Well today was a day of many farewells and an emotional day for some, especially my mom. She is/more emotional than anyone else today which was quite funny. After our short jont in El Rastro this morning we headed out to the Vegas house, my other family.
My family(immediate) and I took the bus there because I had some left over bus passes. Now normally on my trip to Santo Domingo I almost always fall asleep, this time not the case, however some on my family members were nodding off or sleeping.
We arrived to the Vegas and greeted the dogs first. I didnt hear anyone outside, when I entered the house still didnt hear anything. I said hello and Miguel answered, my entire family was greeted with hugs from him.
He then went to find the rest of his family to tell them of my arrival. It was great to get a hug and to see all of them again. It has only been a week and it feels like something much longer.
After all the introductions were out of the way I went right to work. I was in charge of making the paella for this meal. I got to work preparing some things with Miguel while everyone else chatted. Oscar came in and started helping me along, his commment was "If this process goes any slower we wont eat until tomorrow." Im guessing that he was hungry but this was actually great. He ended up helping me out with the paella quite a bit.
The cooking actually went quite well, I received some great tips from Oscar(who makes some of the best paella) and well I cooked. Throughout the process the kids were popping in and out; checking on my progress and tasting the food, making sure that it was up to par with their fathers.
Dinner started with some of Oscar's home made gazpacho, which was excellent. Then we had a nice lunch. Although Oscar helped me a bunch, it didnt turn out as good as his, it was still great, just not the same as his.
We talked about various thing over the meal, from politics, to Oscars work, economy, mischief that finds me, activities with the kids, etc. We finished and moved onto dessert. As soon as that was all finished the playing began. A squirt gun found its way out, we played basketball, soccer, had piggy back races, and other activities.
Eventually we had to start winding down which was very sad. I gave the family/kids their last presents, mostly candy and some corpus cristi cookies. The kids then had to go, tenis and swimming after. So I said my last goodbye's to them and Irene. Oscar was very kind and gave us a ride to Madrid.
He was heading to the airport because he had to leave for Paris around seven. As I took my last looks around, gathered my things,(almost left without my main backpack) we headed towards Madrid. It's hard to believe that I have spent three months with this family. I was very lucky in coming across them. They are great and this was such a great experience.
It was a bit sad leaving the neighborhood, knowing that this is the last time that I will see most of it again. Oscar dropped us off at the metro and we said our last goodbye's. Like I mentioned before was my mom gets to emotional and almost started crying. Some brighter news is that Oscar would love to come visit in Montana, so we will be in touch and hopefully one day soon I will see them again
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Well this trip is coming together great. My family has came to visit, I havnt seen them in almost 4 months. I got one of the best hugs from my brother when he came running out of the airport terminal on Saturday.
However I was thinking about leaving the exit, they took about an hour to get their luggage and find their way out. After about a half hour I was thinking: "Man, did they exit from another terminal and are wondering around lost in the airport?" Luckily I stuck it out for a bit longer and they made it out.
We have been quite busy walking around the city and trying to fit in as much as we can. We have already hit some of my favorite things: ice cream, churros, pastry's, Plaza Mayor and part of the Retiro.
I feel a bit bad because it seems as though some of my bad luck has been rubbing off on my family since they got here. First, we can never get a waiter/server to take our order, after about twenty minutes or so I have to ask(which I hate but they always stand their and wait for new customers. I guess I will just have to start yelling obscene things.). When I tried to take my brother to the zoo, it was closed for cleaning the park/pens.
But the most frustrating thing is that we were trying to buy tickets for Sevilla. When we tried to buy them online it failed, when we tried to buy them at the station, after waiting for about forty minutes for our turn, it failed. So we spent about an hour(most of it spent on hold) with the credit card company trying to figure this out. We were told to wait an hour and everything should be fixed. Before you know it an hour rolls by and we are anxious to purchase the tickets(we dont have hostel reservations in Madrid, only in Sevilla). Well sure enough it doesnt work.
After another strenuous process on the phone we concluded that the internet just wants to play games with us. So my dad and I return to the station, pick are number and wait. Finally when all is said and done we now have tickets!
This is kinda going backwards a day but o well. On Monday, I left my family to fend for themselves in Madrid. I had one day left with the kids. I didn't have to pick Sofia up because she was at her end of the year field trip to Valencia.
As soon as Gonzalo went off to tennis lessons, Miguel and I started some summer redecorating. We cleaned my old room and moved in the pool table, new computer desk and tried to fit the foosball table in their but their just wasn't enough room.
We just hung out and had a good time for the remainder of the evening. Miguel gifted me some of his shirts, one of them being my favorite shirt. Filled it with sports and FIFA.
Dear Landlord was playing in Madrid that same night, but I chose to stay with the kids and have one last dinner with them. After dinner I said my good byes and expressed my gratitude and returned to my other family.
=================================================================================
Well we are here in Sevilla right now in the south of Spain with my family. We took a the AVE Highspeed train down here; it was sweet, this was the first time that they had been on a train.
Being only my second time traveling by train, I still haven't found any flaws in taking a train, its just a great/relaxing time
However I was thinking about leaving the exit, they took about an hour to get their luggage and find their way out. After about a half hour I was thinking: "Man, did they exit from another terminal and are wondering around lost in the airport?" Luckily I stuck it out for a bit longer and they made it out.
We have been quite busy walking around the city and trying to fit in as much as we can. We have already hit some of my favorite things: ice cream, churros, pastry's, Plaza Mayor and part of the Retiro.
I feel a bit bad because it seems as though some of my bad luck has been rubbing off on my family since they got here. First, we can never get a waiter/server to take our order, after about twenty minutes or so I have to ask(which I hate but they always stand their and wait for new customers. I guess I will just have to start yelling obscene things.). When I tried to take my brother to the zoo, it was closed for cleaning the park/pens.
But the most frustrating thing is that we were trying to buy tickets for Sevilla. When we tried to buy them online it failed, when we tried to buy them at the station, after waiting for about forty minutes for our turn, it failed. So we spent about an hour(most of it spent on hold) with the credit card company trying to figure this out. We were told to wait an hour and everything should be fixed. Before you know it an hour rolls by and we are anxious to purchase the tickets(we dont have hostel reservations in Madrid, only in Sevilla). Well sure enough it doesnt work.
After another strenuous process on the phone we concluded that the internet just wants to play games with us. So my dad and I return to the station, pick are number and wait. Finally when all is said and done we now have tickets!
This is kinda going backwards a day but o well. On Monday, I left my family to fend for themselves in Madrid. I had one day left with the kids. I didn't have to pick Sofia up because she was at her end of the year field trip to Valencia.
As soon as Gonzalo went off to tennis lessons, Miguel and I started some summer redecorating. We cleaned my old room and moved in the pool table, new computer desk and tried to fit the foosball table in their but their just wasn't enough room.
We just hung out and had a good time for the remainder of the evening. Miguel gifted me some of his shirts, one of them being my favorite shirt. Filled it with sports and FIFA.
Dear Landlord was playing in Madrid that same night, but I chose to stay with the kids and have one last dinner with them. After dinner I said my good byes and expressed my gratitude and returned to my other family.
=================================================================================
Well we are here in Sevilla right now in the south of Spain with my family. We took a the AVE Highspeed train down here; it was sweet, this was the first time that they had been on a train.
Being only my second time traveling by train, I still haven't found any flaws in taking a train, its just a great/relaxing time
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
So many things to do, but so few days. I guess when it comes down to it thats every day life. Just have to make the most of what you have/had and hope for life in the future.
Things have been great, we have basically thrown all teaching out the window, moved to ping pong, futbol, obstacle courses, and cooking. But i guess that meets the criteria of my job. Alright that sounds like Im complaning, surely not folks. I love waking up relaxing or going to Madrid, waiting for the kids to come home and then spend time outside until dinner. Pretty easy life.
The kids have been swearing a lot in English. They have already knew them and have been letting them fly. Today Gonzalo dropped the MOTHERFUCKER when he missed his point. I couldn't do anything but laugh, which now looking back wasn't the best idea; my game when to shit after that and ended up loosing.
Today like any day it seems like I was faced with many decision, like I mentioned before, since Im coming short of time they seem to be of some importance.
I asked myself why had so many expectations when I came to Madrid. I thought this experience was going to change me so much, completely change/mold who I am as a person. Shooting high sometimes can be bad news. Now, four months later I'm completely devastated, I still have no chance of growing a beard anytime soon all hopes are lost.
Tomorrow I have the chance to go to a bull fight, well actually Im going, Irene gave me tickets that were givin to her. Seeing this bull fight is going to be very interesting, even more so because when talking with Irene and Oscar tonight(separately) I seemed to get both extreme ends of the spectrum.
Irene loves bull fighting. When it is at it's best it is a completely different thing, more as a style of art. She loves bull fighting and absolutely loves Jose Thomas. She says he is a brilliant bull fighter who loves the fight of the bull. She also explained to me the history of bull fighting. It used to be for the people but now it is for money, bull fighters dont want to risk their lives for nothing. Bull fighters in Spain were switching to a less aggressive style of bulls, which was safer for the toros(fighters) but was less of a show. Then Jose came around and started showing everyone that he wasn't scared and loved to take on aggressive and highly dangerous bulls.
Then I talked to Oscar, I dont want to give a bad image of Oscar, he is a great guy and I dont think he ever gets mad. The kids call him and angel because he has never yelled at them. But to hear Oscar talk about bull fighting you could hear the bitter hate in his voice and body expression. He actually called it "human stupidity pushed to its extent." He also wants me to express that not everyone in Spain loves bull fighting, that almost half of the population doesnt like it. He views it as a thing of the past that will soon come to an end like the gladiators in the Roman times.
So tomorrow night will be very intersting, I have to different views on the sport to decide from myself. However, I will enjoy it cause it is my first experince.
Now onto more imprtant news, since I cant grow a beard, should I come home? I have been offered a job. There is a young spanish family. They said that they like to do anything but be at home. They have a 2 and 5 year old. They want to learn English from a native in return: spanish, place to stay, and weekly alowance.
I dont know all of the detals of this but im working them out right now. I think this would be fun becuase I get to use my spanish more, and well I dont know if I want to come back yet or not so we will se
Things have been great, we have basically thrown all teaching out the window, moved to ping pong, futbol, obstacle courses, and cooking. But i guess that meets the criteria of my job. Alright that sounds like Im complaning, surely not folks. I love waking up relaxing or going to Madrid, waiting for the kids to come home and then spend time outside until dinner. Pretty easy life.
The kids have been swearing a lot in English. They have already knew them and have been letting them fly. Today Gonzalo dropped the MOTHERFUCKER when he missed his point. I couldn't do anything but laugh, which now looking back wasn't the best idea; my game when to shit after that and ended up loosing.
Today like any day it seems like I was faced with many decision, like I mentioned before, since Im coming short of time they seem to be of some importance.
I asked myself why had so many expectations when I came to Madrid. I thought this experience was going to change me so much, completely change/mold who I am as a person. Shooting high sometimes can be bad news. Now, four months later I'm completely devastated, I still have no chance of growing a beard anytime soon all hopes are lost.
Tomorrow I have the chance to go to a bull fight, well actually Im going, Irene gave me tickets that were givin to her. Seeing this bull fight is going to be very interesting, even more so because when talking with Irene and Oscar tonight(separately) I seemed to get both extreme ends of the spectrum.
Irene loves bull fighting. When it is at it's best it is a completely different thing, more as a style of art. She loves bull fighting and absolutely loves Jose Thomas. She says he is a brilliant bull fighter who loves the fight of the bull. She also explained to me the history of bull fighting. It used to be for the people but now it is for money, bull fighters dont want to risk their lives for nothing. Bull fighters in Spain were switching to a less aggressive style of bulls, which was safer for the toros(fighters) but was less of a show. Then Jose came around and started showing everyone that he wasn't scared and loved to take on aggressive and highly dangerous bulls.
Then I talked to Oscar, I dont want to give a bad image of Oscar, he is a great guy and I dont think he ever gets mad. The kids call him and angel because he has never yelled at them. But to hear Oscar talk about bull fighting you could hear the bitter hate in his voice and body expression. He actually called it "human stupidity pushed to its extent." He also wants me to express that not everyone in Spain loves bull fighting, that almost half of the population doesnt like it. He views it as a thing of the past that will soon come to an end like the gladiators in the Roman times.
So tomorrow night will be very intersting, I have to different views on the sport to decide from myself. However, I will enjoy it cause it is my first experince.
Now onto more imprtant news, since I cant grow a beard, should I come home? I have been offered a job. There is a young spanish family. They said that they like to do anything but be at home. They have a 2 and 5 year old. They want to learn English from a native in return: spanish, place to stay, and weekly alowance.
I dont know all of the detals of this but im working them out right now. I think this would be fun becuase I get to use my spanish more, and well I dont know if I want to come back yet or not so we will se
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
So on some brighter news, I went traveling this weekend. I went to Toledo and Segovia; small city's about an hour from Madrid.
Both of them were beautiful cities. Both enriched with culture. Toledo has three different influences in the city and is theoretically split into three sections, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish.
You could easily tell when you moved from one section to the other. The style of the buildings changed, the way they were decorated, etc. Toledo is like a fortress, inner city is surrounded my castle wall with gates to move in and out.
Walking through the narrow streets on Toledo, you definitely felt like you were in the Mid Evil times. The numerous sword shops on every corner definitely help maintain that feeling. Toledo is famous for their swords, they are very beautiful and fun to look at. However some of the shops wouldn't let you look/touch the swords and I didn't like that because you couldn't see if they were actually made in Toledo or not.
Oh one thing that I forgot to mention, the historic part of Toledo is up on a hill that is about a twenty/thirty minute walk up. Matt(an aupair in Madrid) spotted what looked like the top of an escalator. Sure enough there were outside(though well hidden) public escalators that brought you up the steeper half of the hill.
Normally I never take escalators, actually I hate them, but since I've always heard stories of how people bitch about the hike to the top, it thought I would enjoy the escalator for all of them.
Quite a funny thing happened in Toledo, we were walking along when we noticed some english speaking men in front of us that looked lost and sounded confused. Sure enough they were lost(which is hard to do in Toledo cause it's small), so we decided to help them out and point them in the right direction. Right before they left one guy said: "Are you guys tourist too, just showing us up?" We replied with well we have been here for about four hours so we've gotten to know a lot of the city.
Sunday I went to Segovia by myself, I actually preferred this because I was able to see everything that I wanted and not walk at a snail's pace. Segovia is another fortress like city. Historical part in in cased in huge castle walls. However Segovia for me was so much better.
It has a huge Roman Aqueduct that was built to transport water from one part of the city to another. This thing is massive, it contains some 150 stone arches. It was a truly spectacular site, I have never seen anything like that before and probably won't again.
Another great thing about Segovia is the Alcázar. Huge castle built between 11th-15th century. Absolutely breathtaking and reminds you of fair tales. They even let you tour inside of it to see all the different room: diner room, bedrooms, weapon room, suit room, so many things to see.
I put up pictures of Segovia and Toledo, check em out if you bored
Both of them were beautiful cities. Both enriched with culture. Toledo has three different influences in the city and is theoretically split into three sections, Muslim, Christian, and Jewish.
You could easily tell when you moved from one section to the other. The style of the buildings changed, the way they were decorated, etc. Toledo is like a fortress, inner city is surrounded my castle wall with gates to move in and out.
Walking through the narrow streets on Toledo, you definitely felt like you were in the Mid Evil times. The numerous sword shops on every corner definitely help maintain that feeling. Toledo is famous for their swords, they are very beautiful and fun to look at. However some of the shops wouldn't let you look/touch the swords and I didn't like that because you couldn't see if they were actually made in Toledo or not.
Oh one thing that I forgot to mention, the historic part of Toledo is up on a hill that is about a twenty/thirty minute walk up. Matt(an aupair in Madrid) spotted what looked like the top of an escalator. Sure enough there were outside(though well hidden) public escalators that brought you up the steeper half of the hill.
Normally I never take escalators, actually I hate them, but since I've always heard stories of how people bitch about the hike to the top, it thought I would enjoy the escalator for all of them.
Quite a funny thing happened in Toledo, we were walking along when we noticed some english speaking men in front of us that looked lost and sounded confused. Sure enough they were lost(which is hard to do in Toledo cause it's small), so we decided to help them out and point them in the right direction. Right before they left one guy said: "Are you guys tourist too, just showing us up?" We replied with well we have been here for about four hours so we've gotten to know a lot of the city.
Sunday I went to Segovia by myself, I actually preferred this because I was able to see everything that I wanted and not walk at a snail's pace. Segovia is another fortress like city. Historical part in in cased in huge castle walls. However Segovia for me was so much better.
It has a huge Roman Aqueduct that was built to transport water from one part of the city to another. This thing is massive, it contains some 150 stone arches. It was a truly spectacular site, I have never seen anything like that before and probably won't again.
Another great thing about Segovia is the Alcázar. Huge castle built between 11th-15th century. Absolutely breathtaking and reminds you of fair tales. They even let you tour inside of it to see all the different room: diner room, bedrooms, weapon room, suit room, so many things to see.
I put up pictures of Segovia and Toledo, check em out if you bored
Monday, May 10, 2010
Well it looks like I have some catching up to do. I have been quite busy doing many things trying to best fill final time here. Its hard to believe that I have been here for 3 months already. There is so much I still want to do so Im trying to fit in.
I have been spending a good amount of time playing with the kids. Are classes have turned into more playing but totally in English. Gonzalo and I have been playing a lot of basketball together and he has came up with two phrases that are now used daily between us "totally tonto"(totally stupid/dumb) and my favorite "Are you ready to get oxidated?" He just made that up one day and we use it in place of: Are you ready for this, you ready to lose, etc.
Last thursday I believe it was I saw something that was quite unusual and it makes me think about using the metro at nights now. This event took place actually at like two in the afternoon. I was followed onto the metro by a guy and girl. The guy was much younger in his twenties and didnt look so good. He was having a hard time walking and sat on the floor next do the door. The girl took a seat on the same bench about three from me.
It was going to be a long metro ride so I put in my music, relaxed, and wasnt paying that much attention to either of them. I could here this girl mumbling something in this deep raspy voice while digging through her pockets and purse. I thought she was talking to herself but she was talking to the guy that boarded the metro with her. I now noticed that he was sprawled out on the floor, back against the wall, head hanging down and responding to what the woman was saying.
I never thought I would ever see what happened next. The girl pulled out of her a small, straight glass pipe. I wasnt paying any attention and didnt realize she had done that until she sparked her lighter. I looked over in disbelief that anyone would smoke in the metro. As soon as I layed eyes on her and her pipe. Im glad she wasnt paying attention she was to fixed on her task at hand.
This wanst no marijuana pipe, but a crack pipe. I was just staring, completly shocked to see this. It was incredible to see someone so hooked on a drug that she didnt care about smoking it on public transportation with twenty or so people around. It didnt just stop at one puff either she was going to town and it smelt fucking terrible.
Soon her pipe starting getting to hot for her to hold so I figured great she will take a break(by this time I was using my peripheral vision and fully paying attention to everything). Nope I was wrong she pulled out of her purse: rag, two metro tickets, clothes pin, and roll of tape.
Put the pipe on the rag so it would quit burning her leg. Rolled on ticket up slid in onto the pipe, taped it so that it wont come unraveled. Fastened this new extension to the pipe with the clothes pin. Took the other ticket rolled it up and fit it over top of the the other ticket and tapped it together. Now she can still get her fix without burning her lips and hands.
