La lista

I've been composing a list of all of the bad things about Spain, and I'm finally going to type it up and expand on each item for your reading pleasure.

1. Weird smells

I'm sure you can say that all big cities have their share of weird smells... but let me elaborate. It's not just the giant garbage piles on the street, or the people who decide to light a cigarette in front of you while going up the stairs out of the metro. It is everything. You walk past someone here and their smell is left lingering for various seconds. It might not necessarily be a foul smell (although some definitely are), but the smell of too much cologne or perfume. Why must people douse themselves in these weird smelling liquids before going out and walking by me? I can deal with the cigarette smoke, at least I can see that coming... but the sneaky gross perfume smell? Really? Ugh...

2. Aggressive P.D.A.

Okay, I get it. You are 30-some years old and live with your parents. That's not because you're a bum, but rather because you are Spanish. I also understand that you probably don't want to take your significant other home with you because your parents would start thinking you should move out of the house and marry this significant other. So what are you to do? You can't take your S.O. home to snuggle and make out and whatever else you would normally do if you were a normal adult and not living at home... Does this make the metro, the park, or the street corner fair ground for your aggressive public displays of affection? The answer is no! No one wants to see you getting it on with your significant other, who, by the way, probably smells like gross cheap perfume.

3. Dog shit

Do the madrileños enjoy stepping in dog poo whenever they leave their apartment? I seriously can't imagine they do... but then again, I can't think of any other reason for why they would so adamantly neglect to pick up after their filthy pets. Perhaps it is like this everywhere else in the world except in the States. Can anyone confirm?

4. Sundays

I happen to enjoy leaving my house at least once per day and find it extremely depressing and unenjoyable to sit inside all day, especially when inside is a tiny crappy little apartment. My issue with Sundays is that nothing is open. You can't run errands, you can barely obtain food on Sundays. I must admit, Madrid is a lot better about this than the rest of Spain. There is actually an entire mall that is open on Sundays! Ikea is even open one Sunday a month. How the Swedes talked their Spanish employees into working those absurd hours, I don't know.

5. The children

I thought Mr. Storla's class was loud that one day that I was volunteering at Whittier. That would be considered almost silent in Spanish elementary schools. My voice doesn't get as loud as the normal volume of these kids' voices. It is difficult to get my point across, firstly because I'm not allowed to speak to them in Spanish, and secondly because while I am speaking English at a normal volume there are usually about 25 small Spanish children speaking Spanish at the top of their lungs, prohibiting any of the children to hear what I'm saying. I end up repeating myself about a thousand times a day, and for anyone who knows me even a tiny little bit, you know how much I like repeating myself. Oh yeah, and I'm not supposed to speak to the teachers in Spanish either even though most don't know that much English. The ones who have a decent level of English insist on speaking in English with me, which is fair. However, when I reply in English and they look at me blankly, obviously not understanding, all I can do is repeat myself in various ways until they get it. Or what I normally do: explain it in Spanish. It's such a roundabout way to do things, and especially infuriating when limited in time.

The list goes on but these are the big things. I've started a list of the good things about Spain, too. So far there are only two things on it: seeing fields of solar panels next to hundreds of wind turbines, and the tuna.

Y ahora: madrileña

And on the fifth day... I found an apartment!

I've been in Madrid for five days now, it's been really tough. I waited to blog about my time here until now because, although I had so much to say and write about, it would have all come off as extremely negative and pessamistic. I'm not saying I'm feeling totally positive and optomistic right now, although things are looking up. I am still not 100% happy, but when have I ever been? Not often...

The first few days were complete misery. Leaving home was really difficult this time. I feel like it was more difficult than when I left before. Perhaps I feel ready to plant some roots and stick around one place for a while. Or perhaps I am just jaded from having traveled lots already. I usually just blame it on Spain for sucking so much. I even started a list of all of the shitty things about this country. I will share that later, and it will continue to grow. I could probably add to it with each post I make, that might be funny.

Today I feel as if everything is more or less falling into place. I don't love it here, but it's not like I am going to die of hatred for this place. At least not any more than I already have... hah.

The place I am moving into tonight is in Puerta del Ángel, so not the center. I think it is a fine location because it is quiet, but not too far from the bus station where I go for work and also not too far from the center. Kind of like how in Cádiz I lived a bus ride away from most things (school, going out) and in Everett I lived far away from everything (UW, work in Kirkland, ultimate) but I deal with it pretty okay. Commuting has become part of my life and I don't adore it but it also doesn't make me go crazy like I imagine it would make some people. I had thought about possibly living near the school where I teach, but people talked me out of it. I don't think I'd hate living there, but I don't think it is the right option for me at the moment. I hope I made a good decision about my flat.

The roommates are one Spanish guy and one Italian guy. The Italian guy has a little dog that seems nice. When I got there to see the place the Italian guy was smoking hash. So that is interesting. The flat is sunny and has an oven and a washing machine. I don't think I saw a dish washer but a lot of places don't have dish washers. A lot of places also don't have ovens, which is a load of crap. So I'm glad to have an oven because I like to bake.

I want to get a bicycle because I think that would be convenient, especially since I live a few kilometers from the center and one of my friends is like 4km away, the other is nearer, only 2km away. Ultimate practices happen a few km away, but seriously everything is pretty close together.

I'll update about my life again soon, and maybe include my list of hates as well as some photos of my new flat.

La aventura continua

I am graduating from the University of Washington in a few short weeks. I have about a million things to do before it ends. I will write three (long) papers, take a few more exams, and probably be completely stressed out for the next fifteen days. But then, on June 10, I will fly to sunny Portugal! I will stay in Lisbon for a few weeks, play at the Bar do Peixe ultimate frisbee tournament with great friends from around the world, and then just hang out for a few more days. After that, I will return to Seattle and start my search for a job. Potlatch will also happen and probably be fabulous. Toolbox is fielding a team, although I am unsure if I want to play with them or if I should rejoin my team from two years ago, the UVM alumni team. I am sure to have a blast with them if I defect from Toolbox... but I am a founding member of Toolbox and this is the first year that we are putting together a team for Potlatch. I'm not sure what I should do!

