Lost & Found in Girona

Today is Saturday and in this moment I am drinking an afternoon black coffee, eating "un trozo de pulpo" aka a piece of cooked squid, and slowly waking up for the start of the weekend. I'm seated at the bar of a cafeteria style restaurant called Confiteria which is  a neighborhood eating spot for Murcian locals who live in the area of Vista Alegre. Vista Alegre is where my friend Lola's house is located and this has been my temporary residence since coming back to Murcia. 

Over a week ago I was watching the sunrise in an ALSA bus, writing in this blog, preparing to meet up with a waiting BlaBla driver in Alicante, then share a ride up along the coast. Originally the idea was to head north and spend two nights in Girona, a couple more in Barcelona, and a few days reserved for a flight to Portugal with Lisbon being the destination. Upon returning back to Murcia this past Wednesday I ended up spending an extra day in both Girona and Barcelona, then electing to come back early in order to spend time at the elementary school Vicente Medina instead of visiting Portugal. Vicente Medina was a second school where I worked last year and it was the first time seeing everyone there in over seven months. 

Laura was the main reason for me making the trip to Girona because she is a good friend from Couchsurfing. This was the first time that we had actually "met" each other because we had for the past few years only been long distance language exchange pen-pals. She is currently studying abroad in Girona and this was the only window of free time that she had from studying to meet up. It was great seeing her and she did an awesome job of playing the role of tour guide. 

Girona is a small city that sits about an hour north of Barcelona. The primary language spoken there is Catalan and the only time I heard people speaking Spanish was when they were directly speaking to me or Laura. Catalan is the first language spoken for people of Cataluña, the autonomous region in Spain where Girona is located. It is famous for their heavy desire to gain independence from the rest of the country. Red, yellow and blue banners hung from countless narrow balconies in support of their region and people greeted each other with "Bon Dia" or "Merci."  

Despite bring considerably smaller than Murcia, Girona boasts some spectacular views and offers a great deal of sites for travelers to visit. I stayed at Room in Girona Backpackers which sits along the waterfront of the Oñar River. The historical part of the city is disected by the Oñar and some beautiful pictures can be taken along any of the numerous bridges that serve as walkways for a consistent flow of foot traffic. Two bridges that are really interesting are Stone Bridge (Puente de Piedra) and Eiffel Bridge (Puente de Hierro) which was built by the same company that constructed Paris' Eiffel Tower. Girona also has a very beautiful cathedral, gardens, lion monuments, restaurant scene around Plaza de la Libertad, and a fortified wall passageway along it's Barri Vell also known as historical district. Girona doesn't have as active a nightlife as Murcia, however a few places like Solero or König are good for a evening out in the town. Girona is also nice due to its easy access to small yet very interesting cities such as Figueras or Besalú. 

I didn't expect to have such a good time in Girona, and I also didn't expect to lose my travel journal during the journey north before arriving there. Somewhere between Alicante and Barcelona a thin grey journal is resting in peace, possibly at a gas station or in the beak of a majestic Spanish seagull as it soars through the sky. One month of writing, lists of places, and lists of names from experiences in New York, Barcelona, and Murcia has been lost due to personal clumsiness. Recounting and relogging them in my backup journal has been like retracing phases of life after waking up from a coma. Names of some people or places have now been rewritten based on the details I remember. Waspy guy, New York jazz bar,  tall black French girl, French 75 bar owner, booger girl, BlaBla guy,  language exchange Barcelonan, and Chinese exchange student are some of the titles that have taken the place of actual names. These people and places have all played a role in this trip, so not remembering names makes me feel like a jerk. Hopefully they will pop back up into the leaky balloon of my mind during a spontaneous moment in the future. Luckily pictures have been backed up so not everything has been erased. 

After filling a handful of pages in my new journal about Girona I returned to Barcelona for a second time during this trip. The majority of time spent there was dedicated towards hanging out with friends from Hostel One Backpackers, drinking Nømad coffee, having Chen Ji Chinese food, El Dorado Chicken for a second time, hanging out in a couple plazas, and seeing a few people who were met during the first trip a few weeks ago. A separate blog post about Barcelona will be coming at some point in the future :)

Due to an extended stay in Girona and Barcelona, Portugal for the time being will continue to sit in an internal travel "to-do" list. Inside it feels ok to have not gone there this time around, and it will be simply serve as another excuse to come back to Europe sometime in the not so distant future :)

This blog post is once again very lengthy so I think you deserve to treat yourself to a beer or chilled non alcholihic beverage if you have made it this far! More updates are coming soon and I hope that you are having a wonderful day or evening.

Cheers!