This whole time I forgot about the guy that came with her. He was still looking in some ruff shape head still flopping up and down with the movement of the metro. Finally my stop came and I got off the metro not bothering to look back. Well Im smelly and sweaty from traveling, hiking, getting rained on, and spilling things on me; Im gonna shower and shave, check out my pictures i put up, toledo and maybe some new things with the kids. Ill put up segovia tomorrow as well as another post
I have been spending a good amount of time playing with the kids. Are classes have turned into more playing but totally in English. Gonzalo and I have been playing a lot of basketball together and he has came up with two phrases that are now used daily between us "totally tonto"(totally stupid/dumb) and my favorite "Are you ready to get oxidated?" He just made that up one day and we use it in place of: Are you ready for this, you ready to lose, etc.
Last thursday I believe it was I saw something that was quite unusual and it makes me think about using the metro at nights now. This event took place actually at like two in the afternoon. I was followed onto the metro by a guy and girl. The guy was much younger in his twenties and didnt look so good. He was having a hard time walking and sat on the floor next do the door. The girl took a seat on the same bench about three from me.
It was going to be a long metro ride so I put in my music, relaxed, and wasnt paying that much attention to either of them. I could here this girl mumbling something in this deep raspy voice while digging through her pockets and purse. I thought she was talking to herself but she was talking to the guy that boarded the metro with her. I now noticed that he was sprawled out on the floor, back against the wall, head hanging down and responding to what the woman was saying.
I never thought I would ever see what happened next. The girl pulled out of her a small, straight glass pipe. I wasnt paying any attention and didnt realize she had done that until she sparked her lighter. I looked over in disbelief that anyone would smoke in the metro. As soon as I layed eyes on her and her pipe. Im glad she wasnt paying attention she was to fixed on her task at hand.
This wanst no marijuana pipe, but a crack pipe. I was just staring, completly shocked to see this. It was incredible to see someone so hooked on a drug that she didnt care about smoking it on public transportation with twenty or so people around. It didnt just stop at one puff either she was going to town and it smelt fucking terrible.
Soon her pipe starting getting to hot for her to hold so I figured great she will take a break(by this time I was using my peripheral vision and fully paying attention to everything). Nope I was wrong she pulled out of her purse: rag, two metro tickets, clothes pin, and roll of tape.
Put the pipe on the rag so it would quit burning her leg. Rolled on ticket up slid in onto the pipe, taped it so that it wont come unraveled. Fastened this new extension to the pipe with the clothes pin. Took the other ticket rolled it up and fit it over top of the the other ticket and tapped it together. Now she can still get her fix without burning her lips and hands.
This whole time I forgot about the guy that came with her. He was still looking in some ruff shape head still flopping up and down with the movement of the metro. Finally my stop came and I got off the metro not bothering to look back. Well Im smelly and sweaty from traveling, hiking, getting rained on, and spilling things on me; Im gonna shower and shave, check out my pictures i put up, toledo and maybe some new things with the kids. Ill put up segovia tomorrow as well as another post
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Well today was great, it was international free ice cream day for ben and jerry's. After spanish class thats what I did for about two hours. Get a gracious scoop, leave the store, go to the end of the line and repeat as many times as desired.
It was quite sunny today so ice cream seemed to fit really well. Later some of my friends joined me and aided in my ice cream hoarding. Then it was time for some good food at mastero churreo. Felicia is nearing her last days in madrid so we had lunch at her favorite spot.
After much time spent in the sun having lunch and some laughs with some friends we returned for on last round of ice cream before heading our respective ways. I returned home and relaxed for a while, music , guitar, the usual before the kids arrived.
Today was really hot, we decided that today was great for a water balloon fight. Miguel and I prepared most of the ammunition while Gonzalo and Sofia were at Tenis practice.
Before I tell you about the rest of the evening, I want to mention something about the kids, something i havnt done and really need to do:
Miguel-13
Oldest of the group, very funny. He is always singing, dancing, acting like a fool during class and the rest of the time. Really into futbol, loves real madrid and christiano ronaldo. Very self motivated and outgoing. Likes to explore the boundries of things every now and again; he thinks thats ok because with out doing some things life would be boring-which he is absolutely correct.
Sofía-12
Great, doesnt sit aside and let the two brothers boss her around. Loves to play tenis and is really into fashion. Very creative and likes to tell me jokes or things she has made up at the beginnings of class. Can be a little shy at times, like when she doesnt want to do english. But if we talk about something fun or something she likes and cant get her stop.
Gonzalo-9
Younger, most creative and expresive kids in the house. Loves to have fun, speak english, learn new things. Taken quite a liking to getting piggy back rides everywhere and setting the table. Really into futbol as well, lives to be outside and create new games. Always wants to do new things and always remember to remind me of things we are supposed to be doing(making muffins, pancakes, water balloon fights, etc)
We filled a good amount of balloons and filled the rest when Sofía and Gonzalo returned. This was soon filled with the normal riff raft the goes along with water, kids, and an immature adult.
We set off for quite the battle that I will remember for quite some time. Sometimes the balloons didnt break but made for good hunting and revenge. Miguel came out with actually the two best shots of the day. The first, I was chasing him down. He is quite a fast kids so it took some time to catch up. As soon as I got close he turned around and threw the balloon in a last ditch effort. It struck me so hard in the face it put me off balance.
Now for the second throw and something quite fantastic yet not the best. We were filling the last round of balloons after we had already extinguished our previous supply. Miguel made his small and wanted to make a bigger one. Ok fine with me. He wanted to throw it to the neighbors house but I said no to the street, we heard someone speaking. Miguel motioned, should i throw it? Well sure enough it goes over the bushes; you hear the water balloon break and someone yell coño(what the fuck in spanish).
We disappeared fast. This lady was furious she was looking in the yard, the kids had retreated inside and were looking out from the balcony and windows. Miguel made eye contact with a very upset woman. Irene either knew or saw this happened and went and talked with the lady. Not sure what was said and dont really want to know.
The kids and I just cant stop laughing about it, the fact that Miguel threw it, it actually hit the lady. This opened up a whole new window of things to talk about. Oh one last story that Miguel wanted me to share just in case anyone thinks its as funny as I did.
About a week ago Miguel was studding down in his room, he must put his whole brain process into it because of the next event that happened. He went to use the bathroom, the laundry bin was open which is quite near the toilet. Not paying any attention, starts peeing in the laundry. He said it was a good ten fifteen seconds before he realized what he was doing.
He didnt tell anyone right away. He waited until dinner time when it was just me and the kids. When he told me this I was only half paying attention and half eating. As soon as he got the the peeing part I choked on what ever I was eating at the time. We have had some good times and have been sharing a lot of stories. Things couldnt be much better
It was quite sunny today so ice cream seemed to fit really well. Later some of my friends joined me and aided in my ice cream hoarding. Then it was time for some good food at mastero churreo. Felicia is nearing her last days in madrid so we had lunch at her favorite spot.
After much time spent in the sun having lunch and some laughs with some friends we returned for on last round of ice cream before heading our respective ways. I returned home and relaxed for a while, music , guitar, the usual before the kids arrived.
Today was really hot, we decided that today was great for a water balloon fight. Miguel and I prepared most of the ammunition while Gonzalo and Sofia were at Tenis practice.
Before I tell you about the rest of the evening, I want to mention something about the kids, something i havnt done and really need to do:
Miguel-13
Oldest of the group, very funny. He is always singing, dancing, acting like a fool during class and the rest of the time. Really into futbol, loves real madrid and christiano ronaldo. Very self motivated and outgoing. Likes to explore the boundries of things every now and again; he thinks thats ok because with out doing some things life would be boring-which he is absolutely correct.
Sofía-12
Great, doesnt sit aside and let the two brothers boss her around. Loves to play tenis and is really into fashion. Very creative and likes to tell me jokes or things she has made up at the beginnings of class. Can be a little shy at times, like when she doesnt want to do english. But if we talk about something fun or something she likes and cant get her stop.
Gonzalo-9
Younger, most creative and expresive kids in the house. Loves to have fun, speak english, learn new things. Taken quite a liking to getting piggy back rides everywhere and setting the table. Really into futbol as well, lives to be outside and create new games. Always wants to do new things and always remember to remind me of things we are supposed to be doing(making muffins, pancakes, water balloon fights, etc)
We filled a good amount of balloons and filled the rest when Sofía and Gonzalo returned. This was soon filled with the normal riff raft the goes along with water, kids, and an immature adult.
We set off for quite the battle that I will remember for quite some time. Sometimes the balloons didnt break but made for good hunting and revenge. Miguel came out with actually the two best shots of the day. The first, I was chasing him down. He is quite a fast kids so it took some time to catch up. As soon as I got close he turned around and threw the balloon in a last ditch effort. It struck me so hard in the face it put me off balance.
Now for the second throw and something quite fantastic yet not the best. We were filling the last round of balloons after we had already extinguished our previous supply. Miguel made his small and wanted to make a bigger one. Ok fine with me. He wanted to throw it to the neighbors house but I said no to the street, we heard someone speaking. Miguel motioned, should i throw it? Well sure enough it goes over the bushes; you hear the water balloon break and someone yell coño(what the fuck in spanish).
We disappeared fast. This lady was furious she was looking in the yard, the kids had retreated inside and were looking out from the balcony and windows. Miguel made eye contact with a very upset woman. Irene either knew or saw this happened and went and talked with the lady. Not sure what was said and dont really want to know.
The kids and I just cant stop laughing about it, the fact that Miguel threw it, it actually hit the lady. This opened up a whole new window of things to talk about. Oh one last story that Miguel wanted me to share just in case anyone thinks its as funny as I did.
About a week ago Miguel was studding down in his room, he must put his whole brain process into it because of the next event that happened. He went to use the bathroom, the laundry bin was open which is quite near the toilet. Not paying any attention, starts peeing in the laundry. He said it was a good ten fifteen seconds before he realized what he was doing.
He didnt tell anyone right away. He waited until dinner time when it was just me and the kids. When he told me this I was only half paying attention and half eating. As soon as he got the the peeing part I choked on what ever I was eating at the time. We have had some good times and have been sharing a lot of stories. Things couldnt be much better
Sunday, April 25, 2010
We Can Do It, We're Obama
Now I havnt heard something funny like that in a while since im apart from the US politics. But the hysterical part is that the nine year old here, Gonzalo said that to me. No I dont know all that they teach here but it must be pretty good if a nine year old knows the campian slogan for a president of another country.
With that said I feel like I havent been on here in a while so I need to catch up. Whenever im in Madrid(especially since it sunny) girls have been appearing everywhere. While Im not complaning about that in the least bit, but the amount of tube tops that I keep seeing kills me. A definitely have seen them on a lot more english speaking girls but many spanards as well.
Im not sure weather it the fact that they are incredible tight so it appears to be cutting off the upper torso of your body. They just haunt me and some reason I just cant stand them and they should have left with the 90's. Oh, especialy jean tube tops, quite repulsive on all levels.
Well in other news, the sun how been out in full force in Madrid and things have been nice. Its continually getting hotter every other day. This past weekened, well two days ago I went to Salamanca in the west of Spain. Very nice little town full of cultural. All the buildings appear to be hundreds of years old. It was very nice and I enjoyed it a lot.
Got to see some interesting things there, I was introduced so something that sound and smeels quite disgusting. Callimocho fifty fifty mix of cheap red wine and coke. Im usually up for trying new things; drinks, foods, adventures, naked activities, but this drink doesnt appetize me in the least bit.
No, Salamanca was great, sunny out the whole time, got to relax in the sun near a cathedral, got to see the work of students at the university.(They had to help design the school building, and for revenge for having to do it they put up a nice bit of man jackin' it. Great stuff, probably why kids are not incharge of a lot of things at their schools.
I will be posting pictures soon, great place, fun time but bed is needed now
With that said I feel like I havent been on here in a while so I need to catch up. Whenever im in Madrid(especially since it sunny) girls have been appearing everywhere. While Im not complaning about that in the least bit, but the amount of tube tops that I keep seeing kills me. A definitely have seen them on a lot more english speaking girls but many spanards as well.
Im not sure weather it the fact that they are incredible tight so it appears to be cutting off the upper torso of your body. They just haunt me and some reason I just cant stand them and they should have left with the 90's. Oh, especialy jean tube tops, quite repulsive on all levels.
Well in other news, the sun how been out in full force in Madrid and things have been nice. Its continually getting hotter every other day. This past weekened, well two days ago I went to Salamanca in the west of Spain. Very nice little town full of cultural. All the buildings appear to be hundreds of years old. It was very nice and I enjoyed it a lot.
Got to see some interesting things there, I was introduced so something that sound and smeels quite disgusting. Callimocho fifty fifty mix of cheap red wine and coke. Im usually up for trying new things; drinks, foods, adventures, naked activities, but this drink doesnt appetize me in the least bit.
No, Salamanca was great, sunny out the whole time, got to relax in the sun near a cathedral, got to see the work of students at the university.(They had to help design the school building, and for revenge for having to do it they put up a nice bit of man jackin' it. Great stuff, probably why kids are not incharge of a lot of things at their schools.
I will be posting pictures soon, great place, fun time but bed is needed now
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
La Ladrona de Mi Vida
I have returned and recovered from a great weekend in Granada. No set back, no troubles, just me and the beautiful city of Granada. I couldn't be happier. Granada is a beautiful city in the south of Spain. Its a perfect mix of nature, culture, and visually stimulating sites.
I arrived in Granada Friday afternoon after what I would call a very successful night in Madrid. It was Brittany's and Sheila's going away party. We went on a bar crawl which is a great way to spend a night. You pay the sum of 10 euros(the first time), I was upset about that until I learned that in every bar we got a free shot and drink deals, so rather good investment.
As you all now how a bar crawl works/night of drinking I need not to explain. A couple interesting affairs. We wound up at a transvestite bar, quite interesting and fucking terrifying at the same time. At the second or third bar I met a very nice bar tender. No that I think back on the night, im sure that the bar tender was laughing and talking to me because I was trying to hit on her in Spanish. Maybe not the best idea but it sounded good at the time.
After the whole night out, I made it to the bus station early that morning. Everything still in quite a haze, found my seat on the bus and passed out immediately on the seat in front of me. Didnt wake up until the bus came to a jerking stop at a rest area. I woke up and was immediately disappointed, I was still drunk and felt disgusting.
After another hours or so I finally arrived in Granada. Luckily when I stepped outside it was beautiful, warm and sunny. I opted to do some exploring before finding my hostel. Found some ice cream and a park and relaxed. I dont know if I have mentioned this before, if so to bad you have spend your time reading it again. THe display if ice cream here in spain in a completely unique art form.
Something about the display of colors, flavors, and well over all presentation. I turn into a drooling three year old who begs his mom for some. Best part is I dont have to beg anyone, I just accept the fact that I should experience every flavor in every store. Though Granada was a short trip, I believe I purchased eight ice cream cones.
Next travel to my hostel which is up a small street with local vendors and bars. It was so realiving to have a break from the juge city and see self run stores, handmade crafts and fresh herbs. One thing that caught my eye was the various hookah bars throughout the city.
If anyone every winds up in Granada stay at the Oasis Backpacker's Hostel. Such a nice place, friendly staff, set up well to meet others traveling and you receive a free welcome drink. After checking in, I proceeded to take another walk since I was being gifted with sunshine(It was supposed to rain all weekend).
I felt the need to get familiar with the city and to find little interesting things that can easily be missed. Luckily I know of one great way to do this, go get yourself completely lost and find your way back. One of the first thing that I stumbled upon was the mirador de San Nicolas.
This is a truly magical spot. You get to ponder on all of the best sites of Granada in one. You are directly across from the Alhambra witnessing it's absolute magnificence, stare at the Sierra Nevada hovering over the Alhambra in the background, view the rest of the city and all of it's surrounding nature.
This is were I spent most of my free time, sitting, watching, loving. Another plus is I always sat and listened to the locals play flamenco style guitar. Later I found out that its actually illegal for them to play and sell items in San Nicolas because they dont have a permit.
I found this out when the cops showed up and all of the locals grabbed everything and were gone in about two seconds.
Not much else happened this time around, I just got to relax and enjoy the views of a truly beautiful city, one that I could easily live in for many years. Wait thats a lie, I went to the Alhambra which is absolutely magnificent. I will post pictures for all you to ponder if you wish
I arrived in Granada Friday afternoon after what I would call a very successful night in Madrid. It was Brittany's and Sheila's going away party. We went on a bar crawl which is a great way to spend a night. You pay the sum of 10 euros(the first time), I was upset about that until I learned that in every bar we got a free shot and drink deals, so rather good investment.
As you all now how a bar crawl works/night of drinking I need not to explain. A couple interesting affairs. We wound up at a transvestite bar, quite interesting and fucking terrifying at the same time. At the second or third bar I met a very nice bar tender. No that I think back on the night, im sure that the bar tender was laughing and talking to me because I was trying to hit on her in Spanish. Maybe not the best idea but it sounded good at the time.
After the whole night out, I made it to the bus station early that morning. Everything still in quite a haze, found my seat on the bus and passed out immediately on the seat in front of me. Didnt wake up until the bus came to a jerking stop at a rest area. I woke up and was immediately disappointed, I was still drunk and felt disgusting.
After another hours or so I finally arrived in Granada. Luckily when I stepped outside it was beautiful, warm and sunny. I opted to do some exploring before finding my hostel. Found some ice cream and a park and relaxed. I dont know if I have mentioned this before, if so to bad you have spend your time reading it again. THe display if ice cream here in spain in a completely unique art form.
Something about the display of colors, flavors, and well over all presentation. I turn into a drooling three year old who begs his mom for some. Best part is I dont have to beg anyone, I just accept the fact that I should experience every flavor in every store. Though Granada was a short trip, I believe I purchased eight ice cream cones.
Next travel to my hostel which is up a small street with local vendors and bars. It was so realiving to have a break from the juge city and see self run stores, handmade crafts and fresh herbs. One thing that caught my eye was the various hookah bars throughout the city.
If anyone every winds up in Granada stay at the Oasis Backpacker's Hostel. Such a nice place, friendly staff, set up well to meet others traveling and you receive a free welcome drink. After checking in, I proceeded to take another walk since I was being gifted with sunshine(It was supposed to rain all weekend).
I felt the need to get familiar with the city and to find little interesting things that can easily be missed. Luckily I know of one great way to do this, go get yourself completely lost and find your way back. One of the first thing that I stumbled upon was the mirador de San Nicolas.
This is a truly magical spot. You get to ponder on all of the best sites of Granada in one. You are directly across from the Alhambra witnessing it's absolute magnificence, stare at the Sierra Nevada hovering over the Alhambra in the background, view the rest of the city and all of it's surrounding nature.
This is were I spent most of my free time, sitting, watching, loving. Another plus is I always sat and listened to the locals play flamenco style guitar. Later I found out that its actually illegal for them to play and sell items in San Nicolas because they dont have a permit.
I found this out when the cops showed up and all of the locals grabbed everything and were gone in about two seconds.
