Amigos en Madrid

Being alone in Spain was nice for a few days... but I'm definitely glad to have some friends around now! Andrea arrived on Friday and we've been running around Madrid together ever since. She actually introduced me to an old friend from elementary school who is living in Ventas, too, but more on that later.

Friday

When Andrea got here, we went for nice lunch near Retiro, a beautiful park in the nicest parts of the city, and then for a little siesta on one of Parque de Retiro's nice green lawns. We also spent a long time people watching by the reservoir and contemplating how we will adjust our wardrobes to try and blend in a bit more. We decided most of our clothes are way too flattering for us to look like locals. And as far as the hair styling goes, they prefer au natural... but I don't think I'm quite ready to cast away my hair dryer and straightener- and I don't think Spain is ready for that, either.

We strolled along the Salamanca area of Madrid- imagine a classier version of 5th avenue at Central Park East and you've got it. At this point, Andrea had been awake for what probably felt like 500 hours, so we didn't dawdle too much before heading home.

Andrea is on the apartment hunt now and let me tell you... it's not easy. I'm more and more thankful everyday that I'm happily settled into my apartment already and had to do almost nothing to find it. Things have just been falling into place!

The same woman from my school who found this apartment for me also found me a tutoring job- too good to be true! I'm teaching English 2 and a half hours per week for a family in my neighborhood- a mother and two daughters. I'm excited to begin but also pretty nervous. Meeting up with them to work out the details was nerve-wracking mostly because when I'm put on the spot, my Spanish skills go out the window.  Somehow, we got it all figured out and now it's time to brainstorm lesson plans!

Now onto my social life!

Saturday 

My current roommate, Cristina, is arguably the nicest person I've ever met. She's always patient with me when I'm trying for 5 minutes to tell a 30-second story... I think she's more tuned-in to second language learners because she is learning English as a second language herself. She invited Andrea and me out for apertivos and drinks on Saturday afternoon. We started at a small bar with just 5 of us, but the group quickly multiplied as we bar-hopped the day away. It felt like such an authentic day of spanish speaking, cañas, patatas bravas, and tintos del verano. Andrea and I left after about 4 hours of this and saw a few apartments (they were abysmal, but the apartment hunt has redeemed itself since). Then we went for dinner at a vegetarian restaurant that my Madrid travel book recommended called Isla del Tesoro. It was amazing. The dip for the bread was basically some warm garlic cream sauce over a bed of chick peas- maybe my favorite part of the meal. We also split a really delicious salad and a dish of rolled pasta stuffed with spinach, some kind of apple puree, and cheese, I think. Not always sure what I'm eating but at least at a vegetarian restaurant, I don't have to worry.

Sunday

Andrea and I went to the big street fair in a part of the city called La Latina. This was the rastro of all rastros. I've never seen a street fair as enormous or as crowded as this one- and it happens every week! It was so much fun walking around and seeing all of the unique things for sale- everything from jewelry and gypsy pants to venus fly traps. We each made one really great purchase and were only on the restaurant hunt for a few minutes when stumbled upon Mercado San Miguel.

Inside, we were surrounded by dozens of different food vendors- some selling oysters and caviar, some selling decadent desserts, and some selling everything in between. Everything was served in really tiny portions and it was so much fun to walk around and taste all of the different foods and drinks. First, I got a little serving of potato au gratin and a brie crostini topped with a slice of roasted red pepper. Then, I tried what I would call bacalao tartar on a toasted cracker (also delicious). Then we split two little focaccia rounds topped with goat cheese- one with roasted red pepper and one with an apple compote. Of course, I had a little tiramisu before we left, too. Not one thing I ate there wasn't completely delicious.

Dinner that night with Cristina and Andrea at a local bar/restaurant in Ventas was pretty standard: we ate, we drank, we laughed, I got picked on by the waiter... the usual. Cristina says they tease me because I'm blonde... um, I'm blonde? I guess in this country I am. And I'm not convinced that's why they tease me- most likely it's because I say ridiculous things sometimes that pin me as a foreigner. But it's all in good fun and I enjoy laughing at myself as much as the next guy.

I'm struggling with my Spanish everyday but I knew that this was going to be my biggest challenge here. The most frustrating part is getting looked at like I'm an idiot if I'm having a hard time communicating. I wish people everywhere did a better job differentiating between intelligence and language proficiency. It makes for so many awkward social situations but sometimes it's just funny. In Sevilla, I remember always asking for a "Coca" or "Coca Light" at the restaurants all the time and it was normal, but here in Madrid, if you ask for a "Coca," you're asking for cocaine- who knew?! We had a good laugh at that one.

Monday


Home-cooked dinner with the roomies:

Fresh Baguette from the pandería down the street
Fresh Roasted Garlic, Goat Cheese, and Olive Oil Spread
Pasta Primavera topped and baked with Fresh Mozzarella
Tiramisu

We were too full to actually get into the tiramisu that night, but can you imagine why?

After dinner we met up with Andrea's friend, Albert, and his friend, Matt, for drinks at Cien Montaditos. We grabbed some tintos and were quickly on our way to el centro. After some strolling around, we finally found a place with good music and a big crowd. It quickly turned into the most fun night yet!

Somos celebres.

Summer Falcon, Silver Panther, Silent Cheetah, and Big Brother... do you copy? over.



Until next time! Hasta luego~