Captain´s log, day three.

Word around the blogosphere is….Spain rocks.

The flight was ok. There were many students on the same flight as I, which was nice…I kind of had other people to talk with. And for Dee and Galen, the blond boy going to Philadelphia was going to California and the only time I spoke to him was when we were leaving to get off the plane….not much of a talker. My brain felt like mush after we landed and all I wanted to do was be sick or lay down somewhere. Olga met me at the airport, but she did not recognize me from the picture Rahmi had sent her…that was awkward.

After we met, Olga took me to her house to meet her family. She has a hubby, Jose, and two children, Victor and Rotheo (or something like that….I can never be sure). I dropped my baggage off and we went into the city of Madrid to go see a modern art exhibit. It was really cool, it was based on movement. There are these creatures that move based on the elements….and when it rains it buries its head in the sand….So cool how you can engineer nature into art. There were a bunch of other things at the museum too, but that was by far the coolest. We had lunch ( I felt so disgusting from the flight, I couldn’t eat). The Spanish love eggs. Huevos. Gross. Eggs on burgers, omelets, eggs on meat of all kinds. They also love pork products. Everything has bacon or ham in it. We went back to Olga’s house and experienced siesta…heaven in a two hour period. It didn’t cure my feeling of “pudding head”, but I did feel better. Unfortunately, I did not know how long to sleep for, so I shirked myself of some major catching up this weekend. I always tried to be up and ready by the time the family was, but ended up seriously overestimating. We sent los ninos off to Olga’s parents’ house….which btw looked way more like old Mafioso than Spaniards…but whatever. The parents and I took a trip into the city where Cervantes was born…that’s right, the author of Don Quixote. Everyone there LOVES Don Quixote…so many statues! We had tappas….which are awesome! We sampled Calamari, this potato salad (vinegar, no mayo), and fried potatoes with this spicy red sauce. Then Jose ordered a sandwich which we all split and SURPRISE! It had huevos in it. Duh. Then we had this splendid cake thing…muy bien. It was like baklava but instead of the chewy granola-y part it was this lemon whipped cream. I highly suggest it. We went on a walk around the told after…you will see pictures on my site J

The next day we went to this cute little village that was untouched when Napoleon came through because it was set so far back in the mountains. The special part of the city was that there were black rocks used in the road and all of the houses were made of stone. We went for dinner at this restaurant where there was a playground for los ninos (there are parks and playgrounds everywhere here!!!) Olga and Jose ordered this big meat plate….I felt ill looking at it. It was full of bacon, ham, chicken, steak, veal, this sausage that looks like chorizio but it lighter and less spicy, and mortada (sp?) which is essentially rice and….blood. It has a good smoky taste, but they told me before I ate it….FYI, if youre going to surprise a person with what they are eating, do it after and not before. I couldn’t help but think of it as I chewed….ew. We went to this beautiful castle next and the view was simply…breathtaking. Los ninos kept taking my picture, and I theirs. It was also very sweet and refreshing to see the family interact with each other….so much love, so much enthusiasm about everything. I think it is because (and you can see this from the pictures) that there is not a cloud in the sky. Sunshine everyday all day….and it is not supposed to rain much in the winter time either. There is no room for emo or despair when the weather is muy bonita all damn day. The other thing I love about Spain is the air. You can walk in the city and you don’t smell all the pollution, you don’t smell all of the petroleum. You can smell hints of some fried food or a store fragrance, but you never smell what I will refer to as….”industry”. The US just reeks of industry, and in Spain it is much cleaner, much more virginized. But alas I have not been to all of Spain yet ;)

Today I got acquainted with the university. My dorm room is similar to….I would say a hospital room with Ikea vomit all over (Spaniards also love Ikea as much as we do!) I don’t really mind, it is just a place to put my head. I went to the department today which was cool. I got to meet a lot of the people I will be working with. Beaucoup problemo, Calvin….not many people sprecken my lingiddy. So it is extremely frustrating to go there because I feel like many people do not want to take the effort to put everything in English. There is one girl, Maria, who is very helpful. And Artemia, who was a visiting grad student at RPI last year. Both very nice. And I feel bad asking them things, but I hope they are understanding me well enough. Today was kind of an awkward day…Claire the girl I will be working primarily with had to defend her Master’s Thesis today…so I guess everyone was off schedule anyways. I move my room tomorrow (It is right near the main entrance and is SO LOUD! So they are moving me) so I didn’t unpack. I did try to get internet with no avail…stupid wifis, stupid UC3M for not giving me an internet password. Oh well. So then I went to the university again to send a quick email or two and then came back and went to the grocery store. The bad thing about my room here is that….its just me with no refrigerator or kitchen. So I cant buy things I want to keep cool or cook….I haven’t had to do that in so long! So tomorrow begins the adventure for real food. The what-can-I-eat-under-budget plan. Tonight it was whole wheat croissants with peach jam and potato chips. Call me unadventurous, call me stupid, call me Kate…but it was late and things were closing anyways. I miss the prepared foods in the US….like sandwiches or sushi or something….heck if I was in the US I would live off of lunchables! And upon my return I killed my first cucharacha….suffice it to say I was supremely skeeved out. But everything is beautiful at the university. There is a 10 min walk to my building, which goes through what looks like almost a transported Canal street (but less sketchy). Tomorrow I will go on the other side of town and explore that for a bit…I need to make some friends soon or figure out what people do in their spare time because I want to see things! It will be my approach that takes a little finessing….it is hard when you only speak survival Spanish to ask if people will be your friend.

Hasta pasta, amigos!

***This blog was written two days ago. Stupid interwebs don´t work in my living space just yet, so you all get to read old news :)