Girona vía Murcia

Typing on white and off grey smartphone keyboard the humming of a speeding ALSA bus engine is the only thing I can hear. It's about seven in the morning and looking out the window of this moving vehicle I can only see blackness and an occasional white freckle of unnamed stars in a predawn sky. 

Having just left Murcia in a transit bus I am making my way towards neighboring city Alicante and from there I will connect with a BlaBla car that is destined for Barcelona. From Barcelona I will take a train or bus to Girona, which is about an hour northeast. Today is the the beginning of what will be about an eight day mini trip consisting of two days in Girona, about three more in Barcelona, and probably three nights in Lisbon, Portugal. 

The last blog post was written in Babelia Books & Coffee, a very relaxed place to drink a caffeinated beverage in Barcelona. Upon walking out of the coffee shop that day I spent the majority of The next handful of days walking around, drinking more coffee at a whim, and taking in the atmosphere of various neighborhoods in this very explore friendly city. Since I came to Barcelona alone I decided to not be a loner the entire time and attended various language exchange Meetups at different bars where I was fortunate in meeting some really cool people from different parts of the world. I didn't visit La Sagrada familia but some of my favorite places in Barcelona included parts of Park Güel, the neighborhood La Gracia, Mirador de Midgita, and Gypsy Lou's for nightlife. The Sunday before leaving I was able to meet up with a girl named Jessica who is a former neighbor of my good buddy Sebastian and her expat lifestyle left me inspired to follow in her footsteps. A failed BlaBla car attempt the following day had me spending an extra night in the city and by coincidence I found myself staying at an unmarked residential hostel that turned out to be Hostel One Backpackers in upper La Gracia. Some really nice people were met there and I might be booking a few nights again this weekend when I revisit the city. 

Barcelona might be my favorite city and having an opportunity to come back this weekend makes me feel very lucky. 

A second and this time successful BalBla car attempt had me sharing a ride with a couple Catalonians, Jaime and his wife/girlfriend Pilar, down to the city where last year I taught English: Murcia. 

For the past eight days I have been crashing at my friend and former landlord Lola's house. We made a deal where this time she should wouldn't charge rent in exchange for me painting various rooms in her house. It's been great staying there again and the only part missing is Lucia, who is currently working in Ireland. 

Coming back to Murcia has been overwhelming and nothing less than joyful. The majority of the last eight days since coming back has been spent reconnecting with some close friends from last school year and also volunteering at the primary school Nuestra Señora de los Angeles where I once was an English language assistant. 

This current bus ride where the sky is starting to turn orange and red along the horizon will serve as the opening page of a temporary break from seeing friends in Murcia because next weekend I'll be returning to Lola's. 

I plan on visiting in Girona my friend Laura who I met through a Couchsurfing language exchange three years ago. We have only been friends via Skype so it should be fun meeting her in person for the first time. In Barcelona no plans have been made except for a cup of coffee, and in Lisbon no plans have been made except for a day trip to a small Portguese city called Cascais. Cascais is a sister city to my hometown, Sausalito in California, and I am going to see if the government there will give me some free stuff :)

This blog post is overdue and over filled with words. I hope that whoever is reading this is having a great day and is happy. I can't see you but I think you're beautiful.

Updates are coming soon :)

Sincerely,

Daniel Catena 

When in San Antoni

I can hear mid conversations of people from unseen tables behind me as I sit with a gradually sipped cup of espresso and water. I find myself starting the day at Babelia Books & Coffee and glancing at a food menu that is typed in Spanish, Catalan, and English. This is my second time coming here in as many days because its laid back atmosphere and rows of used books lining one of its peach colored walls gives me a false sense of productivity. For the last four days I've been in Barcelona, currently winning the race as my favorite city in Spain.

The last time I wrote in this blog I was waiting to leave the Bay Area with one of my best friends Jack Colombo. This was about twelve days ago and our destination in that moment was New York City. Jack hosted me at his Williamserg apartment and did a really good job of making me want to move East sometime maybe in the forseable future. The main plan for NYC was to see one of our favorite French DJ duos Justice do a New Years Eve show in Red Hook which was really fun. We also tapped into the cities' pizza scene by trying Joe's and NY Pizza Suprema. These places mixed with Paris style jazz bars, ice-less whiskey with a waspy Vail guy, a Halal Guys recovery day, Kava buzzes, double dipping on juice, Momofuku ramen, Caracus Arepas with friends Josh & Danielle, Ippudo noodles with our buddy Mike, catching a Cate Blanchet lesbian movie at Nitehawk, and a reunion with former Missoula roommate Mark Balcerak, made this trip one that I am truly fortunate to have experienced. It was great reconnecting with long time friends and look forward to the next get together. 