Not much else happened this time around, I just got to relax and enjoy the views of a truly beautiful city, one that I could easily live in for many years. Wait thats a lie, I went to the Alhambra which is absolutely magnificent. I will post pictures for all you to ponder if you wish
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Well things cant get much...oh wait they just did
Well its been a while since I last wrote and now its time for me to vent and calm the fuck down. Things for the most part were going relatively smooth. Im in spanish classes right now. They are in the morning which is perfect. They get me up early and into the city of Madrid.
This weekend Im going to Granada in the South of Spain. When I bought my tickets I thought I was going alone but it turns out that about for others are coming, so this should be fun. One relatively small upset is that its supposed to rain all this weekend. Not that big of deal and luckily I brought my rain coat.
Tonight will be a fun night, Sheila and Brittany leave Sunday to return to the states and since a good amount of people wont be here this weekend we are having a grand going away party night out in Madrid. Things should work out well, hang out all night and have fun and then catch my bus to Granada at 8:30 and get some shut eye. Ya for the most part things are looking up however I want to take this time to touch on a subject Ive mentioned before.
Luck, some people just dont have the bust luck with things. I dont know if its because they put themselves out there a lot so you have a greater chance of having your number picked out of the hat. Well a reoccurring theme in Europe is when I travel things must go wrong. No matter how hard I try, plan in advance, it always leaves my cursing loudly and self loathing.
Last Sunday I was buying my bus tickets from ALSA a bus company over here. Ive used them a couple times before and things have been fairly good. Well when I was buying the tickets, when I would push the finalize payment button the next screen would appear as an error. This happened multiple times, quite frustrated but still with a bit of self control I would make myself wait about twenty minutes between transactions.
I would be checking my bank account and my email accounts to see if the payment went through. I never received any confirmation emails, nothing. So after a couple hours I had to go teach english and finally after lessons and dinner I tried one last time. Finally success, the ticket appeared on the screen and I had received confirmation emails.
Feeling great relief I treated myself to extra hour of sleep that night. When I awoke I checked my emails to see if any of the language assistance had emailed me for plans for the day. I have new messages only from PayPal, an online service I use to purchase a lot of things.
All these messages say I have sent payments to ALSA. Goddammit, I checked my bank account and sure enough those transactions went through, however I still to this day havnt received any confirmation email.
Normally you could just cancel your ticket online, it would cost you nothing. Well since I used PayPal, the only way to view my tickets and change/cancel them is by using the locator number giving on the ticket. Great, I never received any of those tickets, nor emails so I dont have shit.
I have sent three emails to the company about this problem and still awaiting a single reply. Now Im gonna ask Irene my host mom to talk with the company and figure this shit out. I need it figured out because my tickets are for tomorrow, if I dont get it done today, I will lose all that other money. So now Im waiting for her to get home and hopefully come to some sort of conclusion with the conundrum.
If things couldnt get just a little bit more stressful, I was taking money out of the ATM on my way home. Same machine Ive always used and now I hate it. I went to withdraw money and entered my amount, pushed okay. It just went back to the welcome screen like always, gave me my card, but of course no receipt and no money.
Its not that I dont have money in my account because I do, I went inside and explained my problem, I gave her all of my information and she will look to see if thing are correct or wrong at the end of the day. She also suggested trying it again. So I did and this time it said it cant accept my card. This usually happens when you dont have sufficient funds in your account, which leads me to believe that the first transaction went through.
Now I wait til my bank opens, get in contact with them and try to figure all these problems out before class today and before I have to pack to leave for Granada. Ugh, hopefully some day soon Ill get a break from all this...
This weekend Im going to Granada in the South of Spain. When I bought my tickets I thought I was going alone but it turns out that about for others are coming, so this should be fun. One relatively small upset is that its supposed to rain all this weekend. Not that big of deal and luckily I brought my rain coat.
Tonight will be a fun night, Sheila and Brittany leave Sunday to return to the states and since a good amount of people wont be here this weekend we are having a grand going away party night out in Madrid. Things should work out well, hang out all night and have fun and then catch my bus to Granada at 8:30 and get some shut eye. Ya for the most part things are looking up however I want to take this time to touch on a subject Ive mentioned before.
Luck, some people just dont have the bust luck with things. I dont know if its because they put themselves out there a lot so you have a greater chance of having your number picked out of the hat. Well a reoccurring theme in Europe is when I travel things must go wrong. No matter how hard I try, plan in advance, it always leaves my cursing loudly and self loathing.
Last Sunday I was buying my bus tickets from ALSA a bus company over here. Ive used them a couple times before and things have been fairly good. Well when I was buying the tickets, when I would push the finalize payment button the next screen would appear as an error. This happened multiple times, quite frustrated but still with a bit of self control I would make myself wait about twenty minutes between transactions.
I would be checking my bank account and my email accounts to see if the payment went through. I never received any confirmation emails, nothing. So after a couple hours I had to go teach english and finally after lessons and dinner I tried one last time. Finally success, the ticket appeared on the screen and I had received confirmation emails.
Feeling great relief I treated myself to extra hour of sleep that night. When I awoke I checked my emails to see if any of the language assistance had emailed me for plans for the day. I have new messages only from PayPal, an online service I use to purchase a lot of things.
All these messages say I have sent payments to ALSA. Goddammit, I checked my bank account and sure enough those transactions went through, however I still to this day havnt received any confirmation email.
Normally you could just cancel your ticket online, it would cost you nothing. Well since I used PayPal, the only way to view my tickets and change/cancel them is by using the locator number giving on the ticket. Great, I never received any of those tickets, nor emails so I dont have shit.
I have sent three emails to the company about this problem and still awaiting a single reply. Now Im gonna ask Irene my host mom to talk with the company and figure this shit out. I need it figured out because my tickets are for tomorrow, if I dont get it done today, I will lose all that other money. So now Im waiting for her to get home and hopefully come to some sort of conclusion with the conundrum.
If things couldnt get just a little bit more stressful, I was taking money out of the ATM on my way home. Same machine Ive always used and now I hate it. I went to withdraw money and entered my amount, pushed okay. It just went back to the welcome screen like always, gave me my card, but of course no receipt and no money.
Its not that I dont have money in my account because I do, I went inside and explained my problem, I gave her all of my information and she will look to see if thing are correct or wrong at the end of the day. She also suggested trying it again. So I did and this time it said it cant accept my card. This usually happens when you dont have sufficient funds in your account, which leads me to believe that the first transaction went through.
Now I wait til my bank opens, get in contact with them and try to figure all these problems out before class today and before I have to pack to leave for Granada. Ugh, hopefully some day soon Ill get a break from all this...
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Ireland pt 3
Hopefully if I get my act together this will be the last entry for Ireland. Alright I believe we left off as I was going to the concert. Well this venue in the Queens University Student Union is hands down my favorite venue.
The venue is called the Speakeasy Bar, a bar on the second story of the student union and only accessible by one staircase. Walked into the room to a huge bar, average bar stage and lounge area. I was one of the first their but really surprised to see that no more than thirty people came to this show.
Everyone was just hanging out, getting a drink, and waiting for the bands to start; usual routine. I was itching to know who The Lawrence Arms where playing with because when I checked it was a mystery. Mystery's can either be good or bad; how Santa clause gets to everyone's house in one night-good mystery. Thinking about how much/kinds of information our government hides from us-terrifying.
These bands that played the show: Snitch, Leap for Leanin, Under Stars and Gutters and another band that I cant quite remember and its killing me. Anyways these are all local bands to Ireland who have been on the UK tour with Larry Arms.
All these bands where quite good, Snitch was sub par; nothing to special. Under Stars and Gutters were sweet as hell, and the others were quite satisfying as well. Then Larry Arms was up, I felt like I was six years old again going to the carnival for the first time. Ya all the rides were great but there was one that stood out above the rest. The carpet ride, anyone that has been to the missoula fair knows what im talking about. I had climbed the huge stair case and was anxiously awaiting the huge plunge.
There I was standing a foot away from the stage, from my dreams. Every song that they played was absolutely amazing. They put together such a good set, not much more that I could ask for. Well thats a lie, I would ask that the four kids standing next to me; screaming brenand's name, pointed, pulling on brendan, and other obnoious things the whole would have dissipated.
It's not that they were ruining the show, well actually a couple of times they were. If he would come close those kids would grab him and not let go, try to play his bass and cause accidents. Twice they caused brendan to smash into something, once the rail and the other the stage. The stage collision was bad, he was trying to get back up on stage when everyone was holding on to him, he had to jerk away from them, causing him to fall subject to the laws of gravity and smash at into solids at a velocity derived from the force of separation.
I felt terrible for him because he just had to give the kids a look and keep playing. However in that dramatic display of g-forces he dropped his pick which is now in my possession. There last song that they played was "Like a Record Player." One of my heart songs and one that many of my and I hold sacred. If things couldn't go any better I ended up with the set list from the show, meeting the band, getting pictures with them and hanging out for a bit.
If I were to do that trip again and would run into the same or more troubles on the next time around I would. It only cost me about $100 extra dollars to stay in Irland for another day, which in my case is an excellent trade off.
Now most of you think that this story has come to an end but its not over yet. After we finally got kicked out of the bar, I went and got some warm food to hold me over through the night. I had no place to stay and a plane that left at seven. After I finished eating it was a quarter til' 1. With no plans I headed to the bus stop, on the way to there I was stopped by a local gent named Neil. He was looking for his two lady friends in pink dresses. I had not seen them at all and felt quite bad for a while.
We talked for about a half hour about the US and all the people he knows there and visits quite often, he ended up giving me his number so that if I ever make it back to Ireland he would like to show me around the town. After impairing his search I headed off to the bus station which was closed. After asking a lot of questions I found where the bus's pick up. I waited for almost an hour and still no bus came for either airport(Dublin, Belfast International).
Well just fantastic, not much could go wrong now. I sat planning how long I can wait for the bus before I need to start walking. I knew the general direction and it would take a couple hours to get their. There is no way that I would take a cab because it would be over fifty pounds to get there and thats a huge waste of money.
Choosing to wait out the cold in hope for a bus at sat thinking; what would the immigration desk lady be thinking of me right now, possibly getting stuck in Ireland for a couple more days and the landslide of questions being thrown at me when someone said my name. It was Neil, he was getting a cab from the taxi service across the street from the bus stop.
He came over and chatted for a bit. He told me I might have a problem with going to the airport this early, Belfast has a no fly time from 2-6 and at least the city airport closes down. He offered me his house for a couple hours and then I could take a cab to the airport.
I didnt really want to go cause I would still have to pay for a cab which is a hundred times more expensive than the bus. Somehow through the arguing he must have figured that I didnt have money, he offered to pay for my cab back to the airport. Oh I left out one thing, he was looking to travel somewhere new in the US so he was glad that he met me so that he could go to Montana. Eventually he said, dont worry about me paying for things, you can just repay me by showing me around in Montana if I make it there.
Well that finally convinced me, it was cold as hell outside, no bus's had came and now I had a warm place to go for a few hours and a free ride to the airport. Neil was really nice, on the way to his house he was pointing out and telling me all about the buildings Belfast.
Back out his house he was real kind, gave me some food to eat; we sat and talked about things over beers for the next couple of hours. He told all about his life and how he worked in radio for many year and showed me footage of the radio show he did for Y2K.
It was really nice to sit and have a drink and relax for a bit before I needed to leave. Around 530 he called me a cab and we said our goodbyes. This flight was going to go smoothly, I was early to the airport, there was no delay, I had time to get breakfast and relax before the plane came.
Completely wrong, all that went well but as we were called up to board we were told the flight was delayed for around two hours because this plane was broken as well. For fuck sake, cant a kid get a break ever; I have such a long delay that I know miss my first bus back to Madrid. Easter is sucking ass this year, im gonna stuck in the middle of fucking nowhere for ever.
Finally the plane came, however I was a little hesitant to stay on the plane, right before take of the pilot announced that one of the engines wont turn on and they would have to start in manually before we left the loading dock. Great, what will happen next, will it shut off and not turn back on again in the air? Luckily that didnt happen.
We landed in Alicante(South of Spain), where I ran around lost trying to find the correct bus line to explain the them what had happened. Luckily when I got their they said that's fine, we have your name and you can just get on the next bus. Awesome, the easiest part of the whole trip. Luckily the bus arrived just on time at the transfer station that I just got the next bus into Madrid.
Now all that was left was to wait out the 8 hrs bus ride and arrive home. Finally at a quarter past midnight I arrived home, the family was all still up watching a movie. They were happy to see me and here some things about my trip. I was really tiered and went to bed because I had to get up for my first Spanish class in a couple of hours
The venue is called the Speakeasy Bar, a bar on the second story of the student union and only accessible by one staircase. Walked into the room to a huge bar, average bar stage and lounge area. I was one of the first their but really surprised to see that no more than thirty people came to this show.
Everyone was just hanging out, getting a drink, and waiting for the bands to start; usual routine. I was itching to know who The Lawrence Arms where playing with because when I checked it was a mystery. Mystery's can either be good or bad; how Santa clause gets to everyone's house in one night-good mystery. Thinking about how much/kinds of information our government hides from us-terrifying.
These bands that played the show: Snitch, Leap for Leanin, Under Stars and Gutters and another band that I cant quite remember and its killing me. Anyways these are all local bands to Ireland who have been on the UK tour with Larry Arms.
All these bands where quite good, Snitch was sub par; nothing to special. Under Stars and Gutters were sweet as hell, and the others were quite satisfying as well. Then Larry Arms was up, I felt like I was six years old again going to the carnival for the first time. Ya all the rides were great but there was one that stood out above the rest. The carpet ride, anyone that has been to the missoula fair knows what im talking about. I had climbed the huge stair case and was anxiously awaiting the huge plunge.
There I was standing a foot away from the stage, from my dreams. Every song that they played was absolutely amazing. They put together such a good set, not much more that I could ask for. Well thats a lie, I would ask that the four kids standing next to me; screaming brenand's name, pointed, pulling on brendan, and other obnoious things the whole would have dissipated.
It's not that they were ruining the show, well actually a couple of times they were. If he would come close those kids would grab him and not let go, try to play his bass and cause accidents. Twice they caused brendan to smash into something, once the rail and the other the stage. The stage collision was bad, he was trying to get back up on stage when everyone was holding on to him, he had to jerk away from them, causing him to fall subject to the laws of gravity and smash at into solids at a velocity derived from the force of separation.
I felt terrible for him because he just had to give the kids a look and keep playing. However in that dramatic display of g-forces he dropped his pick which is now in my possession. There last song that they played was "Like a Record Player." One of my heart songs and one that many of my and I hold sacred. If things couldn't go any better I ended up with the set list from the show, meeting the band, getting pictures with them and hanging out for a bit.
If I were to do that trip again and would run into the same or more troubles on the next time around I would. It only cost me about $100 extra dollars to stay in Irland for another day, which in my case is an excellent trade off.
Now most of you think that this story has come to an end but its not over yet. After we finally got kicked out of the bar, I went and got some warm food to hold me over through the night. I had no place to stay and a plane that left at seven. After I finished eating it was a quarter til' 1. With no plans I headed to the bus stop, on the way to there I was stopped by a local gent named Neil. He was looking for his two lady friends in pink dresses. I had not seen them at all and felt quite bad for a while.
We talked for about a half hour about the US and all the people he knows there and visits quite often, he ended up giving me his number so that if I ever make it back to Ireland he would like to show me around the town. After impairing his search I headed off to the bus station which was closed. After asking a lot of questions I found where the bus's pick up. I waited for almost an hour and still no bus came for either airport(Dublin, Belfast International).
Well just fantastic, not much could go wrong now. I sat planning how long I can wait for the bus before I need to start walking. I knew the general direction and it would take a couple hours to get their. There is no way that I would take a cab because it would be over fifty pounds to get there and thats a huge waste of money.
Choosing to wait out the cold in hope for a bus at sat thinking; what would the immigration desk lady be thinking of me right now, possibly getting stuck in Ireland for a couple more days and the landslide of questions being thrown at me when someone said my name. It was Neil, he was getting a cab from the taxi service across the street from the bus stop.
He came over and chatted for a bit. He told me I might have a problem with going to the airport this early, Belfast has a no fly time from 2-6 and at least the city airport closes down. He offered me his house for a couple hours and then I could take a cab to the airport.
I didnt really want to go cause I would still have to pay for a cab which is a hundred times more expensive than the bus. Somehow through the arguing he must have figured that I didnt have money, he offered to pay for my cab back to the airport. Oh I left out one thing, he was looking to travel somewhere new in the US so he was glad that he met me so that he could go to Montana. Eventually he said, dont worry about me paying for things, you can just repay me by showing me around in Montana if I make it there.
Well that finally convinced me, it was cold as hell outside, no bus's had came and now I had a warm place to go for a few hours and a free ride to the airport. Neil was really nice, on the way to his house he was pointing out and telling me all about the buildings Belfast.
Back out his house he was real kind, gave me some food to eat; we sat and talked about things over beers for the next couple of hours. He told all about his life and how he worked in radio for many year and showed me footage of the radio show he did for Y2K.
It was really nice to sit and have a drink and relax for a bit before I needed to leave. Around 530 he called me a cab and we said our goodbyes. This flight was going to go smoothly, I was early to the airport, there was no delay, I had time to get breakfast and relax before the plane came.
Completely wrong, all that went well but as we were called up to board we were told the flight was delayed for around two hours because this plane was broken as well. For fuck sake, cant a kid get a break ever; I have such a long delay that I know miss my first bus back to Madrid. Easter is sucking ass this year, im gonna stuck in the middle of fucking nowhere for ever.
Finally the plane came, however I was a little hesitant to stay on the plane, right before take of the pilot announced that one of the engines wont turn on and they would have to start in manually before we left the loading dock. Great, what will happen next, will it shut off and not turn back on again in the air? Luckily that didnt happen.
We landed in Alicante(South of Spain), where I ran around lost trying to find the correct bus line to explain the them what had happened. Luckily when I got their they said that's fine, we have your name and you can just get on the next bus. Awesome, the easiest part of the whole trip. Luckily the bus arrived just on time at the transfer station that I just got the next bus into Madrid.
Now all that was left was to wait out the 8 hrs bus ride and arrive home. Finally at a quarter past midnight I arrived home, the family was all still up watching a movie. They were happy to see me and here some things about my trip. I was really tiered and went to bed because I had to get up for my first Spanish class in a couple of hours
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Ireland pt 2
Ahh well I decided to say in Ireland for an extra day, now the problem was where to sleep. Since it was still raining balls I wasnt gonna just sleep outside. I started the search for hostel's. I had no idea where any of them where located because I wasnt planning to stay in one. All that I knew was that there were a couple signs that said hostel on them and pointed down the street.
I went to four hostels, all of them were full which wasnt a surprise since it was easter weekend. Finally I went to the last hostel that was about a half hour walk to the other side of the city. Thankfully they had a couple rooms. I bought my room, left the key at the desk and went to find a beer. The desk man told me where a good bar was, however I didnt find it, so I went into the next bar that I say, it was called Dubarrys.
I went inside and ordered a beer, the first thing I saw was a UFC poster with a date of a match, now I thought great, the average bro bar. The older gentleman next to me (Adrain) asked me if I was alright, I must have still been recovering from my mild heart attack. We started talking and he was very interested in me being from the US, he has only met a few people from there.
We kept talking more and he bought me my next round of drinks. He said that he was off tomorrow and would show me around the city. Great, it's so much better to see the city from a locals point of view because then you can get even more out of everything that you see. I was sold. Soon his friend Antonio came back into the bar. We talked for a while and he was up for showing me around tomorrow as well.