I accepted a position to go to Spain in October to teach English to kinds until May. I don't really want to go (I know, I sound like a spoiled brat) because I have already been there and it is a great place, just not my favorite place to live. I do have many friends there who I miss and would like to see again. And living in Europe is awesome. I would rather go to Russia... I want to learn a new language and experience new things, not go back to something I am already familiar with and do what I did last year all over again. Tough decisions. If nothing else comes up, I will be going to Spain. It is like a backup plan. If I find a job in Seattle or if I find something else that makes me want to stay, then I will stay. But if I don't, then I will be leaving one way or another. Spain, Russia, who knows.

First things first, though. Portugal in June, Potlatch in July, and Disneyland (yay!) in July. Sonia is supposed to come to Seattle in September, too! So I will get to hang out with her and go hiking and do lovely things like that.

El español

It is now week five of winter quarter 2010. Half way done... I am already starting to overuse the snooze button on the alarm. Usually that starts around week seven. Uff. I am very much looking forward to this quarter being over. Not because i dislike my classes so much, but because on the Wednesday of finals week I am going on a trip.

On March 18 I will fly to New York. I have never been there before and I am so so excited to see the city.

I am sooo excited!

Solo quedan 45 días...

La postergación

In an attempt to procrastinate as much as possible I have decided to write in this lonely blog. Instead of reading for my linguistics classes, or getting ahead on my Russian homework, or exercising... I will write about all of the neat things I have been doing! At least that I did today.

This morning I got up really early for no apparent reason. I caught an early bus to UW and drank green tea. Then I went to class; Russian and then Syntax. After class I ran around the library like a crazy woman finding books for my Phonetics lab project thing. After I exhausted the resources in the library I went to meet my friend Jeanene in the HUB.

We left UW and drove to Fremont. She had heard of this sandwich place so we wanted to give it a try. It was awesome. I had a yummy salmon sandwich. I think I have to go back again soon because they have a grilled cheese and APPLE sandwich! How amazing does that sound? I personally love apple and cheese together. I am really excited to try it again sometime. The sandwich place is called Homegrown: http://www.eathomegrown.com/

After lunch we went to Jeanene's apartment to retrieve something she got for me in Turkey. It is this adorable little bowl that I will put jewelry in. It is blue with little painted things, I like it a lot. I got her something from Mexico, a little magnet with the Mexican Catholic type art. After the gift exchange I had the totally brilliant idea of going to the Theo Chocolate factory which is like two blocks away from where she lives in Fremont. I ate probably too much chocolate and bought two bars to take home. I will probably bring it to Everett to share with my mom and sister.

After the chocolate factory Jeanene dropped me off at home and I have been sitting here ever since, homeworking and not. I have spent much more time doing nothing than doing homework. Soon I will go to bed, until then maybe I can force myself to read some of these books that are staring at me... they have been staring at me for a week and a half...

Ostrava

I left Prague to spend the weekend in Ostrava with my friend Aleš. So far it has been quite fun. We went to some pub on the university campus and I have met some of his friends and they are fun and nice. Tonight we will go out again and then tomorrow I think we will try playing golf! One of his friends is like a judge for golf or something like that, and so we get to go golf for free I guess :)

I am getting super excited to go to Lisboa and play some ultimate, hang out with my friends, and have lots and lots of caipirinhas. Bar do Peixe will be like my last big party in Europe, then off to Munich with Mom and Megan to sightsee and then...HOME! Hehehe... the next few weeks will be glorious.

Praha

Where to start...

I left Cádiz one week ago. The last days in Spain were lots of fun but also kind of stressful. I had three exams on the day before my flight out of Cádiz so I didn't get a whole lot of time for goodbye parties or fun freetime. So I left Cádiz with a tearful goodbye to my host family and flew to Berlin. Once in Berlin my friend Sonia came and met me at the airport, we went to her friend Ben's house and drank Caipirinhas and hung out a bit. The following morning Sonia and I did a shopping tour of Berlin and went to a few fun cafes. The next day we biked all over Berlin and in the evening we tossed a frisbee with Ben and another girl, we also played some double disc and that was fun. Saturday morning the ultimate tournament started and I met my team. It was a three day tournament, I played with a women's team and we did not do very well. I still had a lot of fun though. I got to see some of my favorite people who I met at Paganello and I also met new friends. It was really sad saying goodbye to everyone, I don't know if I will get to see them again :( I really hope I do because they are great people and so fun.

After the tournament I went back to where I was staying and relaxed a bit, got my things together and organized my luggage. The next morning I got up and went to the train station and took a train to Prague, that is where I am now! :) My friend Lukas, who I met in Cádiz, came and picked me up at the train station in Prague and took me to his apartment. Then we had dinner and watched How I Met Your Mother for a few hours. This morning he went to work and I got up later and did laundry, cleaned a bit, showered, and then went to the grocery store. I will be here for like two weeks so I am not in a gigantic hurry to be a tourist. I will see some stuff tomorrow I think. On the weekend Lukas and I will go to the town where his mom lives and the village where his dad lives. Then the next weekend we will go to the eastern part of the Czech Republic to visit Alex, the other friend from Cádiz.

After Prague I will fly to Lisbon for Bar do Peixe (another tournament!) and I will get to see more people that I will be sad to say goodbye to. I must stay positive! Seattle in 23 days weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I am excited to go back home but very sad to leave Europe... it is quite bittersweet.