Day 399 - My Journey into Spain - Second Chapter

On the third day in Barcelona, I had to start to make a decision about what I was going to do next. I had only booked 4 nights in the hotel where I was currently staying. The thought had crossed my mind that I could prolong my stay, but within myself I also did not feel clear on why I should do that. Ideally I should rent a car, leave Barcelona and start exploring other parts of the region. 

I think it was on that very same day that I realised it was possible to take the Teleferic de Muntjuic all the way to the top of the Muntjuic mountain where the Muntjuic castle is located. I was walking my way up to the lower planes and gardens of the mountain, when I saw a line of people waiting to enter the Teleferic station. It seemed like a lot of people already, but I was immediately eager to also take the Teleferic. As I joined the line of people, I realised that the Teleferic was actually still closed but it was about to open in just 2 minutes. Once the door of the station opened, the queue moved inside rather quickly and within 10 minutes I was stepping inside my own cabin. 

When the Cabin started rolling along the cable, I felt a gracious happyness. I was enjoying myself a lot. I wanted to make lots of photograps because the views were really stunning. Within myself I felt like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and this caused me to actually create stress about taking enough pictures. At that point I realised that I should give myself the space to simply enjoy and sit and breathe. So I settled within myself and when appropriate, I took a photograph.

Once I walked out of the cabin at the top, there was an area which had a stunning view over the industrial harbour of Barcelona. I walked around and took some pictures. At one point I saw a seagull flying at about my height, perhaps 20 meters away from me. Except that he was flying besides the mountain so he was floating really high in the sky from his vantage point. In that moment I could stand in the shoes of the Saegull because I was looking down at pretty much the same depth below. Upon experiencing the Seagull I came up with the following lines on that day:

"Als je een Meeuw bent,

Mag je geen hoogtevrees hebben."

(When you are a Seagull,

You cannot have fear of heights.) 

The castle in itself was not of that much interest to me, except that it offered more nice views over the whole area of Barcelona. On my way down with the Teleferic (because I bought a return ticket, you could also choose to walk all your way down again) I started to seriously look at the point at hand as I saw that I had to make a decision: what am I going to do next? I used my right hand to guide me as I was looking at the point and what stood out for me in that moment was that I was not comfortable with the idea of traveling around the country. Within myself I went: am I just allowed to do that? I cancel the whole idea of traveling around and I simply stay the whole time in Barcelona? I went pfft yes let me just do that. I mean I am having a lot of fun in Barcelona. 

I did not look at the point further untill later that day, I think it was the afternoon, when I realised: hey, wait a minute, this doesn't make sense. Because when it came down to the historical city of Barcelona, the truth was that I was starting to become fed up with being there. It was suddenly clear and obvious that staying here was not an option at all. And this experience of fed-up ness had already come up the previous day as well - hence I knew that this was the reality of the situation. I knew that now, and only now, I was ready to move on. That evening in the hotel I booked a car for eight days and I bought a returnflight to Belgium. 

I had nine more days to spend in Spain and tomorrow was my last day in Barcelona. 

Day 373 - Rectifying Consequence through Communication

A while ago I rented a car in the capital, and afterwards experienced an issue with the car rental company, because they charged me for a full tank of fuel - as if I had brought the car back empty.

In reality I had filled up the fueltank right before returning the car, however at the gas station I was unable to fill up the tank to the maximum level so that 1 liter of fuel was missing. This was because the fuel pump simply blocked me from continuing the fill up the tank, as if my tank was completely ful already. Except that it was not 100% full as it was missing 1 liter.

When I returned the car to the local car rental desk, I did not see or find the person on the parking lot  with whom I was supposed to check the car and make sure all was in order. I then went upstairs to the administration desk and returned the key with the necessary explanations in regards to the fuel problem. The person said they would do their best to pass on the information but he was clearly overworked.

It was therefore no real surprise when my credit card was charged for the full fuel tank a few weeks later. At this point I said to myself that I will write an email to the central adminsitration of the car rental company, to 'complain' about why and how my credit card was charged. It took me quite a while between the moment that I realised that this is what I must do, and the day that I actually decided to write and send the email. Initially I had even thought: ah, it is just 25 EUR, and I have no proof to stand on - will it even make a difference? It is simply bureaucracy...

However there was also a point in me where I felt that I should speak up in regards to the matter, which is why I finally sent them an email. In this email I simply explained what happened from my perspective and how it happened, adding no proof for my statement except for telling my story in detail so as to offer the entire context. (I did of course give them the reference of my rental and the number on the bill I received)

In this email I did not blame the company about bad service and I did not use any emotion such as anger. I ended my email with asking them to reimburse me the 25 EUR they charged minus the real cost of 1 liter of fuel. After I had sent my email I did not expect an actual treatment of my case or an investigation of any kind. In a way this email I sent it for myself, to show to myself that I do not need to accept abuse in the form of blind mistakes.

But, to my surprise they actually did answer and reimbursed me the entire amount. At this point I realised that in the past I had often given up on what I call 'small things' bacause of not wanting to make 'a big deal' out of it - yet now I saw that this behaviour was also a form of subtly accepting and allowing inferiority and giving up.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to accept a certain outcome simply because of the belief that others have to do something for me.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to think that I am not worth it to communicate in regards to a mistake that was made and that should be rectified.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to allow mistakes in others that compromise me instead of simply showing the mistake and the consequence and the compromise.

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