9 amazing/scary/interesting cosas that happened ayer



Plaza de Oriente

 1.  As I was waiting at the bus stop outside my apartment complex, a Spanish man and woman pulled their car over to ask me for directions.



2. I was sitting on a bench in the Plaza de Oriente in Madrid, enjoying a Sprite and taking a rest from my touristy walkabout, when a homeless/possibly crazy woman decided to attack a couple and try to steal the woman's purse.  The woman's husband started yelling and performed a citizen's arrest (a.k.a. grabbed the lady by her wrists and fought with her) until the other people in the plaza could get the attention of the police in a squad car outside the Royal Palace.

 


3. I was taking some pictures of the statue in the Plaza de Espana, near an empty stage set up with some kids playing with a bouncy ball.  They lost the ball and it rolled all the way towards me.  (Using my cat-like reflexes) I caught it as it rolled off the stage and returned it to them.



Peanut buttaaaa!



4. At the Templo de Debod, 3 Muslim guys from London tried to get me to go out dancing with them....umm, no.

5. Saw way too many homeless people and went down way too many side streets by myself.





6. Shelled out $5.17 US for a jar of peanut butter at El Corte Ingles...desperate times call for desperate measures.

7. Ate dinner by myself in a restuarant on the Gran Via.






Templo de Debod



8. Watched the sunset at the Templo de Debod (I was lost and wound up back where I started, so it seemed convenient enough.)

 9. Heard the Spongebob Squarepants theme song play throughout a grocery store.

Disorientation



La Plaza de Santa Ana

I’m now done with orientation / the first set of jornadas de formacion!!! Wednesday after las jornadas, I went to a restaurant with some chicas and ordered the ensaladilla rusa because it was the only thing vegetarian on the menú.  I asked the waiter if it contained meat, but I forgot to ask if it had seafood either...it had tuna...I ate 1/4 of it just so I wouldn’t seem wasteful or rude.  I´m sure it tasted good (to a normal person’s mouth) but since my mouth hasn’t tasted animal in so long it was giving me nausea.  Thursday after la jornada, I walked all the way to the downtown central area near Sol with some other friends.  We went to the 100 Montaditos they have on the terraza-plaza of Santa Anna and had an hour or two lunch and then walked all the way back to our Alonso Martinez area.  On the way back, we passed some prostitutes out on the main street in the middle of the afternoon…not in a creepy alleyway at midnight…the middle of the day in the touristy part of Madrid.  

Breakfast here has been so nice. The coffee is rich and thicker than normal liquids.  In the states, coffee is the same consistency as water before you add the cream and toppings.  You have to put 1/2 a cup of milk in Spanish coffee just to get it light brown...and its so good that I actually forget to put sugar in it sometimes.  Breakfast is usually just coffee and juice with some kind of muffin/pastry/pan tostada....anything that has carbs (but light and not uber-sweet like in the states.)

Another random thing I’ve noticed, the pillows here are all skinny and take up the width of the bed.

Yesterday was also my day to come to the piso I had lined up over the Internet before coming to Spain.  I got on the subway going OUT of the city with all the commuters at 7:30pm...not smart.  I decided to sit on a bench on the platform for 20 minutes thinking I could wait until it got less packed but that didn’t work, so I waited until a train came by and 3 or 4 people with suitcases got off, because then I could fit with my gigantic stuff. When I got to Principe Pio, there were ticket stands all over for all the cercanias and the Renfes and the two people pointed me outside to get a ticket for the interurbano bus. I was outside in this huge plaza disoriented for a while, and finally found a "you are here" map that said my bus was on level -1.  How do I get to level -1 since i just came up and down a million different stairs? I finally figured out that the odd little glass buildings all over the plaza are escalators to go under Principe Pio.

I found the 495 terminal easily and asked an old man in front of me if it was the right one. He was really nice and told me I spoke Spanish well.  When he found out that I couldn’t buy a ticket because I had a 20 (you can’t pay with anything bigger than a 5) he tried to give me change from his wallet. I went back inside, got change from a vendor and waited 40 min. for the next bus.
On the bus I recognized most of the stops, (besides the fact that the driver didn’t have the scrolling marquee thing on to tell us which stop we were at...) but when we got to Arroyomolinos I was really confused. I finally asked a guy if he knew where the San Fernando stop was. He didn’t know, so a mom-type lady interjected and helped me. I told her it was near a BANCO CAJA MADRID and she told me to get off at her stop. When we got off, there were two kids that ran up and gave huge hugs and kisses to their dad who was getting off the bus.  Aww, Hallmark moment…I, on the other hand, got on the street and took about 30 seconds to figure out which direction to start walking in.  I crossed the street and headed towards the apt. but on the way heard someone say "Niki?" It was Carlos and Vanesa. They were walking in the opposite direction to the bus stop because they were worried and it was starting to rain.



view of Arroyomolinos this morning from my bedroom



They are so nice.  The apartment is amazing,…and I’m happy to finally be settled in.





