Mi piso

So I finally took pictures of my little apartment. It is really nice; came furnished and with the internet. Still working on getting the wireless code but no serious problems.


The kitchen is probably the smallest anyone has ever seen. It is a squeeze to have two people in there so dinner time becomes a little bit of a waiting game. You can't see the refrigerator but its narrow and in the corner. Next to it is the washing machine. We haven't attempted to use it yet, I think because we're all a little scared. There is a clothes line going from my room to another for drying purposes. Oddly enough (seeing as it rained most of my first weekend here) Madrid is in a pretty serious drought right now so running into problems with the weather and hanging clean clothes won't matter. There are shelves and cupboards above the washer and sink where we keep the plates and glasses. More shelves under the window where we keep utensils and pots and pans. There is a oven and microwave on the other wall (and coffee maker that sometimes finds its way into the living room). Since there is only one outlet on that side of the wall we have to take turns plugging the appliances in. It is perfect for what we need, as long as we don't start having big meals here.


The bathroom is tiny as well; we can't have everyone's shampoos and conditioners in the shower at the same time because we would not fit. I had to get used to taking short showers again rather quickly. The first time I was in Madrid it was out of respect because of the water issue. Most Madrileños take short showers because they are technically in a crisis. Now I do it for that reason, but also because our water heater dictates everything. It gets really hot fast and then dies quickly, just something I'm going to have to adjust to here.


The living room has a tv, small chair, couch, dining table, and a little balcony. The bookshelf came stocked with some English books so I've taken the liberty of reading a few. The internet router is also there and since we don't have the wireless key code we all have to work from the couch. We watch the news sometimes to catch what's going on in the city. We haven't been lucky enough to get one of the free 20 Minutos Madrid so the news is our first source of what the city has planned. Last night (technically this morning) at four we tried watching the debate because they had it live but dubbed in Castellano (sidenote: Madrid speaks Castellano, Catalonia speaks Catalán, Galica speaks Gallego, and the Basque region speaks Basque).

Finally, my room (the other two are exactly the same) comes with a bed, dresser, closest, desk and a few sets of shelves. As of now my clothes fit nicely away, however, after nine months I'm not sure what is going to happen. I haven't had much use for my desk except when I work at my computer. I like it though because I can't possibly get it messy, it is so small that if I leave anything out I trip over it.

Negative: Hearing my deaf neighbor snore through my wall.

Positive: Finding an open air Mercado three blocks away.

First days in Madrid

As expected, Madrid is amazing. It feels surreal to finally be here but at the same time everything came back to me instantly. Clearly my people-watching has become more intense, who would want to miss the mullets? And the general return to the 80's that Madrid is suffering from? Its ok that I missed it the first time because now I can live through it at an opportune time in my life.
The first day here was great, found the apartment to be quite cute actually (pictures to come) and the neighborhood in a great location. Unpacked and did a quick observation of the local block. Interesting stores and clubs all over the place. Next door to the complex is a traditional Spanish bar which I'll wander in to eventually.
Set off in search of groceries, seeing as the fridge was empty, on the second day. Chose the obvious El Corte Ingles for all my shopping needs. ECI is like a department store but has so much more you could possibly need. After asking for the closest grocery store, my roommates and I were met with bad directions to a small shut down store. However, upon wandering across the street to the other ECI we found the ECI Supermercado. More expensive but perfect for the first shopping trip. Clearly telling the cashier that we had no food and needed any market that sold any type of food was not enough. Oh well, No pasa nada.
Met up with Meagan and Theresa that night at a Cuban restaurant in Bilbao area. Although it was not a traditional Spanish place it still had the best Sangria imaginable. We'd been there before during my semester abroad so we wanted some familiarity. The waiter loved us and showered us with free tapas (appetizers) and shots. After dinner my roommates and I headed to Alonso Martinez area to find some bars. Pretty successful bar hopping night. Ended up in Dolce where I'd been before. On special nights they set up beer pong tables for all the American students. Had a great long walk home without a map, but were successful non the less.
Tried to watch the Pats game Sunday, however, I was clear out of luck considering both Real Madrid was playing at 7 my time (1pm at home) and Barcelona was playing after that. I didn't stand a chance. To be honest, I'm not sure if I would have wanted to see Cassel lose it to the Dolphins.
This morning I did my traditional long walk through the city. Wound up near the Plaza de Toros and took some pictures. Then I took a serious of side streets and found the cheapest little store for all things necessary (ie shampoo, facewash). Also found an outdoor/indoor food market which will be great for cheaper and fresher groceries. Its only four blocks away and was definitely my most accomplished find.

Negative: The smoking that takes place everywhere: bars, streets, and restaurants.

Positive: Waking up to the sounds of Madrid.

Boston-Madrid via Dublin

Well, I officially left for Madrid out of Logan in Boston on September 18th at 630pm flying Aer Lingus.

Talk about your cliché flights. Stuck in front of a woman who talked loudly about everything from her sciatica to her nephews who travel in a camper, to her husband who still can’t understand her accent after all these years. The woman next to me was crying, for whatever reason. And two, yes that’s right not one, but two crying babies in front of me…fantastic. Nothing a little music couldn’t fix. Wrong. Dinner comes and the selections are beef and chicken and nothing more. The piece of bread was delicious. But still no worries, no complaints out of me, I chose Spice Girls this time because no matter what they can’t get me down. We get word that we’re arriving an hour plus early, which is great because I would have only had 50 minutes to make my connection. We land. And we sit. And sit. Turns out a plane took our gate and then decided to get fueled as well. But the fuel-er doesn’t come in until 5 and it was 430am. More sitting. Finally it is time to get off! …and the air bridge is stuck. More time just flies by sitting with the competing, screaming babies. Now its official, we can get off but I only have 15 minutes to maneuver an airport I’ve never been to before. I usually brag that I’m good at traveling, and I’d still like to say that I am, but the Dublin airport is the sketchiest one I’ve ever been to. Small narrow corridors that never end and signs that blend in with the wall. I run through as quickly as possible having many roadblocks: going through customs, security, slow people, lazy people, and passengers who probably just thought I was funny with my crazy ducking in and out of people skills. So after coming in at terminal A then heading to all these places then having to loop back to terminal A I finally see my gate, A9. A woman heads toward me to rush me on and at this point it’s about a minute and a half till departure. She tells me in her great accent, no worries and that there were people coming from Dublin who still weren’t on the plane. I board the plane looking absolutely fantastic and sink into my seat waiting for the flight that will bring to my final destination: MADRID!

Negative: Not having more time to scope out Irish boys.

Positive: Getting my passport stamped in Dublin which I will now count as me having been to Ireland.