Spain—Day 5

Today is exciting. I start one week’s worth of intensive language classes in Valencia. So, first things first, I had to wake up and navigate my way over to the school. Before they put you in class they give you a placement exam that tells them what your level of español is. Well, I could have told them that my level was zero, nothing, or whatever the system is.

Spain—Day 4

Day 4 was mostly spent on a bus from Madrid to Valencia, so I’ll keep this one short.

Let me just say that I’ll never be entirely sure how I managed to negotiate my way onto a bus with a driver that spoke no english and a ticket that was only on my phone. It was a tad miraculous, I think. The bus was nicer than my apartment, though, including my seatmate who didn’t let anyone steal my camera even when I was dumb enough to leave it sitting right out in the open while I went to the restroom. Soy estupido.

Spain—Day 3

One thing I´m noticing is that a lot of Spanish doors have the doorknobs located in the middle of the door, and not as far out from the hinge as is practical.

I can only conclude that the Spanish, while lovely people, don´t know shit about physics. Bear with me; I´ll be brief.

Spain—Day 2

The computer access continues, so so do the blogs! It´s 1pm on Friday in Madrid, so that´s about 5am pacific/7am central (also Friday). Basically, everyone I know is asleep right now.

Today I moved hostels, which involved a 2km walk and a pretty liberal application of the phrase, “Donde esta el Calle del Carmen?”

Spain—Day 1

The hostel I’m staying at in Madrid has computers for guests’ use in the basement (right next to the bar, oh yes), so I thought I’d check in with early impressions.

We flew all night, from 6pm East Coast time to 8am Madrid time. I read the whole time; no sleep for this one. The plane, a giant Airbus 340, had a camera mounted on the tail and aimed forward, the view of which they showed during takeoff and landing. It was pretty cool to see what the landing looked like from that perspective.

Traveling Man

Attention, everyone: I am leaving the country for a month, starting tomorrow. I will have limited internet access, and no cellphone. So, if there’s anything you need from me, now is your window to text, message, or email me.

Out of necessity, there may be some triage involved—I only have so much time before I leave and there’s much to do. But I am endeavoring to not have anything fall through the cracks.



Yours,
JT