An Esperanto-ish trip to Subirats

Yesterday I went to this little village called Subirats with some local Esperantists. Javier came to pick me up in the morning, and after picking up Alfons from Plaça d'Espanya we headed towards the wonderful countryside. It took us around 45 minutes to get to Subirats, and we took a quick look inside the Esperanto museum. Other Esperantists were still on their way, so I went to have coffee with Javier and Alfons. 

me being a tourist in Javier's car at Plaça d'Espanya

road trrrrippppp

the museum street was named after Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto

the small café

cafe con leche

Once everyone had arrived, our special guest from Tokio, Goro, gave a lecture in the museum about Fukushima and how it affected his life, and life in general in Japan. He is a Japanese-German professor, and spoke in fluent Esperanto. The lecture was really interesting, and it inspired long conversations. In the afternoon we went to have lunch in this small restaurant.

the museum

the lecture

the "key" to Esperanto, in Basque

some Finnish translated literature, too

old posters of congresses

some introduction to Esperanto grammar in Catalan

the plaza

my hips are out of control :S
foto de Javier, dankon! :)

The food was good, and I took the cheapest ones because I don't know when I will get paid... then it turned out that everybody had to pay the same amount, regardless of what they ordered. I was really pissed off because I had to pay 20€ instead of 13€. It's not a big amount, but I was still angry because I had planned to use that money for food today.

escalivada: tomatoes, smoked zucchini, and red pepper

wine...

...that you were supposed to drink like this

Goro tried too...

and he was a natural pro!

Goro had brought Japanese sweets with him, they were made of rice and... peas? They were really good. There were some leftovers, so I took 2 home with me. Om nom.

I really enjoyed Subirats, it reminded me of Milis in Sardinia. I prefer little villages like them to big cities, but I guess I will have time to find a village later. :) We had a nice ride back to Barcelona. As much as I enjoy talking to beginners and people with thick accents, it's truly wonderful to speak Esperanto with fluent people like Javier and Alfons (a native speaker).

on our way back. the mountain on the left is Montserrat

almost home!

I can't wait to see more Catalan villages... or Basque ones, for that matter. Ah. <3

Jag är här!

Greetings from Stockholm. I made it, barely. I almost missed the boat yesterday... and because of that I didn't even get to hug my mom goodbye. They literally closed the door behind me and left. My mom helped me with my stuff, and as I turned to hug my mom, the glass doors were already closed and she was running away from the walking bridge. I collapsed and cried next to my stuff, and some passenger came over to ask if everything was okay. The man who had closed the doors tried to calm me down, and he helped me into my cabin. I was a mess. 

I hate packing

ice ice baby - the Baltic Sea

Viking Amorella. It ran aground the last time I was on it, in December.

After that I went outside and called my mom, and then I went into my cabin. I watched Eurovision Song Contest from 2012 with my laptop and fell asleep. I slept for 6 hours. Then I had some sandwiches my mom had made for me, and bought a new Fazer chocolate from the duty free shop.

in the cabin. that's my new suitcase!

all the eurovision times

exhausted

the new chocolate flavor, so gooooood!

Samuel was waiting for me at the harbor, and we took a bus and a metro to his place. It was the first time I was on a bus in Stockholm, so exciting! I slept really well, probably because I was exhausted both physically and mentally. Now it's noon, he's at work, and I'm just shuffling about, chatting on livestream, thinking about repacking my stuff, and watching Gossip Girl. I've never watched this show, but it's surprisingly interesting.

Man, I love Stockholm. It's so easy (and cheap) to visit from Finland, it's cheaper to come here than to go to Helsinki from Turku. I'm gonna go downtown later today and take some photos. :)

ticket - check

I just bought my one-way ticket to Barcelona, from Stockholm. I'll be flying on Sunday, Feb 9th. I paid 85€ (~$115), and I'm allowed to take 2 suitcases of 20kg with me. Not bad, I'd say. I'll also have free WiFi during the flight. 

I'm so fricking scared. I told my friend that I'm really nervous about this whole thing, and he said to me that

Its natural to be wary and get upset. You are human i'm afraid :P but its an exciting new start, even if its a scary one. If it didnt cause emotions to rise in you I'd be questioning if it was that big of a decision!

And he's right. If you read this, thank you once again. :)

My friends in Facebook have also been very supportive. It has been wonderful to read comments in several languages, and I think I'm gonna have to buy a hostel since so many people are coming to visit... 

I'm so stressed I don't even know how to continue packing. Ugh. 

la entrevista y mi primera vez en España

Ladies and gentlemen, I got the job in Barcelona! This post might be a bit confusing, but I'm really tired. Sorry.

I had the job interview two days ago, on Tuesday. The company had paid for my tickets because I couldn't afford them in such a short notice, and so I packed my hand luggage and took a taxi to the bus station at 2:30am. The taxi ride was smoother than I thought, and I had to wait for the bus for 25 minutes, in -17'C/0F. Finally the bus came, and at 3:00am we headed towards Helsinki and Helsinki-Vantaa airport, which is the biggest one in Finland.

I really should quit drinking these. It's already a joke.

So early!

I had never been to Spain, so I was really excited. My flight to Barcelona left just before 7am, and man those 4 hours felt soooooo long. I flew with Norwegian, and they had free WiFi during the flight. 

Barcelona is in Catalonia, so all the signs at the airport were in Catalan,
English, and Spanish.

Outside the airport, the flags of Catalonia, Spain, and the European Union.

I took an Aerobus from the airport, and everything went so smoothly! It took us around 30 minutes to get to Plaça de Catalunya, which was the last stop. The office of the company was right next to it, and I had an hour before the interview, so I walked around a bit. I went to El Corte Inglés and wandered around their grocery store. I love grocery stores! They played my favorite Italian singer, Tiziano Ferro, and I thought to myself, that if this isn't a sign, I don't know what is. :)

I want this!!!

I went to Starbucks near the office. Here's some Catalan for you.

So close... The Starbucks girl was really sweet, and the coffee was organic and
super tasty! (I think the only Starbucks in Finland are in Helsinki.)

The interview went well, they basically told me that they just wanted to see me. It took less than an hour, and then I had an hour to kill before I had to take the Aerobus back to the airport. I wanted to do some sightseeing with tourist buses, but those tours were at least 2 hours. I decided to walk around instead.

La Rambla.

It was actually really warm, around 14'C/57F.

I went to Hard Rock Cafe shop and spoke Italian with the clerks.

Aerobus information in Catalan, Spanish, and English.

I wish I had time to be more touristy.

At the airport. "Veri" means blood in Finnish. It made me chuckle.

On my way back to Finland I had to stop in Gatwick, London. I didn't have much time, so I just quickly grabbed something to drink and eat during the flight to Helsinki-Vantaa.

I bought the yellow bag from Barcelona airport. It was easier to carry the goodies
I bought for my family. :)

At Helsinki-Vantaa. It was nice to see Icelandic currency too!

I arrived in Finland just before midnight. I took a bus to Turku at 0:30am, and I was at home at 3am. It was an exhausting 24-hour-trip, but totally worth the sleep deprivation! Yesterday I got the call, and now it looks like I'm moving to Barcelona in less than a month. Keep your fingers crossed for me, please!