The temperature in New York got progressively colder and by the time it was time for me to pack my things it was hard to stand outside without fantasizing about the next time you'll be warm. After some goodbyes I took a couple trains to JFK airport. From New York I hopped a flight to Stockholm where I had a layover for a few hours the boarded a last plane down to Barcelona. Arriving into this coastal Catalonian capital I reserved two nights at the Be Mar Hostel located in El Raval, a neighborhood that borders the bohemian city center. After two nights with Chilean bunk mates I decided to change living arrangements and now find myself staying in an AirBnb in the neighborhood of San Antoni. 

There is very little that I don't want to say about Barcelona. Since arriving here I've been intentionally trying to get myself lost, whether it be in some narrow alley, staring at a piece of curious urban art, in the reflection of a beautifully dark cup of coffee, or in conversation with someone who has enough patience to listen to my gringo Spanish. 

I'll be wandering here until Tuesday and from there I will book a bus or a BlaBla car down to a place that I used to call home, Murcia. 

More updates are coming soon ;)

If you're reading this far, once again thank you! Take good care of yourself, brush your teeth before bedtime, and Happy New Year. I feel honored to be a part of your life, even if it just started at the top if this page and only lasts until this unavoidable yet necessary final period mark.

Spanish Handshakes

In this exact instant I find myself in the center seat of the 23rd row of a Virgin America airplane. Besides the constant humming of jet engine combined with random soft jolts of slight turbulence the cabin is completely silent. Takeoff was only thirty minutes ago and as music is  playing in my white earbuds my good friend Jack Colombo is in the chair next to me. 

It's been six months since riding in an airplane and despite the limited leg space and lack of free movies it feels good to be on the move towards somewhere again. The last time I looked out the window of a moving plane it was to return home from teaching English in Murcia, Spain at the beginning of the summer. Our landing destination will be New York, Jack's current stomping grounds. The plan is to celebrate New Years in Brooklyn this upcoming Thursday, mix in some random exploring around the Big Apple, hopefully catch up with a few other longtime friends who are living in this part of the East Coast, then leaving the city on January 4th.

Upon arriving home last June I didn't know what the future would look like. I didn't know that I'd be going to New York for New Years. It was vastly uncertain if I'd be teaching English in Spain for a consecutive school year. It was unknown that I'd land a pretty fun wine bar job in San Francisco and meet a lot of interesting people there. I didn't know how fortunate I'd be to have reconnected with close friends and family since coming back to the Bay Area.

I also didn't know that on January 4th, 2016 I would book a one way ticket back to Spain.

After hanging out with Jack in New York the plane that will send me away from the city won't travel back towards California, it will head accross the Atlantic for a layover in Copenhagen then finally touching ground in Barcelona. 

In this exact moment there isn't a single day of accommodation booked, nor is there an official itinerary once in Spain. The first goal for this trip is first take some time to simply "be" in Barcelona, to drink a black coffee in an open plaza somewhere or possibly try to learn some Catalan words in dim lit bar. The most important and possibly only "real" reason for being back in Spain is to return to Murcia to see my former housemates, English teacher friends, the staff of Nuestra Señora de los Angeles and Vicente Medina, and to see the kids who I once helped teach last school year. 

Being home has been great but I really miss the people who were an important part of the experience that was living in Murcia. Seeing some of them again will be a blessing and I'm not sure how it will feel beyond absolute joy. 

After revisiting, sharing hugs and then handshakes with friends of last year the rest of this trip will be guided by chance and a desire to let Spanish breeze decide.

I don't know how long this will all last, maybe a few weeks or possibly a couple months. I don't know where buses and BlaBla cars will end up taking me. Sunrises and sunsets are the only things I know will happen once Jack and I starting walking towards the exit of the New York airport.

The other only thing I do know is that I'm sitting in an airplane, the leg room is ample, and there is a smile on my face. It's time to enjoy the ride. 

If you've read this far, thank you! Have a great New Year and keep doing what makes you happy :)

 

Those Days in December

On August 13th, 2015 I opened up a newly purchased black moleskin journal and started writing about my day.

It was a Thursday evening and I don't remember my mood or why I decided to scribble in it's first lines during that particular moment.

"Today is Thursday and in this exact moment there is only an hour left in my day at work." 

Nothing more and nothing less was written. For the past few years I have been slowly filling black journals in hopes of remembering small moments, names of people, dates, ideas, and things that have been happening around me. Inside I want my future self to read about these mostly random accounts in order to not forget about experiences.