These guys were real nice, they ended up buying all of my drinks throughout the night. My uncle Scott once told me if someones being real friendly they probably want to fuck you. Sure enough that was the case. The next words out of Antonio's mouth were, "although all I want to do is take you home and sleep with you I cant because I have a boyfriend."
It took a second to register then I said, "What?" Now it was just like a movie I looked at the UFC poster and then to the next one on the wall and the next and so on. They were all of guys with their shirts off and posing. Then I turned and looked the other way looking at everyone, there are guys holding hands, walking around with limp wrists, and kissing in the corner.
God dammit im in a gay bar. I felt like a fucking idiot, I had been there for over an hour and hadnt noticed. I must be getting better at not judging people when I first meet them or something. Now my next job was explaining to them that I wasnt gay but this was the first bar I stumbled on and had no idea it was a gay bar. Also I would feel guilty as hell and like an asshole if I just left so I spent the rest of the night there.
Regardless of my sexuality, they were still going to show me around tomorrow. Antonio leaves to have a smoke and Adrian goes to the bathroom. I sitting alone at the bar when another guy comes up and says "Those men dont seem like you type, do you have a boyfriend?" Ah jesus, now I have to explain myself to another guy. It must have been hunting hour because after they both returned another guy came up and offered me a mixed drink. I declined this one just because I didnt see it poured and didnt want things to go south.
However I kinda regret it because it was a drink filled with absinthe, so that would have been fun. Now its last call, so we had another round. After we finish our drinks they go outside to call a taxi, I stayed inside where the bar tender gave me another beer on the house. A third guy came over and asked if he could take me home, he said I was gorgeous and he would be careful and asked for a kiss. I told him I wasnt gay and gave him a high five instead.
I went outside to see Antonio and Adrian, they were talking waiting for a cab, they went back inside and they guy who wanted to take me home came out and asked me again and if I was sure I want gay. I went back inside, didnt see Adrian and Antonio. The guy followed me inside, he bothered me enough that I didnt see Adrian and Antonio leave so tomorrow I was on my own and I took that moment to go back to my hostel.
I got back there and went up to my room, I was sharing a room with five other people, all Japanese and friends. I walked in and they were all watching a terrible Japanese action movie. I figured I would be nice and watch the movie with them. It was about an hour of absolute confusion. I dont know Japonese and missed a lot of the movie already so I had to put together the peices.
Woke up the next morning and left to find some breakfast. Found a very nice and huge breakfast bagel. The majority of my day was spent site seeing. I walked all around belfast taking tons of pictures and enjoying the sun. Soon it began to sprinkle so I went the Ulster museum. That was a sweet musuem. It was full of anything that has happened in Ireland. Cyrstals, meteroits, fish, birds, skeletons, old ass rocks, volcanos stuff, problems of Belfast etc. I spent a long time in there and it was way worth it.
I got a small snack and continued to site see around the city. I went to the bus station and asked when the bus taking going to Belfast International comes, she said all day, every half hour. Great, now that will be easy to get to the airport tomorrow. Unfortunately it started raining again, so I went the the Student Union, the downstairs of the venue, sat relaxed and waited for the show. This is were I got the first glimps of my idols, I watched them walked past me three or four times and became even more excited for the show.
Once again I need to go to sleep for class tomorrow. Tomorrow I will submit the last piece of the successfully unsuccessful, excitingly dull, coincidentally planned adventure
I went to four hostels, all of them were full which wasnt a surprise since it was easter weekend. Finally I went to the last hostel that was about a half hour walk to the other side of the city. Thankfully they had a couple rooms. I bought my room, left the key at the desk and went to find a beer. The desk man told me where a good bar was, however I didnt find it, so I went into the next bar that I say, it was called Dubarrys.
I went inside and ordered a beer, the first thing I saw was a UFC poster with a date of a match, now I thought great, the average bro bar. The older gentleman next to me (Adrain) asked me if I was alright, I must have still been recovering from my mild heart attack. We started talking and he was very interested in me being from the US, he has only met a few people from there.
We kept talking more and he bought me my next round of drinks. He said that he was off tomorrow and would show me around the city. Great, it's so much better to see the city from a locals point of view because then you can get even more out of everything that you see. I was sold. Soon his friend Antonio came back into the bar. We talked for a while and he was up for showing me around tomorrow as well.
These guys were real nice, they ended up buying all of my drinks throughout the night. My uncle Scott once told me if someones being real friendly they probably want to fuck you. Sure enough that was the case. The next words out of Antonio's mouth were, "although all I want to do is take you home and sleep with you I cant because I have a boyfriend."
It took a second to register then I said, "What?" Now it was just like a movie I looked at the UFC poster and then to the next one on the wall and the next and so on. They were all of guys with their shirts off and posing. Then I turned and looked the other way looking at everyone, there are guys holding hands, walking around with limp wrists, and kissing in the corner.
God dammit im in a gay bar. I felt like a fucking idiot, I had been there for over an hour and hadnt noticed. I must be getting better at not judging people when I first meet them or something. Now my next job was explaining to them that I wasnt gay but this was the first bar I stumbled on and had no idea it was a gay bar. Also I would feel guilty as hell and like an asshole if I just left so I spent the rest of the night there.
Regardless of my sexuality, they were still going to show me around tomorrow. Antonio leaves to have a smoke and Adrian goes to the bathroom. I sitting alone at the bar when another guy comes up and says "Those men dont seem like you type, do you have a boyfriend?" Ah jesus, now I have to explain myself to another guy. It must have been hunting hour because after they both returned another guy came up and offered me a mixed drink. I declined this one just because I didnt see it poured and didnt want things to go south.
However I kinda regret it because it was a drink filled with absinthe, so that would have been fun. Now its last call, so we had another round. After we finish our drinks they go outside to call a taxi, I stayed inside where the bar tender gave me another beer on the house. A third guy came over and asked if he could take me home, he said I was gorgeous and he would be careful and asked for a kiss. I told him I wasnt gay and gave him a high five instead.
I went outside to see Antonio and Adrian, they were talking waiting for a cab, they went back inside and they guy who wanted to take me home came out and asked me again and if I was sure I want gay. I went back inside, didnt see Adrian and Antonio. The guy followed me inside, he bothered me enough that I didnt see Adrian and Antonio leave so tomorrow I was on my own and I took that moment to go back to my hostel.
I got back there and went up to my room, I was sharing a room with five other people, all Japanese and friends. I walked in and they were all watching a terrible Japanese action movie. I figured I would be nice and watch the movie with them. It was about an hour of absolute confusion. I dont know Japonese and missed a lot of the movie already so I had to put together the peices.
Woke up the next morning and left to find some breakfast. Found a very nice and huge breakfast bagel. The majority of my day was spent site seeing. I walked all around belfast taking tons of pictures and enjoying the sun. Soon it began to sprinkle so I went the Ulster museum. That was a sweet musuem. It was full of anything that has happened in Ireland. Cyrstals, meteroits, fish, birds, skeletons, old ass rocks, volcanos stuff, problems of Belfast etc. I spent a long time in there and it was way worth it.
I got a small snack and continued to site see around the city. I went to the bus station and asked when the bus taking going to Belfast International comes, she said all day, every half hour. Great, now that will be easy to get to the airport tomorrow. Unfortunately it started raining again, so I went the the Student Union, the downstairs of the venue, sat relaxed and waited for the show. This is were I got the first glimps of my idols, I watched them walked past me three or four times and became even more excited for the show.
Once again I need to go to sleep for class tomorrow. Tomorrow I will submit the last piece of the successfully unsuccessful, excitingly dull, coincidentally planned adventure
Monday, April 5, 2010
Well this post will be quite long because this weekend was full of a lot of interesting things, so I apologize in advance for those who wanted something short and fast to read.
The morning went fairly smooth, I was up early before my alarm rang, I was so anxious for this trip that I got but a few hours of sleep that night. Got all of my stuff together, had breakfast and left for the bus.
It was still dark out being that it was six in the morning, got on the bus and went to Madrid and then the airport by metro. Im glad that I got their real early because the first girl at the check in desk was off of her shift so she was not checking anyone in, just sitting their waiting for the next person to come. Waited in line for about twenty minutes before the next attendant came and then about another twenty minute wait to the desk.
Everything went fairly good for a bit from their, got on the plane, relaxed but couldnt sleep because it was to hot on the plane, and landed smoothly in Palma Mallorca. Unfortunately I had to leave security to check in for my other flight because of the way some airlines operate over here, however I had a hour and a half wait anyway so nothing to rush about.
I went to the check in the desk and the lady said, oh your flight has been delayed so you can't check in for at least and hour and a half. Ugh, I hate layovers especially when they become even longer than you originally anticipated. I went upstairs to the terrace and sat outside in the warm sun shine and ate a sandwich. It had just passed an hour and a half since I got into the airport so I proceeded to the check in desk.
This was a different lady then I had talked to before, I asked her if I could check in for my flight, she responded with, im sorry but check in time for this flight has already been closed sorry. So for about the next ten minutes or so I plead my case on how I was told to wait for an hour and a half until I can check in and it is exactly an hour and thirty five minutes since that point I dont understand whats going on.
She turned around and talked to the gentleman behind her, after they discussed it thankfully she checked me in and gave me my ticket. She said that I was very lucky because she never usually issues tickets after the gate is closed, because technically I would have missed my flight.
Went through security and waited for some time for my flight to get here. The plane was delayed because the one I was supposed to be on was broken and they needed to fly another one in. That was okay but then this plane was 50 minutes behind the delayed time, after we went through the gates, we had to stand in the loading terminal for twenty minutes while they resolved an issue with this plane.
Finally we got on the plane, in the air and of course my seat was broken and didnt recline and made a popping sound every time I moved in it. I was to upset and anxious to sleep. My plans where to walk from the airport to the metro station(forty minutes or so), ride the metro to Belfast Central Station and then walk to the concert. Also I needed to shop in Belfast for some people and now was fairly crunched on time due to everything.
Since I have arrived in Europe, well any country Ive traveled to, have I got such a shake down going through customs. It was about a half hour ordeal of me just answering question: What Im doing here, Where do I live, How long will I be in Madrid, was I in any other European Country's before Madrid, How Much Family I have back home, Questions about the concert-mini quiz on the venue, time, and groups playing, How much cash I have, How much I have in my bank account, What do I have in my pockets and backpack, How Im getting out of Belfast, What Airlines and so much more. I thought asking the lady if I needed a cavity search as well, but then decided she may have forgot that with all these damn questions, so I just let that one fade away in my mind.
I forgot to mention that when I landed in Belfast it started pouring, which kinda sucked due to my walking agenda. Luckily I found a bus from the airport that takes me to some bus stop in Belfast, the conductor said its about a fifteen minute walk from Queens University(which was across from the venue) from the stop. I arrived at the stop, which was really nice and had a small shopping center in it. Talked the information people at the desk got my coordinates and headed of towards the venue. Stopped along the way at a local food joint called Spuds. I will highly recommend this to anyone who goes to Belfast, really good food.
I only had about a half hour until the doors opened so I headed to find the venue, found it soon however there was one weird thing no one was there and all the lights were off. I couldnt figure out what the fuck was going on, I was freaking out and pacing in front of the doors. Finally I found a sign that had the times of upcoming events for the next weeks and read; "The Lawrence Arms Live Saturday April 3, doors at 8."
Am I that much of a fucking idiot that I completely screwed everything up. Well yes in some aspect, to justify myself I just check the website that I used as planning for this trip and it said The Lawrence Arms April 2nd Belfast, however there is a extra note now that says, "Sorry we didnt realized we posted the wrong date for the event on April 2, its actually the 3 of April. I booked my flight and ticket many days, about a week and a half before this notice was posted so now I dont feel to bad. However if I would have check back and on the Lawrence Arms myspace page after they posted their tour I may have caught that but that info just wasnt available at the time.
Back to the story, Im running around frantic trying to find an internet cafe to see if its possible to change my flights and consult my parents to see what their advice was. Luckily my mom was online, chances of that were slim as hell and luckily it things were kinda playing in my favor at the second. I was emailing her about twice a second and checking on routes home. She helped me out and said if music is that important to me I should go anyway.
Thats what I proceeded to do, however my funds were low in my checking account and I needed to transfer money from my saving. Now the computer wont allow me to transfer funds so I have to get back in touch with my mom and have her do it for me. I could change one of my flights but not the other and the only cheap thing was a 8 hour bus from Alicante in the south of Spain to Madrid.
Thats what I did and it cost me a little less than 100 to change everything. Which now that I think of it was worth every penny and I would do it again in a hear beat. I now leave you with this section and will update the rest tomorrow, I need sleep because I have school tomorrow, pictures are up on the website, some from belfast, concert, and real madrid soccer match
The morning went fairly smooth, I was up early before my alarm rang, I was so anxious for this trip that I got but a few hours of sleep that night. Got all of my stuff together, had breakfast and left for the bus.
It was still dark out being that it was six in the morning, got on the bus and went to Madrid and then the airport by metro. Im glad that I got their real early because the first girl at the check in desk was off of her shift so she was not checking anyone in, just sitting their waiting for the next person to come. Waited in line for about twenty minutes before the next attendant came and then about another twenty minute wait to the desk.
Everything went fairly good for a bit from their, got on the plane, relaxed but couldnt sleep because it was to hot on the plane, and landed smoothly in Palma Mallorca. Unfortunately I had to leave security to check in for my other flight because of the way some airlines operate over here, however I had a hour and a half wait anyway so nothing to rush about.
I went to the check in the desk and the lady said, oh your flight has been delayed so you can't check in for at least and hour and a half. Ugh, I hate layovers especially when they become even longer than you originally anticipated. I went upstairs to the terrace and sat outside in the warm sun shine and ate a sandwich. It had just passed an hour and a half since I got into the airport so I proceeded to the check in desk.
This was a different lady then I had talked to before, I asked her if I could check in for my flight, she responded with, im sorry but check in time for this flight has already been closed sorry. So for about the next ten minutes or so I plead my case on how I was told to wait for an hour and a half until I can check in and it is exactly an hour and thirty five minutes since that point I dont understand whats going on.
She turned around and talked to the gentleman behind her, after they discussed it thankfully she checked me in and gave me my ticket. She said that I was very lucky because she never usually issues tickets after the gate is closed, because technically I would have missed my flight.
Went through security and waited for some time for my flight to get here. The plane was delayed because the one I was supposed to be on was broken and they needed to fly another one in. That was okay but then this plane was 50 minutes behind the delayed time, after we went through the gates, we had to stand in the loading terminal for twenty minutes while they resolved an issue with this plane.
Finally we got on the plane, in the air and of course my seat was broken and didnt recline and made a popping sound every time I moved in it. I was to upset and anxious to sleep. My plans where to walk from the airport to the metro station(forty minutes or so), ride the metro to Belfast Central Station and then walk to the concert. Also I needed to shop in Belfast for some people and now was fairly crunched on time due to everything.
Since I have arrived in Europe, well any country Ive traveled to, have I got such a shake down going through customs. It was about a half hour ordeal of me just answering question: What Im doing here, Where do I live, How long will I be in Madrid, was I in any other European Country's before Madrid, How Much Family I have back home, Questions about the concert-mini quiz on the venue, time, and groups playing, How much cash I have, How much I have in my bank account, What do I have in my pockets and backpack, How Im getting out of Belfast, What Airlines and so much more. I thought asking the lady if I needed a cavity search as well, but then decided she may have forgot that with all these damn questions, so I just let that one fade away in my mind.
I forgot to mention that when I landed in Belfast it started pouring, which kinda sucked due to my walking agenda. Luckily I found a bus from the airport that takes me to some bus stop in Belfast, the conductor said its about a fifteen minute walk from Queens University(which was across from the venue) from the stop. I arrived at the stop, which was really nice and had a small shopping center in it. Talked the information people at the desk got my coordinates and headed of towards the venue. Stopped along the way at a local food joint called Spuds. I will highly recommend this to anyone who goes to Belfast, really good food.
I only had about a half hour until the doors opened so I headed to find the venue, found it soon however there was one weird thing no one was there and all the lights were off. I couldnt figure out what the fuck was going on, I was freaking out and pacing in front of the doors. Finally I found a sign that had the times of upcoming events for the next weeks and read; "The Lawrence Arms Live Saturday April 3, doors at 8."
Am I that much of a fucking idiot that I completely screwed everything up. Well yes in some aspect, to justify myself I just check the website that I used as planning for this trip and it said The Lawrence Arms April 2nd Belfast, however there is a extra note now that says, "Sorry we didnt realized we posted the wrong date for the event on April 2, its actually the 3 of April. I booked my flight and ticket many days, about a week and a half before this notice was posted so now I dont feel to bad. However if I would have check back and on the Lawrence Arms myspace page after they posted their tour I may have caught that but that info just wasnt available at the time.
Back to the story, Im running around frantic trying to find an internet cafe to see if its possible to change my flights and consult my parents to see what their advice was. Luckily my mom was online, chances of that were slim as hell and luckily it things were kinda playing in my favor at the second. I was emailing her about twice a second and checking on routes home. She helped me out and said if music is that important to me I should go anyway.
Thats what I proceeded to do, however my funds were low in my checking account and I needed to transfer money from my saving. Now the computer wont allow me to transfer funds so I have to get back in touch with my mom and have her do it for me. I could change one of my flights but not the other and the only cheap thing was a 8 hour bus from Alicante in the south of Spain to Madrid.
Thats what I did and it cost me a little less than 100 to change everything. Which now that I think of it was worth every penny and I would do it again in a hear beat. I now leave you with this section and will update the rest tomorrow, I need sleep because I have school tomorrow, pictures are up on the website, some from belfast, concert, and real madrid soccer match
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Well it seems yesterday I forgot to tell you about my plans, im going to Ireland this weekend to see The Lawrence Arms a chicago punk band. Today when I was checking over all of my stuff I came across a problem, one of the plane tickets i purchased wasnt correct, i had bought the wrong time slot.
After about an hours of trying to fix it I had to stop because I was so frustrated. I calmed down and realized the only way to make this still work is to eat the first ticket and buy another. Its not the worst thing that can happen it just fuckin pisses me off dealing with Ryan Air another time because they suck ass, but at the same time offer cheap flights so you have to deal.
Today the kids and I played outside and played a lot of different games. We decided that it would be a good idea to cook something small to go with the pallea we had for dinner. Everyone would be home tonight so we figured if we cooked for them they could just relax and so we thats what we did.The kids decided that we needed to cook another pizza.
We went to the store to buy some groceries, returned home only to find that we had no tomato sauce. We had to quickly run back to the store and make another run through to get the sauce. After that things went smoother, the kids made the dough and I helped Miguel with the sauce and the spices. However the kids decided the taste; which turned out really good.
Now I leave you to calm down and check on the pizza
After about an hours of trying to fix it I had to stop because I was so frustrated. I calmed down and realized the only way to make this still work is to eat the first ticket and buy another. Its not the worst thing that can happen it just fuckin pisses me off dealing with Ryan Air another time because they suck ass, but at the same time offer cheap flights so you have to deal.
Today the kids and I played outside and played a lot of different games. We decided that it would be a good idea to cook something small to go with the pallea we had for dinner. Everyone would be home tonight so we figured if we cooked for them they could just relax and so we thats what we did.The kids decided that we needed to cook another pizza.
