Hogar Dulce Hogar

Since the beginning of October (and until the end of the month), I've been living with Patrick and his three Israeli roommates, Ori, Nere, and Eldad. The place also includes a revolving door of visitors. First there was the adorable 3 year old Mexican girl and her mom who lived in the room previously and needed to stay a few extra days. Recently there was the nomadic friend of a friend of Nere, but she took off today to go to a nearby town and sleep in a cave for a few weeks. No lie. They're all required to spend time in the military, and accordingly are about 150% more badass than I'll ever be.
The apartment itself is very cool. Nere's an artist, and his paintings are hanging on every wall, some even with backlighting. There's a balcony and shelves full of books in Hebrew. Did you know they start reading from what we would consider to be the back of the book? Crazy! Everyone is very laid back and friendly, and I'm getting a unique cultural experience beyond what I ever would have expected in Spain. I introduced them to Michelle "I'm Jewish, just check out my last name!" Bernstein and they all had a nice chat about Israel and such. Plus they, of course, rushed to ask me which one she liked as soon as she walked out the door.

On November 1st I'll be moving to my own place nearby in a very cool area called Barrio Gótico (aka the Gothic Quarter). It's very central and is in the same part of the city where my previous home, Hostal New York, is located. But I don't like to talk about those 2 joyous weeks spent sleeping on bunkbeds and showering with flip flops on. Sounds like college, right? Except at UMD I don't recall being woken up every morning by a 200 pound Romanian cleaning lady asking whether or not I'm changing rooms ("No, estoy durmiendo!"). And I don't think I ever shared a room with a drunk Italian guy who walked over to the corner of the room and took a nice long pee before returning to his bed to continue snoring like a freight train. Plus, their room service is really slow and the jacuzzis are too hot. But other than that, I would definitely recommend it!

Anyway... Barrio Gótico. Most off the buildings are really old, from as far back at Medieval times, and they're arranged in a maze of little pedestrian streets. Even though its got the impressive Gothic architechture, there are lots of modern shops, bars, and restaurants all around. I was lucky enough to find a big room in a big apartment with everything I need for not very expensive. The best part is that I'll be renting from a couple who don't speak any English. When I went to check out the place originally, I brought my friend Eric, from Mexico, to come help me translate since I didn't want to find out later that I agreed to something crazy. As for the couple I'll be living with: they're both very nice, she's a fashion designer from outside of Barcelona, and all I know about him is that he's originally from Argentina. There's another girl my age, a French student who speaks some English and Spanish, who's also living there, but I haven't meant her yet. I was getting worried that they found someone else because I hadn't heard from them since I orginally made the deal. But, I got a called from her today apologizing and saying she's been in China. I'm going over there sometime this week to meet the last girl and talk about when I can move in. Soooo, that's a relief! I'll make sure to post pictures of my room as soon as I get settled. For now, I'm really enjoying living here, and I'm a little sad to be leaving. But even when I'm sad, I'm sad in Spain, and that to me is pretty sweet.

Pictures: My current street, Portal d'Angel, during the day and at night