Semana Dos

...But it feels like I've been here for two months!! Although everything seemed slightly easier this week, it became a little more difficult at the same time. As I became accustomed to the time, shifted my sleeping patterns, tried more and more Spanish cuisine, and spoke Spanish more frequently, my confidence level rose greatly. [At a bar one night a couple Spaniards complimented mine and Carly's Spanish speaking abilities and noted frankly that I spoke like a Mexican....pues, soy MEXICANA!!!!]...But this week as problems arose and situations became more complex, it seemed difficult at times to get my exact point across when I really needed to. It took me a really long time to figure out where I could send my phone in a safe package back home to get fixed...finally today I was successful and I will go there tomorrow! This is just one example of things that at home I could do in less than 20 minutes, ( a luxury which I have taken for granted) and here its a large process...but in time I will know get to know this city and language! Also this week we had some drama with our water pipes. Unexpectedly three Spanish girls from directly below us came upstairs and complained that water was dripping from our bathroom into theirs (very politely of course). We had to contact the President of our apartment and our landlord to see what we should do, and this took all week to solve. Although we have running water now, our Spanish interactions were frustrating as we did not know many vocabulary words for this type of situation: pipe (caño), drip (goteo), etc. My Spanish is improving still, classes help a lot, especially because I'm learning many colloquial phrases that are used here in Spain! I am having a hard time picking up the pronunciation of the Spanish vosotros verb form...[for example if you want to say how are you to a group of people about your age I've always learned to say: ¿Cómo están ustedes?, but here that is considered too formal so they use vosotros which is: ¿Cómo estáis vosotros?] Raro no? I try to use it but when in doubt I use usted and they understand me just the same :).

Side Bar: It is absolutely freezing here...its probably about 35 degrees F (about 2 degrees C) and its been rainy and a little icy :( Unfortunately I couldn't avoid the Boston/ East Coast weather, and when Carly told me it was cold, I have to admit I didn't really believe her. All you people who miss me, might be comforted by the fact that Spain may not be able to keep me forever because this cold is very hard to bare, even though I love this city so very much. The summer months may be enough...pero no se, nos veremos (we'll see)!!!


Ok, so this week I had my first Spanish gym experience. Unlike crazy America where working out for the majority of people is as common as paying your taxes, here in Spain it seems slightly different...and its curious because the people here are so damn small and we currently are dealing with an obesity epidemic...The gyms in America would seem like amusement parks to the people who are members of the facilities here...they're so small!! Carly and I decided to work up a sweat in a guided dance class called Ritmos Latinos (basically workout class implementing Latin ryhthms and movements as excercise!!) It was really fun, although the Spanish ladies in there do have an upper hand on being able to move their bodies with rhythm and spice,being native to this sort of thing...I'm alright, but I have to cultivate and nurture my Latin-ness a little more...well, I suppose I'll just have to go to more bars and clubs :)

Speaking of clubs, a couple of our new Spanish friends who we met at our favorite bar,Chapandaz, took us to this salsa, bachata, merengue club where they only played Latin tunes and upon arrival we were exposed to a sea of beautiful Latin bodies moving in perfect time to the beat---SUAVEMENTE---I noticed another curious thing this week... that unlike one would think, the majority of Spanish clubs, bars, restaurants, and even stores, do not play a majority of Spanish music. I feel like the majority of the music I've heard has been in English...American tunes---and trust me, I'm not going to tourist bars and clubs here. For example at that bar Chapandaz the other night I heard Britney Spears "Hit Me Baby One More Time", Backstreet Boys "Everybody", and Weather Girls "It's Raining Men" in a row. Ok, so when I return to the states I won't necessarily be up to date with the latest hits, but I won't be completly tuned out to worldwide classics!

Friday this week, Carly and I took a trip to Toledo, a quaint town 30 min south of Madrid by train. We had a slow start to the morning so arrived in the afternoon and our train left that night at around 930p. We walked around the streets, a lot of which were slopes/inclines (cuestas), looked in the shops, bought some mazapan (marzipan), for which Toledo is famous, and walked through the Cathedral. This Cathedral is huge, and so completly detailed and beautiful...it is a famous gothic structure, similar to all the architecture of Toledo. We unexpectedly were in the Cathedral as it was closing, and happened upon a mass being held in one of the small rooms of the Cathedral. It was really special experiencing my first mass in Spain in one of the great Cathedrals! We walked around and saw the Christmas sights and activity in the town, and headed back home to Madrid :)

Saturday Kara and Kristen and I went to the Reina Sofia which is one of the main museums here in Madrid, that has mostly modern art--and of course a lot of Picasso and Dali, both who I love!!! It was a perfect day to take a gander at some art, not only because on Saturdays the mueseum entry is free, but because it was torrential downpouring all day!

On our way back to our piso, we stumbled upon a little Christmas celebration near El Palacio Real (very close to our apartment) where a bunch of people were ziplining up head and dropping feathers down on the crowd below to imitate falling snow. There was loud Christmas music, and even a young girl read something she probably wrote for school about what Christmas means to her. It's really awesome how special and universal La Navidad is for everyone here. Everyone's in the spirit :) yay!

Feliz Navidad, feliz Navidad, feliz Navidad, prospero año y felicidad!!!!

Besos, abrazos!!!!
T, la pequeña.