Rollercoaster Ride

Couchsurfing is really like a rollercoaster ride. It really is.

I arrived to Granada this morning from Barcelona with absolutely no idea where I'll stay for the next three days. I finally got to an internet cafe after two hours of walking around and finding everything closed. As an aside, I´m not really a hardworker nor do I focus my energies on productivity. All the people close to me (my four family members, Neil, Ava, Nasim, etc.), they're all hard workers, but me, not so much. But even I was surprised at the Spanish work ethic! It was already 10AM and most stores still weren't open. I figured that if they opened at 11 and closed again at 2pm for siesta and re-opened in the evening from 5-8pm, they only work six hours a day...max!

Anyway, it's unfortunate that Granada had be my first real couchsurfing downfall. (I couldn't find a couch in Inverness, but it was only one night and it's wasn't terrible). After four successful and successive weeks of only couchsurfing (with Bologna being the exception - I stayed at my sister's friend's place), I simply could not find a couch in Granada. Nor could I find one in Sevilla, my next stop. I'm checking into a hostel later today. Kinda disappointed about that. I also decided this morning that I'm not going to Sevilla, but to Rota, a small town by Cadiz, on the Atlantic.

The thing about couchsurfing is that it really is a much better way to travel. For example, I made some awesome friends in Italy who were as hospitalable as family would be. Fabio, who cooked for me, gave up his room for me, took me partying and to his classes, in Padova and Matteo, who took me around Rome and explained all the history, cooked for me (too!), and drove me around, in Roma. My time is Barcelona was so wonderful that I'm thinking of even living there for a year or two. Kamil, my host, essentially said it's when I move to Barcelona (not if). Kamil and Paulina were such wonderful hosts and even better friends. So even if the city has nothing to offer, like Padova (or Birmingham), you can still have a great time.

It's totally bittersweet because you leave the city after a few days but you become good friends with your hosts. You're not really sure when you'll see them again. It's different with my friends from New York because I know I'll see them in eight months but...when will I go to Italy or Spain again?! And the downside is that if you're entirely dependent on couchsurfing like me and don't really know any other way to travel, it can kind of leave you flat faced when you don't have a couch. I suppose even if you do check into a hostel, you can still attend the couchsurfing events in the city or find fellow travelers, but it's not totally the same.

Oh CS. I'll definitely miss it when I spend the summer in Vizag...the community doesn't seem to be too big there. I definitely can't wait to go back to New York and start hosting people!