Apartment Hunting

So I have three weeks to find an apartment in Barcelona.
Yes, three weeks.

It has already been a week and a half and I have nothing. Though, the apartment I visited yesterday was definitely noteworthy, but not in a good way. It was located near Monjuic Park by la Plaza de España and the first thing that the blonde woman showing me the apartment says to me when I walk in is, "Perdón, pero la habitación está muy sucia ahora." As if she didn't know I was coming to visit. You'd think she'd bother to clean it a little...

I walked into a dank room with a small window that looked as though it's been covered in plastic wrap. The woman gestured toward a wood door that is detached from its hinges, leaning against the closet that it's supposed to cover. "The door will be fixed," the woman guarantees me. "Yo sé que la habitación parece diferente que las fotos del internet, pero las fue tomada cuando yo viví aquí con mi novio." Right.

I then glanced down at her stomach to see she was "embarasada." There is no way I'm living with a pregnant woman. Pregnant women turn into babies, and babies equal crying. No. Thank. You.

"Who else lives here?" I asked.
"Oh well I live in this room con mi novio." Hmm, I wonder what they do in their free time. "And two other chicas live here, and a man from Inglaterra too. The man, he sleeps all day and works all night. I never see him."

"So do you want to give me fianza?"
Is she serious? She really thinks after the broken door, messy room, and broken desk that I noticed on the way out, that I really want to live there. That's funny.

Today went better though. I found a place in the Borne neighborhood of Barcelona where the Barcelona government buildings are located. I don't think I'm going to take the place because it's a bit expensive and the lady there smokes which I'm not so keen on. Plus, she wouldn't allow me to have any guests, should someone from the U.S. want to visit me. But the Borne neighborhood is SO cool. There are tiny little streets everywhere with hip coffee shops and neat boutiques. It feels so avant-garde and cozy. I HAVE to live there, I've decided. Even if I only have a week and a half to find a place in Borne. It will be done. Even if I have to live in another place for a month or so until I find a place in Borne. It will be done.

It must.