceeded only a few blocks and saw the entrace to the park and the zoo. A frantic American passed by asking anyone who would listen "Excuse me! Do you know where the Picasso Museum is?! It closes in five minutes and I have to get there!" Seeing that I was the only person in ear shot who could help him, I pointed him in the right direction.

The zoo was pretty cool. I was the only person there who was alone, and without a coat or sweater. Everyone else had a jacket, a sweater, a spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend, and (most with) a baby with a stroller. It was not exactly cold, but it would have been a good idea for me to have something besides a t-shirt. But it was o.k. I enjoyed seeing the animals, and seeing the Spanish translation for them all. I had a bocadillo atun (tuna sandwich) and a vino tinto (red wine) near the end of my visit in the zoo and made my way out of the zoo and through the City Park (Parc de la Ciutadella) which is beautiful and magnificent in its own right. I made my way down the long stretch of walkway through the park towards what looked reminiscent of the Arc de Triomf in Paris, and sure enough it was the "Arc del Triomf" in Barcelona! I instinctively made my way on foot to my own neighborhood and arrived just as my local grocery store was opening and bought myself a bottle of local vino and returned to my room at the school.

OK, so priority number 1 is: I need more time for myself, and so I've cancelled my conversation classes in the afternoon. Priority number two is a bit more complicated.

I'm gay, and so I thought I needed to find the "gay area" and gay bars to try and mix with the local gays and meet other gay people. I've tried twice now to wander through what is supposedly the "gay" area and I've not found much of anything. It's probably because I go too early (i.e., before 1 a.m.) and frankly, I don't really want to meet someone in a smoke filled bar! I am much too old for this and I decided that I can use my time and energy in other ways.

So I learned of an English speaking "club" that meets in Barcelona for social and cultural activities where Spanish and English speaking people get together to meet. On Tuesday nights they have conferences where a speaker presents different topics. For instance the next few Tuesdays are: "Domestic Violence," "global warming," and "the trend of more and more people living alone." I've decided to attend these sessions. They should be interesting and maybe I will meet some nice people.