Welcome to Madrid!
Oh where to begin... I don't even know.
Leaving Seville wasn't too hard for me. It was a great school (the best one yet until Madrid), but nothing special really attracted me to Seville (not like Cadiz!) Saturday I arrived to this massive size city, the capitol of Spain, Madrid... (holy BIG!)... I had to find the metro, then get off on Calle Gran Via, find the hostal that had my flat keys, then get back on the metro... and then find my flat. I took a detour for sure trying to find my way around, but I found it!! First, I was totally disgusted. I have been staying with families and I immediately wished i had stayed with one in Madrid. I had no sheets or blankets, the kitchen was gross, the bathrooms were sick... I didn't even know which room was mine (there are like 7 rooms in this flat)... but then as I was standing in the hallway wondering if I should just move into any room, a maid showed up. I love her. She cleaned the house for me and gave me clean linens for the bed and made it feel somewhat liveable. (I cleaned out the fridge though today, the smell was too bad for me to even think of putting my food in there.. ewwww rotting food!)
After I moved in, I was off to find Marcos and Paco. My two favorite set of twins in Spain (the only set of twins I know!). They had arrived here by bus from Cadiz early in the morning and had been standing in line to get into a concert since 8 am!! Ok, so yeah, we do this in America, but it was FREEZING COLD.. and the concert wasn't until like 8pm.. thats um 12 hours of Tom Freezin' weather.. COME ON! (R.I.P Tom (only Terry, Fredo and Barbie will understand this joke, ask them if you need to know).
Marcos and I ventured out into the city and explored some of the area where we were. This city is huge. I am all cathedraled and museumed out though. I just am slightly bored of them.... so after finding ways to entertain ourselves... we made our way back to the line, got me a ticket and in the doors. Two bands opened, the first I can't remember their name and the second was a band from Holland called Delain. I thought I was going to really like Delain after her first song. She reminded me of Twilight, a song that might be in the movie, but then after her 3rd song, it was like a broken record. Sonata Arctica was the main band. The lead singer is nuts, but I like him. He is just so random, and poor guy was just overcoming the swine flu. In fact, most of the band was sick and they cancelled two shows after the Madrid one. All of these bands are head banging bands but at the same time not like craziness.. (like Snapcase where they sound like weird monsters yelling into microphones and you can't understand anything and you leave the concert with that horrible rining in your ear, no they weren't like that). They were the type of hard rock though that you could still understand their lyrics, and it was nice as they incorporated "pretty" music that made it all "oohh life is good, lets get lost in thoughts now". It was really random to be there, and then to actually like it was even more cool. Here I was in Madrid, Spain, at a band I never knew existed, surrounded by people wearing mostly all black, black hair, black face make up, spikes around their necks, and I was like this glowing night light in the middle of the crowd with my ridiculously blonde hair and pale face. Funny, huh? Here are some pictures:
Sunday I met Marcos at Plaza Espana, (Paco went home in early in the morning), and we played tourist for the day. We wandered all over.... from Starbucks where we started with warm chais, to pretty gardens and museums that we just looked at the entrance and said "nah, we don't want to pay". Madrid is way expensive. This I don't like. I'm running out of money, and I honestly don't know where it's going... Oh well, such is life... that's what money is for right? To be spent! (or saved for a rainy day!) It was also raining for most of the day...here are some pictures:
Rosie you know how you make that funny face that I like, and how I make my funny face with my teeth. Terry we do it together too, where you dry your teeth and tuck your lips up... so stupid. Marcos and Paco do that to each other two, except both do what I do... isn't that funny. I was cracking up the first time I saw them do it to each other (they were like ten feet away waving with that face expression on), I totally thought of us!! Here is a picture:
Anyway...my school is so far great. I feel like I am learning the most in this school, and I've only been to class one day. I just understood my teachers better... maybe I'm finally catching on!? I don't know.... oh wait, I know, it's because I was in the south of Spain where they talk like Aliens from another planet and that is why I couldn't understand anyone!! And finally I learned how to start talking "past tense". For the love of all that is holy, it's about time!! Now when someone asks me what I did yesterday, instead of me saying "i go to market, and i buy food. i go to bar with friends and i drink a beer." I can say "I WENT to the market and BOUGHT food. I WENT to the bar and I DRANK a beer." or whatever I did that day.
At as I finish off this blog I will leave you with the top ten reasons Spain is totally different than the USA:
10. They eat nothing but toast and tea/coffee in the morning, which leaves me starving within an hour... where is my EGGS AND BACON!
9. They touch you a lot when they talk to you. (Um, stop feeling me up already!! geez!)
8. They eat dinner super super late in the evening... like 10pm or even later for some. Which means when I'm going to bed, people are clanking pots and pans next door and keeping me up. (love ear plugs)
7. When they party, they stay out til 6 am. My head hurts.
6. Everyone smokes... really?!? Really people? Cuando una fuma, fumamos todos. This means When one smokes, we all smoke. I saw this sign by the train station and thought to myself "Your anti-tobacco ads are NOT WORKING!!!" And you can smoke anywhere!!
