05 Ups and downs

It is early November and still around 28 degrees. I had expected that Barcelona was going to be warm, but even the Catalan locals speak of unprecedentedly warm temperatures for this time of year. So far my laundry has only consisted of T-shirts, shorts, short socks, underpants and towels. It's been a while since the last time I got into the pen. The first blogs are now online and it is great to see that so many people from different countries have taken the trouble to read them. Many reactions came in, such as from my aunt from Limburg, former primary school colleague of the Griffioen from Prinsenbeek and the downstairs neighbor from Wageningen who concluded with 'the bald old butcher on the scooter'. It's great to be able to keep in touch with people you've known so well.

Someone sent me a message that the sentence I wrote in the first blog 'Although my first impression was that it was a job mainly for women' had raised the necessary question marks in her about stereotyping women that it would be a women's job. So you see, how a piece of text can be interpreted very differently by a reader than the way you mean something. In the past I worked as a primary school teacher and during the break I would sometimes have lunch with my sandwich tray with 9 ladies, where the conversations were mainly about the pregnancies and raising the children. That was sometimes quite difficult, so I wondered if I would feel comfortable at Vilente, where many women also work. But it actually turned out really well. In this blog I naturally prefer to write down all the spontaneous things that come up, but it goes without saying that it will never be my intention to talk badly about a certain group of people.

On October 9, the first invoice was issued as a freelancer for my own company called van Gils AI (artificial intelligence), which of course was reason to raise a glass. My first month living in Barcelona was anything but smooth. I will certainly go into more detail about the work I do here at a later time, but an important moment is Friday at the stroke of 9.00 am, because then I discuss with programmer Ramon from Deventer my big list of questions that I encountered that week, after which he prepares new programming assignments for the week to come. With over 10 years of programming experience, I couldn't wish for a better teacher than Ramon. Although he sees that I still have a long way to go, he also sees how motivated I am to understand the codes better and that in turn motivates him to make time outside of his busy life to steer me in the right direction. In the first weeks we were still looking for how the collaboration could run as efficiently as possible. Since Ramon already had so much experience, and I still had so little, it sometimes happened that Ramon thought that an assignment was suitable for me, which turned out to be too difficult in the end. Or that in our enthusiasm we spent the entire hour that Ramon had freed talking about one assignment, forgetting to discuss my other questions.

This was the same week in which I was allowed to play a football match with 10 Catalan boys for the first time at Escola Pia Sarrià. Although they were all very friendly, and gave me the nickname 'Matthijs de Ligt', some of them changed as soon as the ball rolled into temperamental guys who put everything aside to win, with the result that in the already short game I mainly the reserve bank was allowed to keep warm. Of course I was very disappointed and also thought it was a pity that there was no group app at all for some fun, for example. These guys were very friendly but at the same time very lax in communication, so I was sometimes asked to come 1 hour before the game. A few days later, my saddle was also stolen from my bicycle, which I had already locked with no fewer than two locks, so that embarrassingly enough I had to cycle home without a saddle. In addition, the guide of a hike excursion had sent me an angry message with 'Pay now, or I will throw you out of the group!', which later turned out to be that I had paid him but that he had not looked closely. At that moment I thought. Yes, it's all 'tranquillo, tranquillo' here! But as soon as someone needs something from you, some people don't seem very 'tranquillo'. So I was quite through it and was also quickly irritated. That you tar everyone with the same brush and think yes, they will probably not respond either. A phone call with mothers did wonders.

Spanish life has taken on a lot more shape in recent weeks. On Tuesday I go to Salsa class. The first times I really felt like a stranger, but now that I've been a bit more often and I know the people a bit better, I also notice that I can enjoy it more and more. Every Friday they organize a free salsa party simply in the open air, where you can dance salsa and bachata. Last weekend I even gathered the courage to visit Antillia, Barcelona's salsa club and that was another great experience. On Wednesday evening I have a language exchange hour. Then I help two Spaniards to learn Dutch for half an hour, and then we switch to Spanish. Why would those people want to learn Dutch, you may wonder. Well one man is fascinated by the Dutch old Barcelona legend Johan Cruijff and the lady has a friend in the Netherlands with whom she wanted to learn to talk Dutch. So win-win!

I was staring disappointedly at my football boots that I had just bought new and suddenly thought to myself, why don't I try the Rugby again? That same evening I cycled to the Olympic village where, right next to 'Torre Telefónica', a communication tower in the shape of an Olympic torch was training 30 huge blokes. The 'entrenador' told me that I could immediately participate in the next training. And so Thursday also filled with a training from 8 to 10. It was true what good friend Rob told me: 'Mate, it will take some getting used to, but as soon as everything is in place you can start reaping the benefits'.

After purchasing a pair of sturdy walking shoes at Decathlon, nothing stopped me from going out and meeting people. With different groups I visited the beautiful surrounding nature reserves of the towns of Queralbs and Maçaners near Andorra and the seaside resort of Sidges south of Barcelona, where I was allowed to taste the traditional cold summer soup Gazpacho. I invited some people to a ping pong tournament in the Stadspark. One day I went to a thermo bath just outside Barcelona. There I took the wrong train, had to pay separately for a bathing cap, etc. But if things go a little better then you are less likely to be fooled. Another very special day was visiting Isabella, whom I still knew from Wageningen. She has moved to Barcelona and lives in what you can safely call a palace in the wealthy district of Castadefells. On arrival, Isabella explained to me which pool belonged to Lionel Messi and which belonged to Louis van Gaal. What a wonderful luxury and how nice it is to have that warm sun on your head all day long and to dive into the sea.

What I certainly don't want to withhold from you is the story about the RAI (no, not the one from Amsterdam). I always love being among people and contributing to society. For example, I once worked in a lunchroom for people with a disability in Ulvenhout, along the Australian beaches as a weed fighter, for the youth council of Staatsbosbeheer and of course at Vilente, which you now know, the nursing home in Wageningen from which I received such sweet messages here. Searching for something along those lines, I came across RAI, a mini theater in the heart of Barcelona's lively El Born district, with a cozy central bar surrounded by various rooms for theatre, dance, reading, workshops, etc. I entered and immediately thought. Yes, this is exactly what I'm looking for! I was put behind the bar with Katie and I had to make the payments. Dos cinquenta (€2.50)! Cinco setenta (€5.70)!! It was a great way to get a feel for the Spanish numbers and the visitors from just about every country in South America were very excited and up for a Spanish chat. It was also not wrong that I could drink free beers behind the bar. All these great experiences show that it is possible to have a great life without spending too much money.

After a number of lesser moments, the 'downs' also some positive 'ups' that of course give confidence for the future. I don't feel homesick yet and the lesser moments are still part of it, even after a few months. In any case, I am not done with Barcelona for the time being. I am very much looking forward to the dust settling and things calming down a bit, more on that in the next blog. Great that you have taken the time time to read my blog!