04 A first time
for everything

You can clearly see that Barcelona is a city that is aimed at tourists. There are recognizable red bicycles on the street that people can use every day for a fixed amount per month. When you arrive at the bicycle rack you can choose a regular or an electric bicycle, but for the electric bicycle you pay a bit extra. Could it really be designed to become more sustainable or is it just a smart marketing model in which cyclists are tempted to take an electric bicycle for more comfort? What is handy is that you do not have to go to the bicycle repair shop if something is wrong with your bicycle. On the other hand, you have to go to a certain storage point to pick up and drop off your bicycle, where you have to move to another point if you are unlucky because there is no bicycle or the parking is full. If you rent a bicycle for longer than half an hour, there is an additional surcharge per unit of time. You may have guessed it, but for someone like me, who will be using the bike on a daily basis, this won't work.

The freedom to come and go with your own bicycle was worth too much to me as a Dutchman, so I started scouring the Facebook marketplace for a bicycle. I immediately got a striking first impression of contacts with Spaniards. Up to four times we had come a long way with the exchange of messages until I suddenly heard nothing more from them. 5 times a charm, let's say, because I was allowed to come by and I stroked my heart by taking the metro one more time to Barcelona-North where an enthusiastic Spaniard together with his daughter was proudly waiting for me with the mountain bike. The best man lived in Anna-Frank Street and I tried to see if he knew where that name came from, but it didn't seem like it. He gave me two more locks. I could tell from his gestures that a lock would not be enough because the wheels can also be stolen here without mercy. Once I had the bike I was so relieved and happy that I immediately cycled to the sea and had a nice swim here. A bicycle, which is a matter of course in the Netherlands, is now my mainstay.

The bike quickly brought me to the supermarket, the library or to an acquaintance. But those rides were not without a struggle. At first glance, cycling seems like a piece of cake because all streets are one-way streets. But, because cycling is not as popular here as in the Netherlands, only a few streets have bicycle paths, which sometimes stop at bizarre points and then if you are lucky, continue on the other side of the street. If you have found the right street where you do not drive against the traffic between the thundering traffic then you understand why many people cycle here with a helmet. At some point I got a bit of a knack for it, partly by following a few Spaniards on electric scooters. A longer route but on which you could drive turned out to be many times faster than taking the shortest route. That 'fast' route to get to the centre, which actually consists of two streets, is an experience in itself. Barcelona is located in a valley surrounded by mountains, so I first drive a kilometre long false flat road down the mountain to the Christopher Columbus statue and then zigzag along the boulevard with palm trees between the tourists, along the beach and finally in the centre to come.

Last Monday I wanted to get started at home full of energy, but first I had to do some shopping because all the shops here are closed on Sundays. The good old Lidl only opened at 9 am and so I thought, well starting an hour later can't hurt. But when I got home, it turned out that the handymen still had some work to do in our apartment, which was accompanied by a lot of noise and Latin American music, so I decided to move to a local library in my street. When I arrived here, however, it turned out that the library was closed on Mondays. Then I took the bike to the central library, but then there appeared to be a blow in the wheel, causing the bike to brake constantly. A bicycle mechanic told me that the bike belonged to the Decathlon and that they could fix it there. Then I removed the rear brake pads with the neighbor's Allen key, after which I could finally leave for the University of Pompeu Fabra via the route just described. Here you mainly learn to take everything as it is, and in the end I was only able to start the working day around noon. In the Netherlands I am super attached to certain items such as the second computer screen, the fresh bread from the baker or a fancy office chair. But here you don't always have that luxury and it forces you to sometimes make do with a little less.

