Hello everyone, thanks for the kind words and encouragement. So far I´ve only been in Barcelona for about a week and a half. I spent a 8 days in Valencia for the race and then to watch the testing for next season. As such, I´m still feeling my way about the city and everything is very different than anything I've seen or experienced before. Today is Sunday, and virtually the entire city is closed for business. There are bars/restaurants that are open, and the occasional locutario (like the one I´m paying for right now!), and some grocery stores. Other than that, I can´t find anything else that is open. Aside from the Sunday routine of nothing gets done, many places also close their doors from 1.30PM to 3 or 4.30PM for lunchtime and siesta. The hours posted on people´s doors usually read 9-13:50 and 16:50-19:50. No mention of Sunday, since it´s a given everything is closed. It´s a fascinating mix of old and new. Decrepit buildings, high fashion, and digital music players on everyone. Most people don´t seem to like computers (distrustful is the word) and yet I can´t figure out how they´re putting music on their iPods! Maybe I´m just hanging out in all the wrong places, haha. Maybe in America we´re just addicted to the internet. Here´s an applicable quote:
I think we risk becoming the best informed society that has ever died of ignorance. --Reuben Blades
As for the people I´ve met, the natives are a mix of friendly (Spanish) and not friendly (Catalan). This city is undergoing a small political movement, the Catalan one, which seeks to cecede from Spain and go independent. The languanges are different, and both are spoken here, but I can´t tell the difference at this point. I´m looking into Spanish classes but I think finding work should be priority numero Uno. There are lots of cool things to see and the foods are fresh and varied. Last night I found the Spanish version of Champange in the barrio gothica. Pricey but worth it for the experience. I´ll update more tomorrow when I get a chance to use my own machine with which I can upload photos. Until then, rock on!