We went to the store to buy some groceries, returned home only to find that we had no tomato sauce. We had to quickly run back to the store and make another run through to get the sauce. After that things went smoother, the kids made the dough and I helped Miguel with the sauce and the spices. However the kids decided the taste; which turned out really good.
Now I leave you to calm down and check on the pizza
Monday, March 29, 2010
Well it seems like I have a lot of catching up to do, a lot of summarizing will happen. This week was fairly mild, Monday I stayed around the house resting and looking at projects to do with the kids because this friday and the following mon+tue im here with the boys all day.
Not much else happened, I looked online at tickets for various things, had a relaxing class when the kids came back. It was the first class in over a week since the whole family was gone to San Sebastian. They had returned late Sunday night. Class was really easy going because their grandfather had just passed away so I didnt want to push it.
Sofia and I continued are ritual for starting classes on Mon, Wed, having chocolate milk. We see who can blow bubbles the fastest, most, and over the top the fastest with the milk. Sometimes messy but it helps Sofia get in a good mood for classes.
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Tues was another day at the house, it was fairly gloomy out all day so it wasnt worth a trip into madrid.
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Wed was Martha's(Language assistant) going away lunch cause she is going to do some traveling and then return home. We ate at 100 Montaditos, it is a great place on Wed. Every Montadito(bread with: meat or cheese, desert ones with chocolate, tuna+lettuce really annthing) and beer is 1 euro so it's def a good bargin.
After we ate and talked for a while I returned home to pick Sofia up from school. We started class like always and then did some translating and so on. On wed class is very short because all the kids have sports that day. Normally I will have class with Irene but she took this time to pack. Her and Sofia were going to the Canary Islands on Thurs until Tues.
Dinner had finished so I looked online and bought tickets for the next futbol match here in Madrid. Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid on Sunday evening. I told Miguel who is a huge Real Madrid fan, his life stops for the games, he doesnt eat or talk to anyone when the games on. After I told him he was really jealous and told me about the times he had gone to the matches.
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Thur was the kids last day of school before easter break. Sofia and Irene left for the Canary Islands and I stayed home to wait for the boys to return. We didnt have real class today just some talking cause they were now on break and no one wants to do classes on break.
I had a very nice conversation with my family and found out some real interesting news. My brother built the fastest pine wood derby car in his boyscout pack this year. Winning means you get a huge as trophy and get to go to Corvallis for regionals
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Friday I woke up and made breakfast for Gonzalo and I. Miguel was gone to a soccer tournament so it was just Gonzalo and I. After dinner we were quite lazy and played some games inside and then went outside to play some soccer. We took shots for a while, after we were bored with that we played a handball game that him and Miguel had invented.
After we were quite exhausted and hot, we went inside and made paper airplanes. After a couple of hours I believe we had each made four or five, flown them outside and ruined out first ones. We then had some lunch before we left for the park
Gonzalo wanted to see if one of his friends was down their so we rode down on bikes. Unlucky we started back home, however we didnt come back empty handed. We stopped at the small convenient store and bought some candy.
It was getting darker out so we played one last set of handball before going inside for the night. The kids are addicted to The Simpsons and American Dad so we sat down and watched that for a while. We kept ourselves entertained and busy until Oscar came home. We ate dinner quickly because Oscar brought home a film that he company was apart of.
It was one on the ocean, kinda like blue planet but almost two hours long and very well done, every shot taken was moving, it was never a tripod or stationary camera in the water but a scubba diver with a camera. It was really well done and Im gonna try and get a copy of it to bring back home.
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Saturday Oscar was home so we relaxed, Gonzalo and I played a couple games outside and then came in to get out of the sun. Some of Oscar's family was comming over for lunch and Oscar was going to make Paella. I watched him make it, they have a giant pan to it, it's a 2' circle.
The food was really good and as soon as it ended we were off. I got a free ride into Madrid from Oscar who had to bring Gonzalo to a party. I stayed in Madrid for several hours watching all the street performances, things from magic to music, art, etc. I had my first waffle, chocolate and whip cream here and ti was excellent.
I stayed in Madrid for a bit longer, bought a bag of candy for the match tomorrow and returned home. I got in around midnight and was surprised to see that I beat Gonzalo and Oscar home. I fell asleep before they returned so Im not sure what time they got in.
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Sunday I woke up and it was a very nice day, Oscar decided that we should go skiing for a couple of hours, of course I said I would go. So we headed off the hill that was about an hour or so away. Unfortunately there wasnt much snow. As in not much only the tow rope was open unless you wanted to hike. We still went because Gonzalo wanted to work on his snowboarding.
Oscar went hiking while we played around. This was only Gonzalo's second time on a snowboard and he has the basic falling leaf down so hes off to a great start. He got tired of hiking real fast(he didnt like the to rope) so we took a break, ate some lunch and had a snowball fight.
We hadn't seen Oscar in quite some time but had noticed someone climbing the whole mountain. We got a call about ten minuets later from Oscar, he was at the top of the mountain and was coming down and then we would leave. We went back out and did some more hiking around and I played around a bit.
We finished and returned to the house, I took a shower and went to the bus. I was going to Madrid early to pick up my ticket and have something to eat first. Little did I know that I was spring forward so I was an hour behind. After waiting for the bus for over an hour I hopped on the next one that came hoping that it stopped by Plaza Castilla, luckily it did. Soon I figured out that the match started in twenty minutes and that I was really behind.
I got on the metro, to it to the station, ran to the stadium, got my ticket, fought through the crowd of people going to their seats and arrived at mine just as the players were waling onto the field. I had a great seat, I was in the south corner, fifth section. It was far but not to far, I had a perfect view of the whole field. It could see everything that happened really clearly, I see another match sometime in my future.
The Stadium is huge, I will put up some photos. The first half of the match I had never heard a crowed of 63,000. Real Madrid was playing very poorly and was down a point. Luckily things turned around and it was a real exciting second half. Real Madrid came out on top in the end 3-2.
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Today I woke up and the kids had just gotten up themselves, Miguel had returned on Sunday from his tournament. I made breakfast again, after we finished Miguel was very tired from playing four matches and wanted to sit around for awhile, we played some games, xbox, and then went outside and played futbol for a while.
The tension between the brother started to grow so we took a break, had lunch, and relaxed. We had been talking about food and the kids said that they have only had doughnuts a couple times but love them. It's just not something normal that they eat here. Gonzalo and I went down to the store and I bought doughnuts for us in the morning; the boys are very excited. We played some more outside and now are relaxing. We are going to cook a side dish for dinner tonight and surprise Oscar
Not much else happened, I looked online at tickets for various things, had a relaxing class when the kids came back. It was the first class in over a week since the whole family was gone to San Sebastian. They had returned late Sunday night. Class was really easy going because their grandfather had just passed away so I didnt want to push it.
Sofia and I continued are ritual for starting classes on Mon, Wed, having chocolate milk. We see who can blow bubbles the fastest, most, and over the top the fastest with the milk. Sometimes messy but it helps Sofia get in a good mood for classes.
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Tues was another day at the house, it was fairly gloomy out all day so it wasnt worth a trip into madrid.
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Wed was Martha's(Language assistant) going away lunch cause she is going to do some traveling and then return home. We ate at 100 Montaditos, it is a great place on Wed. Every Montadito(bread with: meat or cheese, desert ones with chocolate, tuna+lettuce really annthing) and beer is 1 euro so it's def a good bargin.
After we ate and talked for a while I returned home to pick Sofia up from school. We started class like always and then did some translating and so on. On wed class is very short because all the kids have sports that day. Normally I will have class with Irene but she took this time to pack. Her and Sofia were going to the Canary Islands on Thurs until Tues.
Dinner had finished so I looked online and bought tickets for the next futbol match here in Madrid. Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid on Sunday evening. I told Miguel who is a huge Real Madrid fan, his life stops for the games, he doesnt eat or talk to anyone when the games on. After I told him he was really jealous and told me about the times he had gone to the matches.
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Thur was the kids last day of school before easter break. Sofia and Irene left for the Canary Islands and I stayed home to wait for the boys to return. We didnt have real class today just some talking cause they were now on break and no one wants to do classes on break.
I had a very nice conversation with my family and found out some real interesting news. My brother built the fastest pine wood derby car in his boyscout pack this year. Winning means you get a huge as trophy and get to go to Corvallis for regionals
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Friday I woke up and made breakfast for Gonzalo and I. Miguel was gone to a soccer tournament so it was just Gonzalo and I. After dinner we were quite lazy and played some games inside and then went outside to play some soccer. We took shots for a while, after we were bored with that we played a handball game that him and Miguel had invented.
After we were quite exhausted and hot, we went inside and made paper airplanes. After a couple of hours I believe we had each made four or five, flown them outside and ruined out first ones. We then had some lunch before we left for the park
Gonzalo wanted to see if one of his friends was down their so we rode down on bikes. Unlucky we started back home, however we didnt come back empty handed. We stopped at the small convenient store and bought some candy.
It was getting darker out so we played one last set of handball before going inside for the night. The kids are addicted to The Simpsons and American Dad so we sat down and watched that for a while. We kept ourselves entertained and busy until Oscar came home. We ate dinner quickly because Oscar brought home a film that he company was apart of.
It was one on the ocean, kinda like blue planet but almost two hours long and very well done, every shot taken was moving, it was never a tripod or stationary camera in the water but a scubba diver with a camera. It was really well done and Im gonna try and get a copy of it to bring back home.
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Saturday Oscar was home so we relaxed, Gonzalo and I played a couple games outside and then came in to get out of the sun. Some of Oscar's family was comming over for lunch and Oscar was going to make Paella. I watched him make it, they have a giant pan to it, it's a 2' circle.
The food was really good and as soon as it ended we were off. I got a free ride into Madrid from Oscar who had to bring Gonzalo to a party. I stayed in Madrid for several hours watching all the street performances, things from magic to music, art, etc. I had my first waffle, chocolate and whip cream here and ti was excellent.
I stayed in Madrid for a bit longer, bought a bag of candy for the match tomorrow and returned home. I got in around midnight and was surprised to see that I beat Gonzalo and Oscar home. I fell asleep before they returned so Im not sure what time they got in.
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Sunday I woke up and it was a very nice day, Oscar decided that we should go skiing for a couple of hours, of course I said I would go. So we headed off the hill that was about an hour or so away. Unfortunately there wasnt much snow. As in not much only the tow rope was open unless you wanted to hike. We still went because Gonzalo wanted to work on his snowboarding.
Oscar went hiking while we played around. This was only Gonzalo's second time on a snowboard and he has the basic falling leaf down so hes off to a great start. He got tired of hiking real fast(he didnt like the to rope) so we took a break, ate some lunch and had a snowball fight.
We hadn't seen Oscar in quite some time but had noticed someone climbing the whole mountain. We got a call about ten minuets later from Oscar, he was at the top of the mountain and was coming down and then we would leave. We went back out and did some more hiking around and I played around a bit.
We finished and returned to the house, I took a shower and went to the bus. I was going to Madrid early to pick up my ticket and have something to eat first. Little did I know that I was spring forward so I was an hour behind. After waiting for the bus for over an hour I hopped on the next one that came hoping that it stopped by Plaza Castilla, luckily it did. Soon I figured out that the match started in twenty minutes and that I was really behind.
I got on the metro, to it to the station, ran to the stadium, got my ticket, fought through the crowd of people going to their seats and arrived at mine just as the players were waling onto the field. I had a great seat, I was in the south corner, fifth section. It was far but not to far, I had a perfect view of the whole field. It could see everything that happened really clearly, I see another match sometime in my future.
The Stadium is huge, I will put up some photos. The first half of the match I had never heard a crowed of 63,000. Real Madrid was playing very poorly and was down a point. Luckily things turned around and it was a real exciting second half. Real Madrid came out on top in the end 3-2.
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Today I woke up and the kids had just gotten up themselves, Miguel had returned on Sunday from his tournament. I made breakfast again, after we finished Miguel was very tired from playing four matches and wanted to sit around for awhile, we played some games, xbox, and then went outside and played futbol for a while.
The tension between the brother started to grow so we took a break, had lunch, and relaxed. We had been talking about food and the kids said that they have only had doughnuts a couple times but love them. It's just not something normal that they eat here. Gonzalo and I went down to the store and I bought doughnuts for us in the morning; the boys are very excited. We played some more outside and now are relaxing. We are going to cook a side dish for dinner tonight and surprise Oscar
Monday, March 22, 2010
Before I tell you all about my amazing weekend I want to tell you the change of plans for my pictures once again. Go to snapfish.co.uk, sign in as prayingforsnow247@aol.com the password is letitsnow-no spaces. This way you dont have to follow those long links. Once you log in you should be able to see all my albums, however if some arnt there that you want to look at another time or havnt got a chance to look at go up to photos at the top and that will take you to all of my albums. Also in the slide show mode it you want to see the captions on some photos go the one of the bottons to the right and click it, it will tell you which one
This weekend I went to Valencia for the Las Fallas festival. Valencia is a coastal town in the east of Spain and is about straight across from Madrid. I left on Friday around noon for a four hour bus ride. Buss's were leaving every half hour from Madrid and everyone was mostly full.
I headed off with a new group, Felecia from Colorado, Martha from Chicago, and Abbie and Sarah from England. Once in Valencia we tried to find out where we were in relation to where we need to go. Maps in Valencia, both hand maps and ones on the side of the streets, are not as helpful as the ones I have encountered in Madrid and Koln. First they dont label all the streets, dont have a street index and dont tell you where you are in relation to everything else.
We just followed the crowed of people and started making are way into the center of the city. After we found the first falla we needed no more directions other that where do we want to go. We walked around looking at all the diffetent fallas and some drinks in a supermarket because they were way cheaper.
We headed after to the city wall(castle) looked around for a bit and watched a fresh batch of churros be made. They looked good and it was something that was going to be in my near future. We walked along the streets taking pictures of fallas and people dressed up in costumes. We all decided that we were terrible hungry for none of us had eaten much.
We walked around to find somewhere nice to eat. Eventually we a nice restaurant that served various paella's. We were quite bummed at the time to find they didnt have valencian paella. We settled for a meat one instead. When we were eating some of the meat we decided it wasnt chicken but rabbit. Not scarred we all kept eating. Side note-a few days later we found out we actually ate Valencia paella because it was made with chicken and rabit and I guess it's their vernsion.
After dinner it was dark or nearly dark and we wanted to find a falla that would be lit on fire soon. Luckily we found one quite near that was already on fire and almost completely burned. We wanted to see the real thing so we walked up the street behind us and I asked the man when it was going to be lit on fire. He said nine thirty but he lied it was more like ten thirty.
This was the first falla that I got to see light on fire and I wasnt sure what to expect. They wrapped it in wire that had maybe firecrackers or flares to catch things on fire. Then they repeatedly stabbed holes in it and poured kerosene all over it. The fireworks started which announced to everyone that this was about to start.
A guy goes and lights the fuse, the wire that was wrapped around the falla, I was thinking that it was going to be a fuse and take some time, wrong. He lights it and within 2 seconds the fire travels 15 feet and bursting the falla into flames. It wasnt a settle burst either it was a loud explosion, normally these dont bother me but this one was loud, as soon as it went off I was engulfed in to much heat and debris hit me in the face. So I scooted back a bit to finish my picture taking. When it was almost all burnt out and the shock was worn off another explosion happened. I forgot that they put gun powder in the falla and around it. This explosion was louder and i felt the shock wave, scared again.
We walked around for a bit after looking for other fallas and for fresh good churros. We kept running into booths that were ridiculously expensive and most of them didnt have chocolate to serve with you churros. Upset we walked around until we found a good deal. After we headed to a big falla to watch the massive fire. This fallas was quite big and very fun to watch burn.
This one unfortunately didnt explode and had a hard time catching on fire, however it was very fun to watch burn. I cant believe the amount of work that goes into those and they just burn them every year. But great for tourism
After it burned to the ground we set near another one. We waited for over an hour and nothing happened so we left. To our great surprise the city of Valencia was almost completely closed. Nothing was open, only a select few cafe's and they were packed. We evaluated the situation, nothing was going to open 'til ten or so, its two thirty and we dont leave until 630 that evening.
With a group decision we left for the bus station, got our tickets changed for a bus leaving at three. Luckily they were free. I returned home and made some food then went to bed for a couple of hours
This weekend I went to Valencia for the Las Fallas festival. Valencia is a coastal town in the east of Spain and is about straight across from Madrid. I left on Friday around noon for a four hour bus ride. Buss's were leaving every half hour from Madrid and everyone was mostly full.
I headed off with a new group, Felecia from Colorado, Martha from Chicago, and Abbie and Sarah from England. Once in Valencia we tried to find out where we were in relation to where we need to go. Maps in Valencia, both hand maps and ones on the side of the streets, are not as helpful as the ones I have encountered in Madrid and Koln. First they dont label all the streets, dont have a street index and dont tell you where you are in relation to everything else.
We just followed the crowed of people and started making are way into the center of the city. After we found the first falla we needed no more directions other that where do we want to go. We walked around looking at all the diffetent fallas and some drinks in a supermarket because they were way cheaper.
We headed after to the city wall(castle) looked around for a bit and watched a fresh batch of churros be made. They looked good and it was something that was going to be in my near future. We walked along the streets taking pictures of fallas and people dressed up in costumes. We all decided that we were terrible hungry for none of us had eaten much.
We walked around to find somewhere nice to eat. Eventually we a nice restaurant that served various paella's. We were quite bummed at the time to find they didnt have valencian paella. We settled for a meat one instead. When we were eating some of the meat we decided it wasnt chicken but rabbit. Not scarred we all kept eating. Side note-a few days later we found out we actually ate Valencia paella because it was made with chicken and rabit and I guess it's their vernsion.
After dinner it was dark or nearly dark and we wanted to find a falla that would be lit on fire soon. Luckily we found one quite near that was already on fire and almost completely burned. We wanted to see the real thing so we walked up the street behind us and I asked the man when it was going to be lit on fire. He said nine thirty but he lied it was more like ten thirty.
This was the first falla that I got to see light on fire and I wasnt sure what to expect. They wrapped it in wire that had maybe firecrackers or flares to catch things on fire. Then they repeatedly stabbed holes in it and poured kerosene all over it. The fireworks started which announced to everyone that this was about to start.
A guy goes and lights the fuse, the wire that was wrapped around the falla, I was thinking that it was going to be a fuse and take some time, wrong. He lights it and within 2 seconds the fire travels 15 feet and bursting the falla into flames. It wasnt a settle burst either it was a loud explosion, normally these dont bother me but this one was loud, as soon as it went off I was engulfed in to much heat and debris hit me in the face. So I scooted back a bit to finish my picture taking. When it was almost all burnt out and the shock was worn off another explosion happened. I forgot that they put gun powder in the falla and around it. This explosion was louder and i felt the shock wave, scared again.
We walked around for a bit after looking for other fallas and for fresh good churros. We kept running into booths that were ridiculously expensive and most of them didnt have chocolate to serve with you churros. Upset we walked around until we found a good deal. After we headed to a big falla to watch the massive fire. This fallas was quite big and very fun to watch burn.
This one unfortunately didnt explode and had a hard time catching on fire, however it was very fun to watch burn. I cant believe the amount of work that goes into those and they just burn them every year. But great for tourism
After it burned to the ground we set near another one. We waited for over an hour and nothing happened so we left. To our great surprise the city of Valencia was almost completely closed. Nothing was open, only a select few cafe's and they were packed. We evaluated the situation, nothing was going to open 'til ten or so, its two thirty and we dont leave until 630 that evening.
