I have been in Barcelona sola for almost two weeks. It has taken me until now to get into the rhythm of traveling alone and without a lot of income. At first, I was always worrying about not having a place to stay, or something to occupy my time. Living without a plan out of a backpack is very very new to me and very very difficult for a Virgo personality.

I have spent the past few days with the young couple from Germany. They just got off the Psytrance music festival circuit and are traveling with a friend of theirs in a big green caravan. Sara spins a mini staff (about 2.5 feet long) and Christian plays the drums. Those two, plus me hula hooping, were able to create a small show and perform for tips from tourists. From there, we met a bunch of street performers and jugglers and made friends with them too.

It has been fun getting to know the city with Sara and Christian. They are really good at making friends with everyone. A few days ago we went to Parc Guell and ended up drinking beers with the Kung-Fu guy and finding a place for me to stay via a conversation with a Colombian jewelry artist!

For the past few days I’ve been staying at this really cool house way beyond the center of Barcelona (about 30 minutes by train then another 30 minute walk uphill). The house is occupied by a handful or so of South American jewelry makers. It is a fun place to be. I’ve been sleeping on a mattress on the patio under the nearly full moon. In the mornings we make a Latin breakfast of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and onions and bread. From there, I usually leave the house, where at this point they have all finished their first, sometimes second joint and have begun to make jewelry with the sounds of the scrambled Spanish television in the background. I don’t understand the TV thing. It is obvious that there is no reception and a lot of the time there is an iPod playing as well, yet no one thinks to turn off the TV.

Last night, Sara, Christian, another German named David and I set out to visit a squatted ecovillage. The squat is, like the house I am staying at, very far from the center of Barcelona. It is located in an old hospital in a Lepers colony. They have turned it into a beautiful community center, café, garden, and sustainable housing unit for about 30 people. We went because we had heard that Sunday’s they gave tours of the place and served a big meal. However, when we arrived we found that the tours had been cancelled due to a circus performance! So we ate huge plates of pesto pasta, salad and vegan cake and watched a really really amazing circus complete with clowns, trapeze, dancing, band, cabaret and hula hooping! I have put in an email to the squat to maybe stay there for a few weeks later this month. Everyone was so busy with the circus that I didn’t get a chance to find someone that actually lived there.

On Monday the German couple went south to prepare for another psytrance music festival being held near Sevilla. I spent the day with another pair of jewelry makers, this time two ladies. Monday night I lost track of the time and missed the last metro to where I was staying. So, slightly tipsey from a little wet from drinking wine on the beach with David, I went to their house where they let me sleep. I think I’m going to stay there for a few days.

Overall, I am loving being in Barcelona. I can buy a bottle of Spanish wine for .81 Euros, swim in the ocean, make small jewelries, hula hoop, eat warm baguettes and free “distressed” produce from the market. It is a very minute-to-minute lifestyle.

I think I’m going south soon. Perhaps to meet with the Germans at the festival or to some cave houses that people keep talking about in Cabo de Gata. Once November begins I’ll start going north to prepare for COP 15. After COP I think that Trip and I will go to Egypt for a CodePink march into Gaza (http://www.codepink4peace.org/section.php?id=416 ). From there, we will stay in Palestine for about three months. After our tourist visas expire, a new plan to either: go back to the States, stay in Palestine, or travel around for another month will be made.