Skinny College Kid
I went to the gym today and when I weighed myself I found that I've lost 8 lbs. since arriving in Barcelona. I now weigh 174 lbs (79 kg.) which is 8 lbs less than my 182 when I left and 14 lbs less than when I moved to West Hollywood and started with my trainer Josh.
I attribute the weight loss to a total change in lifestyle including eating habits and daily routines. When I was in the US I ate small meals every 2-4 hours and worked out regularly. In Barcelona, because of my school schedule I eat a normal breakfast (cereal with soy milk) at 8:15 a.m. then a small snack a couple hours later (an apple and a piece of bread) at noon, then at 2:30 or so I have my main meal of the day which is as much as I want to eat vegetarian in a restaurant including salad and soup. I've found when filling up at this meal, I don't really get hungry the rest of the day and so I rarely eat anything later except ocassionally I eat nuts (yeah yeah, I wish!). Plus I've only been working out about once a week, but I walk somewhere every day. The walking, eating less or no meat, and consuming less calories I'm sure have contributed to the weight loss. I've not weighed this little since college!
I think my waist size has dropped at least an inch or so. And I'm getting cruised a lot more by students, staff, men and women on the street. It's nice!
Today at the gym a very handsome, young (28 ish) guy with blonde hair helped me out at the counter when I was checking in. He translated the staff's spanish into perfect english for me (with a smile). I thanked him, and we exchanged smiles and glances throughout the rest of our workouts. If I was a brave soul I should of/would of talked to him. But..... sigh
On my way out of the gym a young woman at the counter spoke to me in American english and said "so you're from cali eh?" She was from New Jersey but was born in Spain and had returned and was now working in the gym. Although a citizen of Spain, she was raised in the US and had a resident visa there. She has been here six months and is thinking she really wants to go back to the US. She could not put into words why she wanted to return. Barcelona is wonderful she said, but the culture, and subleties here just don't work for her. She feels misunderstood, and is frustrated that she can not express herself in the local language as well as she can back home in English. Things just aren't the same here, she said.
It is difficult for Americans in Barcelona. There are the cultural differences, prejudices against Americans in general (due mostly to George Bush, and to the many Americans who travel expecting everyone else to speak English and to cater to their every demand), and the inability to communicate fully as we can in our own language. These are important considerations i need to think about while counterbalancing them against the positives: inexpensive living, good year-round weather, excellent transportation, culture, the Mediterranean, gay-friendliness, .....
I've been thinking about whether I stay beyond the end of my schooling. I've found a great web site Loquo.com which is the local Craigslist.com for Barcelona, and there are literally hundreds of postings daily for rentals. I realize now that housing will be fairly easy to obtain, and at an affordable price (from 300 euros for a room in a shared flat, to 700 - 1000 for my own flat).
Tomorrow morning I give an oral presentation of my "autobiography" in Spanish. I plan to tell the truth and tell the class (among other things) when I "came out of the closet" and announced to the world I was gay (at age 40). This should be interesting!
Hasta luego.
I attribute the weight loss to a total change in lifestyle including eating habits and daily routines. When I was in the US I ate small meals every 2-4 hours and worked out regularly. In Barcelona, because of my school schedule I eat a normal breakfast (cereal with soy milk) at 8:15 a.m. then a small snack a couple hours later (an apple and a piece of bread) at noon, then at 2:30 or so I have my main meal of the day which is as much as I want to eat vegetarian in a restaurant including salad and soup. I've found when filling up at this meal, I don't really get hungry the rest of the day and so I rarely eat anything later except ocassionally I eat nuts (yeah yeah, I wish!). Plus I've only been working out about once a week, but I walk somewhere every day. The walking, eating less or no meat, and consuming less calories I'm sure have contributed to the weight loss. I've not weighed this little since college!
I think my waist size has dropped at least an inch or so. And I'm getting cruised a lot more by students, staff, men and women on the street. It's nice!
Today at the gym a very handsome, young (28 ish) guy with blonde hair helped me out at the counter when I was checking in. He translated the staff's spanish into perfect english for me (with a smile). I thanked him, and we exchanged smiles and glances throughout the rest of our workouts. If I was a brave soul I should of/would of talked to him. But..... sigh
On my way out of the gym a young woman at the counter spoke to me in American english and said "so you're from cali eh?" She was from New Jersey but was born in Spain and had returned and was now working in the gym. Although a citizen of Spain, she was raised in the US and had a resident visa there. She has been here six months and is thinking she really wants to go back to the US. She could not put into words why she wanted to return. Barcelona is wonderful she said, but the culture, and subleties here just don't work for her. She feels misunderstood, and is frustrated that she can not express herself in the local language as well as she can back home in English. Things just aren't the same here, she said.
It is difficult for Americans in Barcelona. There are the cultural differences, prejudices against Americans in general (due mostly to George Bush, and to the many Americans who travel expecting everyone else to speak English and to cater to their every demand), and the inability to communicate fully as we can in our own language. These are important considerations i need to think about while counterbalancing them against the positives: inexpensive living, good year-round weather, excellent transportation, culture, the Mediterranean, gay-friendliness, .....
I've been thinking about whether I stay beyond the end of my schooling. I've found a great web site Loquo.com which is the local Craigslist.com for Barcelona, and there are literally hundreds of postings daily for rentals. I realize now that housing will be fairly easy to obtain, and at an affordable price (from 300 euros for a room in a shared flat, to 700 - 1000 for my own flat).
Tomorrow morning I give an oral presentation of my "autobiography" in Spanish. I plan to tell the truth and tell the class (among other things) when I "came out of the closet" and announced to the world I was gay (at age 40). This should be interesting!
Hasta luego.
posted by Eagle Eye at 12:47 PM
1 Comments:
Hey I remember giving my presentation about my life in French. I decided to be honest. I'm so glad I DON'T have a video of the event.
Good luck!
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