Saturday, April 25, 2009

‘Tis the hour, methinks, when the winejug, metaphorically speaking, is most grateful in Ye ancient hostelry.*

So, what exactly am I doing in Barcelona? I realize that I have been very skimpy on the explanatory posts, especially in expounding the Santa Fe, New York, and Barcelona connections.

Well, as of right now, I am working at the front desk of a cute little boutique hostel started by two intrepid young American women. They opened the ten room hotel/hostel last year and I’ve been there nearly a year now. How time passes!

Aside from giving metro directions to travelers hailing from everywhere, I have been freelance writing. Hold your breath, I work for a client in New York writing internal corporate communications for enormous global corporations. Okay, the tough part is over.

I have been published a few times in a local glossy magazine here, The Barcelona Metropolitan, but the times have been particularly rough on them as they survive entirely on ad revenue. So, I am not sure they will continue to pay as well, or at all.

Otherwise, I spend my days procrastinating on learning Spanish, forcing myself to meet complete strangers to talk in a foreign language, writing poetry, cooking, researching other places to live, and lots of sleeping. Exciting ex-pat life!

I don’t make much money at all, but somehow, I have been scraping by. As I tell many people, I moved to a foreign country without a job, without knowing anyone, where they speak two languages I don’t know, and where my U.S. citizenship can be problematic…but it is STILL easier than living in New York.

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