To-do list for today

1. Buy a hair dryer aka "secador" (Forgot my voltage converter one too many times, fail.)

2. Buy my abono pass for February (Unlimited metro train and bus usage for students for 30,50 euro, pretty sweet deal.)

3. Register for a half marathon (Mercedes absolutely melted my heart. I told her I wanted to run a road race in Madrid, but I didn't know when they were. She found the name of a popular races website for me. She was soo excited to give it to me, and I'm actually PUMPED to try a Spanish road race! Only problem -- no Internet sign up, so I have to scout out one of the listed local athletic stores to register. Should be interesting.)

4. Google map how long it takes to walk to Cine Roxy A (a movie theater).  Gotta know when to leave for our class meeting tonight.

5. Look up information about "También la lluvia" (the movie we are going to see). Might help me be less lost/confused tonight.

6. Run a mile as fast as I can (I made a resolution to go to the park and run one mile as fast as I can once a week. Tryin to work on my speed!)

7. (which I'm actually going to do first) SIESTA!!

*Note the lack of going to Stevenson library on this list. Loveeeee it! This semester is going to be a nice break from my science studying routine.

El Rastro

This morning I got in touch with my "Dolbow woman" side and went to a giant flea market known as "El Rastro" to search for some bargains.  El Rastro is held every Sunday from around 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in a few streets near the center of Madrid. 

It seems like more than just a few streets when you are inside though. I spent hours stumbling through what felt like a never-ending sea of stands and Spaniards. It's best to go early because by 11 a.m. the streets are literally packed with people. 

My mission was to find cheap scarves, but the real challenge turned out to be deciding which ones to buy. There were so many! I also splurged on some goofy ear-warmers, which was likely influenced by the freezing weather. They sell a huge assortment of things from purses, shoes, jewelry and jackets to keychains, pans, books, and memory sticks. There are a bunch of antique stores around, also. In the words of Mercedes, "If you're looking for something to buy, and you can't find it at El Rastro, you won't be able to find it anywhere."

Pickpockets are notorious there, so I only brought a small amount of cash and kept everything zipped up in my pockets at all times. There were lots of people walking around with bookbags on backwards, so they could pile in all their purchases and still keep an eye on them. I'm happy to report I arrived back home without having anything stolen.

This image is overwhelming, but I think it helps communicate what the experience of going to El Rastro feels like.

I think this is a wonderful Sunday tradition, and I'll definitely be returning on a regular basis.

Put a smile on your face

Epiphany of today: Facial expressions are universal. (As are parking tickets, I also just noticed.)

Sometimes when Mercedes talks really fast and I can't understand her, I just look at her facial expressions to figure out how I should respond. When she's smiling and happy, I smile back and say, "que bueno!" But if she's shaking her head and doing her mad face, I frown and say, "que mal!"

As I was doing this at lunch, I realized.. it's pretty cool how a smile can cross all language barriers. I wonder if there's some biological reason we just smile when we are happy, or if every single culture just learns the same way to express happiness.

Are we humans, or are we denser?

Last night I experienced the infamous part of the Spanish nightlife culture -- la discoteca. When we found flyers for free admission (which usually costs 20 euros) and a free drink (12 euros), chicas only of course, in the metro station, we knew it was the night to hit up Teatro Kapital.

The view from the first floor of Kapital. On the left you can see the balconies going up -- each one is a floor. On the right you can see one of the little pods for dancing (we were unsuccessful is figuring out how to get to one of those). The stage is in the front, with the stripper-esque dancers, though you can't see them very well.

Kapital is a massive discoteca that has seven floors, each with a different type of music and theme. The general layout is:

First floor: The main dance floor (Huge stage with scantily clad models, strobe lights, crazy music)

Second floor: Coat check and bathrooms (longest line of my lifeeee)

Third floor: Karaoke bar (where I got the inspiration for the blog title, they have a little trouble translating some songs into English)

Fourth floor: Rap dance floor (you can listen to "black music" and get "funky")

Fifth floor: Cocktail bar with seats to relax and talk

Sixth floor: Random music

Seventh floor: Chill out zone  (palm trees and pool tables were interspersed among canopy couches)

There's also a section of the roof that is open in the summer, and yes, it advertises a "mountain of beds, tables, and seats."  Since people eat dinner so late, they don't start going out until around midnight, and bars stay open until 6 a.m. (which is also conveniently when the Metro opens, so our goal was to stay out that late to save $$ on our ride home.) It's krazy!

