dias tres/cuatro

Hola que tal??

Yesterday Chelsea and I had grand plans for waking up early to shop in Gran Via but ended up being lazy (my internal clock is still kind of off from travel) and meeting up around 1pm. We then did what we usually do when trying to eat somewhere: make a few mistakes, find somewhere, almost eat there, go somewhere else... jajajaja everything here is such a game when (in my case) you usually have no idea what is going on. We ended up deciding to head back to Chelsea's host house so i could grab something quick before our trek to the other side of the city to meet up with some Tufts kids for lunch.

Her host family's apartment is so awesome! It is about a five minute walk from my hostel, and a stone's throw away from the Reina Sofia Museum. There's a glassed-in terrace that looks out on a square in the residential neighborhood, all of the walls are covered in her host mom's artwork, and it's just generally very clean and home-y. We only stayed for a few seconds though because we weren't sure if she was allowed to have guests (I did have enough time to grab a really weird banana though.. Madrid bananas have an unfamiliar texture).

We took the metro across the city and met up with some students from Tufts and one from Skidmore and had lunch in a tiny place near the metro stop. Most places have a fixed price lunch for about 8-12E, which includes a first and second course and a drink, and sometimes a dessert or coffee. As per usual, I had no idea what the choices were, but at some point was asked "lentils or asparagus?" and said asparagus in a knee-jerk reaction that sounded more confident than I was... I think that was me trying to compensate in confidence instead of the usual uncertainty jajaja. Well, turns out the dish was pickled asparagus with a huge pile of mayo next to it. It had been drained of all color and was the least appetizing thing I could imagine. I took a few bites and gave up... I felt bad but asked for the delicious smelling lentil soup that my counterparts had. The smell of the lentils and chorizo in the soup bowls surrounding me next to my colorless veggies was hilarious (but kind of sad). Switching was awkward but mmmmhm, so worth it.We all had a good laugh about the asparagus except for my friend in our group who was actually enjoying it... whoops.

After the meal, we got on the metro and split ways because Chelsea and the other students had a meeting and class from 4-7ish. I got off of the metro solo and made my way to Gran Via, the shopping district where we had planned to go that morning. I got off feeling all confident and promptly walked past the exit to the station... twice. Time to get a little more humble about this 'independence' thing, self. I took a look at the purses in the station but everything was expensive and not quite ...right. I spent the next three hours taking pictures, using my first atm en espagnol (hope it worked the way it should have), warming up from the wind/studying Hindi in a Starbucks, and seeing all that the Spanish chain stores had to offer. I tried 'Mango,' 'Blanco,' 'lefties,' and a few other places like 'El cortes ingles' (their target equivalent, basically - it was definitely a different experience though). Everything I found purse-wise was covered in crazy bling... I then started to pay more attention to the bags people carried and realized that's just what's popular here. Tassels, studs, rhinestones.. very little 'classic' leather bags. Sigh.

I ended up finding something cool in Blanco, where they were having a 70% off sale.My 12.99E bag was a little less than 4E after two discounts applied. Yahoo! Nothing fancy, but will hold the essentials in Madrid and Delhi. Still need something big enough for the netbook though. To be continued.

Before I took the metro home, I snapped a picture of the theater where "Los Miserables" is playing. Les Mes is one of my favorite shows, and I know the music by heart, so I think Chelsea and I are going to go see it in Spanish on my last night! Obviously the Spanish will be over my head, but since the whole plot is set to music, I'll still know what's going on.

The metro by myself was fine, but I almost missed the stop. Here you have to open the door to the train yourself in order to get on/off, and when mine didn't open but the one at the other end of the train did, I forgot I could have pushed it open and made a beeline for the open door, hurrying and saying"excusemeexcuseme!" as much as I could (add that to the list of Spanish phrases that I've had to pick Chelsea's brain about since I'm tired of embarrassing myself). While I have never had anyone get outwardly frustrated with me for not speaking the language, several times people have come up to me to say something in stores, in museums, etc, and when I say "lo siento, ingles" and point to my ear, I feel like I'm saying "I'm deaf, and probably stupid." Without much money on me, no cell phone, and not being able to speak the language, I definitely am vulnerable when I travel around solo and I have promised myself that Spanish has to become something I learn in the next year or so, not something I should and want to learn "sometime" in the future. The time is now (well, Hindi time is now. Spanish is soon though!!).

I should also mention that I had NO idea what time it was. I had this very dumb thought "wow how will i tell time when i don't have my cell phone on me?!" (That would be a watch, Laura. A watch. You own one?). It could have been 830 for all i knew, so I was happy when it was 7, and logged on to digitally meet up with Chelsea after her class. Meanwhile outside the sounds of a protest in the streets...