The bicycle, working hot water, bottle of detergent, mattress topper, baguettes, familiar photos on the wall in my bedroom; they are self-evident stuff that contributed tremendously to landing in Barcelona. Thus life began to take shape. I cooked a pasta with anchovies for housemate Pouya and she opened a bottle of red wine which in Paris apparently can also be drunk cold. On Friday I was invited by Dorien, the sister of a friend from my Dutch hometown Bavel, for a barbecue and there was immediately the Spanish baptism of fire because there were about 10 people on her roof terrace who only spoke Spanish to each other. I was so happy that I took Spanish lessons at Wageningen University last year. My Spanish is anything but fluent, but with a few basic sentences I managed to interact with the standard questions of life. You can then use every word you pick up in the next conversation. There is a long way to go, but I am super motivated to learn Spanish, so I try to get in touch with local people as much as possible.

A very popular app here is Meetup. Whether you like art, gaming or whatever, you can imagine that there is a Meetup group where you can participate in activities at the touch of a button. Because I was very curious about other people who worked with the computer abroad, I signed up for the Meetup-Digital Nomads group. Remote working or in Spanish teletrabajo is booming especially in Barcelona. It did me very good to hear from others what they did remotely and how they approached it. I met the Dutch Ruben who set up the website Tafeldiploma.nl and someone who managed the layout for a casino website. I also met the Russian Cyriel who has set up a website where parents could register their child for a multi-day trip abroad, for the cultural experience and of course for parents to enjoy the peace and quiet for themselves. It is normal here to make a fist at the bartender and stick out your pinkie and thumb as a sign to order new beers. One digital nomad offered yoga classes via YouTube, while the other unburdened home landlords by taking care of the contact exchange via AirBNB. They lived in Barcelona and worked for a market in England, Colombia, Germany or Italy. My situation suddenly felt a lot less strange, although I had to think about how I was going to answer when people asked what I was doing. Ecologist or programmer, working for a company or researcher, for this evening I just kept it to be an animal researcher. I found out that digital nomads is a much broader term than computer programming. In every sector of society there seems to be a place for digital nomads to earn a living, although unfortunately I have not met anyone yet who is also involved with artificial intelligence.

Of course I was curious what else the Meetup app had to offer and found the Meetup-hiking group. On Saturday I made a fantastic hike in the Pyrenees where I flew over by plane a week ago on arrival. With a good pace we climbed about 1300 meters up a fairly large mountain, from where you could enter pitch-black caves. The average age was between 40 and 60 years and they were mainly single Spaniards. It didn't matter to me, because it was a very pleasant day with people who also really liked to practice some Spanish conversations with me. It was nice to get away from the busy city for a while. My fingers didn't mind a day of not using the computer either. In recent years I have always worked in the weekend and because of this the feeling of having a real weekend was long gone. It feels so wonderful to be completely free and to take the time for completely different things. Sunday morning I had a nice coffee for €1.40 and tried to struggle through a Spanish newspaper. It was full of praise for Xavi's FC Barcelona. In this way they try to quickly forget our Dutch Ronald Koeman here.

Finally, I came into contact with Pablo through the Facebook group 'Expats Barcelona'. He asked me to come and play soccer with his team. Last Wednesday I went to have a look and really cool guys, who pretend they can't do much but can still kick a decent ball. A boy joked afterwards 'Yes and by the way, we have two guys who are tax lawyers so if you have any problems we'll help you in a minute!'. It's those little jokes that help you so much to feel comfortable as a blond boy in a completely foreign environment. I also threw a ball at a Salsa school around the corner from me. Since my study time in Wageningen I have practiced Salsa LA (Los Angeles Style) and I found myself so experienced that I was convinced that the average level would suit me just right. Although the lesson was very cool, the Spanish standards turned out to be much higher, so that I can start the beginners class next Tuesday on the advice of the teacher with my head held high. By the way, it's salsa Cubana which is very different from salsa LA because in a nutshell you move more sideways than back and forth. Coincidentally, Daniel also planned to participate at this level, so it was super fun to go there together. I also have email contact with people from a theatre here to do some volunteer work. Throw out lines and try. A first time for everything. This way the week is slowly taking shape and I hope to have enough space left for spontaneous ideas. You will soon hear how it will all go. Warm greetings from Barcelona!