Bienvenidos a Espana...and enjoy the Reese's

I am finally here!

I flew to Philly, no problem, fine.  My bag was 54.5 lbs in Raleigh, so I frantically pulled some random things out and brought it down to 49.5 lbs.

 

I had a 3 1/2 hour layover which I used to finish reading my SPAIN travel guide and take notes on all the places and festivals I want to see this year.  Once we had boarded the plane to Madrid however, we sat on the tarmak for 2 hours because they were having trouble with the computer screens.  After they fixed our plane's computers, the whole airport was put on lockdown because Obama was flying out....really, Obama? really? I sat next to a girl who was talking on her phone in this weird (weird to me because it wasn't Central American) Spanish accent, and turns out she's an auxiliar norteamericano too!  We talked on the plane and did the whole customs, bathrooms, luggage, currency exchange, and exit process together.  I got on the subway and it was, oddly enough, really easy to figure out (easier than New York and Seoul).  At one point, an older man helped me get my suitcase up the stairs because it was SOOOO heavy.

 

The street signs in the area of my hostel are so miniscule that the directions I had weren't exactly helpful.  I came up from the subway and recognized the fountain (from google maps) and made a left.  After I had been walking for a while and thought I was lost, I asked a security guard standing outside a Ministerio del Interior building where my street was.  He didnt know what Calle Beneficiencia was, but he knew Mejia Lequerica....so now I'm here!!!!

 

When I got to the albergue, I was so smelly, and gross, and tired, but I couldn't go into the room until 1:30pm because they were cleaning.  I found a random empty room on the second floor of the albergue with nothing but two benches, so I tried to sleep on a bench, and I could hear the cleaning lady tell her co-workers "Esta nina dormia!"

 

I finally checked in and realized I don't have the batteries for my alarm clock...

Now that I've finally showered, made my bed, organized myself and my papers, I want to take a nap but I know it'll throw off my sleep.  I know I should head out in an hour or two to look for a place where I can make copies / print my NIE application, buy batteries, and get some food for dinner, but....I'm just. so. tired.

 

During my layover I got myself an everything bagel with coffee, then had the dinner and breakfast on the plane.....but nothing else...until I opened my suitcase at 1:30 in my room and found the Reese's PB cups from my sister which I had totally forgot about!!!! They saved my life.

El visado ha llegado!!!!!!!!!!

MY VISA ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is all.
KthnxBai.

I just woke up, okay?!

Arroyomolinos

While I wait with growing anxiety, frustration, excitement, frustration,  (and did I mention frustration?) for my visa to arrive, I'll give you some information on my soon-to-be hometown: Arroyomolinos, Madrid.

Distance from Madrid : 29 km

Area : 20.66 km²

Population: 13,835

Arroyomolinos is in the autonomous community of Madrid, not to be confused with the actual city of Madrid.  There are 17 autonomous communities in Spain.  They can kind of be related to the American version of a state. 


Arroyomolinos in the 1970s

From what I've read, Arroyomolinos is VERY MUCH like my current place of residence, Cary, NC.  It was a quaint, lovely town until the 2000s when it exploded with middle and upper-middle class suburbanites.  In 2000 the town had only 3,824 people, but in the past ten years it has grown to over 13,000 people. The town is now divided into 3 barrios.  The southern barrio is the old quarter and the older nieghborhood.  The northern barrios are Las Castañeras and Ciudad Jardín.  The eastern barrios are Zarzalejo and El Bosque.



Arroyomolinos today

From my apartment, I should be able to walk to school in 5-10 minutes, but I am still heavily leaning towards getting a bicycle while I'm over there, because it doesn't seem to be very pedestrian friendly.  There is a bus stop right by my apartment that can take me to Madrid center in 30 minutes, so I am all set!

Laundry List

Here is a list of all the things I'm constantly thinking about having to do:

1. Receive my GD visa in the mail....Donde esta???
2. Buy a plane ticket from Raleigh to Madrid.
3. Buy a plane ticket from Madrid to Barcelona for my lovely October meet-up with the amazing Clare Wolfe.
4. Straightening out banking/money matters with Wachovia before I leave, so I can withdraw money overseas for the first few weeks.
5. Successfully arriving in Europe (for the first time in my life), navigating the subway system with my luggage, and getting to a hostel.
6. Moving into a piso.
7. Applying for my NIE (Foreigner's Residency Number) as soon as possible, so I can do #8.
8. Open a Spanish bank account.
9. Get a Spanish cell phone.
10. Visit my colegio before the first day of work to introduce myself / familiarize myself with the school.
11. Not forgetting to eat....I tend to do that when I'm busy and traveling.