Waiting, Waiting, Waiting.....

My Move Date

I think I was a little too optimistic about when I could move into my new place.  I settle on June 10.  I then need to have the whole condo painted and a few minor repairs made.  I was hoping that they could paint the main bedroom quickly and I would move my bed into that room and they could continue working in the rest of the house.  The contractor didn't think that was a good idea and suggested that I move in a week later.  Actually, he's right.  It's much better for them to have the place free and clear of "things" so they can efficiently do their work.  But I was not happy.  Chris is coming on June 23.  I was hoping that I could have the place somewhat organized by the time he got here, but it's not to be.  Chris is very flexible and is totally ready to help with making this house a home for us.  So, I'll be moving in June 21 with the bed delivered that day, I'll have sheets on the bed, and I'll have a few other things before Chris arrives.  It will be an adventure!

Speaking of Chris, he has already lined up two teaching interviews while he's here.  Although there is no guarantee that he'll be offered a position for this fall, this is very encouraging.  Chris is so energetic and full of initiative, looking for ever possible angle to find a position here in Barcelona.  That is one of the many things I admire and am in awe of with this amazing man.  We'll see how these and possibly other interviews will turn out.  I can't wait to see him in about 30 days!

Beyond This Year

So I'm purchasing a home here in Barcelona in two weeks, yet I still did not have a good idea about my

residency status after this year.  My initial residency permit is for only one year.  Neither the Spanish Consulate in D.C. nor my other sources could tell me exactly what I would need to do to extend my permit.  So, I spent a full day investigating what I will need to do to extend my residency permit in Spain, digging through numerous web pages on the national government's websites.  I now have a much better idea of the process.  Basically, about three months before the permit expiration date (3/11/2014), I will need to obtain and translate similar documents that I did for my initial visa: my pension, my retirement savings, and my health insurance, as well as fill out a residency renewal form.  Two months prior to the expiration date, I will make an appointment online to go to the immigration office and deliver these documents to them.  I should then get a residency renewal permit for a two year period.  I will need to do that again for another two year period.  Then, after that (5 years total), I'll be able to apply for a long duration residency visa.  From what I could tell, this would be for an indefinite period of time.  So, at least I know the path ahead (unless they change things or Catalunya becomes a separate country!).

The Sovereign State of Catalunya?

This week I've had a few conversations about the future of this autonomous community of Spain.  One friend, Xavi, adamantly believes that Catalunya will separate from Spain and become it's own country.  He believes that for a number of reasons, which I can't go into right now, Catalunya will be much better off economically than it is today.  Even if Catalunya cannot immediately be part of the European Union, it will be part of many other European alliances and will have the support of a number of European nations in making this transition.

I had a conversation with another friend just today about this same topic.  He doesn't believe that this will come to pass and that if a vote were taken today, the majority would not vote for independence.

Everyone I talked to agreed that the current position of the Spanish national state of not allowing Catalunya to have a referendum and to vote on the possibility of independence exasperates the problem and fans the flames of the independent fervor that already exists in this region.  I think that Spain would do itself a favor if they would allow a free and clear referendum to take place and at least settle the question whether a majority wants to move in this direction.

Other Observations

Right now I am focused on improving my Spanish and I think I'll be taking an intensive course from Sept to January in the language.  But I also realize that I will also need improve my understanding of the spoken and written Catalán language.  There are many written materials that are only in Catalán.  I also find that in some conversations with friends, some groups will automatically switch from Spanish to Catalán and they aren't even aware that they've done that.  So, once I settle into my place, I'll come up with a plan to improve both my Spanish and my understanding of Catalán.

I am impressed with the care that the city government takes in maintaining the city.  There are public trash cans on each block, never overflowing, trucks cleaning the streets and street cleaners sweeping the sidewalks, workers re-staining the park benches, etc.  Of course this all comes at a price (mainly taxes), but this is what a city should be doing for its citizens.

When it comes to common medications, I am pleasantly surprised how easy and inexpensive it is to obtain them.  A week or so ago I found I had higher than normal levels of uric acid.  Besides changing my diet, there is some medication (Allopurinol) that can also help lower the uric acid level.  In the US, I would need to meet with my doctor and he would give me a prescription that I would take to the pharmacy and pay $30-$50 (without insurance) for this drug.  Here I walked into the pharmacy, asked for this medication, and paid $5.  I later went back and asked for 600mg of Ibuprofen and was given 40 tablets for $3.  Since there is no expensive advertising for pharmaceutical products here and since these medication prices are negotiated with the Spanish government, they are very affordable and available to the public.