Overall, I had a lot of fun, and I'm glad I went to see it, but I doubt I'll go back. Kapital is a super famous tourist attraction, so there were a lot of Americans.  And 20 euros is a pretty steep price if we hadn't had those free passes. So far I prefer the smaller bars and such that have more local flavor. I like places that are conducive to talking so I can practice mi español. Tonight I'm going to explore Chueca -- the gay neighborhood that supposedly has great food, cheap prices, and lots of cool hang outs.

Palmeras y Prado (& Plagiarized Pictures)

My mouth has been watering over the pastries in the school cafeteria every day since class started. One chocolate pastry in particular has been catching my eye. It's a croissant-type thing, folded up like a pretzel, then dipped in chocolate. They are huge -- at least the size of my face. In celebration of our upcoming three-day weekend, I decided to order one. They call it a "palmera," and it was delicious, of course. I forgot to take a picture, so I creepily searched the internet for one to steal. Found one on a random girl's blog; it's a good illustration:

I seriously hope she never sees this... 

The palmera proved to be great energy for the game we played in class afterwards. We divided into two teams for a competitive round of Memory with irregular preterite verbs. My team won, WOOHOO! I forgot how much fun it is to play games like that in class. Thank you for taking me back to middle school, "Intensive Spanish."

Now I'm off to Museo del Prado for the afternoon. I'll take pictures, but it's ugly outside (lots of fog), so I will preemptively steal another picture from the web and post now:

El Prado!

Should be a very culture-filled afternoon. According to Wikipedia, the museum has 7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 4,800 prints, and 8,200 drawings including works by Velázquez and Picaso. I doubt we'll even make a dent this afternoon; I plan to go here multiple times during my stay in Madrid. But first I need to focus on not getting lost as I attempt to walk there...

Don't forget your manners

... I seriously hope I don't forget mine over here. Spanish etiquette is slightly different than what they teach in American cotillion.  Here are a few places I've noticed cultural differences:

The Street

• No one smiles as they pass by. I might as well have "AMERICAN" stamped across my forehead as I grin at every person I make eye contact with.
• Public displays of affection -- I know college kids are into DFMOs (dance floor make outs) but Spanish jovenes seem be into EWMOs (everywhere make outs, ew).
• No one says excuse me when they bump into you in the street. They also make no effort to move if they see you coming in the same direction. Once again, my American-ness oozes out of me as I apologize, "Lo siento, lo siento" each time I tap someone. 

The Dinner Table

• When people call Mercedes during dinner, she sits at the table and keeps talking. I thought we were just boring her, but I learned in class that here it is considered rude to get off the phone because you're eating. You're supposed to just tell the other people you are having cena and hope the conversation is short.
• It's also pretty rare to have friends over for dinner. The house is considered a very private place, mostly restricted to family. If you are at a friends house and their parents invite you to dinner, you are supposed to refuse, even if they insist, according to my teacher.

Restaurants

• "Please" and "thank you" are not part of the out to eat vocabulary here. You just give waiters commands like "give me a coffee" or "bring me a tortilla."
• Tips are also not the norm. At nicer places or to reward exceptional service, a tip of around 5% (or higher depending on the place) can be given, but tips are not necessary or implied the way they are in the US.

It's interesting because while some of this may come off as rude at first, it's just different over here. I don't know if I should adapt to all of their norms or keep some of my American ways while I'm here. I personally think it's nice to smile at people in the streets, but I hope I'm not annoying los españoles!