With a group decision we left for the bus station, got our tickets changed for a bus leaving at three. Luckily they were free. I returned home and made some food then went to bed for a couple of hours
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Prior to yesterday my days here have been fairly calm. It has been very sunny and warm outside. I spend a good deal of time outside with the dogs, on the git fiddle, and playing soccer. The house has been very quiet because none of the family has returned from San Sebastian. It is very interesting being in another country, still not all the way settled in and in charge of someones house. Its feels different than house sitting because Im still in the learning stretch of my privileges and responsibilities to the house and family.
Since I woke up I have been thinking how to talk with my family about this weekend. Im supposed to be leaving for Valencia tomorrow. However that would mean leaving the house and the dogs alone. Ive just been thinking of how to phrase it, I dont want to sound rude because they are dealing with some very important family issues currently and I dont know how to ask them if its ok.
Some other news: I have had a different house keeper since Thursday. Margarita left for the Dominican Republic and will not return until the 28 of March. Salma has been very nice while she has been here. She makes dinner a lot and yesterday morning I had to tell her not to make me dinner because I had so many left overs. Today, well this afternoon, when I woke up and made it out of my cave I went up to the kitchen for some food and Salma has made dinner for me yet again and it looks delicious.
Well as most of you know, yesterday was St Patrick's Day, I woke up at a reasonably late time scrambled with getting out the door to meet Abbie and Sarah-both language assistance that I met here and they are both from England. We were going to do a tour of the Royal Palace. Upon arriving at the Palace we quickly learned that the Palace was closed to the public today which was a bummer. Not to be let down for it was a beautiful day; we set off to find food for a picnic.
We found a nice shop where I got a sandwich, apple, and a beer for two euros which is a great deal and went to a park for a while. We sat in the sun, ate our sandwiches, wathced people row boats and relaxed. After a fair amount of time passed we all headed back to our houses to relax before my night started.
Well the plan was for me to take a little bit of a nap since I would be out all night, but plans quickly changed. I decided to learn some new songs on the guitar, play with the dogs and doing things opposite of relaxing and conserving energy.
Around nine I headed back into the city to meet people for tonight. When I got on the bus it was mostly full of teenagers. I met abbie and we headed down to puerta del sol to meet a group of other language assistants. Having never meet these people before they were kinda hard to locate and the only other contact I had was at a jazz club until midnight.
After we waited by the bear in sol we gave up and went to a bar until later. Now that I think about it I did see them there(im meet them later that night). Abbie and I found ourselves a nice bar, it wasnt an irish bar but it didnt have a line, cover charge, and it had empty bar stools.
We sat down and ordered our first drinks of the evening. In my mind the only way you can drink beer on St Pattie's Day is by the pint. We talked for a while and after my pint we ordered a picture of sangria and enjoyed that. Soon enough it was mid night and Felica got out of her jazz club. We met up at an Irish pub and I met the rest of the group that I was supposed to meet earlier.
Finally I made it to an Irish bar so I could enjoy my pints of guiness now. We sat in the bar taking, making new friends with some of the locals and killing time. Sooner than I expected it was maybe 5ish and we left the bar to find some churros.
We were(I) was a bit distracted by one of the guys that works there cause of his really bright red wig he was wearing. We ended up talking for a bit, he was trying to convince me that he was from Ireland himself which is why he works there. This could be true but I dont know I was convinced but Abbie wasnt. He then gave us some nice St Patties Day hats and I bought us a shot of Jameson. Finally we left in search of churros. This was my first churros expereince in Spain and I have to say it was really good, unlike any others that ive had. You got to dip them in fresh warm milk chocolate. So good
After churros we walked some more to find another bar. We wanted to find a new place so w kept waking when we met some people on the side or the street, or in the street, or was it an ally? I dont know the fine details. We were talking with them and one of the three guys was rolling a joint. We stuck around for about two more minuets talking with them.
He wasnt being to discrete that he had weed. About thirty seconds after he lit his joint three men walked over, I was paying that much attention but i think felicia and abbie started to walk away. One man comes up to me and tells me its now allowed here-said it in Spanish. It was some street cops, I took the easy way out raised both my hands and said look man I dont speak any spanish ad im not from here. Felicia yelled at me to go so I quickly walked away.
We finally found a bar were we settled for about an hour. A couple interesting things happened there. First when I came back from the bathroom I sat down next to Felicia and Abbie. Some time, a short time, went by when I noticed a two men sitting next to me and behind them was a really nice guitar. I turned around to get a better look at it and the closest fellow to me said something.
I asked him if I could look at his guitar, he said no, well he didnt just say no he kind of pushed me back. I told him i didnt need to pick it up but can i look at it. He said no its nothing forget about it, i didnt hear that the first time and asked him to repeat it, he did and he was pissed. His friend quickly
Next I met a very nice deaf elder man, unfortunately i never got his name. He was very nice and fixed my shirt a couple of times so that I looked nice. I tried hard to buy him a drink, he refused, I couldnt even buy him water. I got my picture with this nice man and then we left for breakfast.
I was trying hard to stay awake the best that I could on the bus ride home but it didnt work. Luckily my head smashed off the window just in time, we were one stop before mine. I got off the bus and walked home. I didnt know at the time but i think i was speed walking/staggering whatever you want to call it back to my house.
As soon as I was in the door and headed for my room, drew the shades and went to sleep.
Since I woke up I have been thinking how to talk with my family about this weekend. Im supposed to be leaving for Valencia tomorrow. However that would mean leaving the house and the dogs alone. Ive just been thinking of how to phrase it, I dont want to sound rude because they are dealing with some very important family issues currently and I dont know how to ask them if its ok.
Some other news: I have had a different house keeper since Thursday. Margarita left for the Dominican Republic and will not return until the 28 of March. Salma has been very nice while she has been here. She makes dinner a lot and yesterday morning I had to tell her not to make me dinner because I had so many left overs. Today, well this afternoon, when I woke up and made it out of my cave I went up to the kitchen for some food and Salma has made dinner for me yet again and it looks delicious.
Well as most of you know, yesterday was St Patrick's Day, I woke up at a reasonably late time scrambled with getting out the door to meet Abbie and Sarah-both language assistance that I met here and they are both from England. We were going to do a tour of the Royal Palace. Upon arriving at the Palace we quickly learned that the Palace was closed to the public today which was a bummer. Not to be let down for it was a beautiful day; we set off to find food for a picnic.
We found a nice shop where I got a sandwich, apple, and a beer for two euros which is a great deal and went to a park for a while. We sat in the sun, ate our sandwiches, wathced people row boats and relaxed. After a fair amount of time passed we all headed back to our houses to relax before my night started.
Well the plan was for me to take a little bit of a nap since I would be out all night, but plans quickly changed. I decided to learn some new songs on the guitar, play with the dogs and doing things opposite of relaxing and conserving energy.
Around nine I headed back into the city to meet people for tonight. When I got on the bus it was mostly full of teenagers. I met abbie and we headed down to puerta del sol to meet a group of other language assistants. Having never meet these people before they were kinda hard to locate and the only other contact I had was at a jazz club until midnight.
After we waited by the bear in sol we gave up and went to a bar until later. Now that I think about it I did see them there(im meet them later that night). Abbie and I found ourselves a nice bar, it wasnt an irish bar but it didnt have a line, cover charge, and it had empty bar stools.
We sat down and ordered our first drinks of the evening. In my mind the only way you can drink beer on St Pattie's Day is by the pint. We talked for a while and after my pint we ordered a picture of sangria and enjoyed that. Soon enough it was mid night and Felica got out of her jazz club. We met up at an Irish pub and I met the rest of the group that I was supposed to meet earlier.
Finally I made it to an Irish bar so I could enjoy my pints of guiness now. We sat in the bar taking, making new friends with some of the locals and killing time. Sooner than I expected it was maybe 5ish and we left the bar to find some churros.
We were(I) was a bit distracted by one of the guys that works there cause of his really bright red wig he was wearing. We ended up talking for a bit, he was trying to convince me that he was from Ireland himself which is why he works there. This could be true but I dont know I was convinced but Abbie wasnt. He then gave us some nice St Patties Day hats and I bought us a shot of Jameson. Finally we left in search of churros. This was my first churros expereince in Spain and I have to say it was really good, unlike any others that ive had. You got to dip them in fresh warm milk chocolate. So good
After churros we walked some more to find another bar. We wanted to find a new place so w kept waking when we met some people on the side or the street, or in the street, or was it an ally? I dont know the fine details. We were talking with them and one of the three guys was rolling a joint. We stuck around for about two more minuets talking with them.
He wasnt being to discrete that he had weed. About thirty seconds after he lit his joint three men walked over, I was paying that much attention but i think felicia and abbie started to walk away. One man comes up to me and tells me its now allowed here-said it in Spanish. It was some street cops, I took the easy way out raised both my hands and said look man I dont speak any spanish ad im not from here. Felicia yelled at me to go so I quickly walked away.
We finally found a bar were we settled for about an hour. A couple interesting things happened there. First when I came back from the bathroom I sat down next to Felicia and Abbie. Some time, a short time, went by when I noticed a two men sitting next to me and behind them was a really nice guitar. I turned around to get a better look at it and the closest fellow to me said something.
I asked him if I could look at his guitar, he said no, well he didnt just say no he kind of pushed me back. I told him i didnt need to pick it up but can i look at it. He said no its nothing forget about it, i didnt hear that the first time and asked him to repeat it, he did and he was pissed. His friend quickly
Next I met a very nice deaf elder man, unfortunately i never got his name. He was very nice and fixed my shirt a couple of times so that I looked nice. I tried hard to buy him a drink, he refused, I couldnt even buy him water. I got my picture with this nice man and then we left for breakfast.
I was trying hard to stay awake the best that I could on the bus ride home but it didnt work. Luckily my head smashed off the window just in time, we were one stop before mine. I got off the bus and walked home. I didnt know at the time but i think i was speed walking/staggering whatever you want to call it back to my house.
As soon as I was in the door and headed for my room, drew the shades and went to sleep.
Monday, March 15, 2010
13.03.10
It was nice and sunny today with just a few clouds in the sky. I was planning on going into Madrid to see the Almudena Cathedral and some of the Reina Sofia. I had breakfast and got ready to leave when I got a message from Geno(i think thats how you spell his name but i have no idea). He is a kid around my age that lives here in Madrid and lives just across the bridge from me in the Urbanization Ciudalcampo.
He wanted to know if I would go skating with him and Javi(I know that this one is right). I still hadn't formally met Geno so I decided to go along. As most of you figured I didn't do much skating, mostly took pictures. I actually took a lot of photos for them and they really liked that. I think I counted around 400 when I was loading them onto my computer.
We hung out at the skate park for a couple of hours until Javi had to leave for paddle(sport kinda like racquetball). Geno and I then went to a skate park by my house for a while. There I met some other people that Geno knew: Alex, Nico, and another guy but I cant remember his name for the life of me.
We hung out for a while talking about things and eating some doughnuts. Eventually it was quite dark out and around 10:30 so I needed to go home and take care of the dogs. Currently Im the only one at the house. Everyone else went to San Sebastian this weekend to see Irene father who is not doing very well.
I went home and made myself some dinner, played the guitar for a while and then went of to bed.
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14.03.10
Woke up today and it was so sunny. Hardly any clouds in the sky and really warm, it was perfect. Got ready for today and looked at a few things on my map and book about what I wanted to see today. Unfortunately a lot of things are closed on Sunday's but I made my way around.
First stop was Plaza de Espana, I sat in the park for a couple minuets taking in the warm rays. Then before to much time was wasted I set of for the Real Palace. It is the biggest Palace in Europe, I have already seen the outside so now for the inside. Wrong this was also closed on Sunday's so I will have to wait for another day.
I went to the adjacent building Almudena Cathedral. This is a spectacular thing to see, so rich in color everywhere. I spent some time soaking it all in and taking pictures of almost the entire Cathedral. I didnt know what else to do now since most things were closed.
I set of walking in a direction looking for something interesting or somewhere good to eat. Since it was Sunday it seemed as though the whole population of Madrid was out walking through the streets and occupying every bar. I kept walking until the crowds started getting smaller and smaller, slowly leaving the heart of Madrid. I found a nice bar with mostly standing room.
I took a bit to decide but went with a large beer and a pork sandwich. This sandwich was typical, uncooked meat. However something I haven't seen before is the meat came from the wall where they were cutting it fresh of of a leg. It was still delicious none the less.
After I was satisfied I set of walking again towards the Atocha Train station to look at the construction and the Memorial from the train bombings in 2004. From the bar it was about a 30 minute walk to Atocha which was perfect considering that it was so nice outside.
Right before I got to the station I was passing a huge building and had no idea what it was, it was several stories tall and just huge. It turns out to my surprise that it was the Reina Sofia. I thought the Reina was big but not massive. I was truly amazed at the size of that art museum and a place I will be visiting shortly.
I headed across the street to Atocha, I looked at all of the construction going on, took some photos and then was off to a nearby park. This park is huge, which I should be getting used to since I am in Madrid. They had nice streams going everywhere, tons of grass for having a sit down, soccer fields, trees, lots of stuff.
I was focused on finding the small lake in this park where you can rent a boat and row around for a while. Eventually I stumbled across this due to the mass hoard of people engulfing the water/surrounding area. Many people were out here taking in the sun, looking at the couple items for sale or just spending a day out and about.
After a while my camera died, that was a bummer because there is a lot of things that I wanted to take pictures of, but that means I need to back another sunny day which will be great.
It was starting to cool down and get late so I started my journey back to a metro station that would take me Plaza Castilla where I get on a bus for home stretch. I had to make a quick stop at another ice cream store that I walked past. If I end up broke from eating ice cream every time I pass it is ok with me. I justify it as I need to try every flavor/variation from store to store.
I got home and relaxed for a while. Around 11 Oscar came home, he arrived in Madrid by train and told me that everyone else stayed behind. He will be going back possibly in a few day. He at some dinner and we talked for a bit then he went to bed. Wanting to make the most out of my day I went to bed soon after
Im working on my photos, uploading them etc. sorry its taking so long the past sites I was using doesnt let you have unlimited photos for free so its been a struggle to find a good site. Never the less they will be up soon so be looking
It was nice and sunny today with just a few clouds in the sky. I was planning on going into Madrid to see the Almudena Cathedral and some of the Reina Sofia. I had breakfast and got ready to leave when I got a message from Geno(i think thats how you spell his name but i have no idea). He is a kid around my age that lives here in Madrid and lives just across the bridge from me in the Urbanization Ciudalcampo.
He wanted to know if I would go skating with him and Javi(I know that this one is right). I still hadn't formally met Geno so I decided to go along. As most of you figured I didn't do much skating, mostly took pictures. I actually took a lot of photos for them and they really liked that. I think I counted around 400 when I was loading them onto my computer.
We hung out at the skate park for a couple of hours until Javi had to leave for paddle(sport kinda like racquetball). Geno and I then went to a skate park by my house for a while. There I met some other people that Geno knew: Alex, Nico, and another guy but I cant remember his name for the life of me.
We hung out for a while talking about things and eating some doughnuts. Eventually it was quite dark out and around 10:30 so I needed to go home and take care of the dogs. Currently Im the only one at the house. Everyone else went to San Sebastian this weekend to see Irene father who is not doing very well.
I went home and made myself some dinner, played the guitar for a while and then went of to bed.
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14.03.10
Woke up today and it was so sunny. Hardly any clouds in the sky and really warm, it was perfect. Got ready for today and looked at a few things on my map and book about what I wanted to see today. Unfortunately a lot of things are closed on Sunday's but I made my way around.
First stop was Plaza de Espana, I sat in the park for a couple minuets taking in the warm rays. Then before to much time was wasted I set of for the Real Palace. It is the biggest Palace in Europe, I have already seen the outside so now for the inside. Wrong this was also closed on Sunday's so I will have to wait for another day.
I went to the adjacent building Almudena Cathedral. This is a spectacular thing to see, so rich in color everywhere. I spent some time soaking it all in and taking pictures of almost the entire Cathedral. I didnt know what else to do now since most things were closed.
I set of walking in a direction looking for something interesting or somewhere good to eat. Since it was Sunday it seemed as though the whole population of Madrid was out walking through the streets and occupying every bar. I kept walking until the crowds started getting smaller and smaller, slowly leaving the heart of Madrid. I found a nice bar with mostly standing room.
I took a bit to decide but went with a large beer and a pork sandwich. This sandwich was typical, uncooked meat. However something I haven't seen before is the meat came from the wall where they were cutting it fresh of of a leg. It was still delicious none the less.
After I was satisfied I set of walking again towards the Atocha Train station to look at the construction and the Memorial from the train bombings in 2004. From the bar it was about a 30 minute walk to Atocha which was perfect considering that it was so nice outside.
Right before I got to the station I was passing a huge building and had no idea what it was, it was several stories tall and just huge. It turns out to my surprise that it was the Reina Sofia. I thought the Reina was big but not massive. I was truly amazed at the size of that art museum and a place I will be visiting shortly.
I headed across the street to Atocha, I looked at all of the construction going on, took some photos and then was off to a nearby park. This park is huge, which I should be getting used to since I am in Madrid. They had nice streams going everywhere, tons of grass for having a sit down, soccer fields, trees, lots of stuff.
I was focused on finding the small lake in this park where you can rent a boat and row around for a while. Eventually I stumbled across this due to the mass hoard of people engulfing the water/surrounding area. Many people were out here taking in the sun, looking at the couple items for sale or just spending a day out and about.
After a while my camera died, that was a bummer because there is a lot of things that I wanted to take pictures of, but that means I need to back another sunny day which will be great.
It was starting to cool down and get late so I started my journey back to a metro station that would take me Plaza Castilla where I get on a bus for home stretch. I had to make a quick stop at another ice cream store that I walked past. If I end up broke from eating ice cream every time I pass it is ok with me. I justify it as I need to try every flavor/variation from store to store.
I got home and relaxed for a while. Around 11 Oscar came home, he arrived in Madrid by train and told me that everyone else stayed behind. He will be going back possibly in a few day. He at some dinner and we talked for a bit then he went to bed. Wanting to make the most out of my day I went to bed soon after
Im working on my photos, uploading them etc. sorry its taking so long the past sites I was using doesnt let you have unlimited photos for free so its been a struggle to find a good site. Never the less they will be up soon so be looking
Thursday, March 11, 2010
09.03.10
I woke up today to some nice sunshine, however with my first venture outside it was freezing cold, colder then I had imagined. I returned inside and got ready for the day. I choose not to go into Madrid again because I wanted to do more investigation on my possible trip to Ireland and my trip to Valencia.
After to long of being inside I had to go out in the sun. I gathered up my beanie, trusty sweatshirt, music, and my book on Madrid and headed out. I found a nice park by the small shopping center in Santa Domingo and read for a while. It was nice to be in the sun relaxing and just breathing for a while.
After an hour or so I headed to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for cookies. Before I left I translated all the ingredients into Spanish so I would be able to find things.
Well I kinda found things, everything is arranged differently and stored in different places. Like milk, eggs, and beer not refrigerated. After about twenty minutes or so I found everything that I needed except vegetable shortening. I looked up and down every isle at least two times before asking someone.