A Parting Gift

Today I came across a beautiful song that the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington did last year, but I had never before heard.  It brought me to tears as I was feeling about how much I was missing Chris and how important he is in my life.  I'd like to share with you this incredible and moving song.

Visiting Girona and Liceu, More on Health Care, & Nostalgia

Girona - Temps de Flors

On Tuesday seven of us took an hour long train ride to the city of Girona to meet up with our volunteer guide

Jaume to see the floral exhibition in Girona called Temps de Flors.  My expectation was that we would be going to a convention center of some sort and all the flowers would be set up there (like the Philadelphia Flower Show).  I was pleasantly surprised to find that the flowers in this exhibition were EVERYWHERE throughout the center of the city, integrated into the ancient urban cityscape of this medieval municipality.  What is also special about this eight day event is that the interior patios of many commercial and residential establishments, normally closed to the public, are open during this period.  We also got to see the large subterranean rooms underneath Girona's cathedral, which they have recently opened up to the public.  I very much enjoyed the sights, the company, and later the meal that we had together after our tour.  Although it started off cloudy and a little rainy in the morning, it cleared up nicely.  And our guide Jaume, a resident of Girona, did a superb job of showing us the hidden treasures of this urban gem.

El Liceu Opera House

On Sunday Barcelona's Opera House, Gran Teatre de Liceu, had an open house all day, which allowed the public to tour the building and to listen to various local opera singers that performed in the ornate "Saló de Miralls" or Mirrors Hall for the entire eight hours that the house was open.  I went with my friend Jordi (another Jordi who is from Barcelona but was visiting the city as he is currently working for the U.N. in Dafur, Sudan).  It was delightful to visit the various parts of one of the largest opera houses in Europe (2,292 seats) and to hear some wonderful performances by young local opera singers in Mirrors Hall.  Liceu first opened in 1847 and survived two fires, one in 1861 and the other in 1994.  The outside facade and Mirrors Hall are from the original 1847 structure.  Jordi and I listened to the opera singers for about 1 1/2 hours, standing the entire time.  We then visited the lovely opera theater and other parts of the building.

Health Care and My Private Insurance Plan

Although I asked many questions when I had to choose my federal health plan last November to cover me in Spain, I still wondered how it would all work when I would need to use it for some medical issue here.  Well, I had my first experience last week when, starting the prior week, I was feeling some numbness in my left toe. In my last doctor's visit in January I was in great health, so although diabetes came to mind, it also didn't seem to make much sense.  After a week of not seeing this numbness get any better, I went to a local medical clinic and made an appointment for that week.  It didn't take long for the young woman doctor to make a diagnosis - a gout attack or higher than normal levels of uric acid.  The next day I got a blood test and on the weekend the results confirmed her diagnosis.  In researching this some more, I determined that three things have contributed to this minor attack: eating more meat and fish than I normally had eaten, drinking more beer and wine than when I lived in the States, and not drinking much water here.  I had never been a big water drinker, but one of the first recommendations is to drink about 2 liters of water a day.  I have already made some dietary changes and I am already noticing a change in my condition.

I knew I had to pay for these medical services upfront (the office visit and the blood test) .  The question was what amount would Blue Cross Blue Shield reimburse me for.  I learned that because I went to a clinic and was billed by that clinic, rather than by an individual doctor, that my co-pay was $100.  Since I only paid 60 euros for the visit, I would get no reimbursement for that service.  The lab test was also a $100 co-pay.  I was not too happy about the extent of this coverage.  Since then, I have found at least two doctors here that have a private practice, which will reduce my co-pay to $25.

Once I move into my flat in June, I will attempt to register with the public health plan here.  Although I have some doubts that I will be accepted (I am a legal resident but have never worked in Spain to contribute to the public plan), all my friends here think I will be covered.  Come November during open season, I will also review my other federal private insurance plans that have international coverage to see if I can reduce my medical costs in the future, weighing the cost of premiums vs. the cost of co-pays.

