Monday, January 7, 2008

Being Europen Is Like Having The Fast-Pass at Disney World

I say this because the Q for Non-EU arrivals was entirely to long and EU arrivals barely had to show their passport at all. I doubt if the security man even looked to see if it was a male or female breezing by his kiosk. I of course was asked a plethora of questions including "why I was here" "how long I planned on staying" and "what my blood type is" Maybe the last one wasn´t true but it may have well been.

The Q for the taxi´s was even longer and Joan and I played, ´guess their accent´ it was a good a laugh until I started mimicking every dialect that floated through my ears and I think I was starting to get a bit loud. The man behind me was probably very confused as I was British, Spanish,Irish, Hungarian and American, all in a matter of ten minutes.

Being in Dublin is so great. I love Spain and all it has offered me but I told Joan that in Dublin I felt like I belonged where as in Spain I always feel like a tourist. No one stares at me here, I understand what (almost) everyone is saying, I look like every other Irish girl here ( except well, I´m stunning, right?) ha. Anyway, I really will miss Dublin once Joan finishes his exams.

Yesterday we walked to the mall and the supermarket. I picked up the book, "P.S. I love you" and it really is brilliant. I finished it in less than 24 hours and I believe I cried at least four times. We´re going to the cinema to see it tomorrow. The best part is that it takes place here in Ireland so it´s very surreal to read about the places in the book like Grafton Street and such and have actually been there. I think we might hit up one of the cafe´s they mention so much in the book and try to sit at the window and people watch as the main character loved to do. I must be a nerd but I love things like that.

Joan is stressed for his exams, he has one tomorrow and another in 8 days. He has 4 in all. I told him to enjoy the worries of exams because very soon we will be dealing with the worries of reality. I thought it would be easy to get a work visa. I don´t think it will be terribly difficult but it´s been more of a challenge than we originally thought. We went to the Consulate last week and it was closed. We called and they told us to call Madrid. We called Madrid and they told us to call Washington. We have finally decided to get an immigration lawyer to walk us through the process instead.

I did have an interview a couple days ago. The local television reporter, Anna gave me an interview and asked my skills. I am not a broadcasting major so nothing in her field was a skill of mine. I could write though. However, all the writing is down in Catalan and unless Lloret´s viewers want to hear a few select phrases than I cannot write for the news yet. What I can do is run the camera. I can film the news. They need a camera...woman I guess, and offered me the job. She has to run it by her boss and see if that would work, if once I learn Catalan I could start writing for show, interviewing etc. It´s a lot of pressure and I´m not sure I want it. Another job I´m hoping to get is with this magazine in Barcelona. I really really want it. Well, what I really want is to continue this vacation and not work at all but Joan´s funds and my funds are running low. Granted, I haven´t spent much while being here and if I hadn´t had so many bills to pay off I would have $2,000 to use but since I only came here with $1000.....and I have to send a $200 check to Northwest by the end of this month and God only knows how I will manage that.

Joan and I move into our flat when I get back to Spain as well. It´s more than I thought we would ever find. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, tile floors, a balcony and windows from wall to wall in the living room that overlook the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Lloret. The flat comes with some extra furniture that is so hideous, we may hide it in a bedroom or try and throw it out if we are allowed. IKEA will be our shop of choice very soon.

I am very curious about this new life of mine. So often at night while I´m lying awake and Joan is sleeping beside me, I wonder about all the "what ifs" in life. What if I hadn´t met Joan that night by the lake? What if I dumped him ages ago? What if he dumped me? What if I stayed in Europe? So many questions to consider. The most important one being, What will make me happy? What do I believe will bring happiness to my life?

I stumble with these questions and even more with the answers.
In the play Macbeth, Shakespeare writes;

Thy letters have transported me beyond
This ignorant present, and I feel now
The future is instant.

I believe that is how I must think in order to survive this huge lifestyle change. We would all like a road map to the future, wouldn´t it make life easier? We try to find a loophole to life everyday. We read horoscopes, we listen to weather forecasters, fortune tellers etc. People don´t want to know for the pure joy of knowing, just so that they can do something about it. If it is forecasted to rain this afternoon, we want an umbrella,knowledge is power.

I know I am rambling and I could continue for pages and pages and still not be sure of what will make me happy or if I can control my future or knowing that whatever small choice I make could change the outcome of my life entirely.

I just want someone to tell me that I made the right choice by moving my life overseas. I know in my heart that this was the right choice for me, I just want the American Consulate to agree and give me a damn work visa.

This post has turned into a rather depressing look on a really not so completely depressing situation. I can´t say I´m unhappy because any tedious thing can become exciting when you´re in another country. For example, "I am going grocery shopping in Boringsville, USA" OR
"I am going grocery shopping in Dublin, Ireland or Barcelona, Spain!" I know it´s stupid but sooner or later the novelty of living here will wear off and I WILL just be grocery shopping in Barcelona,Spain. However unbelieveable that sounds to me now, it will be my life in the next few months, working and studying like everyone else.

I hope the next post won´t be so dramatically written about my worries and hopes for the future, I hope the next post will bring some good news about something.

For now, I have two weeks in Dublin to think about all my options, enjoy the sights, enjoy the boyfriend and write to you all.

Many blessings and best wishes all around

C.M.

1 comments:

Katie Becker said...

hope you are enjoying life and all the fun each new day brings! nothing worth doing is ever easy!! can't wait to read more!

xoxo - katie