5. Everything closes down from about 2pm to 5pm. They call this siesta. Boutiques, flower shops, shoe stores, whatever, some cafe's (most cafe's stay open), turn off their lights, lock their doors and go home to sleep. It's like nap time for adults. I like this concept. We all should take naps!
4. In the USA when you are at a cafe or restaurant, you pay either before at the counter (like a coffee shop) or the waitress will come and say "anything else? no? okay, heres the check (now get out)"...so that they can make more money on the next batch of people wanting to sit down. Here, nope, you have to ask to pay... I haven't been given the check voluntarly yet. "No rush, no rush little lady, drink and be merry!"
3. Everyone is always late by at least 5 minutes (including my teachers and class times, etc). Puncutality is just not common here. Which makes me look like such a brown nosing, suck up, as I am always ten minutes early!
2. When you buy vegatables or fruit, there is a secret to it and I don't know the secret yet. I think I'm supposed to weigh the fruit and maybe print out a price, but I have searched high and low for some kind of machine/directions, SOMETHING so that I can buy something HEALHTY, but nope, can't find it. Everytime I go the grocery store and try to buy a kiwi or an apple, they say something really fast to me, and i never catch it, and then the kind of get this scowl on their face and put the fruit aside, and won't sell it to me. :( Jerks, they probably eat McDonalds and just want to piss me off by not allowing me to have good food....which speaking of, I had McDonalds for the first time in ages, how do people eat that stuff?)
and the number 1 reason "i'm not in Kansas anymore"....
1. They speak this entirely other random super hard language called Spanish.... dangit.. no wonder I'm clueless here!! hmmm.....
I have three more days of class, then a weekend in Madrid... (i have no idea what I will do.. maybe go to another city for the night or day or?!?) and then I come home on Monday.
I will update you if anything amazingly awesome happens!!
xoxo
Cole
ps. Things I'm looking forward to when I get home.
New Moon, my bed, a dryer, my food, my house (but those carpet beetle bastards better be gone!), and being able to pick up the phone to call my family and friends!
Leaving Seville wasn't too hard for me. It was a great school (the best one yet until Madrid), but nothing special really attracted me to Seville (not like Cadiz!) Saturday I arrived to this massive size city, the capitol of Spain, Madrid... (holy BIG!)... I had to find the metro, then get off on Calle Gran Via, find the hostal that had my flat keys, then get back on the metro... and then find my flat. I took a detour for sure trying to find my way around, but I found it!! First, I was totally disgusted. I have been staying with families and I immediately wished i had stayed with one in Madrid. I had no sheets or blankets, the kitchen was gross, the bathrooms were sick... I didn't even know which room was mine (there are like 7 rooms in this flat)... but then as I was standing in the hallway wondering if I should just move into any room, a maid showed up. I love her. She cleaned the house for me and gave me clean linens for the bed and made it feel somewhat liveable. (I cleaned out the fridge though today, the smell was too bad for me to even think of putting my food in there.. ewwww rotting food!)
After I moved in, I was off to find Marcos and Paco. My two favorite set of twins in Spain (the only set of twins I know!). They had arrived here by bus from Cadiz early in the morning and had been standing in line to get into a concert since 8 am!! Ok, so yeah, we do this in America, but it was FREEZING COLD.. and the concert wasn't until like 8pm.. thats um 12 hours of Tom Freezin' weather.. COME ON! (R.I.P Tom (only Terry, Fredo and Barbie will understand this joke, ask them if you need to know).
Marcos and I ventured out into the city and explored some of the area where we were. This city is huge. I am all cathedraled and museumed out though. I just am slightly bored of them.... so after finding ways to entertain ourselves... we made our way back to the line, got me a ticket and in the doors. Two bands opened, the first I can't remember their name and the second was a band from Holland called Delain. I thought I was going to really like Delain after her first song. She reminded me of Twilight, a song that might be in the movie, but then after her 3rd song, it was like a broken record. Sonata Arctica was the main band. The lead singer is nuts, but I like him. He is just so random, and poor guy was just overcoming the swine flu. In fact, most of the band was sick and they cancelled two shows after the Madrid one. All of these bands are head banging bands but at the same time not like craziness.. (like Snapcase where they sound like weird monsters yelling into microphones and you can't understand anything and you leave the concert with that horrible rining in your ear, no they weren't like that). They were the type of hard rock though that you could still understand their lyrics, and it was nice as they incorporated "pretty" music that made it all "oohh life is good, lets get lost in thoughts now". It was really random to be there, and then to actually like it was even more cool. Here I was in Madrid, Spain, at a band I never knew existed, surrounded by people wearing mostly all black, black hair, black face make up, spikes around their necks, and I was like this glowing night light in the middle of the crowd with my ridiculously blonde hair and pale face. Funny, huh? Here are some pictures:
Leader singer in green... amazing guitar/keyboard
player to the far right, was trained professionally
in classical music, his solo was quite amazing!!
