Ah to blog again! I wonder if I still remember how to do this. It’s like if someone asked me to write a 5 page paper for a class. I wouldn’t know how to start. Anyway, I guess I should first recap the last three months of my life. Well, obviously I wasn’t in Madrid.; hence the lack of posts (after all, it is called Hola Madrid).
I would say I have had a pretty easy 27 (almost 28) years. Yes, my family have had to go through some hard shit (I.e. immigrating, mom's cancer scare) but we’ve pretty much been able to overcome it. I don’t think anything quite prepared us for what was to happen to my dad, which came out of nowhere. I know everyone in Chicago was in hysterics, as I was thousands of miles away. I don’t think I will ever forget the day my sister told me my dad had a heart attack. I remember exactly what I was wearing, what I was doing and about to do, what I was eating - and almost vomited, . It was by far the worst day of my life and it didn’t help that I wasn’t there to give him a hug. It didn’t take long for me to buy a one way ticket home. If I can go to the Canarias or Barcelona or wherever on a whim, why not to see my dad?
So I hurriedly packed up my bags, settled all my “businesses” in Madrid, said goodbye to a few students and a few friends, and flew home within days. By the time I arrived in Chicago, my dad had FINALLY made it out of surgery and was slowly recovering. I’ve never been so happy to see him and the family. There were lots to talk about: events before and during the surgery - they apparently spared me from the gory details on the phone; life’s unpredictability; the recovery process; future plans regarding my parents; etc. Things that I never thought I would have to talk about now, at 27. It totally freaked me out.
Once my dad finally came home and things slowly calmed down, being back in Chicago started to hit me. When I left, the thought of not coming back to Madrid crossed my mind a few times - saying goodbye to the few friends I got to see before I left was really difficult - but I didn’t have that much time to think about it since my dad’s condition was my number one concern. No one was pushing me to make a decision towards Chicago or Madrid but I knew I had to because my roommates and my job needed to know if they should keep my room and my classes. In the end, I decided to stay in Chicago . I knew my dad needed me. Out of everyone, I was the one with a more flexible lifestyle. But I also knew that I couldn’t not go back to Madrid. I knew I needed “closure”…to be able to say my proper goodbyes and really get it all out of my system.
And so there I was in Chicago…really ridiculously depressed the first few weeks. Then I got depressed even more for feeling depressed about Spain when my dad is not even able to walk at a normal pace or sleep through the night. I felt like an asshole, but I guess I was just going through withdrawals. I’ve never felt so heartbroken about being unexpectedly cut off from something/someone…definitely worse than all the boys who’ve broken my heart. For a long time I didn’t know what to do. I already knew I was going to visit to get my closure but then what? What if the closure just makes me want to stay even more? What if I never get Madrid out of my system?
Once I got out of my rut, I was starting to think more clearly. I decided to stay in Chicago after my “closure” but not completely close the door on Madrid. This is mostly for financial reasons. I’ve had a great time in my adult life (maybe too much even), but now it’s time to settle down a bit. I owe so much money that if I keep going at this rate, I will be heading towards bankruptcy. I’ve realized I really need to stop borrowing, thinking that I’ll be able to pay it in the future. How will I ever pay it if this IS my future? I will never make enough money teaching to pay off my debts…I will just accumulate more debt. So I hope to sell my soul to the devil, get paid lots at some rich company, pay off my debts, save money and keep studying Spanish. If in a year or so I still want to live in Spain, then I go back and hopefully be fluent enough to have a real job.
With 2009 being so strangely creepy and depressing (recession, flu pandemic, hearing about a death of a friend’s friend/grandma/brother/father every two weeks!), I’m going to start fresh and give positive thinking a try. Vamos a ver, no?
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
First Real Spanish Date
Yes, you read right. I went on a date. And to top it all off, it was all in Spanish. I met the guy on Friday, the night of muscle tank chulo (see previous post). Francisco (yeah, no joke!) came over and started talking to me. Now usually, my conversations with non-English speaking Spanish guys last for maybe an hour, maybe less. I just run out of things to say or I get tired of thinking in Spanish. For some reason we ended up talking all night. He was very easy to talk...we even joked around, which I always find so hard to do in Spanish (I often can't pick out their funny comments in a conversation, or the Spaniards just don't get my sarcasm). At the end of the night he asked for my digits - he said he wanted to take me to a musical by Nacho Cano the next day. I, of course, laughed when he said it and he got really confused (again, see previous post).
