Internal Monologue

Je adore Paris (or something like that)

2008-06-17T12:47:00.012+02:00

Unfortunatly my camera was stolen my last day in Paris...instead of letting this ruin my trip we (Valerie and Hugh) lit a candle at Montmarte and ate tons of ice cream. I took it as a sign that my relationship with Paris was far from over, that the city needed me to come back to at least, at the bare minimum, retake some of those beautiful pictures. My mom, being so "my mom" consoled me by quoting The Little Prince: "On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye). I guess having to abandon most of your belongings in Guatemala really teaches a person to value the nontangeable.

I arrived in Paris only to realize that my cell phone gets no service and when I said I dont speak french..I really truely do not speak any french. After 4 failed attempts to use a French payphone I decide to just show up at Vals place and hope for the best. Fortunately, I am greeted by a bright pink post-it from Valerie that informs me she ran to the post office but BRB. Curling up on the curb in front of her place and with my box of Ritz crackers I get two "Bon Appetits" from passing strangers, I love Paris!!

Let's just say that Val found me screaming from her neighbors window, "VALERIE ANN!!" after I friended the first person to walk into the building who luckily lived across the hall from her. The neighbors apartment was AMAZING. It was so arty with the chalk board above the desk, beautiful colors, old brown leather couches, and the fridge in the living room. We drank some beer, while she smoked out of the window and discussed the various significant frases that I should learn in french.

During my first night in Paris I fell in love with the deserts, coffee, fromage and just food in general. Apparently the French make everything from scratch. EVERYTHING! To me its like making your own shoes, why make it when you can buy it already made...but delicious. this picture is of Andrea's foodgasm after eating the most amazing chocolatness ever. GLORIOUS.

Internal Monologue at the Airport (Madrid - Paris)

2008-06-16T11:56:00.006+02:00

I had been dying for a notebook since getting to Madrid. There is something about writing everything down the moment it happens that makes the experiences seem more real. I only regret not bringing my journal that I brought to Brazil, with the torn cover carelessly held together with tape and the pages stained with coffee. But I did finally buy a 1€ notebook from my favorite "Chino" which should do the trick.

On my way to Paris..PARIS!! I have been talking about wanting to go for a while and I am so glad I finally got my sh** together. This being all part of my "proactive" personality, a quality that at times may make some people want to pull their hair out but I love it when it forces me to take on a few adventures. Such as my commitment to study Portugese in Brazil, wanting to work in Spanish all summer, spending new years in London with Stephie and jumping off a bloody 50ft cliff in Jamaica. GOING TO GEORGETOWN LAW! Now that is huge, I spent the entire 4 years of college committed on getting into Georgetown law and here I am done with the first year.

Also, I am a big fan of airports. They always represent the beggining or the end of something. Whether its flying in to see your family or spending a weekend in Paris, they are all things you are waiting in anticipation for. Besides, once you arrive at the airport all you have to do is wait. Grab some coffee, food, or in my case a box of Ritz crackers, some strawberry lifesavers and a pack of trident gum. Note: Will start eating better when I arrive in Paris..or get back to Madrid.

I am so excited for Paris. It represents me actually doing something unlike my habit of vegging out in Madird (buying my plane ticket 3 days in advance-spontenaiety can be sexy), going to the first country where I do not speak the language at all, but most importantly, Paris is where my mom spent a good chunk of her life. 6 years of sneaking into philosophy classes since she was too young to enroll in the University, of going to the Luvre, meeting and drinking coffee with some communist friends. I cant wait to see the things she has been telling me about since I was a child, to breathe the same air as her...okay so maybe things have changed since the 1970s.

One word- pumped

Spanish Truckers Block Border with France

2008-06-11T11:55:00.002+02:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/world/europe/10fuel.html

Since monday slow moving truckers blocked the major highways surrounding Madrid and the major roads that lead into France and Portugual. There are actually protests going on on both sides of the border. I even got an email from the US embassy saying that because of the strike in Spain the high levels of traffic congestion means that the embassy is unable to deliver passports and visa applications within the guaranteed 7-10 day time period.

“We are the ones who move the merchandise that this country needs to function,” Julio Villascusa, a truckers’ representative, told the Cadena Ser radio station on the eve of the strike. “If we don’t have the money to keep buying fuel to offer this public service, well, then, this country comes to a halt.”

