First Hiccups

The first time I arrived in Barcelona I was pretty scared. At this point, I didn't have a permanent place to stay. I had just got a life lesson of how the housing situation can look abroad. Before I even came I consult another two friends who used to stay in Barcelona for a particular amount of time. Both of them advised me to look for the apartment in person in order not to get scammed or pay too much for too little. The plan seemed very reliable and required me to be in Barcelona. In the end, my plan of coming a few weeks in advance didn't work out as I was trying to work as much as possible to save some money for the coming year abroad and not worry during that time. I ended up being there the last days of August which made my search harder as most of the affordable options were already gone. I have spent the first 6 days in a hostel attending the welcome week sessions and constantly applying for viewings. I found it to be a common choice for my fellow Erasmus students. I found a good few of them struggling with the same situation themselves. This time was deeply stressful for me and unfortunately on the day 3rd, securing only 1 unsuccessful viewing I had a small breakdown. At the time it happened, I was working on messaging landlords in a common room in the hostel. I was trying to hide the unfortunate event, but I got noticed by 3 other Erasmus students on the exact same, daunting apartment search mission. The moment truly lifted my soul up. I got a real pep talk, hot food and a hug I didn't know I needed. As the next two days passed two of them landed a place to stay and I had 5 viewings coming, one promising more than the other. I found out that the one I was rooting for has two rooms available so I brought Liv with me. The landlady turned out to be a super nice person living there with her mom. All flats seemed so clean and elegantly handled that I couldn't believe how lucky we are. The harsh 6 days of stress turned out to be worth the wait and we celebrated by going to the beach the next day.