First of all it was the day that I was finally going to get my NIE number, secondly it was the day I was told to come back as an Irish bar made a decision about employing me.
I made my way to the office to get my NIE number, waited patiently and when I got to speak to the woman, in Spanish, she told me I didn't have the right documents, in Spanish. She gave me some paperwork that I'm doing a rather good job of translating myself. It tells me what I need. I do feel like I've made progress.
I left there devastated and angry. I'm pissed off at my landlord refusing to meet me in the middle and provide me with the required documents. I have options with regard to the NIE number so watch this space.
I made my way to the Irish bar looking for good news, nothing yet, the manager spoke with the owner and they're not employing anyone until the end of September. The rugby World Cup starts in the middle of September so I'm going to keep in regular contact with them until then.
On Sunday a friend on Twitter gave me a link to a English speaking website that covers Spanish football. They're looking for writers. I've applied, had a chat over email, written an article and I've been accepted.
I will now be reporting on the goings on of FC Barcelona, the games, the transfers and any other stories surrounding the club.
This is the big bit, they're sorting out press accreditation for me. I'll have access to the Camp Nou on match days, reporting on their games and on what I see.
I've mentioned that I'm a photographer and that I could possibly do both the match reports and photography of the games, they're looking into that for me.
We haven't discussed expenses but they were mentioned in the job description. If they want me to travel all over Spain and indeed Europe covering Barcelona then I believe they're going to pay my expenses. If they're not then they're going to need to wait until I'm making some decent money.
The downer is that at first I won't be getting paid, I need to prove that my stories can get website hits and I need to be doing it for long enough.
As things stand I can't afford to stay here throughout September. I need more money.
I'm looking at that, I'm going to set up a Crowdfunding page to see if I can make this work. Help on doing that would be handy.
Imagine taking pictures every week of Messi et el? Build up a decent collection and sell them on. That would make me enough money to live here, just supplying pictures to photography agencies. Then if I can carry on the reporting long enough I'll be getting paid.
Plus with this I'll be able to get the paperwork sorted that has so far eluded me.
Last week some people were begging me to come home back to the UK. I said I wanted to give it one more month and try to stay here throughout September and return back to the UK having succeeded or failed in October. Obviously if it is me having succeeded then it'll only be a short break.
If I do return home at the beginning of September, I'd need to leave here on September 1st, then the flight will be about £100, if I leave here at the beginning of October it'll be about £30.
If people were queuing up to lend me the cash to pay for my flight then that's a few hundred quid, I could pay my rent and book my flight at the beginning of October now.
Every penny will be paid back so if you were looking to lend me the money for the plane home then get in touch.
I don't have enough money to live on but I'm taking pictures of the best team in the world, honestly, my life.
I've also written a script if you want to read it and give me your opinions then get in touch.
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