The fourth day, I was meant to go with Clara in the evening to an exhibition opening in Girona. However, she ended up needing to run other errands all day and asked that I get myself there. Since I was going to have to take the train myself anyway, I figured I could go earlier and check Girona out.
While I was waiting for the train, a man sat down super close to me and was speaking in a disordered way and asking for cigarettes and money. I pretended to not understand anything he said and asked if he spoke English, which luckily he did not, and my not understanding him wasn't even much of a pretense since he wasn't speaking clear Spanish either (possibly he was speaking in Catalan, but also possibly not an actual language at all). There was another woman waiting for the train so I managed to get away from the man saying again and again I didn't understand him and instead allied with her. This seemed to deter him from further bothering me, as she told me she'd already told him no herself. We rode to Girona together (he rode in the toilet to avoid paying), and she helped me figure out where Devesa park is located. I wanted to visit there hoping to see some wildlife in the park. Unfortunately, Devesa is a very orderly and sculpted park and there wasn't much in the way of wildlife; there were a number of ducks and ducklings, some caged peafowl, and one pretty blue, white, and black bird that I couldn't get near.
Then I decided to head toward the old Jewish quarter and heart of the city, which is now a shopping/tourism hub. I wandered through the streets for a while, stopped and bought a small coffee gelato cone, and browsed the shops while loosely trying to head toward where the art center I needed to end up at that evening was located. I walked by an art store and bought a new type of paper, and stopped by a bakery and purchased some quiche and a tart. Then the art center appeared! I'm pretty bad at directions and thought it would be several blocks away from where I was, so I'm happy I stumbled across it so easily. I then backtracked to a small vegetarian restaurant for a hamburger and lemonade before the show. Spain had been a challenge as a vegetarian when I studied abroad here in 2007, and it is still difficult but getting easier as exemplified in this restaurant's existence (albeit in a tourist area).
Clara was late, so I took in the show myself at the Bòlit. Centre d'Art Contemporani. It was a small but interesting show, and despite there being numerous artists' work on display it was remarkably cohesive. Clara texted me and said she was actually just going to go to the center's other site instead so I should meet her there. The Bòlit. has two buildings about 15 minutes away from each other and though I wasn't aware that this was the case, its exhibition spanned both locations. I found the second site and was introduced to the director, a number of the artists, and some other staff. One of the other artists and I had an instant connection and we spent most of the rest of the next hour or so together getting acquainted. Sadly, she had to return back to Germany the following day so we couldn't have more adventures together in Spain.
While outside talking with the new friend, I also got to observe digger wasps tidying their burrows. These are fascinating insects and I have never encountered them before. They dug like miniature meerkats. I tried to take photos but it was late evening and there wasn't enough light. I did take a short video of them, though. I also looked digger wasps up when I got back home and found out that Richard Dawkins spoke about them as an example of the limitations of constructed reality.
I was invited back to the Bòlit to hold an artist's lecture and discussion about my work on the 25th, and to attend an arts festival that weekend back in Girona. Clara and I then made our way back to her car. I was so happy to get back home; I had walked for probably close to eight or nine hours total and my feet were not at all pleased.
The following day I spent entirely on drawing, which was good, as my hips and legs made their presences grumpily known as well.