Nostalgia

Besides missing Chris immensely in these last two and a half months of living here, I haven't had too many nostalgic feelings about the U.S. or the Washington D.C. area.  But in the last 24 hours, I am feeling more nostalgic for my past life.  In everything I read about the experiences of expats, this is a very normal feeling to have.  I think what brought this about specifically was to see on Facebook the  Gay Men's Chorus of Washington (GMCW) perform their final concert of the season at the Kennedy Center and it being director Jeff Buhrman's last concert with GMCW.  I would have loved to have gone to the concert with Chris, to have listened to the choral music with Laura Benanti, and to have chatted with a number of friends who were both local and who came from out-of-town to see the concert.  These feelings will come and go, I know.  I neither need to push them away nor indulge in them, but to honor them and to let them go.

The Movies, International Friendships, Eurovision and More

The Movies

On one of my hiking trips, a fellow-hiker and friend thought that I would really enjoy the movie "La Gran Belleza" (in English "The Great Beauty"), an Italian film which won the best foreign film Oscar this year. He thought that the movie would show more or less the European attitude about life in the last half of the 20th century and that I would gain a better appreciation of the European view, at least up until this last recession.  He also told me that it was showing in the movie house "Maldá" in the Gothic section of the city.  The unique part about this movie theater is that it only has one screen and shows 8 different movies a day.  With one ticket, you can see 8 movies or less (you can leave, take a break, skip one or more movies, and then come back for any remaining movies).  On Mondays, the ticket only costs 5 euros.

Being the cheapskate that I am, I went the following Monday and "binged" on 5 of the 8 movies that were being shown.  Granted, not all of them were recent films, but I found that I enjoyed all 5 movies, one of them being "Nebraska".  The other interesting tidbit was that only one person worked in this theater.  The same employee opened the ticket booth and sold me and others the movie tickets.  He then closed the ticket booth to open the door to the theater.  He then went in and started the movie.  I imagined he later left the movie booth and went back downstairs to sell more tickets for the remaining shows (still at a cost of 5 euros on Mondays).  I was surprised and impressed that one person could do it all.

Well back to "La Gran Belleza", my friend was right.  It is a great film, an amazing score, magnificent filming of the city of Rome, excellent acting, and, in my view, a profound message about post-modern life, very much from the perspective of Italian and European experience, but I believe it also connects to the experience of many citizens in most First World Western countries.  It also struck a nerve for me personally, as I transition to living as a retired person with plenty of free time who is receiving a reasonable pension in an affordable city in Western Europe.  How will I spend my days and invest my life?  How frivolous or meaningful will my life become and what kind of contribution or difference will my life have here?  I don't have answers to these questions, but I'll continue to carry these questions with me for some time, I'm sure.

I highly recommend the movie.  Since I saw the film in Italian with Spanish subtitles, I watched it again with English subtitles and was able to catch more of the movie and its nuances (I found this version on the internet).

International Friends, Health Care, Eurovision, etc.

There were so many other things that occurred last week, that I'll only be able to briefly mention them here.  Barcelona is such an international melting pot and the backgrounds of people here are fascinating.  Two people in particular that I met last week are Bernie and Jordi (a different Jordi than my good friend here).  Bernie is currently living in London, is Swiss, who speaks at least 9 different languages, and who comes and visits Barcelona and has some good friends here who I know as well.  Jordi has an American father and Catalan mother and grew up in Barcelona learning Spanish, Catalan, English and German.  And then through relatives in Portugal and Italy, he learned those languages and then later learned Arabic and Russian. He currently works for the United Nations and is back here in his home town for a bit of R&R for the week and is also good friends with some of the same people that I have gotten to know here. Both of these individuals exemplify how people from relatively small European countries (compared to the U.S.) have exposure to various cultures and languages, which shapes their own world view.

A couple of weeks ago I must have dropped my little money pouch near the Bread shop that I frequently go to.  At that time I asked one of the women about whether someone had returned it.  There really wasn't much in it, but I liked the pouch and I was hoping it had been found.  The woman behind the counter said that no one turned it in.  I thought that was that, but at least two other times when I visited the shop, this same woman asked me whether I had found the money pouch.  I was touched by this inquiry and the thoughtfulness behind it and I believe also reflects a bit of the culture here.

I went to my first paid musical concert here with the well-known viol player, conductor and composer, Jordi Savall.  It was a beautiful concert with soloists, chorus, and wind, horn, harpsichord and percussion instruments performing a series of pieces from Bach.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

In terms of health care, this week I had my first dental check-up and cleaning with a private dental firm.  It turned out that the check-up, x-rays, and cleaning were entirely free.  They usually make their money on the problems they find and set up a plan to address them.  However, in my case, they couldn't find any. I was happy with that outcome!