Rocking out at the concert... (That's Marcos, not to be consued with Paco!)
Sunday I met Marcos at Plaza Espana, (Paco went home in early in the morning), and we played tourist for the day. We wandered all over.... from Starbucks where we started with warm chais, to pretty gardens and museums that we just looked at the entrance and said "nah, we don't want to pay". Madrid is way expensive. This I don't like. I'm running out of money, and I honestly don't know where it's going... Oh well, such is life... that's what money is for right? To be spent! (or saved for a rainy day!) It was also raining for most of the day...here are some pictures:
Famous painter called Velázquez in Spain.
(I look like a blue berry with that hat on, don't I?)
I crack myself up! This was in the green house at the gardens...
i couldn't resist playing with it somehow.
Don Quijote .... (and me)
Rosie you know how you make that funny face that I like, and how I make my funny face with my teeth. Terry we do it together too, where you dry your teeth and tuck your lips up... so stupid. Marcos and Paco do that to each other two, except both do what I do... isn't that funny. I was cracking up the first time I saw them do it to each other (they were like ten feet away waving with that face expression on), I totally thought of us!! Here is a picture:
We look like freaks!
Anyway...my school is so far great. I feel like I am learning the most in this school, and I've only been to class one day. I just understood my teachers better... maybe I'm finally catching on!? I don't know.... oh wait, I know, it's because I was in the south of Spain where they talk like Aliens from another planet and that is why I couldn't understand anyone!! And finally I learned how to start talking "past tense". For the love of all that is holy, it's about time!! Now when someone asks me what I did yesterday, instead of me saying "i go to market, and i buy food. i go to bar with friends and i drink a beer." I can say "I WENT to the market and BOUGHT food. I WENT to the bar and I DRANK a beer." or whatever I did that day.
At as I finish off this blog I will leave you with the top ten reasons Spain is totally different than the USA:
10. They eat nothing but toast and tea/coffee in the morning, which leaves me starving within an hour... where is my EGGS AND BACON!
9. They touch you a lot when they talk to you. (Um, stop feeling me up already!! geez!)
8. They eat dinner super super late in the evening... like 10pm or even later for some. Which means when I'm going to bed, people are clanking pots and pans next door and keeping me up. (love ear plugs)
7. When they party, they stay out til 6 am. My head hurts.
6. Everyone smokes... really?!? Really people? Cuando una fuma, fumamos todos. This means When one smokes, we all smoke. I saw this sign by the train station and thought to myself "Your anti-tobacco ads are NOT WORKING!!!" And you can smoke anywhere!!
5. Everything closes down from about 2pm to 5pm. They call this siesta. Boutiques, flower shops, shoe stores, whatever, some cafe's (most cafe's stay open), turn off their lights, lock their doors and go home to sleep. It's like nap time for adults. I like this concept. We all should take naps!
4. In the USA when you are at a cafe or restaurant, you pay either before at the counter (like a coffee shop) or the waitress will come and say "anything else? no? okay, heres the check (now get out)"...so that they can make more money on the next batch of people wanting to sit down. Here, nope, you have to ask to pay... I haven't been given the check voluntarly yet. "No rush, no rush little lady, drink and be merry!"
3. Everyone is always late by at least 5 minutes (including my teachers and class times, etc). Puncutality is just not common here. Which makes me look like such a brown nosing, suck up, as I am always ten minutes early!
2. When you buy vegatables or fruit, there is a secret to it and I don't know the secret yet. I think I'm supposed to weigh the fruit and maybe print out a price, but I have searched high and low for some kind of machine/directions, SOMETHING so that I can buy something HEALHTY, but nope, can't find it. Everytime I go the grocery store and try to buy a kiwi or an apple, they say something really fast to me, and i never catch it, and then the kind of get this scowl on their face and put the fruit aside, and won't sell it to me. :( Jerks, they probably eat McDonalds and just want to piss me off by not allowing me to have good food....which speaking of, I had McDonalds for the first time in ages, how do people eat that stuff?)
and the number 1 reason "i'm not in Kansas anymore"....
1. They speak this entirely other random super hard language called Spanish.... dangit.. no wonder I'm clueless here!! hmmm.....
I have three more days of class, then a weekend in Madrid... (i have no idea what I will do.. maybe go to another city for the night or day or?!?) and then I come home on Monday.
I will update you if anything amazingly awesome happens!!
xoxo
Cole
ps. Things I'm looking forward to when I get home.
New Moon, my bed, a dryer, my food, my house (but those carpet beetle bastards better be gone!), and being able to pick up the phone to call my family and friends!
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