The next day he called me. We met later in the afternoon in Plaza Callao for a pre-show drink. Fortunately, I was able to pick him out in the crowd (I have terrible memory and couldn't quite remember his face - 12 hours later - especially since it was really dark in the bar). And fortunately, he was cuter than I remember (he had some scruff going, which I like); God, how horrid if he ended up ugly!
Anyway, Francisco (pronounced Fran-THis-co) and I went to "Un Musical de Nacho Cano" (Oh Nacho Cano...had to put his own name in the title of his musical and not give it a proper title). The show was quite interesting. I didn't understand everything because they were speaking really fast, but I think the story goes like this:
A blonde baby of dark haired parents is born. As he grows up, it is discovered he is autistic and can't speak. However, he can sing, without words, when he is around fish. His parents and their relatives exploit him and they make lots of money out of the "singing boy". The boy grows up and gets sicker. Before he dies, his family becomes heartbroken and realizes how terrible they've been for taking advantage of a sick boy and gives up their wealth. Then all of a sudden, the sick boy talks but only to his cousin who he is in love with. He tells her his real parents are these people who live under the sea and his destiny is in the sea with them. He dies but leaves "the key to save the world" in his diary/song by providing the winning results to La Quiniela, the weekly bets on football matches (to make his family rich again), and answers to all sorts of other global problems (i.e. the melting of glaciers). Then they all live happily ever after in song and dance. The end.
Oh man, it was so weird. Nonetheless, I greatly enjoyed it - I laughed, I cried, the songs were pretty good and the actors' voices were amazing. And Nacho Cano made an appearance of course and had the theater on their feet as he sang one of his famous songs with his cast. Oh Nacho Cano.
The best part of the show was Francisco got us boxed seats. I felt very Julia Roberts-esque from Pretty woman...minus the red gown, pearl earrings, and the binoculars (ha!). After the almost 3 hour show, we got some dinner and hung out some more. This afternoon, we did some more eating and went bar/tapas hopping. It was seriously the longest date I've ever had, but it was also very fun. I totally ran out of Spanish words; thankgod, he was talkative and was able to deal with my slow broken Spanish. He was very nice...quite the gentleman. He's into travelling, music (especially live music), food, and he's about to open his own winebar.
Sounds perfect, right? Oh but life never is. He's from Barcelona and went back tonight. But whatev. It is what it is. I'm just proud of myself for being able to keep up with Spanish for that long! I don't think I've ever gone that long without English or Cebuano. Oh there's hope for me yet...
The next day he called me. We met later in the afternoon in Plaza Callao for a pre-show drink. Fortunately, I was able to pick him out in the crowd (I have terrible memory and couldn't quite remember his face - 12 hours later - especially since it was really dark in the bar). And fortunately, he was cuter than I remember (he had some scruff going, which I like); God, how horrid if he ended up ugly!
Anyway, Francisco (pronounced Fran-THis-co) and I went to "Un Musical de Nacho Cano" (Oh Nacho Cano...had to put his own name in the title of his musical and not give it a proper title). The show was quite interesting. I didn't understand everything because they were speaking really fast, but I think the story goes like this:
A blonde baby of dark haired parents is born. As he grows up, it is discovered he is autistic and can't speak. However, he can sing, without words, when he is around fish. His parents and their relatives exploit him and they make lots of money out of the "singing boy". The boy grows up and gets sicker. Before he dies, his family becomes heartbroken and realizes how terrible they've been for taking advantage of a sick boy and gives up their wealth. Then all of a sudden, the sick boy talks but only to his cousin who he is in love with. He tells her his real parents are these people who live under the sea and his destiny is in the sea with them. He dies but leaves "the key to save the world" in his diary/song by providing the winning results to La Quiniela, the weekly bets on football matches (to make his family rich again), and answers to all sorts of other global problems (i.e. the melting of glaciers). Then they all live happily ever after in song and dance. The end.