Mi Madre en Espana

Mi familia -- Mercedes y Katie

Mercedes is my spanish "mother." In many ways, she does act as my mother. I live in her apartment; she cooks all my meals; she worries about me going running by myself; she does my laundry.  We've been bonding a lot and growing closer lately, which I'm really happy about. 

She lives here by herself, as she is divorced from her husband. The other night at dinner I asked her about her ex, and her response somewhat surprised me. She said she barely ever talks to him, but she has no harsh feelings. "We spent many happy years together, and I am happy now, too. I like living by myself. I don't want a husband or even a boyfriend."

I had sort of assumed she would want a boyfriend, but once we started talking, I realized she has a completely different perspective. She said after years of spending her life focused on other people (her children and her husband), she likes being able to focus on herself. She can do whatever she wants, whenever she wants. "If I'm ever bored, I can always go to my brother and sisters' houses," she said. 

She has students staying with her from September to July.  "The month when no one is here is the best of the year. I can just leave and do anything!" she told me.  It was then that I realized she is a perfect example of una mujer independiente. 

Tengo hambre!

Today was by far the hungriest I have ever been in Spain.  I thought I was adjusted to the Spanish eating schedule, but apparently my tummy is still more American than I realized. As I referenced in my previous post about milk and cookies, the culture around meals is very different here.  Here is what a typical day of eating is like for me:

El desayuno (breakfast): A small meal when I wake up around 8 a.m. Usually a little bowl of cereal (corn flakes mixed with coco pebbles, a Mercedes special) with room temperature milk and fruit. (She normally gives me an apple and a banana; I save the apple for a snack.) Sometimes we eat magdalenas, which are little muffins, or cookies. It seems like they eat sweet things in the morning here; I've heard of lots of chocolate being served in the AM. This has probably been the biggest adjustment for me because I usually eat really big breakfasts at home.

La comida (technically lunch, but more like our dinner): The main meal of the day is eaten midday here, usually around 2 or 3 p.m. This is when we eat the most -- usually a main dish like paella or pasta with salad and bread. The salad has meat on it too, though! Sometimes I have un postre afterwards - either a pear or yogurt. If we're really lucky we get cookies or ice cream. La comida is a big deal here. It's an important time to sit around and talk with family. All the stores close down midday for lunch and stay closed for siestas (naps) afterwards.

La cena (dinner): Dinner is served in mi casa around 9 p.m. during the week and 10 p.m. on weekends. This is also a lighter meal, usually consisting of meat or eggs and a vegetable, and of course a side of bread. Mercedes gives us bread with every comida y cena because on the first day we told her we like bread. Sometimes I have un postre after this meal, too.

Adjusting to the time of meal differences has been causing some serious stomach growls, but the food so far has been delicoso. I'm sure I'll be talking about food specifically much more as the blog continues. In the mean time, I need to take my siesta!

Rebajas, rebajas, rebajas

Spain in January is a shopaholic's paradise. If you came here and didn't know the language, you would probably think "rebajas" means "we sell things" because it is literally plastered in giant letters on the windows of every single store.

But the great news is that it actually means "SALES!" And they are normally up to 50-70% off original prices.  It's like a national phenomenon. Every time I turn a corner I am bombarded by enticing offers on every type of clothing from dresses and heels to sweaters and scarves, making it very hard to hang on to my euros. My personal favorite are the zapaterias -- filled with cute shoes for every occasion.

So far I've exercised self-discipline; however, they're over at the end of January, so I'm starting to feel pressure to cash in on one last deal or two. My goal for the week is to find cute ankle boots for less than 15 euros. If I get some for less than 10 I'm going to give myself a high five.

Milk & Cookies

Very weird thing about the milk here -- they don't refrigerate it! My madre has boxes just stacked up, chillin in the kitchen. Well not chillin actually. There are just sitting at room temperature! My teacher tried to explain it to me, but I didn't understand. I think it's something to do with their different pasteurization process here? But after the boxes are opened, then you have to put them in the fridge. It's bizarre. But it tastes fine!