The moleskin that was started for no real reason on August 13th, 2015 is currently sitting opened faced in front of me atop the faded wood of my families' coffee table located centrally within the breakfast nook of our house.

I find myself seated and a semi-fresh cup of kind-of hot coffee is being guarded by one hand while a black inked pen is in marching formation within a tangle of right hand fingers.

After nearly four months of traveling between my hands and pockets, my backpack, forgotten at work, the backseat of my car and countless coffee shop tables, I find myself looking at a blank page within the now faded in color journal.

The last page.

A single sheet of paper is the last line of defense before purchasing another 190 something page directory of wanderings and going from prologue to epilogue.

It was hard to know that four months would go by before finding myself here in this moment, sitting above this book like a human balloon, looking for a way to properly end a chapter of personal accounts.

I didn't know back in August that I'd writing about being a year older, about attending my high school's ten year reunion, celebrating Thanksgiving in addition to Halloween before reaching the end of this moleskin booklet. Those events mixed with scribbles about meeting up with friends, going to work, being with my parents and describing various surroundings have filled most of this leather companion's contents.  Reflecting on four months of writing has made me grateful for friends and family and they have been a great source of inspiration not only in writing but also to be a better person. I feel blessed to have them in my life, and to you who is reading this I also feel honored that you have taken time to read this blog post.

With one sheet left I don't really know what to write. Some notes about how the current December day has progressed would be appropriate. I ate some really good breakfast tacos earlier today, maybe that would be worth remembering. Or possibly a random thought that just popped into my mind might seem interesting the next time the booklet finds itself fully opened between the palms of an older self's hands.

With pen tip slightly angled and pressed upon the top left corner of the very last page I feel joyed to be at this point, to have gone this far not only in this particular notebook but in life.

Looking back, the past four months are something I would never elect to replace and it's great to have experienced them. In an instant everything can change, and it's impossible to know what December 11th, 2015 will look like. It feels good to simply be here now.

Gazing to the side window my attention is temporarily distracted by a passing car.  I press firmly with the black inked pen between the grey lines of the very last page.

It's just a day in December, but this time I know what mood I'm in.

"If you've made it this far, don't stop, keep going."

Outside it's raining. I can sense that it's almost time to get ready for work.

If I hurry maybe I can swing by the bookstore.

So There I Am

Inside my mind there sits a medley of words floating through a dark void, with no actual direction in which to go. Once a sentence begins to form or take shape it quickly gets scattered like pool balls within an invisible green canvas. Each building block falls apart as more letters circle within my head and no combination seems to take form. Letters begin meeting letters but soon they disappear into a blackness that doesn't want to spit them back out.

For months I have logged into this page, stared at the header, and looked blankly at the black button keyboard of my computer as if waiting for a chess match to begin. A desire to write has sent me back to this blog, ready to take lead in a keyboard tapping partner dance, with hopes of inspiration rising inside like the gradual smoking of an active volcanic mountain. One spark of a free flowing sentence might be the turning point towards a vertical eruption of fiery wordplay lava. One sentence or partial phrase would take temporary haven along a seemingly secure first line but soon would be washed away by a fierce wall of erase button.

Since September this blog has gone through more drafts than a group of friends in an affordable happy hour. Half a page here, a paragraph there, and the only thing keeping me from completely deleting them is that I want my future self to look back and recall how blocked from writing I currently find myself. Glancing at the wreckage of semi constructed posts I feel like a general feeling nothing but pain for his poorly equipped army. The only person to blame is myself, and a flatline of inspiration.

Closing my eyes I can see myself seated uncomfortably in a wooden sail boat, waiting for a gust of wind to take me somewhere, anywhere. The rickety boat, along with this blog, hasn't been moving in any one direction and now the question of dropping anchor and swimming to shore is becoming a higher possibility.

If I made an escape towards land will I ever step foot again on the dock that sent that boat out there in the first place? I slice the tips of my fingers through the chilly liquid surface and upon retracting my hand out of wetness my shoulders send a slight shiver of cold discontent. I chill of memories from prior posts leaves me staring out towards what looks like absolutely nothing.

In a breath I turn my head and look out towards the horizon, towards a completely still field of blue water. Trying to search for the exact line separating sky from sea not a single sensation of natural breeze can be felt. As time continues I soon begin forgetting why I want wind to continue guiding the boat forward, and also don't really see a destination for which to captain it. It's becoming increasingly hard to gaze outward, maybe out of brightness from a now slowly dropping sun as it reflects off of the watery panel in front of me or possibly out of internal fatigue from trying to focus for so long. Before the sun fully sets I want to try and make at least a little progress towards somewhere, however when I try to paddle with my hands the boat simply rotates in an awkward splashing fashion.