This lady was real nice and was trying her hardest to figure out what I was looking for. She even went around the store looking for people that spoke really good English to see if I was explaining it wrong or had translated incorrectly. After all of this still no luck so I went back to the house.
After talking to Irene, trying to describe to her what I was after and researching on the internet, I came to the finding that Spain doesnt have shortening. I know that you dont need shortening to make cookies but it helps make them not so flat.
I went with Irene to pick the boys up from school because I havnt see their school yet. It's a very nice private school and I knew when we were getting close because everyone had a green sweater with gray pants.
We started class right away because when Sofia arrives around 730 we have to start the cookies so they will be ready to eat for dessert. The kids love helping in the kitchen especially with things that involve getting your hands dirty. I went through that same phase as a kid...that's a completley false statement, Im still proudly in that stage.
We got the first tray's of cookies in the oven just as Irene came into the kitchen to serve up dinner. Watching the cookies closely the kids were letting me know their status. We took them out of the oven and sure enough they were pretty flat but tasted good all the same.
We ate dinner and near the end I brought a plate of cookies over. The kids dug in right away, I think each kid at at least four cookies. They were a little misshaped but still passed the test. After dinner Gonzalo was the only one that wanted to help me with the rest of the cookies so we made a big cookie man.
After that it was time bed for the kids. Like most nights I follow soon follow to my room to prepare things and read/watch things.
Also people have been asking me questions/comments about my trip and blog, feel free to just leave the comments under the blog post. Just check back cause I will be sure an answer them. Also leave your name cause sometimes it leaves the post as anonymous; unless you are in hiding from the government, in that case let me know how i can help-except you are on the internet so they do have that information already
I woke up today to some nice sunshine, however with my first venture outside it was freezing cold, colder then I had imagined. I returned inside and got ready for the day. I choose not to go into Madrid again because I wanted to do more investigation on my possible trip to Ireland and my trip to Valencia.
After to long of being inside I had to go out in the sun. I gathered up my beanie, trusty sweatshirt, music, and my book on Madrid and headed out. I found a nice park by the small shopping center in Santa Domingo and read for a while. It was nice to be in the sun relaxing and just breathing for a while.
After an hour or so I headed to the grocery store to pick up ingredients for cookies. Before I left I translated all the ingredients into Spanish so I would be able to find things.
Well I kinda found things, everything is arranged differently and stored in different places. Like milk, eggs, and beer not refrigerated. After about twenty minutes or so I found everything that I needed except vegetable shortening. I looked up and down every isle at least two times before asking someone.
This lady was real nice and was trying her hardest to figure out what I was looking for. She even went around the store looking for people that spoke really good English to see if I was explaining it wrong or had translated incorrectly. After all of this still no luck so I went back to the house.
After talking to Irene, trying to describe to her what I was after and researching on the internet, I came to the finding that Spain doesnt have shortening. I know that you dont need shortening to make cookies but it helps make them not so flat.
I went with Irene to pick the boys up from school because I havnt see their school yet. It's a very nice private school and I knew when we were getting close because everyone had a green sweater with gray pants.
We started class right away because when Sofia arrives around 730 we have to start the cookies so they will be ready to eat for dessert. The kids love helping in the kitchen especially with things that involve getting your hands dirty. I went through that same phase as a kid...that's a completley false statement, Im still proudly in that stage.
We got the first tray's of cookies in the oven just as Irene came into the kitchen to serve up dinner. Watching the cookies closely the kids were letting me know their status. We took them out of the oven and sure enough they were pretty flat but tasted good all the same.
We ate dinner and near the end I brought a plate of cookies over. The kids dug in right away, I think each kid at at least four cookies. They were a little misshaped but still passed the test. After dinner Gonzalo was the only one that wanted to help me with the rest of the cookies so we made a big cookie man.
After that it was time bed for the kids. Like most nights I follow soon follow to my room to prepare things and read/watch things.
Also people have been asking me questions/comments about my trip and blog, feel free to just leave the comments under the blog post. Just check back cause I will be sure an answer them. Also leave your name cause sometimes it leaves the post as anonymous; unless you are in hiding from the government, in that case let me know how i can help-except you are on the internet so they do have that information already
teragigamegamulticentillion
08.03.10
It was a pretty relaxing day, I woke up to the sunshine rays like I do everyday. Stayed in bed for a while studding some spanish grammar. After breakfast and getting all ready for the day I decided to get on my computer and try to find a nice explanatory website that shows some neat things to do in Madrid
Luckily I found just that, a website called 100 things to do in Madrid, I spent the next three or so hours reading, planning, and marking on my map things and restaurants/bars that I need to go to.
Quite satisfied now with a very full agenda, I started researching for bus tickets to Valencia, Spain in the east of Spain. On the 19th of March Im going there to witness the end of the Las Fallas festival. It's an annual five day festival full of floats, costumes, etc that ends in setting giant mascots/puppets around the city and setting them on fire the last night.I would definitely google this and look at the pictures and find out more.
Found really cheap bus tickets and still in the researching mood look at a Lawrence Arms concert in Belfast, Ireland. I spent about an hour researching everything and mapping things out. I didnt purchase anything yet, I will leave that for another day until I fully decide.
It was now time to outside and play some soccer and hang out with the dogs for a bit. I go outside and I cant find the dogs anywhere, I look all over the house and again in the yard; they are nowhere to be found. I knew they must have gotten out somehow so I went of searching the neighborhood. After an hour or so I returned home just as the kids were getting home empty handed.
They weren't upset at all, they said that they always come back if they get out and wander. I started class with Gonzalo teaching him about different homonyms, synonyms etc. Then it was Miguel's turn and we just talked about different things that he likes to do and about soccer and school. Soon Irene and Sofia returned from their weekend trip to San Sebastian.
Sofia soon learned that we were not making cookies today for class but we are doing it on Tuesday. She was very mad at me and so english classes with here were a bit of a struggle to get her talking but it worked out in the end.
After dinner we relaxed for a bit, soon the kids went off to bed and Oscar came home. The dogs still hadn't returned so I went with Oscar to see if we could find them. We stopped by the local security building to see if they have heard or seen anything. They said no but you can try calling the police/city hall(im not exactly sure because they were speaking very fast if Spanish)
After a ten or so minute phone call Oscar discovered that they had been picked up by the police and he would have to pay a fine to get them back tomorrow. Relieved that they are ok we return home and tell the kids the news. Then I was beat so I went to bed
It was a pretty relaxing day, I woke up to the sunshine rays like I do everyday. Stayed in bed for a while studding some spanish grammar. After breakfast and getting all ready for the day I decided to get on my computer and try to find a nice explanatory website that shows some neat things to do in Madrid
Luckily I found just that, a website called 100 things to do in Madrid, I spent the next three or so hours reading, planning, and marking on my map things and restaurants/bars that I need to go to.
Quite satisfied now with a very full agenda, I started researching for bus tickets to Valencia, Spain in the east of Spain. On the 19th of March Im going there to witness the end of the Las Fallas festival. It's an annual five day festival full of floats, costumes, etc that ends in setting giant mascots/puppets around the city and setting them on fire the last night.I would definitely google this and look at the pictures and find out more.
Found really cheap bus tickets and still in the researching mood look at a Lawrence Arms concert in Belfast, Ireland. I spent about an hour researching everything and mapping things out. I didnt purchase anything yet, I will leave that for another day until I fully decide.
It was now time to outside and play some soccer and hang out with the dogs for a bit. I go outside and I cant find the dogs anywhere, I look all over the house and again in the yard; they are nowhere to be found. I knew they must have gotten out somehow so I went of searching the neighborhood. After an hour or so I returned home just as the kids were getting home empty handed.
They weren't upset at all, they said that they always come back if they get out and wander. I started class with Gonzalo teaching him about different homonyms, synonyms etc. Then it was Miguel's turn and we just talked about different things that he likes to do and about soccer and school. Soon Irene and Sofia returned from their weekend trip to San Sebastian.
Sofia soon learned that we were not making cookies today for class but we are doing it on Tuesday. She was very mad at me and so english classes with here were a bit of a struggle to get her talking but it worked out in the end.
After dinner we relaxed for a bit, soon the kids went off to bed and Oscar came home. The dogs still hadn't returned so I went with Oscar to see if we could find them. We stopped by the local security building to see if they have heard or seen anything. They said no but you can try calling the police/city hall(im not exactly sure because they were speaking very fast if Spanish)
After a ten or so minute phone call Oscar discovered that they had been picked up by the police and he would have to pay a fine to get them back tomorrow. Relieved that they are ok we return home and tell the kids the news. Then I was beat so I went to bed
Monday, March 8, 2010
05.03.10
This day was so uneventful, it was a sad rainy gloomy day from the time I woke up. I didnt want to walk around Madrid and be wet the whole time. I stayed in, studied some spanish, took a nap and not much else.
The kids came home and we dont have class on fridays so we hung out and played some games. Then Irene and Sofia left for San Sebastian for the weekend. Soon after Miguel and Gonzalo left to a friends house; I was left alone and bored again. A terrible way to put a day to rest.
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06.03.10
Woke up fairly early, I was going to Miguel's soccer match. It wasnt raining but it was still quite murky out. Oscar, Gonzalo, Juan(Miguel's friend) Miguel and I headed off to the match. There is over an hour of practice before the match so everyone besides Miguel went to the swimming pool.
Im sorry i might have painted you the wrong picture, it was a swimming facility. There was four giant pools outside for the summer time, a couple jacuzzis, pool for doing laps and swimming from end to end, a beginner swimming pool about three feet deep with tons of floaty toys, relaxing warm water lagoon with two separate hotubs, and finally the last room with bubble massages, huge hot tub, swimming channel/river(it had a current to swim with and wound around places) and a water slide all inside.
The kids asked me what I wanted to do, I told them it didnt matter and they chose the water slide. We went up the stair case to the entrance of the slide. It had a red/green light telling you when it was safe to go. Gonzalo went first but he didnt go down the traditional laying on the back style; he went down kicking the sides spinning him around in circles. I followed suit the same way.
I havent been on a lot of water slides but this one was quite unique. You go from pitch black, around a corner to having a few fog lights dimly lit above you, sharp corner back to pitch black, to a different go through a section of more translucent tube, around another corner and back to pitch black, through yet another corner to this very weird and out of place disco lighting in the tube, back to black and then finally out.
We switched on and off doing this and taking laps around in the river and switching up our styles going down the slide. We did everything from head first on stomachs and backs, on our knees, holding each others feet, trying to play catch and tag on the slides, Gonzalo standing up and spreading his legs and letting us go through. Eventually we did get kick off unfortunately for not obeying the rules but it was just about time for us to go watch Miguel's match anyway.
We left the pool and met Oscar to watch the match. It was quite good, this league is a pretty action packed league and some of the kids have pretty good moves at this age. It was still very soggy out because it was raining while we were swimming, making the match very exciting to watch people slide or fall in puddles.
After the match we headed of to the heart of Madrid and had lunch. It was quite interesting to hear the kids so excited to eat a Frazescos Hollywood. It is a very american dinner; classic menu of burgers, steaks, ribs, and sandwiches. The kids absolutely love this kind of food and eating here. Its a rare occasion that only happens once or twice a year. After a big ole American feast we headed of for more fun.
We went to go-kart center. This one had a track outside and inside. This wasnt no lousy run center either. You dressed up in full attire, a large red jump suit with many racing emblems on it and a helmet with a fold down mask. We got there at ten to five and the kids headed off to get ready. We were trying to buy passes but the lady said that the kids races closed at 5 and there wasn't enough time to get the kids ready and down to the track. Little did we no the kids made it down in time and we say their names on the screen.
Thankful that the kids got their shot Oscar and I bought our tickets and finished watching the kids race. You were allowed around twelve laps, depending on how fast you were you could squeeze in thirteen of even fourteen. It was an Indy style course and quite fun. Oscar and I made out the two best people in the crowed of twelve or so. It was quite fun, it wasnt on pavement but some type of hard flooring that make it fun to drift your car and squeal the tires whenever you turned sharp.
After all the fun we were off to see some of the early very basic drawings/sketches for a movie coming out. That was really neat to see, we got to see some of the drawings before we had to leave the room while Oscar conducted business.
After that long day we returned home had some dinner and watched the soccer match between Seville and Real Madrid. It was a very good match and was quite entertaining to watch and to hear/see the kids reactions when Real Madrid scored and won.
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07.03.10
Woke up today and it was kinda cloudy out but no rain which was awesome becuase I was headed into madrid. I left the house and checked my bus schedule, I had five minutes to get there before the bus left. Running as soon as I left the yard, hoping to catch the bus I was off. It's about a ten minute run from my house and as soon as I was rounding the corner to get on Guadalix(main street where the bus picks up) I saw it leaving for Madrid.
Out of luck I sat at the bus stop for an hour waiting for the next shuttle into Madrid. Missing the bus was quite unfortunate, I was supposed to meet a group of friends I have been in contact with for a movie. Now unable to make that happen since I missed the bus, I called Felicia(friend ive been talking to) and told her I would meet up with them after the movie.
While they were at the movie I walked around Madrid to the famous Plaza Mayor. It is a very nice place with paintings all over the buildings. Since I went on a sunday there was live music in the plaza and tons of people out showing of their art. After a good look around I went down calle toledo to see where this big swarm of people was coming from.
I found a huge open market that is in Madrid every Sunday. There were hundreds of booths set up lines all of the streets. You could find anything there, old records, jewelry, clothes, pots/pans, comic books, really anything that you can think of. I walked through the market which was crammed full of people. You made it about ten steps before you had to stop and wait for an opening to continue moving.
I walked around looking at everything for almost two hours. Then I headed back to Plaza del Sol; sat and ate a sandwich and a beer and waited a few minutes until the movie was out. Then i met Felicia and Christina. Felicia is from Colorado and has been here for about five weeks and Christina is from New York and this is her second week here.
We set off to find a good tapas bar to indulge in some more food. We walked around for quite some time trying to find a good place to eat. Finally we decided on a small corner cafe because it started raining on us. This was an excellent choice because I got tarta manzana. Its like an apple custard and it was delicious, a very rich and fresh taste with the apple's.
Later we walked around some more and went to a couple museums. We ended up only going to one of them the Museo Thyssen-Bornimisza because it was free. It was interesting to see but it was hard to interpret a lot of the art.
After that it was starting to get dark and Christina headed back to her house while Felicia and I went to another tapas bar near Plaza de Castilla to wait for our buses that would come in about an hour. I could not resist any longer the craving for some ice cream so I tried a new flavor of honey and graham cracker. It was very good and full of honey.
After that we headed our different ways back to our respective houses. When I got home there was no one here so I made a little snack and listened to some music. Shortly the boys and Oscar returned. Oscar made dinner and this experience was another first for me. He cooked a dish with black rice.
This dish was excellent but looked repulsive. Everything: rice, fish, and the vegetables were coated in this dark tar like substance that took the color out of everything. It looked like a pan with black water paint and rice. Gonzalo was telling me the whole time that it looks bad but taste's good, which was the truth.
After dinner we sat around for a bit and then it was off to bed. I needed some new material to teach the kids tomorrow so I started researching new things
This day was so uneventful, it was a sad rainy gloomy day from the time I woke up. I didnt want to walk around Madrid and be wet the whole time. I stayed in, studied some spanish, took a nap and not much else.
The kids came home and we dont have class on fridays so we hung out and played some games. Then Irene and Sofia left for San Sebastian for the weekend. Soon after Miguel and Gonzalo left to a friends house; I was left alone and bored again. A terrible way to put a day to rest.
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06.03.10
Woke up fairly early, I was going to Miguel's soccer match. It wasnt raining but it was still quite murky out. Oscar, Gonzalo, Juan(Miguel's friend) Miguel and I headed off to the match. There is over an hour of practice before the match so everyone besides Miguel went to the swimming pool.
Im sorry i might have painted you the wrong picture, it was a swimming facility. There was four giant pools outside for the summer time, a couple jacuzzis, pool for doing laps and swimming from end to end, a beginner swimming pool about three feet deep with tons of floaty toys, relaxing warm water lagoon with two separate hotubs, and finally the last room with bubble massages, huge hot tub, swimming channel/river(it had a current to swim with and wound around places) and a water slide all inside.
The kids asked me what I wanted to do, I told them it didnt matter and they chose the water slide. We went up the stair case to the entrance of the slide. It had a red/green light telling you when it was safe to go. Gonzalo went first but he didnt go down the traditional laying on the back style; he went down kicking the sides spinning him around in circles. I followed suit the same way.
I havent been on a lot of water slides but this one was quite unique. You go from pitch black, around a corner to having a few fog lights dimly lit above you, sharp corner back to pitch black, to a different go through a section of more translucent tube, around another corner and back to pitch black, through yet another corner to this very weird and out of place disco lighting in the tube, back to black and then finally out.
We switched on and off doing this and taking laps around in the river and switching up our styles going down the slide. We did everything from head first on stomachs and backs, on our knees, holding each others feet, trying to play catch and tag on the slides, Gonzalo standing up and spreading his legs and letting us go through. Eventually we did get kick off unfortunately for not obeying the rules but it was just about time for us to go watch Miguel's match anyway.
We left the pool and met Oscar to watch the match. It was quite good, this league is a pretty action packed league and some of the kids have pretty good moves at this age. It was still very soggy out because it was raining while we were swimming, making the match very exciting to watch people slide or fall in puddles.
After the match we headed of to the heart of Madrid and had lunch. It was quite interesting to hear the kids so excited to eat a Frazescos Hollywood. It is a very american dinner; classic menu of burgers, steaks, ribs, and sandwiches. The kids absolutely love this kind of food and eating here. Its a rare occasion that only happens once or twice a year. After a big ole American feast we headed of for more fun.
We went to go-kart center. This one had a track outside and inside. This wasnt no lousy run center either. You dressed up in full attire, a large red jump suit with many racing emblems on it and a helmet with a fold down mask. We got there at ten to five and the kids headed off to get ready. We were trying to buy passes but the lady said that the kids races closed at 5 and there wasn't enough time to get the kids ready and down to the track. Little did we no the kids made it down in time and we say their names on the screen.
Thankful that the kids got their shot Oscar and I bought our tickets and finished watching the kids race. You were allowed around twelve laps, depending on how fast you were you could squeeze in thirteen of even fourteen. It was an Indy style course and quite fun. Oscar and I made out the two best people in the crowed of twelve or so. It was quite fun, it wasnt on pavement but some type of hard flooring that make it fun to drift your car and squeal the tires whenever you turned sharp.
After all the fun we were off to see some of the early very basic drawings/sketches for a movie coming out. That was really neat to see, we got to see some of the drawings before we had to leave the room while Oscar conducted business.
After that long day we returned home had some dinner and watched the soccer match between Seville and Real Madrid. It was a very good match and was quite entertaining to watch and to hear/see the kids reactions when Real Madrid scored and won.
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07.03.10
Woke up today and it was kinda cloudy out but no rain which was awesome becuase I was headed into madrid. I left the house and checked my bus schedule, I had five minutes to get there before the bus left. Running as soon as I left the yard, hoping to catch the bus I was off. It's about a ten minute run from my house and as soon as I was rounding the corner to get on Guadalix(main street where the bus picks up) I saw it leaving for Madrid.
