home

Bueno. Its my fourth day here in Spain and for the first time since January 29th, I actually feel at home. Maybe that’s because I finally have a home.

3 days ago the only home I knew was an uncomfortable bed in a hostel. In London it was an awkward top bunk in a basement with some of the most interesting people I’ve ever met. In Spain it was a pretty nice foam mattress in an odd old building with an excellent view of scaffolding across the street from the 5 star hotel I stayed in when I was last in Spain. After one night in a beautiful 5 star hotel just down the street from afore mentioned 5 star hotel, I’m now settled into a cute apartment with the best of all home-stay situation.

hostel room

hotel room

hotel room filled with eap kids- all from cal except for the one on the far left.
he calls himself the notorious k.i.p.

new apartment
I should say now that all the other EAP kids are extremely jealous of my new digs and family. I’m shocked at how lucky I was. And I’m happy to report that I do NOT have a señora. Instead, I have Erika and Rodrigo and the lovely Samita. Erika is 30 and is working on her phd in neuroscience. Rodrigo, 33, is a vet. And Samita is 3 years old, is house trained and takes walks with us off the leash. The apartment, on the 7th floor of a beautiful old building, is furnished by my favorite designer- IKEA. I have free rein of the kitchen and can come and go as much as I please. The only one that will stir when I come home is Samita. She greets me at the door with little yelps and heaps of kisses. I exchange text messages with Erika on my mobile to let her know if I’ll be home for lunch or dinner where I enjoy the company of Erika and Rodrigo and sometimes their friends.

don't those tables look familiar?

Samita

Anyway- here’s a quick rundown of my time in Madrid. Yesterday I moved into my home and then went for a walk around my neighborhood. I found a gym about a block away from here that I’m going to join so I can do yoga and play on the treadmill. Then I met up with Adriana (one of the two girls from cal that I’ve clicked with) and the other international student living with her host family at Principio Pio, a shopping mall. I left them to go home for dinner at 9 and then wandered over to Puerta del Sol for a dinner of my own. A bowl of sopa de pescado later I met them for a look into the non-club scene of Madrid. We found a bar called Far West that served really strong drinks and Adriana was given a loli from some weird old guy who was trying to hit on her. The dj at the bar was trying to talk to us and thought I was from Spain (!!!!!). But his judgment wasn’t the best- he was a horrible dj and so we went next door to the pirate themed bar. There Adriana and I got some guys to buy us drinks (my goal for the night). We did this buy using our combined exotic charm- she made sure they knew she was from México. The responded to this by insisting that we take tequila shots. Now, Michelle (the Australian at the walkabout bar) warned me about spainsh guys. They truly are sleezy. One wanted to lick salt off of Adriana’s neck after taking a lemon slice from her mouth. Too bad they were out of salt. After another one fo the guys grabbed my arm and stared salsa dancing with me I was ready to call it a night and we caught a cab home.

Today we took a walking tour of Madrid starting at el Puerto del Sol. It was boring and Adriana, Amelia (the other cal girl with whom I hang out) and I talked to eachother the entire time. Then we had café con leche and split up to have lunch with our respective hosts. My lunch was great. Rodrigo made a trendy dish out here right now called “wok.” It’s a really rich stirfry made in a wok served over rice. Erika and Rodrigo’s friend came over for lunch as well and brought some delicious pastries for tea. That’s right, we take tea over here after lunch. Erika is something of a tea connoisseur. Que bueno.

Later I met the girls to wander the empty streets of Madrid on a Sunday siesta. Adriana was super tired so Amelia went for tapas and cervesas y mas cervesas en un pub de irlandia. Leaving me here now with hair that smells like cigarettes and my smoking jacket (Amelia suggested I designate one of my coats as such even though I don’t smoke) hanging on my door.

Tomorrow I commute out to Getafe for orientation and a Spanish test. AND I think that just about covers it. Hasta luego.