And they are right, the supermarket shelves are currently bare. Madrid currently has no produce, meat, bread..anything. It's funny because people aren't really talking about it as much as you think they would. Can you imagine if all of DC was being surrounded by angry truck drivers and the supermarkets were completly empty? Y2K all over again...

Spain is stuck in the 90s

2008-06-03T16:39:00.008+02:00

I am convinced that Madrid is stuck in the 90s. Let´s have a look at the evidence:

Mullets-I have seen more mullets in the fashionable streets of Madrid than at the Indy 500, or well, at a tailgate, better yet at a tractor pull.

Roller Blades- People rollerblade everywhere, to work, supermarkets, for fun. I remember rollerblades, I used them after I mastered the inline skates that you strapped on over your shoes. I can´t remember the last time I saw a person rollerblading down the streets of DC post 1995.

Converse Shoes: or "chucks". Yeah okay, so maybe they are kind of back in style in the states but not to the high extreme as here in Madrid, where the fashionistas and "pijos" sport their chucks and pink polos [matching of course]. I learned to tie my shoes on my pair of high tops.

And the sunglasses, the overuse of denim, keds, the nose ring (and not a stud but the actually ring) and the neon-MY GOD. If I see the back-pack purses or Adidas windpants..I´m out.

My british co-worker, Rob, was explaining that Europe is just so advanced in the fashion world that they have repeated the cycle and are back in to the 90s fashion. I would have been the coolest 5th grader ever, with my hightops, purple leggings and gel bracelets. Ha..rollerblades.

Andalucía

2008-06-03T16:29:00.003+02:00

One of my coworkers is planning a weekend trip to Granada. I am extremly excited because I was hoping to do some traveling in Spain but the thought of going alone never really appealed to me. We are looking for tickets to see the Alhambra, one of the most visited places in all of Spain. It is a palace and fortress created by the Moors. She was explaining that it is on a hill and just above it you can see the snow covered mountain tops and right below are all the amazing and beautiful beaches of Andalucía. Sun + historic and beautiful palace + drinking with co-workers = awesome.

Parque del Bueno Retiro (Park of the Pleasant Retreat)

2008-05-31T21:46:00.003+02:00

I have been avoiding going to Parque del Bueno Retiro for some time now. It is one of the most beautiful parks in Madrid, often compared to Central Park and is located only 4 blocks from my office. I just always had envisioned my first stroll to be on a warm summer day, not this rain, me in a elegant summer skirt, not my black pants, and sitting by the lake reading For Whom the Bell Tolls, and not The Economist. But today was the day, how could I refuse my British co-worker offering to serve as my tour guide?

The park is even better than I could of imagined. Honestly. There is a huge lake, where you often seen people on little boats, reading, napping, or hanging with friends. There are two palaces, Palacio de Cristal, which is the edge of another lake and is this amazing glass building built by Ricardo Velázquez Bosco after the Crystal Palace in London, and the Palacio de Velázquez, both are now used for temporary exhibitions. There are also various gardens throughout the park, some that looked like hill sides I would have only ever imagined in a Dr. Seuss story and another had "cloud trees." My favorite was the rose garden b/c of the delicate aroma and the manipulation of how the rose bushes were being grown over fences and along the walk ways. There is also a statute commemorating the fallen angel aka The Devil, possibly the only statue dedicated to the devil in Europe.

I thought that sitting by the water would turn out to be my ideal place, but I kept saying "no wait, there! That is where I will do my reading!" And the park was so quiet that I almost forgot I was in the center of such a cosmopolitan city.

Besides the park, the company was quite fun. Our conversation included making fun of America and England, I said I was going to try to teach him how to speak-ghetto which prompt him to say "like what, I am going to bust a cap in your ass" in the most proper english I had ever heard. And apparently magpies, which I thought were really pretty, even exotic looking birds, are basically pigeons and bad luck...whatev.

I want to hug my office

2008-05-28T15:22:00.002+02:00

Came back from lunch to find a printed out document called "Las Tapas En Madrid" which had a list of restaurants in the area and a break down of the common food served here. It was signed Pedro. One of the younger [my age??] people working here. Gotta love it.

A Reminder of America

2008-05-27T12:52:00.005+02:00

I just walked by an old woman smoking Luckys. I always associated those with Middle/High School.