I've been waiting for too long for that wind to take me away. Who knows when or if it will ever show it's blustery face again.

It's almost completely dark. Looking out one more time I don't even know if it's the horizon that I'm staring at. I turn towards the back end of the boat, hanging my legs over the side, contemplating a possible goodbye to this old yet loyal wooden partner in wanders that has been a part of me since the days of Missoula, since echoes of dogs barking on rooftops, since looking for shade in El Esparragal, and then..

....open my eyes.



So there I am.

Somewheres and Other Wheres

Three months ago today I was still an English language assistant living in a Murcia, Spain. The eight month teaching contract was nearing a close, the emotional last days of class at Nuestra Señora de los Angeles and Vicente Medina were sneaking closer into sight, and a plane destined for home was already booked. On June 1st, 2015 I can't remember what exactly I was doing, maybe waiting for a bus or possibly having a beer with friends in a shady plaza somewhere. The only thing I can remember from this day in time is what was on my mind. 

Will I come back to Murcia?

In early June I was offered a new contract to return to Murcia for the 2015-2016 school year. I remember telling myself that by September 1st (Today) a final decision will need to be made as to whether a return to teaching in Murcia will be happening next school year. 

Upon returning home, reuniting with family and friends, two lists were made. One was titled "Why I will come back to Murcia" and the other "Why I will stay home." Within minutes the list for why I would come back to Murcia grew quite long. I was fortunate in meeting some incredible people, many of whom I now consider to be lifelong friends. The schools in Azarbe and El Esparragal were incredible, the children were wonderful, and thinking of them makes me feel nothing but absolute joy. Coming to Murcia I wasn't just visiting, I truly felt like I was a citizen of this hardly visited yet vastly underrated city. 

It's been almost three months since writing that first initial list. Like a race between hares and tortoises the list for "Why I will stay home" has slowly been catching up. I forgot how much I missed my family. I forgot how relaxed I felt after watching the sun reflect across the icy blue of the Sausalito bay. Seeing a favorite band with friends who have been there since days of homeroom is something irreplaceable. Mexican food still tastes amazing, and through two jobs I have met some really cool people. 

Three months later I found myself last night at 11:29pm with a list completely tied. Less than thirty minutes remained in what was my personal deadline for coming to internal terms with a plan. With both sides completely equal and still not a clue as to what seemed like a better decision I came to the conclusion that I really want to do both. I deeply want to be in Murcia, to continue with what was started there and see where life goes, but I also really want to be here in the Bay Area because there is nothing love for this place. 

If I chose Murcia I would have to leave in about three weeks from today, tell the bosses of my two jobs that I'm leaving, and say bye again to a lot of people who I had only recently reconnected with. If I chose home I wouldn't be experiencing a new school, new travel destinations, and wouldn't be building on the friendships that were birthed only almost a year ago. 

Blankly staring at the list last night at 11:29pm I sat up from the couch where I was seated, got up, brushed my teeth then washed my face because it was almost time for bed. I walked up the stairs to my room and instead of directly turning off the lights before sleep I grabbed a coin. 

For three months I had been racking my brain, driving myself slightly mad with uncertainty like an unsettled white capped sea, and thinking about where, where, and where. Holding a dollar coin with James Garfield's golden face on it I was sick asking myself questions and ready to move forward towards somewhere or other wheres. 

It was now time for chance to decide. I flipped the coin and closed my eyes. 

If it landed "heads" I would go back to Murcia, if it landed "tails" I would stay home, continue saving up, and continue towards something else.

The coin, along with my stomach, spun for probably two seconds before it connected with fuzzy blue carpet.

I opened my eyes and searched for a shiny golden circle in a sea of faded blue. 

Tails.

With a handful of minutes to spare before midnight I officially decided to turn down a teaching position in Murcia, Spain. I deeply apologize to the school in El Infante where I was assigned for this upcoming year but know that whoever is coming in my place will do an amazing job, probably better than what I would do. Thank you to La Consejeria for the consideration and support. 

With only a handful of minutes before midnight I made a new deadline. December 1st, 2015. 

On December 1st, 2015 I don't know what I'll be doing or what I'll be thinking about. Maybe I'll be waiting for a bus or having a beer with friends. The only thing I do know is where I'll be. 

I'm going to be in Murcia, Spain. This time not as an English teacher but as wanderer with dusty shoes, and more importantly as a friend.  

The coin that's now in my hand bares the image of the Statue of Liberty with the inscription "United States of America." This is where I'll be staying...for now :)

To whoever has taken time out of there day to read this I really appreciate your time, and I also really appreciate you :) 

Sincerely,

Daniel Catena