What did not taste fine though was when she gave us whole milk with our cereal the first morning. She said, "You are young, so I thought this kind was more comfortable for you." Say whatt?????

In addition to non-refrigerated milk, she also sometimes gives me cookies for breakfast! They are like EL Fudge cookies with two wafers and chocolate in the middle.  But when she offers me dessert at lunch and dinner, she gives me yogurt. So opposite of what I normally do!

I discovered the other day that they are actually "digestive" cookies, which according to Wikipedia means they are believed to have antacid properties due to their use of sodium bicarbonate when they were developed. Apparently they don't use high fructose corn syrup, so that's awesome. Sorry for the food chemistry lesson; I thought it was interesting.

What's up, your Majesty

Note to self: When I wander around Madrid solo, bring my keys to the apartment with me.

Anyways, today we visited Palacio Real, the "official" home of the king of Spain, even though they only use it for ceremonies now. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside, but it was absolutely gorgeous. 

Palacio Real

For my food-oriented friends, I went on two noteworthy foodventures yesterday.  Katie and I bought roasted chestnuts from a street vendor. They were so good! And the warmth was comforting as we walked down the chilly calles. You peel off the shells and eat the inside, which almost has a mashed potatoes consistency.

Bag of chestnuts.. mmmmm

Thennn, we indulged in a chocolate-filled croissant at an adorable bakery/pastry shop called La Fornata right around the corner from our apartment. La Fornata is amazing though. And the owner was really nice. I'm definitely going to become a regular there.

Yummmmmmmmmy

And don't worry, I walked for three hours and then went running to help balance out the exorbitant amount of calories in this post.

Let there be light

Here a few random electrical matters in my life right now:

• My bed has a light switch right next to it, so I can turn off my lights from bed. Just like in the isolation cabin in The Parent Trap! It's awesome.
• I almost blew up my hair dryer because I forgot to put it the voltage converter yesterday. Luckily the intense stench of burning made me realize I should turn it off about 2 seconds after I turned it on.
• The lights in the stairwell have motion sensors, so they illuminate at each level as I'm walking through it. Pretty economical. 

On that last note, electricity and utilities are really expensive here, so people make an effort to conserve as much as possible. That was one of the first things my madre talked to me about when I arrived. I'm making an effort to turn the lights off as much as possible... take short showers...or just not shower at all.... because I don't want to rack up high bills and take away from my food $$! 

No comprendo

Being in a foreign country, it's inevitable there will be lots of things going on that I don't understand.  Here's a list of a few things in Spain that have me completely bemuddled:

-Why has my madre has been wearing a t-shirt that says "MURDER" across the front every single day since I got here?
-Why is the doorman in my building sometimes wearing sweats and sometimes wearing a tux?
-Why was I passed by a motorcycle on the sidewalk this morning?
-How can I buy things from the vending machine when I don't have exact change?
-How do I close the blinds in my room?
-Why am I eating fudge cookies for breakfast?
-How do I turn down the volume on my Spanish cell phone?
-Why are the bananas so green?
-Why doesn't anyone smile back at me on the streets?
-Where exactly are the running trails in Parque del Oeste?
-What was my madre's sister talking about when she told me Spain was a "democracia-Barbie"?

If anyone knows the answers to these questions, I would much appreciate it.

Frozen from my nose to my toes

We had our first excursion today.... and it was freeeeeeezing the whole time. Started by going to Aviles, which is an old Spanish town surrounded by medieval stone walls. But the walls do not block out the frigidness as much as you would expect. We went to the coldest churches I've ever been in and learned about romanesque and gothic architecture. I don't know how people attend them without getting frostbite.

To be completely honest, I did not absorb nearly as much information as I should have. I need to work on improving my Spanish attention span.

Después, we thawed in the bus and drove over to San Lorenzo de el Esocorial, where I had my first meal in a Spanish restaurant. The menu was more confusing than I would have expected. Luckily my professor explained to me what "squid in their own ink" and "blood sausage" were, so I steered away from those. I had some kind of soup with egg and bread in it (sounds weird but it was good) and fish fried in eggs. Then for dessert I got arroz con leche (rice with milk). Yummy, yummy!

