A few small victories to report today:
-I got a cell phone! At the orientation, we were told that cell phones are essential for teachers to have in case of class cancellations and such. So I waltzed down to the nearest Phone House and bought the cheapest prepaid thing they had, so now I can communicate!
-I have friends now! That sounds so lame, I know, but it was a victory in itself, because up until this morning, I knew absolutely nobody in this city. Granted, I still don´t know any Spaniards, but American friends are a good start.
-I went to a café and ordered breakfast without incident! I had my first Spanish tortilla, which is like a potato omelet, and pretty yummy with coffee. Nothing at all like a Latin-American tortilla.
-On Wednesday, I am going on a trip with the Canterbury people to Buñol for La Tomatina!!!! That´s the world´s biggest tomato fight where people come from all over to throw tons of tomatoes at each other and get completely soaked from head to toe in tomato juice. Yup. Go ahead, look it up on the Internet and be jealous.
Some other interesting stuff:
-The light thingy at crosswalks that tells you it´s safe to cross the street (what are those called?) makes chirping sounds when the little man turns green. Chirping like a little bird in your garden singing at the sun, which is quite a bit nicer than ¨You may cross Bennett Street...¨
-I walked down some new streets today and passed by all the prostitutes. It made me so sad to see all those beautiful girls in their tiny little skirts and dresses, with extremely high-heeled shoes, leaning against the light posts and in doorways, waiting for some skanky old Madridian man to come by and buy them. These girls were not missing any teeth, wearing torn fishnet stockings, or looking like they fell out of a bad 80s music video, which is the way I always picture prostitutes. Nope, they were nice looking with good hair, cute clothes, and very pretty faces. They could have just as soon been on America´s Next Top Model. But there was no doubt what they were. Broke my heart. My second prostitute viewing ever. The first was in Tegucigalpa, but those prostitutes were transvestites and for some reason didn´t make me feel bad at all. They just made me laugh.
So...that´s it for now. I hope you guys are enjoying my blogs, and I think I´ve fixed the comment thing so ya´ll can leave comments if you want. Pictures coming soon!
4 comments:
hey ginny
well I glad that you found some friends. I was a little worried that you woulnt be able too.(you know b/c of the smell.) haha, I glad that everything is starting to come together. love ya much
ash
Yeap, great thing that you mentioned the transvesties in Tegucigalpa. I guess that is another point for Madrid. I'm glad you r having fun so far, and La Tomatina, seriously? I'm so jealous! I've seen that on cable TV travel shows and it looks like so much fun! Gosh, you are so lucky!
Yea! I'm glad you can use the laptop now. See, I knew it would be more useful to you than to me. Sorry to say that I can't access your facebook photos myself. I guess I'll get Trent to help me out. It is so good to read your blog. You've always written well, but you're outdoing yourself now. I really didn't realize you were feeling so overwhelmed. Just like you to be all macho and independent. Well, it is all working out anyway.
Love, Mom
PS. arse? Yeah, right!
Carmen told me about La Tomatina. It sounds super guay! I'm so happy you are having a good time. Gotta love that Spanish tortilla. Yeah, nothing like Central American stuff. Pretty much the only thing that Spain and Central America have in common is the language and even that is distinctly different.
So, how's the apartment search going?
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