Most importantly, one of my coworkers took me to an "all american" burger joint. I don´t think words can do this place any justice. Just Imagine- I walk in to be introduced to a large hanging banner that says Jack Daniels, with a Southern Comfort mirror hanging on the back wall. They decided to hang up anything they could find in english, including the most random assortment of bumper stickers that aren´t even funny or America specific. There was a map of Texas, the US, and of the Native American Tribes that use to inhabit the US, the kind of maps that are laminated and often in an Elementary school. In between anything red white and blue, and the various american AND confederate flags, there were pictues of Elvis Presly, Willy Nelson, and some Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. Bandanas were hung up in such a nondiscriminatory manner they could have been wall paper...and the license plates, how could I forget. From places like Nebraska to New York. There was also a random buffalo head that was dressed up in Mardi Gras beads.

You know I was almost fooled into believing that this was America until I noticed the nice table cloths and politely layed out utensils . We even ate our bacon cheeseburger with a fork and knife and were served complimentary olives. Did I mention that in the corner there was a TV playing music ranging from Mariah Carey, Maroon Five to the Beatles [???].

I was so overly stimulated

SUCCESS!!

2008-05-26T00:26:00.005+02:00

PEANUT BUTTER HAS BEEN FOUND!!

Okay so maybe I bought it for 2 euros at some dodgy "Chino" store and yeah, the label is in Chinese so who knows what it is really made of---BUT I am bringing a months supply to London.

ALSO- Bag has been retrieved from the depths of hell and I now have makeup, my books and a hairbrush. All essentials for this new life.

Madrid I have one question:

2008-05-26T00:19:00.005+02:00

What the crap is up with this toothpick sized metro card that is good for 10 uses? I mean how am I not expected to accidentally use it as a gum wrapper or loose it all together?! it's just so, ha, small it is absurd!

At least they follow the whole "stand right, walk left" more stringently than DC, have to respect that.

I´ve been singled out

2008-05-23T18:18:00.003+02:00

I guess I should start smoking. My colleagues were going on a smoke break asked me if I smoked and when I said no there was a burst of giggles followed by "she is American, Americans don´t smoke"

Damn you D.A.R.E!!

Sexo en Nueva York

2008-05-23T17:16:00.003+02:00

The Sex and the City Movie does not come out for a while but they translated the movie to "Sexo en Nueva York" which translates to "Sex in New York"

I giggle every time I see it

My Kind of City

2008-05-23T06:45:00.002+02:00

The coffee is amazing, but not only that the varieties are what make Madrid the city for law students by mixing our love for caffeeine and alcohol-

Cafe Perfumado [Perfumed Coffee]
Irish- whiskey and coffee
Parisian- Brandy and coffee
Jamaican- Rum and coffee
Russian- vodka and coffee

Internal Monologue scribbled on the back of my flight itinerary:

2008-05-22T20:00:00.008+02:00

Waiting for my landlord, I sit here reading the one book that is not MIA [thanks Erin!]. Perched on a slab of cement, I am still surprised that I am in an entirely spanish speaking city and become excited every moment I hear someone say anything in spanish [which is 100% of the time].

One of the most noticeable differences between Madrid and DC are the street performers. Unlike DC where they either have signs that say, "Tunes for Jesus" or have a cup to collect donations, the performers in Madrid are usually older men who seem to be playing just to expose their music to the world. There is no cup or guitar case to collect money and no cheesy music to attract tourists. But it´s always classical and always beautiful.

Right now a man has brought out his trumpet and last night [my first night in Madrid] I was welcomed to the city by a man playing the violin right outside of my balcony. I should mention that my first night was spent in RC Miguel, a beautiful hostel where I was given my own room with a balcony that opened up to the busy streets of madrid. It felt very Cari from sex and the city circa an "American Girl in Paris part one." It had the indoor wooden shutters, followed by the glass doors, and the outdoor wooden shutters. Exactly how I imagined Spain to be.

I am grateful for:

2008-05-22T04:28:00.005+02:00

The airline only loosing my makeup and shoes but NOT my 70lb bag of clothes

For my 70lb bag having 4 wheels so that I can be the American litterally pushing her suitcase with both hands across the city, with diva glasses on and 15 lb bookbag strapped to her back

For friction preventing my suitcase from rolling down one of the many hills or else I would become the American chasing her suitcase down the street, screaming in a mixture of Spanish/English/Portugese/French

For the coffee NOT sucking!!

My fantastic internal compass working even in metric.