MY INTERNET WORKS! Finally! Mac hookups are very different in Europe than PCs are in Europe, so our landlord came out of his way to help us hook it up, and for me to finally pay him and everything.
Today was a kind of scavenger hunt in the city. Madrid is a lot like New York City to me sometimes. Maybe not the Plazas or anything, but the city is very crammed together and it feels very similar. Our school would be in the Brooklyn of NYC, and I would currently be in the East Village of Madrid, not necessarily according to the East side of the city, but where I am is very similar to a residential East Village in NYC.
Everything here is extremely expensive compared to what I originally thought it would be. I bought shoes to go out because the ones I have gave me enormous blisters after 3 hours of sitting down in them.
Isabela and I are big bargain hunters, and only on things that we need or are we willing to splurge. We got into the club for free last night, and its a very tourist club so we met a group of people from Syracuse school in New York, and a guy from Minnesota who was studying abroad. We all exchanged numbers and are hoping to meet up again, because branching away from our group is important too. It ended up being Isabela, myself, and our friend Maria who went out dancing.
Today when I was separate from Isabela I ate lunch with a group of kids that I am still getting to know, and they are nice. So after lunch I decided to go my own way and I walked around for 2 hours. I walked the "Broadway of Madrid" or la Gran Via, and looked at how expensive it would be to go see El Rey de Leon (The LIon King) in Spanish on Madrid's Broadway. A little too expensive, but it would still be cool to splurge on that at some point, we will see.
APPLES HERE ARE DELICIOUS! Isabela and I are friendly with the lady who works at the fruiteria around the corner. When we went we bought TONS of vegitables and fruits, for not as much money. The fruit that is fresh and organic here is normal, so its not as expensive in some places. We've been going to the supermercado around the corner to buy most of our things, but that doesnt have everything we want, so we need to find another place. It's hard to find black beans in this city!
The streets here are hardly streets. The more tourist of an area I am in the less it feels like there are streets. We can walk anywhere, and all of a sudden there will be a car, and I will realize that I have been walking in the middle of the street. People walk where ever they want and cars just have to deal with it, or honk their horns.
The metro station closes at 12am! ITS SO EARLY! I'm used to having 24 hr service in NY or 1am service in Boston. So when we left the club we took a cab.
Leaving our apartment seems so exhausting for me, and its only because we have to walk 5 floors up to get back in. My butt is going to be rock solid by the time I leave here. All of the hills and walking that we do! Ugh, its exhausting to think about, but fun to explore!
We've started taking the bus to and from school instead of the metro, because that way we can see the city and sometimes its even faster than the metro because we just stay on the same bus, there's no transfer.
The current plan for this month is the school's weekend getaway will take Isabela and I to Granada and Cordoba, which is a 6 hour bus ride and has a lot of art and history that we will be able to see. I know I am not a museum person, but when I am with Isabela it is different. She has such a wide-eyed fascination with art and history, I've never seen true passion for something like that. When we saw Guernica by Picasso in person at the Museo de Reina Sofia here in Madrid, it was so big and powerful and beautiful that I almost wanted to cry. I could have stared at it for days. It's bigger than a story tall. Maybe a story if you have high ceilings. No pictures were allowed but I snuck one from my phone. It was great. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then google Guernica and Pablo Picasso. It's THE most famous painting of Spain and Spanish history.
We also saw a lot of Dali artwork. Isabela's passion for all of these things makes me so much more excited about it and I have been learning to appreciate it a lot more because of that. The only thing I don't like about museums is how long we have to stand for, and we've been standing and walking so much lately that it doesn't take a lot for my feet or back to hurt. Once classes start I will have an infinite amount of downtime and everything about my lifestyle right now will alter ever so slightly.
Spaniards put ham on everything. It's annoying, and starting to get a little gross. They overuse their pig. I ordered a sirlion tapas, which is like a mini sirlion for a couple of Euros... and it was sirlion PORK, not sirlion like we know it back home. Carne de Vacca (Cow) is extremely rare and expensive to find here. There are stores all over the place called Museos de Jamon. It literally means Ham Museum... and it is not a butcher necessarily, because it specializes in pig only. THAT is how much Spaniards like ham. Usually a side comes with a beverage when you get a good deal and the side is almost always protuitto on a piece of bread with some oil on top.
Today when I was walking around alone, I walked for a couple of hours and saw shops and markets that were out in some of the plazas. I took only a couple of pictures because I didn't want to be too touristy. Some people are either fascinated with me being from the States, or they are disguisted with me because I am American. It's a toss up. I met a lady when I was shoe shopping and I asked her if she liked my shoes. I told her I need a mom, and my mom isn't here. I think that helped her understand that I appreciated her opinion.
I also saw a guy playing instruments in the subway. He was alone but had almost an entire band set up. Similar to the way people play music for money anywhere else in the world on the street or in the subway. He had a hand drum just sitting there while he played his flute. I watched for a minute and a man walked by and banged on the drum, but the musician didn't get upset. So I took that as a sign that he wouldn't be upset if I asked him if I could play with him. I asked if I could and he obliged. I got to play an African drum in a Spanish subway with a guy I didn't know! I played for maybe a couple of minutes until the real drummer returned. I shook his hand and thanked them both, and went on my way with a smile ear to ear. Playing instruments is something that feels very homie to me, and that added interest of playing in the subway with a stranger made it even more exciting.
Then I came home and Isabela and I talked for a little bit. When we are apart for even a couple of hours, after getting back together we have to discuss everything that happened. Almost like a married couple we are constantly (subconsciously) making sure we are on the same page and we feel similar and think similarly about a lot of things so it's nice. We even are getting to the point where we are craving the same foods at the same time, or thinking the same thing. It's so nice to have someone like that. It is like having a boyfriend or a husband here... someone who is connected to all of me and understands what I am about even without communication.
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