Dancing, Borders, Infoshops

I've spent the last few days in Barcelona trying to enjoy the public areas which i know i'll miss once i have to leave. Lots of reading, cycling, and photography have filled these past couple of days. Two days ago I was able to go to an exhibit here which focused on borders. It featured around 12 different modern artists - lots of wonderful photography and video work. Later that evening I spent the night at this guy Mario's apartment, whom i met through Diana. We had a small dance party and it was neat looking through mario's record collection and taking photos from the roof of his building. He works as a reporter here in the city and also plays in a band during his free time. Late last night me and David listened to Sublime on his ipod together and talked about music for a while in one of the less populated placas - this seems to be becoming a tradition of sorts for us now. I've also been able to see some of the anarchist infoshops finally, and it was neat visiting the CNT headquarters too. It seems there are still quite a few anarchists in Catalonia, although i wish i was able to communicate more clearly than I am now with my limited spanish.

I'm planning on flying home early in August, so the trip truly feels as if it's winding down now. It seems like a natural conclusion at this point with money running out and I'm a little tired of living out of a pack as well. I feel like there is so much to look forward to in San Francisco i can't say there is any sadness that is accompanying this 'end' - I've been thinking about my 'beginging' in the bay for a while now. I kind of feel like an astronaut here at times, completely disconnected from the 'real' and having my sense of self becoming rather abstracted. Just being able to take each day as it comes along is very different from the routines i lived under while I was in santa cruz and in the bay area. It's been wonderful and liberating, and I'm hoping that once i get back I'll be able to hold onto this feeling and lifestyle I've had during my travels here. On the other hand, I am looking forward to having something physical to call home. I've benefited from the generosity of so many people over the course of my travels, and I feel very fortunate to have had places to stay almost in every town I came across. However, for some reason i think the introverted side of me likes to have some sort of permanent fortress to retreat to and be able to reflect and relax. It'll be nice to have that again. Of course, being able to see my friends and family is going to be wonderful too - I'm looking forward to that the most. I feel like I've changed quite a bit as the result of a lot of the people I've meet here as well as a result of all of that time i spent alone on the open road with my bike. I wonder if it will be apparent at all to other people when i get back.

David gets off of work soon and he had his last class this morning so he was hoping that we'd all go out to party which sounds nice. I was also finally able to find a couchsurfer for the weekend, so I'm glad I'll be able to give David his room back as I've definitely been crowding it with all of my equipment as well as my tall self. Before I head back to paris for a few days and fly out, I hope I'll be able to see more of the alleys of Barcelona. David's headed for Syria to visit Matt at the end of august and then will travel to other parts of the Middle east as well. It'll be nice to hear about his adventures when he returns to san francisco. I think I'd like to organize some sort of big camping trip with all of my friends whom are in california when i get back, it'd be a nice to way to see everyone again and spend some time together. I'll have to make note of that so i don't forget once i return home. That's all that comes to mind right now. I'd better hurry or I'll miss David.

-i