A friend had a 2 day visit to a private hospital and had a stomach operation.  I was able to visit him with some of his other friends and I got a glimpse of the private health care system here, which seems to be of high quality and gives excellent care.

The Shambhala meditation group was hosting one of the weekend programs here in Barcelona.  I had the opportunity to sit in on some of the program (I had taken this same program in DC).  It was great to be able to have some longer meditation sessions with other practitioners and to hear some in-depth teachings on meditation and basic goodness.  I was feeling a little dry in this area of my life and so this was very helpful and inspirational.

Finally, I had my first experience with Eurovision!!  I was invited to a gathering to watch this annual show at a

friend's home.  The 6 of us hooted and howled at the contestants and cheered for the Austrian Conchita Wurst (or Conchita Salchicha!), the bearded drag queen who has a great voice and even a better dress and wig.  We were all very happy that she won.  This is definitely not high European culture but Eurovision is woven into the mental fabric of Europeans over the last 50 or more years.  I was glad to finally get a taste of it.

Birthdays, Hikes, & The Neighborhood

Celebrating Birthdays In Barcelona

Last Saturday I participated in the third birthday celebration since I arrived.  I feel honored to have been invited to these celebrations.  All these birthdays occurred around dinner time, which here is about 9:30 - 10 pm.  Two of them were celebrated in restaurants, including at my friend Jordi's restaurant, Taverna Maria Bonita, in Castelldefels, a beach town just south of Barcelona.  The last one I went to was just last Saturday and was celebrated at the home of the birthday boy.  For that event, everyone brought a dish, and each one was homemade and delicious!!

My birthday is coming up in late June so I was curious about how one goes about celebrating one's birthday here.  Well, when it's your birthday, you invite your friends to gather and if it's at a restaurant, you pick up some of the cost for the celebratory meal.  That's very different than in the U.S. where the person who is celebrating his or her birthday is treated to the birthday meal.  From my three years living in Spain in the late 70's, I already knew this, and for my 60th birthday, which I celebrated last September, I covered the expenses for the birthday dinner at 1881 Restaurant, at Barcelona's port.

Now as a retired person, I knew I couldn't afford to do that this time for my 61st birthday.  I learned that for the two birthday celebrations that took place in restaurants, the birthday person paid for the dessert and Cava (Catalan Champagne).  So my birthday will also be celebrated at Taverna Maria Bonita at the end of the month.  Invites will be going out shortly.  This time it will only be for locals (and their geographically distant partners).  The other exciting part to this birthday celebration is Chris will have arrived just a few days before and will be here for my birthday!!

The Neighborhood (Sant Antoni)

In about five weeks, I will go to settlement and will soon be moving into my flat in the neighborhood of Sant

Antoni, which is in the center of the city.  Over the last couple of weeks, Jordi, who also lives in my neighborhood, has been introducing me to some of the shopkeepers in the neighborhood.  I met the gay barber (hair stylist), the women who work at the bread shop, the wine store cellar owner, and a number of shopkeepers in the fresh market, including the butcher, the fruit and vegetable owner, the fish shopkeeper, and the cheese shop owner.  This is such a treat!!  First, to live in a neighborhood where each shop specializes in a particular set of products is so much more personal, the food products tend to be fresher and higher quality, and there is the potential of developing a rapport with some of these
shopkeepers, all of which makes shopping more enjoyable.  Then, to have Jordi take the time to introduce me to these folks is so special and helps to breaks the ice.  I love the idea of being able to walk out of my building and within a 5 block radius I have pretty much everything that I need, from the market for my groceries, to the hardware store, from the bed store to the electric appliance store, from the local bar/cafe to the nicer restaurants,  It's all here!!  Yes, there will be times when I will need to travel a little more to find certain products, but for the most part, it's all within walking distance from my home.  I know I will very much enjoy this European lifestyle.

May Day Hike

May 1 is a holiday here and the hiking group took advantage of that to do a 13-14 kilometer hike from the beach town of Sitges to the beach town of El Garraf.  It was a beautiful Spring day.  As this was my fourth hike since arriving, it was nice to see that I already knew the majority of the guys who were hiking and could concentrate on learning the names of the few that I didn't know.  Although we started and ended at the beach, most of our hike was inland, since there are large stretches in between where there is no beach and only rocky low cliffs. What's great about these hikes are the opportunities to talk and get to know the people who you are hiking next to, learning about them as well as the language and the culture here.  Below are some photos from this hike.