Many things

I haven't lost any followers yet...Thank you! I know I have been MIA not only from here but facebook, skype, email and all possible communication channels. Still alive and more importantly -- sane! Was about to lose my mind this past week but miraculously not only did I get through it but I did pretty damn well! :)

So for your patience I will give you a long and detailed account of what's been happening and stay on top of things from now on (I think I said that before but things should be getting very close to normal). Wow, I can't believe it's been more than a week since I've last written. It actually feels like it's been ages.....

OK, after my last post I moved to my extremely patient and nice friend Iva who helped me tremendously!!!! Thank you again (and it is still not enough)! I wasn't able to connect my laptop thus you didn't hear from me. She graciously lent me her bfriend's small notebook which did the job for apartment search and email. Basically the week consisted of: get up early and look for an apt online; maybe go to see one; rush to school and try to prepare 3 lessons in no time; come back around 10:30pm; look for an apartment till 2am; get up in the am; Ivka calls around and speaks Spanish; maybe go see an apartment if they don't call me to let me know that actually someone just took it and repeat......What sleep? What life? What stress?

If you think that apartment hunt in BCN is hard, multiply this by a hundred. No exaggeration. Three big problems -- I don't speak Spanish and most people don's peak English; I work from 5:30pm and most apartment viewings are after 5:30pm; most of the apartments are Crappy (with a big "C"). Oh and did I mention a fourth problem that my extremely nice friend is very very busy finishing her PhD so taking a few hours from her time to call around for me felt very wrong?!?!  Again, thank you!

I wish I had taken some pics of the few places that I saw. Few because most of the appointments I had made got cancelled. Let's start with a place with no windows. Heard that right. Don't ask me how and why anyone would build such a thing but they exist here. Places that are so old and dirty that you'd have to give it a major face lift just to be able to live there. Old furniture or no furniture -- let's just say that finding a job was a piece of cake compared to this. Oh and the agencies! You can very rarely get a place from a "particular" (private person, owner) which means that when you search the local equivalent of craigslist and specifically choose "particular" rentals, 99% are agencies. You'd think that an agency is good and might help you (kinda like a real estate agency in the US). Think again. The answer is NO.

They charge you a lot (at least 1 month worth of fees which you don't see again) and can show you the apartment only when it is convenient for them, i.e.  forget it most of the time. When I asked one if I can give them my criteria and they can look for me or at least tell me what they have, the answer was: "No, go on our website, find a place and then call us to schedule an appointment."

On top of the agency fees you have to have money for your first month plus at least 2 months of deposit (which you are supposed to get back after you leave assuming the place looks decent). So you either have at least 4 months handy (monthly prices for a studio or small 1-bedroom start from around 550 eu up; some furnished some not) or you can forget about it.

Very miraculously (maybe because I had started losing it and was on the verge of losing my mind) we found this guy who was the owner of a small but cute, clean and renovated (very very rare and important) 1-bedroom attic. By this time, I had met a very nice BG girl through Iva who knows Spanish and was more than nice not only to take some of Ivka's "responsibilities" (calling places and so on)  but also to come with me to translate and see places with me.

We got to the apartment (2 more lined up that day), saw it, talked to the guy, liked it very much but had to go see another one. We literally walked 100 meters and made a U-turn -- why do I need to see another place (which was with an agency) when this one is perfect and someone might take it?! Made an appointment with the guy to sign the contract the next day, gave him 2 months of deposit and got the keys on Friday! :):):) What a joy it was!!!! The biggest hurdle in BCN so far and ...it's gone!

From there it was moving my heavy suitcases, going up the stairs (did I mention I live on the fifth floor with no elevator? Who needs a gym...), going to work, IKEA the next day and of course a house warming party! IKEA was just for a few little things since the place has everything including all kitchen stuff, cleaning supplies and so forth. I feels great to empty the suitcases completely (at least for a year), get settled and of course invite some friends over! :) It turned out to be a little bit DC style party, i.e. wine, snacks, cool people, party till the early hours. Translation: lots of fun!!!!!:):):)

OK, will leave you now. Thanks for reading if you've gone so far and tomorrow more about the place and other stories.