Out of luck I sat at the bus stop for an hour waiting for the next shuttle into Madrid. Missing the bus was quite unfortunate, I was supposed to meet a group of friends I have been in contact with for a movie. Now unable to make that happen since I missed the bus, I called Felicia(friend ive been talking to) and told her I would meet up with them after the movie.
While they were at the movie I walked around Madrid to the famous Plaza Mayor. It is a very nice place with paintings all over the buildings. Since I went on a sunday there was live music in the plaza and tons of people out showing of their art. After a good look around I went down calle toledo to see where this big swarm of people was coming from.
I found a huge open market that is in Madrid every Sunday. There were hundreds of booths set up lines all of the streets. You could find anything there, old records, jewelry, clothes, pots/pans, comic books, really anything that you can think of. I walked through the market which was crammed full of people. You made it about ten steps before you had to stop and wait for an opening to continue moving.
I walked around looking at everything for almost two hours. Then I headed back to Plaza del Sol; sat and ate a sandwich and a beer and waited a few minutes until the movie was out. Then i met Felicia and Christina. Felicia is from Colorado and has been here for about five weeks and Christina is from New York and this is her second week here.
We set off to find a good tapas bar to indulge in some more food. We walked around for quite some time trying to find a good place to eat. Finally we decided on a small corner cafe because it started raining on us. This was an excellent choice because I got tarta manzana. Its like an apple custard and it was delicious, a very rich and fresh taste with the apple's.
Later we walked around some more and went to a couple museums. We ended up only going to one of them the Museo Thyssen-Bornimisza because it was free. It was interesting to see but it was hard to interpret a lot of the art.
After that it was starting to get dark and Christina headed back to her house while Felicia and I went to another tapas bar near Plaza de Castilla to wait for our buses that would come in about an hour. I could not resist any longer the craving for some ice cream so I tried a new flavor of honey and graham cracker. It was very good and full of honey.
After that we headed our different ways back to our respective houses. When I got home there was no one here so I made a little snack and listened to some music. Shortly the boys and Oscar returned. Oscar made dinner and this experience was another first for me. He cooked a dish with black rice.
This dish was excellent but looked repulsive. Everything: rice, fish, and the vegetables were coated in this dark tar like substance that took the color out of everything. It looked like a pan with black water paint and rice. Gonzalo was telling me the whole time that it looks bad but taste's good, which was the truth.
After dinner we sat around for a bit and then it was off to bed. I needed some new material to teach the kids tomorrow so I started researching new things
Friday, March 5, 2010
02.03.10
I woke up around eight but stayed in bed for a while because it just felt better. Eventually I got up had some breakfast and when through the normal daily routines. Not to sure how this whole first time Madrid trip was going to go I set of. The only thing that I knew prior to leaving the house is that I had to get on line 171 and that takes me to the very outskirts of Madrid(My house is quite far from there)
I got to the bus stop and got on the bus. Gabe had told me that it's about a 30-40min bus ride to Plaza de Castilla. Not knowing if it was the last stop or somewhere in the between I had to ask the bus driver who said he would tell me where to get of. I thought that bus drivers in Missoula were good but they dont come close to the drivers of Madrid.
He was talking to me or others, driving, printing out tickets, setting the machine, or talking on the phone. Not once on that whole ride was he just driving. Also the streets in Madrid are very narrow and in order to make a lot of the turns he would have to be very aggressive and take up the better part of two lanes.
Finally I arrived at Plaza de Castilla. Next I went down to the Metro and match where the RCI Club(organization that helps grammar teacher get involved with activities and classes in Madrid) was on my map with the corresponding map of metro stops. Eventually I figured it out and luckily to get of at the stop I needed at Plaza de Espana I only had to take one line.
To get on the metro in Spain you have to purchase a ticket before you can even get through to where the cars stop. So this ends my ridding the rails illegally experience which is probably for the best.
Not knowing how many stops 'till Plaza de Espana I was keeping an ear open for when it announced the name of the stops. After about twenty minutes of riding I thought I had to be close, about to stops after that everyone got of the metro so I did the same. I was at plaza del sur. That is the farthest south point of Madrid.
Of course realizing that I had completely missed my spot I got back on in the opposite direction and headed back north. This time I kept a better ear open and sure enough it announced Plaza de Espana. I got off and went to street level. Madrid is huge! There are hundreds of people walking in every direction and massive buildings. I couldn't look like more of a tourist because I was taking pictures of everything and I would have to pull out my 14"x14" map out of my pocket to make sure I was headed in the right direction to RCI.
After about a half hour of walking and site seeing I found my way to the RCI buildaing...or what I thought was the RCI building. It was the address that I had gotten from their web site but the building was locked and there was no advertisement anywhere. Thinking that I may have been just a bit dyslectic and I wrote down 82 instead of 28 I headed down the street. When I arrived at 28 Ferranz it was a watch shop.
Greatly frustrated I went back to 82 Ferranz to check it out one more time; no lights, closed door, out of luck. I asked man running a magazine booth and he had no idea what I was talking about. Disappointed I started making my way back home so I wasnt late for lessons. I got back to Plaza de Castilla and had to wait about twenty minutes for a bus, in the mean time I had some sugar bread and a ham and cheese rollito.
This bus driver was not as distracted as the previous, however it still must be hard to drive a bus on streets and corners built only for compact cars. I got back home just in time as the kids were arriving. Sofia and I read and talked for class, Miguel and I talked about soccer and other things he liked and with Gonzalo we read, talked, worked on pronunciation and played pool. After I finished classes with everyone I sat down and played a couple rounds of FIFA 10 with Miguel.
Soon it was time for dinner, during dinner we talked about things and I continued to ask the kids questions, sometimes they would respond in spanish which I can partially understand but Irene wants them to only speak in english. After dinner I sat with the kids and watched their favorite shows family guy and american dad.
After about an hour of spanish television the kids went to bed and I went to my room to study some Spanish and check again on the RCI building. Sure enough after I checked the website again and used the help of google maps I confirmed that I was in the correct place just that it was closed for a few hour that afternoon. After studding I went to bed so I could get up early and find that building.
---------------------------------------------------
03.03.10
I woke up to the worst sound, it was raining out and raining hard. I laid in bed for a while and decided Im not going into madrid today so I started to do some spanish and looking at other ways to teach the kids. The day was fairly unproductive and boring except the fact that I got to talk to my family for a while which was nice.
Around five Sofia came home and she had this weird look on her face. "Uh Jeremy...were you going to pick me up school today?" I was in shock and confused, we started talking and I thought I was supposed to pick her up on Mon and Thur from school but I guess not. Luckily her school is only a few blocks away so she didnt have to walk alone a long ways but I still felt terrible.
We had class while she had some snacks, we talked about making pizza and cookies for fun things to do for class and she thought that would be fun. We then read a bit until Miguel and Gonzalo got home. Then all the kids had to go off to their different sports. I had class with Irene after she got back and we talked about things that I should see in Madrid and told me all about the museums and traditions of Spain.
After class finished it was dinner time. We talked more about making Pizza and about other foods that they like, Irene thought it was a great idea if I made pizza with the kids. After dinner Miguel was telling me that tomorrow night there is going to be a soccer match; Spain vs France and asked if I wanted to watch it with him. I said yes and asked where we were going to wathc it at, he said on the projector.
Sure enough the family had projector mounted in the living room. Now I was really excited to watch the match. We went off to bed. I stayed up for a while doing emails and getting in contact with Felicia, she is another grammar teacher over here who I was in contact with before I left. She told me of some plans she had this weekend, one of which is a surprise bike tour of Madrid which sounds like the best way to get to know the city. Bed time
----------------------------------------------------------------
04.03.10
Got up kinda early, I forgot to set my alarm but it was before 930 cause Sofia had not left for school yet. I quickly got ready and headed out for Madrid. It was a beautiful warm sunny day, it was t-shirt and jeans weather out, it felt so nice.
I headed to Plaza de Espana again. Since I had a lot of time to kill today I spent a couple hours wondering around looking at all the fountains, buildings, architecture, and spent some time relaxing in the sun.
Eventually I made my way back to 82 Ferranz to the RCI building. It looked closed again but there was a man standing just inside the door. I made some eye contact with him and he opened the door for me, he was the official door man of this building. I asked him if the RCI office was here, he told me second floor.
On the second floor the door was locked. The sign outside said it was open for a couple more hours. It took me about ten minutes of trying to open the door until I spotted a small switch that had a bell on it. Rang it and someone answered the door.
She invited me in, she was very nice, asking me about my time so far in Europe. She printed out a packet for me containing information about private spanish classes, places to buy metro and bus passes etc.
After leaving I decided to treat myself to a nice lunch. I went to a place next door called Thomas Bar. There was only one man running it so I guessed he was Thomas, but I could still be wrong. I had a good empanada, grilled cheese and ham, and a beer.
Quite satisfied I headed back to the house cause it was getting late. Just as I was walking down the street to the house Irene and the kids pulled up so I was cutting it close. We talked about phrasal verbs(verbs with prepositions today), it was a short class because Sofia wasnt there and we needed to go to the store and get stuff for pizza.
Miguel, Gonzalo, and I rode bikes down to the store. We were hoping to find everything but they didnt know where to find the box with dough mix in it, they were actually quite sure they didnt have it. After about twenty minutes in the store we found it, we also got bacon, more cheese, and tomato sauce.
We headed back home when I discovered this is the first pizza that the kids have ever made, they have only done pre-made pizza's before. We got inside and started making the dough, Gonzalo loved playing in it and Miguel joined after shortly. I started the sauce putting spices in it that smelt good and some thai pepper to give it a bit of a kick.
We let the dough rise while we went outside and played world cup. Miguel and Gonzalo are really good soccer players so this was really fun. We played for a solid 45 minutes before remembering that the dough had been rising. I checked, it was still good. Sofia had just arrived so we started rolling out the pizza's. They wanted to make two giant pizza's we didn't have enough dough for two so they rolled out the first one with thick crust while I prepared more dough.
We made the first pizza full of sauce, cheese, bacon, ham, and hotdogs. Then Sofia and I had english lessons while the dough was rising. Those went ok, she is kinda shy and doesnt like the lessons one bit because she would rather be on her tuenty(adolescent version of facebook). So we compromised today and she told me about her tuenty and we worked with verbs and prepositions.
Then we rolled out the next pizza, we made the same except we put the meats on after the sauce and put a thick layer of cheese over top of it. These pizza's looked good and they had a thick crust of almost an inch. We put them in the oven and went to watch american dad.
As the pizza's were getting close Miguel called his dad to see how close he was. Oscar was about a half hour out so we turned off the oven and let the pizza's sit in the warm oven until Oscar arrived. At ten to ten Oscar arrived and we dug into the pizza because everyone was starving. The pizza was a success, the dough even cooked all the way through which was my biggest worries about having such a thick crust.
This was the first time that I got to speak to Oscar and he told me he was in the entertainment business, working with Movies and that he had just returned from London from some job.
After dinner was finished the kids went to bed and I followed suit, it was after eleven and I was quite tired.
I woke up around eight but stayed in bed for a while because it just felt better. Eventually I got up had some breakfast and when through the normal daily routines. Not to sure how this whole first time Madrid trip was going to go I set of. The only thing that I knew prior to leaving the house is that I had to get on line 171 and that takes me to the very outskirts of Madrid(My house is quite far from there)
I got to the bus stop and got on the bus. Gabe had told me that it's about a 30-40min bus ride to Plaza de Castilla. Not knowing if it was the last stop or somewhere in the between I had to ask the bus driver who said he would tell me where to get of. I thought that bus drivers in Missoula were good but they dont come close to the drivers of Madrid.
He was talking to me or others, driving, printing out tickets, setting the machine, or talking on the phone. Not once on that whole ride was he just driving. Also the streets in Madrid are very narrow and in order to make a lot of the turns he would have to be very aggressive and take up the better part of two lanes.
Finally I arrived at Plaza de Castilla. Next I went down to the Metro and match where the RCI Club(organization that helps grammar teacher get involved with activities and classes in Madrid) was on my map with the corresponding map of metro stops. Eventually I figured it out and luckily to get of at the stop I needed at Plaza de Espana I only had to take one line.
To get on the metro in Spain you have to purchase a ticket before you can even get through to where the cars stop. So this ends my ridding the rails illegally experience which is probably for the best.
Not knowing how many stops 'till Plaza de Espana I was keeping an ear open for when it announced the name of the stops. After about twenty minutes of riding I thought I had to be close, about to stops after that everyone got of the metro so I did the same. I was at plaza del sur. That is the farthest south point of Madrid.
Of course realizing that I had completely missed my spot I got back on in the opposite direction and headed back north. This time I kept a better ear open and sure enough it announced Plaza de Espana. I got off and went to street level. Madrid is huge! There are hundreds of people walking in every direction and massive buildings. I couldn't look like more of a tourist because I was taking pictures of everything and I would have to pull out my 14"x14" map out of my pocket to make sure I was headed in the right direction to RCI.
After about a half hour of walking and site seeing I found my way to the RCI buildaing...or what I thought was the RCI building. It was the address that I had gotten from their web site but the building was locked and there was no advertisement anywhere. Thinking that I may have been just a bit dyslectic and I wrote down 82 instead of 28 I headed down the street. When I arrived at 28 Ferranz it was a watch shop.
Greatly frustrated I went back to 82 Ferranz to check it out one more time; no lights, closed door, out of luck. I asked man running a magazine booth and he had no idea what I was talking about. Disappointed I started making my way back home so I wasnt late for lessons. I got back to Plaza de Castilla and had to wait about twenty minutes for a bus, in the mean time I had some sugar bread and a ham and cheese rollito.
This bus driver was not as distracted as the previous, however it still must be hard to drive a bus on streets and corners built only for compact cars. I got back home just in time as the kids were arriving. Sofia and I read and talked for class, Miguel and I talked about soccer and other things he liked and with Gonzalo we read, talked, worked on pronunciation and played pool. After I finished classes with everyone I sat down and played a couple rounds of FIFA 10 with Miguel.
Soon it was time for dinner, during dinner we talked about things and I continued to ask the kids questions, sometimes they would respond in spanish which I can partially understand but Irene wants them to only speak in english. After dinner I sat with the kids and watched their favorite shows family guy and american dad.
After about an hour of spanish television the kids went to bed and I went to my room to study some Spanish and check again on the RCI building. Sure enough after I checked the website again and used the help of google maps I confirmed that I was in the correct place just that it was closed for a few hour that afternoon. After studding I went to bed so I could get up early and find that building.
---------------------------------------------------
03.03.10
I woke up to the worst sound, it was raining out and raining hard. I laid in bed for a while and decided Im not going into madrid today so I started to do some spanish and looking at other ways to teach the kids. The day was fairly unproductive and boring except the fact that I got to talk to my family for a while which was nice.
Around five Sofia came home and she had this weird look on her face. "Uh Jeremy...were you going to pick me up school today?" I was in shock and confused, we started talking and I thought I was supposed to pick her up on Mon and Thur from school but I guess not. Luckily her school is only a few blocks away so she didnt have to walk alone a long ways but I still felt terrible.
We had class while she had some snacks, we talked about making pizza and cookies for fun things to do for class and she thought that would be fun. We then read a bit until Miguel and Gonzalo got home. Then all the kids had to go off to their different sports. I had class with Irene after she got back and we talked about things that I should see in Madrid and told me all about the museums and traditions of Spain.
After class finished it was dinner time. We talked more about making Pizza and about other foods that they like, Irene thought it was a great idea if I made pizza with the kids. After dinner Miguel was telling me that tomorrow night there is going to be a soccer match; Spain vs France and asked if I wanted to watch it with him. I said yes and asked where we were going to wathc it at, he said on the projector.
Sure enough the family had projector mounted in the living room. Now I was really excited to watch the match. We went off to bed. I stayed up for a while doing emails and getting in contact with Felicia, she is another grammar teacher over here who I was in contact with before I left. She told me of some plans she had this weekend, one of which is a surprise bike tour of Madrid which sounds like the best way to get to know the city. Bed time
----------------------------------------------------------------
04.03.10
Got up kinda early, I forgot to set my alarm but it was before 930 cause Sofia had not left for school yet. I quickly got ready and headed out for Madrid. It was a beautiful warm sunny day, it was t-shirt and jeans weather out, it felt so nice.
I headed to Plaza de Espana again. Since I had a lot of time to kill today I spent a couple hours wondering around looking at all the fountains, buildings, architecture, and spent some time relaxing in the sun.
Eventually I made my way back to 82 Ferranz to the RCI building. It looked closed again but there was a man standing just inside the door. I made some eye contact with him and he opened the door for me, he was the official door man of this building. I asked him if the RCI office was here, he told me second floor.
On the second floor the door was locked. The sign outside said it was open for a couple more hours. It took me about ten minutes of trying to open the door until I spotted a small switch that had a bell on it. Rang it and someone answered the door.
She invited me in, she was very nice, asking me about my time so far in Europe. She printed out a packet for me containing information about private spanish classes, places to buy metro and bus passes etc.
After leaving I decided to treat myself to a nice lunch. I went to a place next door called Thomas Bar. There was only one man running it so I guessed he was Thomas, but I could still be wrong. I had a good empanada, grilled cheese and ham, and a beer.
Quite satisfied I headed back to the house cause it was getting late. Just as I was walking down the street to the house Irene and the kids pulled up so I was cutting it close. We talked about phrasal verbs(verbs with prepositions today), it was a short class because Sofia wasnt there and we needed to go to the store and get stuff for pizza.
Miguel, Gonzalo, and I rode bikes down to the store. We were hoping to find everything but they didnt know where to find the box with dough mix in it, they were actually quite sure they didnt have it. After about twenty minutes in the store we found it, we also got bacon, more cheese, and tomato sauce.
We headed back home when I discovered this is the first pizza that the kids have ever made, they have only done pre-made pizza's before. We got inside and started making the dough, Gonzalo loved playing in it and Miguel joined after shortly. I started the sauce putting spices in it that smelt good and some thai pepper to give it a bit of a kick.
We let the dough rise while we went outside and played world cup. Miguel and Gonzalo are really good soccer players so this was really fun. We played for a solid 45 minutes before remembering that the dough had been rising. I checked, it was still good. Sofia had just arrived so we started rolling out the pizza's. They wanted to make two giant pizza's we didn't have enough dough for two so they rolled out the first one with thick crust while I prepared more dough.
We made the first pizza full of sauce, cheese, bacon, ham, and hotdogs. Then Sofia and I had english lessons while the dough was rising. Those went ok, she is kinda shy and doesnt like the lessons one bit because she would rather be on her tuenty(adolescent version of facebook). So we compromised today and she told me about her tuenty and we worked with verbs and prepositions.
Then we rolled out the next pizza, we made the same except we put the meats on after the sauce and put a thick layer of cheese over top of it. These pizza's looked good and they had a thick crust of almost an inch. We put them in the oven and went to watch american dad.
As the pizza's were getting close Miguel called his dad to see how close he was. Oscar was about a half hour out so we turned off the oven and let the pizza's sit in the warm oven until Oscar arrived. At ten to ten Oscar arrived and we dug into the pizza because everyone was starving. The pizza was a success, the dough even cooked all the way through which was my biggest worries about having such a thick crust.
This was the first time that I got to speak to Oscar and he told me he was in the entertainment business, working with Movies and that he had just returned from London from some job.
After dinner was finished the kids went to bed and I followed suit, it was after eleven and I was quite tired.
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