Captain's log, Day 13: Oh simple thing, where have you gone?

Buen dia!

Today it is Thursday. I suppose I should start by filling you in on all of the things I have been doing the past couple of days. Friday night I went out with a bunch of guys and went to an Irish bar, of all places. The Heineken was good, but I guess I took the United States for granted (or atleast New York). I went into the bar and immediately started coughing. The smoke was so thick it made my eyes itch. Man do I miss that about NY. Its so weird, everyone around here smokes. And it is not like it is super cheap, but it is more socially acceptable to take a cigarette break and a coffee than just a coffee. So after smelling of beer and cigarettes, I put myself to bed.

The next morning I got up and went to Artemia’s house. Artemia is a student here who came to RPI last year and studied under Rahmi, my advisor, for two months. So at least she knew some of the people at RPI and knows English well enough to carry out a conversation with me for over a half hour. I felt very badly though, I got lost on the way to her house and she had to come help me out. When I finally reached my destination, her two sisters had cooked lunch for us. Unfortunately, one of her two sisters did not speak any English and I did not make any kind of communication with her. Her other sister spoke a bit of English, but not a whole lot. Needless to say, communication was very tiring, with trying to find the appropriate wording and using body language to convey what we meant. Thankfully, there was an Italian there who also spoke a bit of English. His name was Matteo and he was quite helpful. Lunch was great, the two sisters really know how to cook! The one that did not really speak to me just came back from a religious retreat….she was walking every day from 7am until 4pm….such devotion! I don’t think I could ever do that haha. I stayed around through siesta (we didn’t sleep. The siesta thing is a sham…no one really does it ever. Sometimes on the weekends people do, but other than that there is really no mandatory breaks during the day for sleeping.) and we took a walk by the community pool. Afterward, we shared some delightful conversation until ~9:30 pm. The majority of it was everyone trying to teach the other person about the other’s language and correcting stereotypes. I nearly got lost on the train home, but thank god everyone here has taken a little English, so one woman through gestures and grunts helped me to the Leganes train station. Thank GOODNESS.

Sunday I got up early with the intention of going into the city to do some sight seeing. I got on the train with no problem, but right after I got off the train it started raining (I know what you are thinking….the rains in spain fall mainly on the plane….WRONG-O. I had my umbrellie though, so it was not a disaster J) I got to el museo de prado mostly dry and it was wonderful. Also, I like going to the museums because you can get the student discount J Anyways, I went in and there are so many rooms full of sculptures, pottery, glass, and paintings, it was very hard to keep myself well navigated. I think I got around to most of the good things….It was quite heart breaking to go in there and look at the art though. I mean….if you look at some of the paintings, the women are ghost white and are not incredibly skinny. People back then thought that these women were absolutely BEAUTIFUL. They were literally works of art. And now if you are to think of beautiful women, they are mostly tan, skinny, and tightened. It is heartbreaking to think that these women in these paintings, these muses for someone, would now most likely be considered “ugly” to the US standards. After paying homage to the art, I went outside and it was pretty nice, so I went next door to the botanical garden (1 euro for students). I saw the species of tree that is the tallest in the world (sequoias), an actual kiwi plant with fruit (have YOU ever seen one?), lots of pretty flowers, and exotic trees. Everything was kind of brown since the season for flowers is ending and autumn will soon be upon the Spaniards. But there is still beauty among the dying. I grabbed some lunch when Dad texted, so I went home afterward and made some Skype calls to the US for a few hours. I think pretty soon after I just hung out ….it was kind of late at that point.

Monday was fine. The truth is, I don’t remember much of it. I went to work, did some experiments with Claire (who looks like one of Delia’s twin friends, but does not sound as nasally….which is very unusual for a French girl!). We are going to have a going away party for Veronica, she is going to California to do her post doc. And Tuesday Claire and I did some more nanoparticle work….blah blah. But she was getting upset with our advisors. Yesterday she nearly flipped out…we were trying to remove 99% of the solvent from a mixture…it was borderline torture. Also, yesterday I went to a bar to get cerveza with one of my co-workers. I had had a bad day….if you talk to Jenn, Delia, Josh, or Ryan, they will tell you it is true. I missed home for a while and had to talk to my labby labs. (I later found out why I was so upset about everything). Research wasn’t going my way, I can’t watch any American tv over here because none of the websites work, I was just upset. Anyways, my co-worker told me I looked like I needed a cerveza. And we proceeded to have a great talk about life. First of all, the Carlsberg cerveza is quite tasty….it is light, but has way more flavor than coors or most of America’s pale beer. Number two, they serve you food with the beer which is nice. But my co-worker proceeded to ask me what I was doing in Spain and told me I was quite brave for coming without knowing the language. It takes a strong person to do what I am doing, etc. And he told me that he was in my shoes before…that he has been in new situations and to just be happy with today. Because tomorrow is always a new day. He also said that the atmosphere in Spain is much different than in the US (which, I can safely say, “I feel that.”) People in Spain are more relaxed about everything. They don’t need the huge tv, they don’t need the mansion, they don’t need the hummers. One of the most important social differences between here and the US is that you can’t tell the difference between a rich person and a poor person. And you can definitely tell the difference in the US. And that is fine, but he was right…I am not the most humble of all people when it comes to material possessions, but I really don’t have a want for that much. It was beautiful. It made me very sad at the same time though…we have many people living in “poverty” and we have people that are going homeless…but most everyone over here is content…no one is yelling or screaming…there’s less drama, all the old people come out and go to the old people park and exercise with everyone. It’s just more friendly. There are some things I miss about the US, don’t get me wrong. But he really knew how to speak to my inner hippie. After a couple of beers and tapas, I walked home. And you know what? I think he really cheered me up, a practical stranger of all people (not to say that those of you who helped with the mini-meltdown yesterday were not helpful). Today, I went into work with fresh eyes and a new perspective. I got something new for lunch, and even tried the coffee (which, I will not be making a habit of. They put like cream and whole milk into the coffee….it tastes more like melted milkshake than what I perceive coffee should taste like. ) And I did all of my research with high hopes. I even danced around the lab a little bit for Jota Jota to prove I was in a better mood. BY THE WAY, the OG’s name is Nacho, the blond IS Carlos, and Jota Jota is the guy with the laptop (a few blogs ago). That pretty much sums it up for me. This weekend I get to do laundry….yay! I will probably venture into the city, though it is supposed to rain a lot. Oh well, I will just go to more museums and stay inside J Plus I get to figure out things for when Mom and Aunt Susan come here….any suggestions for Barcelona hostels anyone?

Sorry for the long entries...will try to make them shorter and more frequent.