Alvaro's Spanish Neigborhood

View from Alvaro's apt.











He claims to live in a poor neighborhood, but it didn't seem poor to me. Just middle to lower middle class. Dunno, my opinion of poor are ghettos - now that's poor. But he also grew up in a kickass penthouse overlooking the sea, so his opinion of poor could be different than mine.

Anyways when he picked me up from the train station on Friday he warned me that his neighborhood isn't that nice looking and if I'm scared I don't have to stay with him.

I thought to myself, Well, if only you've seen some of the neighborhoods I've lived in.

I asked him if it's dangerous, like gangs, etc., and he said no, it's safe. I thought So what's the problem?

We drove through his hood and pulled up to his apartment and it was totally fine. Some graffiti on buildings, but its everywhere in Europe, and it isn't necessarily gang related. Usually it's not.

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I totally digged his neighborhood. It's exciting and real. I would just sit on his bay window and watch: People sticking their heads out of their home windows talking to others on the street; People yelling from their car for their friends to come down. (They don't honk their horn or ring the bell, they yell from their car.); People just doing everyday things like riding scooters, coming home with groceries and walking their dog.



In pic is laundry drying. You see this everywhere.

Of all the people I've stayed with in Europe only 2 people have had dryers. I get different reasons why most Europeans don't have dryers. One is it's just the way of life. The others are for economical and environmental reasons.