No A-Bar Necessary in Madrid

And that's because bartime is not at 2am... but rather the bars/clubs don't even get crowded until 2 or 3. The last two nights I went out with Javi and his friends from school and both nights we didn't get home until 6am! Going out was a blast but I was definitely struggling as the night (I guess the morning really) went on.

On Thursday we first went to a bar in the college neighborhood in Madrid, where many students from Javier's class were at. Bars in Madrid are pretty different than bars in Madison... there is no place to sit down. They also serve tapas (appetizers) along with the drinks, but we had to eat everything standing up.

This week in Madrid is a huge festival very similar to what Pridefest would be in Milwaukee. Apparently every year a city in Europe hosts the festival, and this year it was held in Madrid. It's in La Chueca (another neighborhood) and they close the streets and have bands playing. It's extremely big, and everyone goes to it... but by the time we got there everything that was going on in the streets had moved into the clubs.

Friday, after going to bed around 7am and then sleeping until 1, Javi gave me my own personal tour of the old Madrid. We went to the center of the city, and saw many historical buildings, statues, plazas, etc. Everything looks like it is straight from a postcard. For lunch we went to a tiny place to get bocadillas de calamares a.k.a. calamari sub. It was really good too, probably one of my favorite foods that I tried while I was in Spain. It's basically fried calamari on a sub sandwich.

During the tour Javi took me to the AIESEC office for the national staff in Spain. It was really cool to meet other AIESECers and talk to them for a little bit and also see where they work. While we were there, Jenna from AIESEC called Javier and also was staying in Madrid for the same weekend! Her hotel was actually very close to the AIESEC office, so we just met her there and chatted for a bit. It is really sweet being able to see everyone from Madison together but in a completely different place!

Friday night we went out for tapas and drinks with Javi's brother and friends before going to a party hosted by a girl from Javi's class. The party was really fun... I got to practice my spanish skills, trying to explain the differences between Madison house parties and Madrid house parties. After the party (at like 3am) everyone went to the discoteca Avenida 55 where they played songs that are considered typical Spanish songs/dances. It's really fun to people watch there, but once again it was sooo late to be out dancing.

Staying in Madrid for six days was great, and I hope that I can go back and visit again! Today I flew to Denmark to finally see Line!!! It was a very long day of traveling... 3 hours by plane, and then another 3 by train. I arrived into Copenhagen, but then had to figure out how to take a train to Århus. I bought my ticket just fine, and totally thought that I was doing everything right, but apparently on this train the seats are reserved. I had NO idea that my ticket even had a seat number on it, so I just sat anywhere. Then when the ticket lady came around she told me I was in the wrong train car, but she didn't speak English very well so I didn't know where I was supposed to go. At first I thought that she told me I was on the wrong train, but a nice guy sitting across from me who spoke English very well translated for me and told me where to go.

3 long hours later I finally made it!! Line and her brother's girlfriend picked me up at the train station and took me back to her house in the country. Today her family was having a huge dinner party for Line's oldest brother who graduated from law school this past year. There were about twenty people in the house to greet me and within five minutes we were already eating dinner. It is so nice to finally meet Line's family and see where she lives after three years!!! Everyone speaks English very well (a lot of the relatives happen to be English teachers... lucky for me!) so it was nice to be able to chat with everyone.

I will be in Denmark now for the next ten days and I can't wait to see/do everything. It is still unreal to finally be visiting here after talking about it for so long!

Afternoon = 7:00pm??

Daily routines in España are muy diferente than they are back home. I´ve been waking up around the usual time around 10ish (ok, maybe that is actually earlier than my usual time) and then have breakfast. Lunch isn´t until 3:00, and then dinner isn´t until really late... like 9 or 10. And then apparently the afternoon is between lunch and dinner, so when everyone is talking about afternoon (or 7:00ish) I´m totally lost.

A couple other things that are different that need some getting used to:

1. NO ONE shakes hands. I knew about the whole kiss on the cheeks business, but literally, nobody shakes hands. I´m used to the greeting now, but whenever I would put my hand out waiting for someone to shake it, it was a no go.

2. Doggy duty doesn´t exist. I didn´t ask, but by the looks of it, it is normal to not pick up after your dog. Not really a fan considering most of the sidewalks are very small to begin with.

3. When bread comes before dinner, only eat half of it. The other half is eaten at dinner when you dip it into your eggs. Last night I ate my entire piece of bread because it´s what I do back home, and then I was kind of embarrassed when Loyola´s family had to ask the waiter for another piece for the Americana. Actually though, I think the waiter was a fan because he brought the whole table these shots in a chocolate wafer thingy. And, I can never understand the menus. I recognize words here and there, but I don´t know what anything is. So I just ask whoever we are with to order for me, and last night it basically ended up being breakfast for dinner. Except eggs, potatos, and ham is normal for dinner.

4. Public transportation. Maybe I just need to get used to this because I can probably count the times I´ve taken the bus on just two hands. Today I took the bus BY MYSELF (yes, all by myself) to el Prado, the art museum. Here, the buses don´t automatically stop, you kind of have to wave them down, and then once you get on you better find your seat fast because if not, you will trip all over yourself because it is not a gentle ride.

Today is already the end of my third day in Madrid and tomorrow I leave Loyola´s to go stay with Javier until Saturday. And I´ve only taken three pictures. I am trying to blend in and not look so touristy with my Canon permanently attached to my wrist, but it´s too hard. I think I will have to sacrifice because really, who am I kidding? I can´t resist my camera in the first place and I´m pretty sure my oh-so-talented Spanglish gives it away.

Eurotrip 2007 has begun!

I arrived into Madrid yesterday at about noon, after a very long flight, in which I didn´t sleep at all. Loyola and her mom picked me up from the airport and on the way home we stopped at her school to pick up her marks (which is really just the results from a really big exam that everyone had to take). The school was really busy with students, apparently getting the exam results are a really big deal because it basically determines what college you can get into.

Loyola and her family live in an apartment, but it really is just like a house. It´s pretty big too... There are FOUR bathrooms for four people. Her brother and her each have their own bathroom, then her parents have one in their bedroom, and then there is one that no one really uses- it´s just for if there is a dinner party or something. Also, there are three living rooms. One for Loyola and her brother, one for her parents, and then the one that no one really hangs out in unless there are a bunch of guests. They also have a maid/cook named Fernanda who makes us food whenever we want it.

Today we went to el supermercado (the grocery store- which actually has more than just food... like shoes, electronics, cosmetics, etc) and I also put minutes on my vodafone. Later we will have lunch (which isn´t until 3:00) and then we will lay out by the pool. Here you can be outside at 4:00 or 5:00 and the sun is so hot... it feels like it is noon back home. Tonight we are having dinner in downtown Madrid, which is the old Madrid. Loyola´s dad just told me the name... but already I can´t remember. Everyone I am with speaks English very well, except Fernanda, much better than I can speak Spanish. I´ve been practicing a little bit.

This is my first attempt at nomadlife. I´m not sure if it´s going to work...