What sort of person am I?

I came out here knowing this was out of character for me.  I knew that I was the sort of person that needed the security of a secure job and that if I didn't have that then I start to panic.

Why then did I jack my job in and leave home for the city of Barcelona?

I think it's because that although I'm someone that may need that secure income I'm also someone that is a little on the creative side. I'm a photographer, I write, I create pictures on photoshop and in my last job I created a parody Twitter account taking the piss out of the place.

The mundane 9-5 Monday - Friday was killing me.  I know that I'm certainly not the sort of person that does that, I'm not a cog in a machine that is largely ignored by my superiors.  I'm not a robot that fills a position that anyone can fill.

I recognise that I'm an individual, that the pattern of my day can be shaped by the decisions that I choose to make.

So what was I hoping to find in Barcelona?  Was I expecting it to be a place that hands out jobs to people that qualify themselves as a "creative person"?

No, that's not what I was expecting to find.  I was expecting to find a city with 50% youth unemployment, a city bustling with people looking for work, a city that doesn't need an English man who can speak little Spanish getting in the way making the place look untidy.

For the first couple of months I was expecting a job that just about covered my rent, cleaning maybe, a bit of bar work, something that benefits from the booming tourist industry.

But from there I was hoping to find a job that would pay me well enough to do what I wanted in life, whatever that is, it changes each day.

So this time last week you may remember I had an interview for a job?  Yeah, that finished.  I was working for a company that sells bar crawls to people.  They pay 15€ of which I get 5€ and that entitles them to enter all the bars for the night plus the club they’re going to.  They get a free beer and free shot in the first bar and then a free shot in every bar thereafter. 

Plus they can use it every night they're in Barcelona.  It starts in March and runs until October so if you happened to be in Barcelona for the entire time then paying 15€ for a deal that runs for seven months is a bargain.  However most people are here for the week, if you can catch them on day one you can really sell it to them.

It was commission only, I'm fine with that.  You can live in their digs at about 70€ a week and it doesn't matter how much you sell, for me as long as I was covering my outgoings.

On my first full day of working alone I was approached on the beach by a guy who, ironically, was wearing one of the t-shirts we were giving out as part of the deal.  He told me he was a police officer (working undercover) and that selling on the beach is illegal and if he caught me doing it again then he would fine me 150€.  

From this point I had a decision to make, I could carry on and risk paying 150€ without making any money or just stop there and then and concentrate on finding other work.

I chose the latter.  I was finding out what sort of person I was, I'm not the sort of person that is willing to take that much of a risk.  We'll never know if it would have worked but I feel more confident that I've done the right thing.

I didn't really have a problem with the illegality of it, it's a victimless crime and to any Spanish law officials who might be reading this if you really wanted to clamp down on it you would do.  You know who the clubs and bars are that obviously benefit from this "scam", let's not make out that this is morally unjust.  I couldn't carry on doing it with no guarantee of success and the possibility of a fine.

Another thing that also had me jumping for joy last Sunday, sort of, was the promise of a meeting with a woman from a postcard company about selling her some pictures for postcards.

We were contacting eachother via email, we arranged to meet each other in a cafe on La Rambla and she asked for my phone number.  I told her that there was no point in her having my phone number as my phone had been stolen.

She told me that she regretted that I had not included my phone number, but again I told her that my phone had been stolen, she didn't reply.  I emailed her later that day but said in Spanish that my phone had been stolen.  That was a week ago and received no reply since.  I was at the cafe on Thursday when she said to meet but again nothing.  What have I got to do, eh?

She wants to meet but then all of a sudden she doesn't just because she can't speak to me on the phone?  It pisses me off.  I've sent her samples of my work, even that I normally do football photography so if she could get me into the Camp Nou , that would be cool, I could do pictures of the Barcelona players for her to sell, still nothing.  I'm glad I'm not the sort of person that gets people's hopes up like that.  I'll gladly admit that I'm the sort of person that wants to smash her in the face with a large plank of wood though.

Oh, speaking of violence I was in a club on Friday night.  I was sat down minding my own business when a girl sat next to me.  I said hello and asked where she was from then suddenly out of nowhere a hand pushed my head away from her.  Her boyfriend wasn't happy that I was talking to something that he considered to be his.  I tried to apologise to him but he wasn't having it, he told me to go and stand out of his way so I went and bought a drink. 

Hopefully he'll do it again to someone who he misjudges the size of and gets the kicking he deserves.  To be honest I was honoured he considered me to be a threat but he obviously didn't trust her if he won't allow a guy to talk to her when she was only two feet away. A happy relationship.

After buying my drink I returned to the scene of the crime but they'd gone.  I sat down where I was previously and a guy was sat nearby.  I checked that wasn't a threat to anyone and started chatting to him.  He was originally from Saudi Arabia but grew up/lived in Preston, England.

We chatted for a bit, I hung around, danced, drank, had a good time and noticed that up on the stage next to the DJ, Philip Bader, was a photographer.  It was the flash that caught my eye.  "I bet I could do that job without using the flash" I thought to myself.  Then it hit me, a possible flaw in the market?  Take pictures of people in clubs and sell them to them?  Something I need to explore.

Saturday afternoon/evening I did a free walking tour, I gave the guy 10€ at the end. I learnt a lot about Gaudi and Catalonia.  Afterwards there was a BBQ on a roof terrace at the top of a hostel.  5€ for a beer and a burger.  I chatted with a number of English people all of whom are living and working around Barcelona.  The guy who was doing the best for himself was a guy who is teaching English.

He earns 50€ an hour from some clients.  He has five students from the Catalan Parliament, he teaches them all at the same time so for that hour makes 250€.  That's most of your months rent paid for over here.

The two things he told me were that the TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) thing is useless and you don't need it.  If you were going for a job in a school or institution maybe but generally not and he's never been asked. The second thing was, this counts for anywhere, the good people will find work, the shit people won't.  Those were he's exact words, if you're good enough you'll find it, it all depends on what sort of person you are.

Those words have stuck with me ever since.

I'm thinking about the TEFL thing and still thinking about doing it, it's just that little bit of security that I need.  With that I just think I'll get more contacts etc.  I'll need funding for it but I'm working on that and have a few ideas.

I went and asked for work in an Irish bar today.  It's right near the Segrada Familia.  While I sat waiting for it to open I thought about the story of my adventures in Barcelona.  I can see the early foundations of a book in the making.

The sort of person I am is the sort of person that likes to tell stories.  Everything that happens in my life I think about incorporating it into a story somehow.  I'm not going to enjoy life by climbing any career ladder but what I can do is tell a story.  If I can fund that by living, working, teaching in Barcelona then I'll be happy.