alisonboston.com

I just got my Vodaphone bill for the last month and it’s over €100, and I still haven’t found a place to live. Everybody who posts ads on loquo gives a mobile number and asks you call, and call we must or we’ll never find a place to live. So I call, and that phone bill is the result.

Why would a person come to a city where housing is so hard to come by? And after a year of moving from room to room, why would they come back for more?

I hesitated returning to Barcelona because it has been so difficult to find a place where I could stay more than a month or two. I’ve moved 28 times in the past 18 months. Ten of those were in my first 6 months in Barcelona. Another 8 came with the work I had this past summer, and the remaining 10 were changes when traveling to visit family and friends. A person can handle that much moving around if they have a stable home somewhere, but I haven’t got that and it’s taking a toll in my life. I’m sure I look ten years older, and I haven’t been to a gym in over a year (this from a woman who used to go to the gym three times a week! But I do ride my bicycle!)

Yet here I am in Barcelona again - a city that some say is the most densely populated in the world. Though I would hazard that there are more densely populated cities in Asia.

So why am I here? Well, there’s good and interesting work, for one thing. But mostly because there is a lively music scene, and many jam sessions where I have been welcomed on stage.

November 5: I found a place and moved in on Saturday, and it’s great!
November 11: Joined the fitness club across the street and started swimming. See the swimming log if you’re a keener.