tapas and spandex

We had a time change here in Madrid and since I forgot to change my clock, I was so lucky as to wake up one hour too early this morning. So I figure it's a good chance to update my blog.

First, a special shout-out to my family who recently sent me a care package. There were a few important things that I forgot (like my camera cord) and a few things I just missed (like gum). But the highlight of the little box was definitely peanut butter. The Spanish can have their paella, I'll keep my PB&J, thank you very much. I told my roommates I was going to attempt to ration the peanut butter.... it's not going so well. They actually do sell it here at one store, but it's around 5 euros a jar ($7). So I don't think PB&J will be a habit of mine for very long.

Life here is getting better and better. The first couple of weeks were a bit of an adjustment. Plus I was studying for the LSAT so I didn't get to do a whole lot outside of my apartment. But now I'm taking advantage of my weekends and free time and doing some fun things.

I have a friend from home who is studying in Granada and she came up to Madrid for the weekend. It was a good chance to walk around with her and explore the city. We took a nice walk from Alonso Martinez to Colon, down to Banco de Espana and the Prado. At night I took them to Retiro Park to check out the lake.

I have a few close friends here now which also makes life more fun. Blair took the LSAT with me and she's a very nice girl and her roommate, Eimear, is great as well. My Spanish friend, Jesus, has been nice enough to show us some of his favorite places in Madrid. One place I love that I went to with both my friend from home and Blair and Eimear is called El Tigre. It's in Chueca which is sort of like the Castro (in San Francisco) of Madrid. It's a super popular tapas place. If you eat in the front you have to stand with your little plates of tapas. But if you push to the back and wait there are tables and they serve raciones which are bigger portions of the same tapas. We got croquetas cebolas (like battered, fried balls of mashed potatoes and cheese), patatas bravas (fried chunks of potatoes in a spicy sauce), and chorizo. Delicious, delicious, delicious.

Another favorite place of mine is a bar of sorts that Blair and Eimear's Spanish roommate introduced us to called Samosa. It's an underground cave-like place that only sells one thing - jars of sangria. We had to wait in line for a good twenty five minutes to get seated but it was well worth the wait. All over the walls there were quotes from famous writers. Ana (the roommate) explained that Samosa was a favorite hangout of major Spanish artists and writers like Goya and Machado. Cool!

My other taste of Spanish culture has come from playing volleyball here. I started practicing as soon as the LSATs were over and it has been really fun. It's serious enough that it's competitive and everyone comes to practice and so forth. But it's relaxed enough that we don't run or lift weights or any of that. Practice is pretty much just the fun parts of volleyball: pepper, hitting lines, games. The girls are all very nice and only speak to me in Spanish which is great. It is still tricky trying to learn all the volleyball terminology in Spanish. I can't help but yell things in English still - it's instinct.

We had our first game on Saturday. In typical Spanish fashion I was the first one to arrive (just over an hour before the game was to start). The other girls slowly trickled in and the coach was the last to show. There had been some major problems with the uniform company. Some jerseys were missing, some were the wrong size, all I knew was there was a lot of rapid yelling and cursing (which always sounds so much scarier in Spanish!). On Saturday when I got there, the oldest girl and the captain said to me, I don't know what we're going to do. There's no jersey for you..... madre mia! When the coach showed up they immediately began a back and forth spanish rant which I had a hard time following. I guess he got a jersey for me but it was the wrong number so they would have to pay a fine. I go to put on my jersey and much to my delight it is made of SPANDEX. As in, the same material as the shorts. You could see what I ate for lunch. If I get a chance, I'll have one of my roommates take a picture of me in it because it is truly hysterical. I guess I will be laying off the Tigre croquetas and sangria. Anyhow, we played pretty well and won the match in three straight sets. It was fun! We have another match on Tuesday.

Well this one is short and sweet, and as I think of more things to share I will try to update more frequently to keep from posting ten page novels. I'm also adding some pictures!

Things I miss from the States:
Target
Payless Shoes
peanut butter
cooking spray
a bath tub
hot water lasting longer than 2 minutes
pizza (and not the thin italian kind, the American kind)
English books
To-go coffee

Things I don't miss:
ignorant people
obesity
television
everyone driving cars
soda
fast food places everywhere
gyms