It´s been a while

So, I´m currently in a locutorio (internet cafe) down the street from my pension (place of lodging). I´ve been staying there for the past few days, killing time until I go to Madrid for my program´s orientation tomorrow. I think I was the only person in the whole place until yesterday (I heard someone taking a shower), however, I´m pretty sure hookers bring their johns there since I´ve seen random immodestly dressed women followed closely by older men with shame on their faces enter at odd hours. Whatever. It was cheap and tonight´s my last night there.

In other news, I met my roommates.


























They are fun!













They are going to have to drink a lot more than that in the coming months. I will make sure of it.














After much running around, calling people who didn´t call back, seeing disappointing places, and being taken out for a beer by the greatest leasing agent ever, we finally found a place, which we´re moving into on Thursday. Glad the hunt is over.

What else? I´ve eaten a lot of food here. The portions are great!


















THAT is what I´m talking about. They hook you up in Bilbao. Look how much chorizo and sausage is on that plate.














MMM....those patatas were out of control. Delicious!

Usually, I Just eat my weight in tortilla, however. It´s cheap and effective.













There is also a LOT of Engrish here.












I don´t know if you can read that, but the menu says ¨Pasta in Gorgonzola cheese creamy sauce.¨ CLEARLY they need my services here. That isn´t even the worst of it. It´s everywhere.

Here´s a picture of the one thing everyone comes here to see:













It´s much more impressive in person than in pictures. I have yet to go inside it, but apparently, the outside is better anyway, and they have the audacity to charge like 12 euro for admission. My sister has been inside and according to her, it´s filled not with classics, but with a succession of creepy installations. Maybe I´ll go one day. I´d hate to have lived here yet not gone inside.














That´s a taste of what is to come inside, apparently. It´s a ¨piece¨at the entrance of the museum. It looks like copper or bronze steps with crazy laughing dudes all over them. My sister couldn´t resist becoming part of the art. She left yesterday morning =(.

Anyway, it´s on to Madrid tomorrow for the orientation. I´m excited to meet other auxiliares and find out when school starts.

Can't think of a title

No pictures in this one, unfortunately. I'm in my favorite cibercafe, but I don't have my cords or anything. My sister left today and I don't really have a place to stay tonight, so things should get interesting. We're trying to pick a place to live by tonight, so hopefully we can move in tomorrow. My roomies have a crazy dueña who has it out for me.

LOL brand names we've encountered

Bimbo Bread
Horniman's Tea

XD

Bilbao

The last few days in Madrid were quite fun. What an overwhelming city, though. Honestly, people thronged the streets all day and all night. It was like being in a huge outdoor mall at all times. I was also fed up with paying out the nose for tiny portions of food. The last night, I went out with a bunch of people from the hostel. I met another person doing my program in a different province. We also had the best ice cream in the most stylish ice cream shop ever.
Before:



















After:



















Caipirinha--a delicious and mighty alcoholic beverage:















Anyway, we made to Bilbao last night and started shivering immediately. People here vary in ages more than in Madrid, and they are generally less stylish, though still more stylish than I. I was scared it would be a nothing town, but it's actually the perfect size. It's not as ridiculous as Madrid, but it's still a densely populated area.

I feel like people double-take me a lot on the street. My sister feels it, too. I think it's mostly because we are black women. It is a curious thing. I can count on one hand the number of black women I've seen in Spain. Half of them have been over the age of 50. I've seen a good number of young black men in Madrid, most of whom were either setting up various wares in the street or running from the police with bags of said wares slung over their shoulders. They did not look American or Caribbean. The black men here in Bilbao look like they live here or are tourists like us. Anyway, I think we're an interesting sight to many.

Funny: We got hit on by a group of 40-something, drunken German tourists.

Interesting cultural notes:
- Spanish couples are WAY AFFECTIONATE. Ass grabbing, deep kissing, and more! Practically nothing's off limits. My eyes pop out on a regular basis.
- The Spanish version of Wheel of Fortune has a super hot, tan, 7-foot Adonis as a host, and the "most common letters" (ours are RSTLNE) are CLXGA.
- The old men are not hot. They wear dress pants and sweaters.
- The old ladies are GILFs. They are always dressed to the nines.
- Old people have quite a presence here in Bilbao. I saw several young people taking strolls with their elderly relatives along in wheelchairs or walking alongside them, attached to their elbows. It makes me wonder what happens to old people in America. We don't walk them, that's for sure.

Random Madrid pics:





























Pics of the Segway tour are to come. My camera is dead, unfortunately!

Okay, FINALLY here.

SIGH. It's been a long two days. I'll spare you the boring details and just give you what is mostly a highlight list:

- Got here after an uneventful flight. Slept through most of it, thankfully. I don't care what anyone says, I LOVE airplane food. It's so damned well thought out. You just know a team of people lost sleep over making sure your food reheats well, is large enough to hold you over for 4 hours, while remaining conveniently sized, and is compartmentalized into different courses (appetizer, entree, dessert). It's so anal, and it makes me so happy.
-Barajas Airport impresses my sister; I am unmoved.
- My theory that all European men love shirts/sweaters with horizontal stripes and super fancy jeans gains more support in Spain.
- We find our hostel and are sketched out by the ghetto door. We climb the four flights of stairs and find it quite nice, indeed.
- The sound of a didgeridoo floats up from the street...for HOURS. STOP.
- We eat bad salads for lunch.
- We return to the hostel, where the sound of a recorder playing the same 10 seconds of Greensleeves floats up...for HOURS. PLEASE STOP.
- We order what we think are tapas for dinner, but end up with 8 different kinds of fried balls. We feel like crap.
- We discover the source of the music is downstairs is buskers, who are frickin everywhere.
- We sleep for 11 hours.

Day 2:
- We eat croissants and hot chocolate for breakfast. We're starting to get the hang of going to a restaurant and not looking like complete idiots.

Poll: What is more offensive and why? Hobo or beggar? What is the PC term? Bum? Street person?
- Hours spent at the Prado. Audio tours are helpful and add much to the experience of looking at a bunch of crusty old pictures.
- We bump into Americans due to my sister's "Obama for your Mama" t-shirt.
- We wander through El Parque del Retiro, which is goooorgeous. The weather today was amazing. Not ONE cloud. No wonder these people don't have A/C anywhere. Nature didn't curse them with 1 billion percent humidity.
- We eat a tiny meal (what the hell, I was starving).













The madrilena diet for staying thin:
1) Smoke as many cigarettes are you can get your hands on, and some that others are holding.
2) Climb billions of stairs as you zip through metro stations.
3) Make out in the park. It's good exercise...apparently!
4) Eat only a croissant for breakfast, the world's tiniest ham sandwich for lunch, and one tapa for dinner. Drink copious copas.

That's it for now, I suppose. Much more to come later. We're doing a Segway tour tomorrow, and we're leaving for Bilbao on the 21st. Whee!

- LaDaun

It's a-coming

It's 5 days until Spain. I dread how exhausting the next few weeks will be, but I'm thankful to have my sister along to help/see the sights with.

I have nothing packed. I'm planning on throwing away or giving away much.

My camera is nowhere to be found, and my mother offered me hers, but it is acting up. I can't do Spain without a working camera!

Tomorrow is my last day at work (YES).

I only updated this out of boredom.