Why must travel cost such an extraordinary amount of money? We’re so fucking spoiled. All we do is decide to pile into our cheap-ass American car, load it down with clothes and food, and maneuver on interstates from one relative’s home to another, never paying high prices for hotels or exorbitant amounts for gas. What a strange world, so isolated from reality, Americans live in! How could they possibly complain about anything, I have decided, until they’ve laid down 500€ for kids’ school supplies and books, have looked at bus tickets (yes, bus!!!) that would cost almost as much as plane tickets to a place that’s half a day’s drive??

So much for seeing Spain. I mean, should I spend half a month’s salary for a three-day-weekend in Barcelona? Is it that much more amazing than where I stand at this moment, palm trees and warmth surrounding every moment?

I considered buying a car. We were walking home and I saw a compact car for 1000€. Hey that’s only a little more that our Barcelona “trip”! So I looked into it… it costs anywhere from 450€-1000€ just to get a fucking driver’s license! What a racket these Spaniards have with their fancy textbooks and driving schools. Everyone might be unemployed, but let me tell you, some of them are rolling in it!!

This is why I’m a little testy tonight. Not only does it look like we won’t be going anywhere this year, but I’m also a little tired of ringing doorbells to fancy sixteenth-floor apartments or row homes for tutoring that I was told (by the teachers at my school here) to charge only 10€ an hour for. I certainly didn’t want to overstep my bounds and take advantage of the poor Spaniards, but I sure as hell am a little fumed that, as usual, the money remains at the top, that I have to work twice as many hours to earn enough to buy groceries when they’re paying for an invaluable experience with a native English speaker from a place none of them have heard of or will ever visit!!

So not everything’s perfect on this side of the globe. Can’t a girl complain for just a moment?