SPAIN barcelona (my new home!)
back in barça…fellow backpackers told me it is probably one of the easiest places to pick up a job, so i made my way down here. it helped that i had already been here and liked the vibe (miss you tiff and alex!) to know i was gonna come back one day. so, here i am. and lucky or unlucky for me, i managed to find two jobs and an apartment on my second day. the hostel receptionist informed me of loquo(craigslist for barcelona) and after replying to some postings i was set up.
this also meant i had to pay for the first and last month. my first “job” of the day was to flyer for an irish pub from 14:00-18:00, and 19:00-21:00. the people were chill and we goofed around most of the time but at 6 euros an hour it was not going to cut it. so immediately after this shitty shift, at 21:30, i would start bartending with the experience i DON´T have at a club in ciutadella villa olympica.
what a sleazy place. villa olympica has about twenty establshments lined up-like a strip mall but with clubs, and most of the clubs play the same music. same as in the same exact tracks, in the same order…since all the dj´s have this one party mix they put on. they just look like they are doing something. fuck. for eight straight hours, we had to endure the torture as some of my favorite dance songs turned into songs i could not listen to without thinking about the club. anyway, the music blares unnecessarily loud so you can´t even hear the order…whiskey and coke on the third time, you got it. but if you ask for specific hard alcohol and a mixer, forget about it. i can´t hear you and i have absolutely NO idea what you want.
the crowd here consists of mostly foreigners who get shit-faced and run around to all the bars. because i was sober, i was embarrassed for some of them and decided i did not want to get that drunk in public. haha. this combination of music and people naturally made these grounds sleazy, since some people came down here with the intention to take advantage of “rich tourists.” unfortunately, this included the bar owners. when girls came in, we gave them a free shot. if they were pretty, we gave them a free vodka lemon so that they would have to stick around and finish their drink. my favorite were the girls who saw right through this and would chug the drink and run. i actually encouraged some of them to do so. why stick around a shit club when you can hit up the next one? as more girls filled our bar, guys would come in and spend money…which was the point. there were a few times the owners made really stiff drinks and gave it to incoherent girls, and then proceeded to make out with them. sick.
only a week into it i hated working here so much that i am sure the owners noticed. they would call me over, and i seriously walked as slow as i could. plus, the long hours on my feet and acting chipper to rude people were killing me. i would sleep for about five hours, and then have to get up and start all over. since i usually try to get atleast ten hours, five was just too little. i have never worked this hard or been this exhausted in my life! so, a week after trying out the bartending gig and paying off the rent, i was done. thank god.
2 Responses to “SPAIN barcelona (my new home!)”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
December 17th, 2007 at 12:27 am
Hey Yako! It was fantastic to meet you in Barcelona. It was my favorite European city and running into a person as friendly as yourself only added to the awesome experience :-) I hope that you are doing well, it would be great to hear from you.
P.S I know how you feel, I got everything stolen when I was leaving villa olympica :-S
February 17th, 2010 at 6:23 am
Wanted to comment first on this great post…Great one, Thanks…