Day 1

I typically arrive in Spain having had 2 or 3 hours of sleep. I wander around in the sun all day then hit a bar for dinner, at which point my ability to speak Spanish (and English to a large extent) is pretty much out the window.

But I’ve been taking Spanish classes in Barcelona (remotely) for the last year and half. Two hours at a time two days a week. I have had quite a lot of Spanish practice since I was here last and I wondered if it would change how the sleep-deprived version of me speaks. 

When I checked into my apartment, I had been on two flights and a train with virtually no food or sleep between Saturday and Sunday, so I was pumped for this. At the apartment office, I opened my mouth and a blizzard of Spanish words emerged. What did I say? I’m not exactly sure but the guy showed me my apartment and told me to have a nice day so I shall call it a win. I also managed to say to him in Spanish that my brain wasn’t working very well, and I felt pretty great about that too.

My apartment is on the “third” floor (tercero), which is Spanish for “fifth floor.” So you get into the “elevator” and push the button that says “3” then you go up 5 floors. “So sue me,” Spain would say. 

While the “elevator” technically does elevate you, it is only the size of one pair of feet and the capacity is one person. And when you want to get out, you push the door open. And it moves very slowly and jiggles when you get in. I will never ride that “elevator” without a fully charged cell phone and some bottled water. 

I wandered around this neighborhood of Barcelona for a while and was thrilled to find it pretty much exactly how I left it two and a half years ago. 

I don’t know what I was expecting, but I feel like I don’t know what to expect anymore. And thank God El Flako the hipster cereal bar is still around. I swear, when I saw that pop up when I was here in 2018 I didn’t think it would last a month. Shows how much I know. 

And at this point, many hours later but not late enough to go to bed, I feel like one of those guys in the movies who gets shot or maybe is really cold and someone else says “whatever you do, don’t fall asleep” because they’ll die. But in my case if I fall asleep I’ll wake up at 4 a.m. with a hankering for some mussels and wine.