We relaxed for a while and met up at 10ish to go to a REAL tapas bar (it was overdue). Elena, the lady at the desk at Hostal Barrera, gave me advice for two really close and delicious places to the hostel. "But it is for local people!! I don't know if you want something more modern!!" That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Apparently there are hundreds of bars in Madrid that attempt a modern take on tapas, but the best and most delicious ones are the oldest (the one that we ended up going to was from the 1870s). She also told me something strange: "When you see peppers on the floor, you know you are in for some good tapas. It is not because it is dirty, it is just how we eat - we throw the peppers on the floor." Peppers? Why would peppers be on the floor? I told her I was used to bars with peanuts on the floor, but not peppers. There was an awkward moment where neither of us really knew what we were talking about anymore. This happens a lot for me in Spain...

We left the hostel and found the restaurant within minutes (super close) and the peppers mystery was promptly cleared up - used paper napkins littered the floor from the tapas and bar foods. We ordered wine and a plate of tapas came with the food - success! A plate of croquetas (fried cheese.. I've eaten SO. MUCH. CHEESE.), a tortillita made with potatoes, cheese, onions, and red pepper, and slices of bread and meat (four drinks and two plates of food for only 8E total!) were our late dinner. We also scoped out the spread that three Spanish men had next to us. When I asked Chelsea what it was that the men had, she was SO impressive and didn't skip a beat before turning to them and just asking. They insisted we try the patatas bravas - a Madrid specialty of "homefries" (but more delicious somehow) smothered in a pepper-cheese sauce (that's actual peppers this time, not papers).

We left in search of another bar that had been recommended to us and ended up in a dance club that was almost completely empty (midnight is still too early for the Spanish to party on a Thursday). We met up with a girl from Chelsea's program, Dana, and after free shots in yet another empty club that was just trying to get people in the door, we finally found one that was super touristy but delicious on el Calle de las Huertas.

Inside we ordered a pitcher of sangria that came with slices of chorizo and jamon and the best potato chips on the planet. We ended up talking to a guy studying abroad from Penn State, of all places. We stayed there for a while, went dancing afterwards, and came back to the hostel and hung out. It was a great night out but ended early by Madrid standards (still, that was 3:30am - people usually stay out long enough to catch the first metro trains in the morning around 6 or 630).

The next morning, I was supposed to meet Chelsea at 9:45am with the rest of the Tufts/Skidmore in Madrid kids for two museum tours. Unfortunately, I somehow managed to turn off my alarm and I woke up around 10. I sent her a text via skype (who knew?) and left my hotel hoping that if I went to the second of the two museums after breakfast, I'd eventually run into her.

I headed to McDonalds and grabbed an espresso (scalding hot) and a yogurt (iced over). McDonalds here is GORGEOUS, and excellent for breakfast as the coffee/croissant combo is only 2E and there aren't really any breakfast places around. It is also ideal because you can point and use numbers and I feel at least slightly more competent ordering there than in other places. I headed to the Reina Sofia afterwards, in search of Picasso and Chelsea.

I realized when I got there I had forgotten my Tufts ID, and it was worth the 6E to go back and get it (free for students!). 15 minutes later I was back and got an audioguide. After listening to a British voice tell me about cubism for about 5 minutes, I was bored to death and ditched the guide for my iPod instead and replaced him with some Bon Iver (good museum thinking music). I checked out Dali, Picasso (standing in front of Guernica was pretty incredible - I feel like I learned about that painting in every art class since I was 7), and a really neat painting I had never heard of before by Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa called Retrato de Sonia de Klamery. I'm not sure why, but this chick reminded me of my mom, and something she would like. The face was incredible, and her gaze followed the viewer around the room. I bought a postcard of her and of Guernica.

I eventually ran into a bunch of the Tufts kids from the Alcala program who were kind of shocked to randomly spot me in Madrid. I knew I had to be close to finding Chelsea, too (again, so odd without cell phones). I checked out the modern exhibits (Renia Sofia is a lot like MoMA in New York) but passed through them fast since they were pretty weird, and sat in the courtyard for a while and took pictures.

Miraculously, I ran into Chelsea by the entrance and we left with a group of girls from the Tufts program for lunch. We ate in an Italian restaurant and continued my record of nothing but cheese, bread, meat, and alcohol to eat for days on end (well I guess now pasta, too). I really miss green stuff. Gotta get a salad in before Delhi (no salads allowed - can't trust the water).

We rested for a few hours and took siestas, and then hung out for a while before getting dinner and calling it in early. Dinner was awesome. We ate at a place called Macieras, and ordered chorizo, croquetas, bread, and local beers (read: meatcheesebreadalcohol). It was CRAZY loud, and at one point the whole restaurant went dark and a woman lit a bowl of alcohol on fire and kept sloshing it around in the air. Bagpipes played loudly as a soundtrack, and a recording narrated. We have no idea what it was saying. They poured a bunch of people flaming shots afterwards but we were so confused by the protocol that we let that particular experience go.

Chelsea has a bus tour with her group tomorrow that lasts until 5ish so I have all day to explore! My plans for now are to hit up the Prado since I missed it today and check out the Retiro Park. Also on my list are checking out a Flamenco show, the Botin restaurant (oldest in the world!), the Madrid Cathedral, and the famous flea market on Sunday (still on the purse hunt). And, as I mentioned, maybe Los Miserables.


love and chorizo,
Laura