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?” Which is the tiny, poorly marked street the new hostel is on.
Streets in Madrid are very narrow, so much so that I feel like I could probably jump from one side to the next. And they don´t have street signs: just plaques on the buildings on each corner saying what street it is. In that way and a few others it reminds me of being in the French Quarter. Which makes sense, because despite the name, the French Quarter owes as much to the Spanish as it does to the French. That´s something non-Louisiana natives may not know.
I also looked into a one week intensive language class, which I´ll start on Monday. I´m looking forward to that, because communicating is giving me a headache. It´s a bit humbling for someone who prides himself on his intelligence and ability to make himself understood to have to say, “Lo siento, hablo un poco español [I´m sorry, I only speak a little spanish]”, and hold out a handful of money because you couldn´t figure out how much the waiter said your meal was. But that´s ok—I can always use a good humbling. The only decision on the class is whether I want to stay in Madrid for it, or take it in Valencia. I´m leaning towards Valencia, that way I can always come back to Madrid towards the end of my trip.
What else? This computer keyboard is spanish, so all of the punctuation keys are located in different spots. It´s making typing…interesting. The tradeoff is that I have much better access to the upside down question mark. Suhweet.
Things that are popular in Madrid:
Drinking in the morning
Acid wash jeans
Smoking
Adam Sandler (if the movie ads are to be believed, that is)
I know exactly what you´re thinking, and yes, I´m quite sure I didn´t end up in New Jersey by mistake.
Spanish for the day: “Hablar mas despacio, por favor.”
Translation: “Speak more slowly, please.”
