End of Summer - More Travel in Store

The rest of my time in Kiev with Chris was great.  I got to relax with no real agenda except to be together and explore more of Kiev.  Since then, with Chris starting work, getting to know his fellow-teachers and meeting other new people in his new city, he has discovered many other urban gems that I am looking forward to getting to know the next time I'm back.

We did have one rude awakening after I returned to Barcelona.  The very next weekend was a 3 day weekend for Chris and we planned to meet up in Amsterdam.  Unfortunately, it was not clearly explained to Chris that he cannot leave the country under any circumstances until his work visa

With Arie & Kevin in Amsterdam

papers are fully processed, which takes about 45 days.  I was bummed out, but luckily Chris got a refund on his airline tickets.  I did go to Amsterdam and met up with some long-time friends that I knew in Washington DC, all who were associated with the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington when I was in that group.  It was great to spend time with Arie and Kevin, & Andy and his husband Sjef.  It was also a magnificent weekend in Amsterdam weather-wise.  I pretty much stayed outdoors most of the time as a result and didn't get to any museums, except for the Heineken "Experience", which was a tour and high-tech interactive museum in what was before the original brewery.

Learning Catalan

It's interesting that my general plans for the first two years in Spain are coming to fruition, at least up to now.  I figured that the first half year would be devoted to finding and buying my flat, furnishing it and settling in.  After that I wanted to improve my Spanish and devote myself to refining my language skills, which I did by attending the city-sponsored language school and completing the last two levels that they offer, levels 4 & 5.  But I also thought that after that it would be good for me to begin to learn Catalan.  As many of you know, most Barcelonians are bi-lingual and speak both Spanish and Catalan.  Depending on the person and his/her background, some of them express themselves better in Catalan than in Spanish or it may be just their preference.  I find at times in a middle of a conversation within a group, some individuals will switch to Catalan.  Also, my Friday night Shambhala meditation group, in group meetings, prefers to converse in Catalan.


For these and other reasons, I will start taking Catalan classes this September.  It's a first level course that the city offers for free, which consists of two classes per week, 3 hours per class, for 9 weeks.  I just got my book and have started to review the first few pages and take notes.  This experience will also help me to better understand and appreciate Chris' early language learning process in Spanish, which I went through myself, but over 35 years ago.

Upcoming Trips

Shambhala Europe is having a leadership conference in mid-September in Berlin.  I've never been and I felt that I should be there.  I'm getting there a couple of days early so I can get to see some highlights and a sense of the city before the conference begins.   Of course at a later time I would like to spend more time in this very fascinating city with Chris.

In mid-October Chris and I will finally be back together again, meeting up in Prague.  We are renting a very nice apartment in the center of the city.  We will be there for 7 days, so we are sure to not only get to know this city, but to also explore other cities nearby in the Czech Republic.

Oh, BTW, my other general plan was that starting in Year 2 of living in Europe, I would begin to travel and take advantage of my proximity to many amazing and beautiful cities.  This also is starting to unfold this year.