When the World Ends

I just got done eating some Smurf macaroni, yes you read correctly, Smurf as in those tiny blue creatures that wear white pants, white hats and peculiarly no shirts. I went grocery shopping the other day and I came across this Smurf macaroni and couldn't resist, after all is only cost 53E cents which is extremely cheap as opposed to going out to restaurants all the time which is what I had to do my first week or so.

Which reminds me I need to go food shopping tomorrow, I love going food shopping here because it is a different experience from America. It is like a scavenger hunt, you go to many different stores to find the best apples to mushrooms, the freshest milk to chicken, rather than it all being in a Stop & Shop or Hannaford's you must search the city for vendors that sell the best of each respective item. I go to this open air market with many many many different vendors all side by side, it looks like the equivalent of a flea market in the US except this time with food. That is why when you find a vendor with the best figs you feel like you've found a treasure, or when you find the one bakery in Madrid that makes loaves of bread that aren't white, it is like you've found the needle in the haystack and it is very rewarding.

Although in the past couple of days I've realized how limited my food repertoire is. I barely know how to cook much else beside pasta and put together good salads. Thankfully my Dad introduced me to Sam the Cooking Guy who is this awesome chef/cook who makes really awesome food but with simple ingredients and methods so I am going to experiment. I am actually really excited to learn how to cook for myself, it is an important life skill. This Friday I have a Spanish cooking class which I am also looking forward to.

Today was a great day. Last night I didn't go out but bummed around, because I got less than 5 hours of sleep the previous night and Saturday I took a trip to Escorial, a suburb of Madrid a little over an hour away. The Middlebury students in my program and our “ayudantes” ( helpers who are Spanish college students who are basically paid to be our friends and to show us around Madrid) took us to visit a monastery where the Kings and Queens of Spain are buried along with a lot of the royal family. The monastery was beautiful, lots of gold, murals on the ceilings, grand paintings, elaborate furniture and intricate door cravings, it was nice. But after a long day I just hung out at my apartment, chatted up the people I live with who I love so much, if I stay the year I hope I can live here my entire time, seriously this living situation is perfection.

Well, I slept until around 11:30AM today because I was up late talking to my boyfriend, JD, we bought a ticket for him to come visit me. He is coming November 9th-19th and I already have begun a countdown. It is just so hard being so far away from the person you love. I think it is especially hard because we lived together this summer so I got so used to coming home to and waking up next to the same person. But he will get to visit and see my life in Madrid and I can't wait. I must get on getting a job here to pay back the plane ticket so my poor Mom doesn't have to work like a dog as she says.

After rolling around in bed, I texted/called a couple of friends to go to El Rastro basically this huge flea market in Madrid, it is probably a couple miles long. They sell everything from clothes to jewelry, to handicrafts to electrical appliances to bowls and dishes, really a wide variety. It was just a great day to take a walk and browse the goods, the weather was ideal, super sunny with a gentle breeze. I am on my best shopping behavior because I want to travel all around Europe so I constantly think to myself that I'd rather take a flight to Rome then spend money on a new dress or a nice pair of earrings, which I already have plenty of. I would say in terms of shopping I am taking a fasting mentality so I can save up to see the world. I am proud because since I've been here I haven't bought anything but food, I bought a few postcards and a webcam to Skype with the family and boyfriend but really nothing else which knowing what a shopaholic I am is hard to believe.

El Rastro was an experience, it was jam packed with people, it was sometimes hard to maneuver through the crowd, but it was interesting to see people speaking everything from Chinese to French and of course plenty of Spaniards out to find the best deals through all the tents cluttered with items for sale, 6 pairs of socks for 3E to an entire tent with earrings for 2E a pair. After that I walked around for a bit with my friends and then Horchata texted me to go out for ice cream. I wanted to go see some Salvador Dali work at the Reina Sofia (one of Madrid's most famous museums) so I said I'd meet her after, sadly it was closed so I returned to my house.

I then made myself a wonderful salad, I get excited at any and all food that is naturally green because you hardly ever find it in restaurants. I sat in my living room which gets ridiculous amounts of light because of the 3 terraces that line the room. It was such a friendly room to eat in despite that I was alone, as corny as it sounds the sunshine was like my company.

Then after that I met Horchata for ice cream. I got Hazelnut (which had granules of actual hazelnut) and then dulce de leche. She and I walked for a bit and we ended up at El Retiro, the biggest park in Madrid, it is like their verison of Central Park. It waspacked full of people but lovely still, flowers all over, and lots of fountains. Madrid has fountains galore, it is like you walk maybe 5 blocks in any direction on the major streets and there are gorgeous fountains everywhere, I love them. There was also a man-made lake full of row boats which was lovely and when JD comes if the weather permits we can rent one, it looked so picturesque.

Side note, one aspect of food that I love here is that I hardly eat anything that is processed. I really only drink water and all the food I buy is fresh, which is refreshing because in the US when I look at labels of the food I eat I can barely recognize the name of 2-3 ingredients and the rest are chemicals and junk.

Wow, I tire myself writing this much, I need to cut down.

Anyway, after our splendid time in the park Horchata's Spanish friend called her to come meet him. He and his other Spanish friend wanted to have a hamburger, and guess where? McDonald's! I swore I wouldn't step foot inside any American establishment because I am in Spain to do as the Spaniards do but I made an exception because the Spaniards wanted the Big Mac haha, of course I did not partake in the consumption of any of the food but was rather there for company.

They enjoyed the food and explained to me they only go 2-5 times a year as a guilty pleasure. It was really awesome being with Spaniards though, they were both so kind and it was nice to finally hear about how Spain is, what Spanish culture/customs are from the actual people who live it rather than observing it myself.

After the McDonalds rendezvous we went to “tomar copas” (get drinks). I explained to the Spaniard that I didn't like red wine and that I was hoping that after my time in Spain that I would acquire a taste for it. He suddenly became very excited in helping me reach that goal and proceed to teach me all about wine, different types, marks, origins, flavors... all different aspects of wine. It was like a crash course for beginners but it is great, just what I needed because I was going about this wine thing all wrong. The best part was that all this was in Spanish, I know I've said this over and over again but I love speaking Spanish, just the idea of communicating and thinking in another language is so enjoyable. Hopefully, this knowledge will be the start of a beautiful friendship with me and "vino tinto" (red wine).

I think that is a hefty entry for now but today just makes me look forward to meeting more Spaniards to get to use my Spanish as much as possible and learn more about this culture. I am also really excited to become closer with Horchata, I love her and so thankful she is taking me under her wing. I just really enjoy her company, we have such a good time together.

And really the last thing is so far my schedule is that I don't have class either Monday or Friday which is sweet. I want to keep it that way, hopefully my intership can be in the mornings Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because then I can travel and enjoy Spain with a schedule like that.

I have my interview for the internship with the Socialist Party, more details about all of that tomorrow.

What to do tomorrow during the day? I wonder.