Hasta la Próxima Vez

Well, I have one more full day in Catalunya left.  I just finished up my last two interviews today, for a grand total of 35 interviews…which is 15 more than I needed!  This trip has turned out to be a very successful one, both personally and professionally.  Personally, I was able to travel throughout a country that I love very much and explore new places that I didn’t get a chance to see the first time around.  Last year, I was over here and I needed to get out and see the rest of Europe, but I didn’t really see much of Catalonia.  Over the last 3 weeks, I was able to visit the capital of each of the 4 providences of Catalonia and some other really cool sights like Montseny (a large mountain range) and La Costa Brava (the beaches of Northern Catalonia).  Professionally, this trip has confirmed for me that I am pursuing the right career.  My research gives me the opportunity to travel, see new places and talk with locals about the things that matter most to them.  Travel + Meet new People + Being Paid to do it = my dream job.

However, before this trip I would it would be a perfect balance between work and play, but it actually turned out to be more work than I thought, though I’m not complaining at all.  It took a lot of time to coordinate all the interviews, seeing if all the people from the town could meet on the same day but at different times, getting to the places, and then finally doing the actual interview.  I would come back to my hostel at night pretty tired and if I had a day off of interviews I would only visit one or two things because I was just so beat.  And then while I was over here, I had to finish up editing my Fulbright application, so that (hopefully) I can come back to Spain next year and teach English for an academic year.  It doesn’t help too that I scheduled my return flight for the day before classes start; Wednesday I have class from 9:30-3:18…luckily my last professor is my thesis advisor, so hopefully he’ll understand if I pass out in the middle of his class, jajajaja.

And this is why I didn’t get a chance to write in my blog in as much detail as I did the last time around, and for that I’m sorry.  But of course, I will be more than willing to tell everyone about my trip if you just ask me about it ;)

So the plan for tomorrow is to wake up at around 10-11, do a goodbye tour of Barcelona (Parc Güell, Passeig de Gràcia, La Rambla and the Gothic Quarter), head back to the hostel to eat and then head off to the beach town of Sitges, about a 30 min train ride from Barcelona.  I went to this town last year and really enjoyed it, but I didn’t get a chance to visit the beach.  So, I’m going to relax and work on a nice tan (to show off to everybody that I went to a place where there’s lots of sun, haha) until the sun sets, at which time I will drink a mini-bottle of cava (Catalonia’s champagne), toasting to a fantastic trip.  Finally, I will find a decent restaurant to spend the rest of my money at, because God knows I need a decent meal (I’ve been living off of sandwiches, salads and pasta the entire trip).  Tomorrow will be a good day, hopefully a very relaxing last day of summer.  I could use one.

As with the last time I left Catalunya:

• I'll keep my blog open for students and those curious about Spanish and Catalan culture
• If I receive a grant to teach English in Spain next year, I will start writing again
• My photo albums of my trip, Catalunya '11, and Catalonian Nationalism (a carry-over from last time) are complete and ready to be viewed in their entirety :)
• Drinking from Canalets again so that I am  guaranteed to return to Barcelona

Until we see each other again, fins després Catalunya