A street in San Lorenzo de el Escorial

After lunch we toured El Escorial, which is a famous monastery/royal headquarters. It was there that I realized I really did need to start paying more attention to the Spanish tour guide because I was standing in a room full of caskets with rotting royalty and didn't even know it!  My favorite part was the library with painted ceilings, wooden bookshelves, and lots of golden books.

And finally -- I've been promising pictures of my apartment, so here ya go, loveys!

The entrance to my building (there's a doorman inside!)

Mi cuarto

View from my window

I'll post many more pictures to Facebook eventually. And I finally figured out how to get my camera connected to my computer, so I can upload more frequently now. 

Forget love, I'd rather fall in chocolate

Big news of today -- went to Chocolateria de San Ginés and tried churros con chocolate....

And I liked them so much that now I'm worried I am going to turn into the guy in this grafitti...

Ay, que delicioso! 

Ten things I learned on my first run overseas

1. There are more pastry shops in Madrid than cupcake shops in DC. And I intend to try every single one of them.

2. My GPS watch officially works abroad. At first I was unsure because it was taking forever to load.. and my madre's sister was standing on her porch waiting for me to take off. I didn't know how to say "Sorry,  I'm standing with my arm out. My GPS watch isn't loading the satellite" in Spanish, and I was getting embarrassed... so I just started running, but eventually it all loaded.

3. When I see other joggers, I should jog on the same path as them. Not the dinky side one that leads to the sandbox.

4. Though it may seem like no one is awake on Sundays, it's because everyone is at the park.

5. Metric systems means laps around the park are only 1 km instead of 1 mile. But they label every 100 meters, anddd the track is flat and kinda squishy, so it will be perfecto for speed training.

6. Dad, you'll be happy to hear -- The park labels all the different types of trees just like Vandyland.

7. Spanish boys still hit on you even if you are running away. At one point two boys came up and started jogging on either side of me even though they were wearing jeans and massive coats.

8. Eavesdropping is a great way to improve my Spanish.

9. The weather here is fantastico! If it stays like this I might not even have to whip out my beloved headband.

10.  Athens isn't the only place jaywalking is frowned upon.

Hola Espana :)

I successfully made it to Spain with underwear AND socks, which is a huge accomplishment for me.  I also made it back to the apartment after venturing out to go find shampoo this afternoon, so big successes all around. Only slight fail was that Katie and I could not figure out how to unlock the door... but I think we've got it down now.

The flight over went well. A few other girls on my program and I flew over together and sat in the same row, so that was fun. I only actually slept for six full Darius Rucker songs, despite my attempts to sleep for a few hours. At least I got some deep back and neck stretches in as a pretzeled my body into various positions.

I absolutely love the apartment I'm living in. Another girl from Vanderbilt (the above mentioned Katie) lives in the apartment as well, but we have separate bedrooms. I wasn't expecting to get a single, so I'm excited about that. It will be nice to have my own space. I'm trying to upload pictures of my room/afternoon excursion, but I can't figure out how to do it from my camera.  Probably because I'm too delirious from jet lag. Maybe I'll get em up tomorrow.

Our madre, Mercedes, is awesome. She is super energetic and fun. Today she asked us if we liked bread, and when we said yes, she put on her coat immediately and went out to go buy us some. Total sweetheart. She doesn't know how to speak English at all, even though she has hosted exchange students for the past six years. She's definitely going to help me improve my Spanish. And her food has been delicioso thus far. Her 2-year-old grandson is spending the night tonight. Also, her sister lives downstairs and is constantly coming up to the apartment and hanging out. The two are a very entertaining duo.  (Almost as entertaining as Stephen and I will be when we live next to each other, right broski?)

My other favorite thing about Mercedes is that she left a pitcher of water in my room, so I get nonstop, convenient refills on my agua!

Alright, time to attempt a nap, round two. I can't believe I'm actually here... it's all so exciting it overwhelms me!