Oh man, it was so weird. Nonetheless, I greatly enjoyed it - I laughed, I cried, the songs were pretty good and the actors' voices were amazing. And Nacho Cano made an appearance of course and had the theater on their feet as he sang one of his famous songs with his cast. Oh Nacho Cano.
The best part of the show was Francisco got us boxed seats. I felt very Julia Roberts-esque from Pretty woman...minus the red gown, pearl earrings, and the binoculars (ha!). After the almost 3 hour show, we got some dinner and hung out some more. This afternoon, we did some more eating and went bar/tapas hopping. It was seriously the longest date I've ever had, but it was also very fun. I totally ran out of Spanish words; thankgod, he was talkative and was able to deal with my slow broken Spanish. He was very nice...quite the gentleman. He's into travelling, music (especially live music), food, and he's about to open his own winebar.
Sounds perfect, right? Oh but life never is. He's from Barcelona and went back tonight. But whatev. It is what it is. I'm just proud of myself for being able to keep up with Spanish for that long! I don't think I've ever gone that long without English or Cebuano. Oh there's hope for me yet...
Quien es Nacho Cano?
Tess, Dana, Tess' friend who was visiting, and I were hanging out at this bar called Junco Friday night. It's this cool jazz/funk club, which I fell in love with Friday (I'm totally going there all the time especially because I want the bouncer, Luis from Mozambique, to be my friend). All of a sudden, this blond haired, 5'4" guy with a muscle tanktop (on a snowy day! - yes it freaking snowed in Madrid) walks in and pass us. We all start laughing, of course. This guy looked ridiculous!
Fast forward one hour. Dana goes to the bar to get another drink and all of a sudden some old guy asks her if she's met his friend. He points to the muscle tank guy and says, "My friend, Nacho Cano." Dana tells him no and that she has no idea who he is. Old guy/Robert says that he's a super famous singer in Spain. Dana finds this so amusing that she just has to share it with us.
She walks back over to where Tess and I are hanging out, with Robert right behind her. She comes over with a huge grin on her face and says, "Hey you guys, this is Robert. He's friends with muscle tank guy." Pause. "He's apparently famous!" We all start laughing...followed with "What??!!, or "No Way!!" This guy was such a chulo (a cocky person). Or as Chicagoans would say, he was a big chach.
The rest of the night, when someone mentioned Nacho Cano, the three of us would just kinda laugh and no one seemed to understand why it was so funny. At one point, I saw a bunch of pretty girls hanging out all over him. I wanted to vomit. Check out Nacho below....picture him with much shorter sleeves and shorter spiked up hair.
Fast forward one hour. Dana goes to the bar to get another drink and all of a sudden some old guy asks her if she's met his friend. He points to the muscle tank guy and says, "My friend, Nacho Cano." Dana tells him no and that she has no idea who he is. Old guy/Robert says that he's a super famous singer in Spain. Dana finds this so amusing that she just has to share it with us.
She walks back over to where Tess and I are hanging out, with Robert right behind her. She comes over with a huge grin on her face and says, "Hey you guys, this is Robert. He's friends with muscle tank guy." Pause. "He's apparently famous!" We all start laughing...followed with "What??!!, or "No Way!!" This guy was such a chulo (a cocky person). Or as Chicagoans would say, he was a big chach.
The rest of the night, when someone mentioned Nacho Cano, the three of us would just kinda laugh and no one seemed to understand why it was so funny. At one point, I saw a bunch of pretty girls hanging out all over him. I wanted to vomit. Check out Nacho below....picture him with much shorter sleeves and shorter spiked up hair.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
New Year, New Prices???
So I arrived in Madrid yesterday morning, as always, a bit out of it/aphalled due to a lack of sleep and higher prices. At the airport, I needed to buy a new abono (a monthly Metro pass) before getting on the train. During my xmas vacation, I had kept the exact amount in Euros to pay for this (I wasn't planning on going anywhere between the airport and my house). I busted out my 50.80 Euros only to find out that the price is now 53.70 Euros. Joder! So I was forced to buy an individual ticket, which I really hate to do knowing that I use a monthly pass.
Later on the day, after I got some much needed sleep, I went to the supermarket. SIDENOTE: my sleep is all effed up. I totally broke my anti-jetlag rule and slept after I arrived. But I figured since I got in at 8, it's just like I was at the bar all night and just now going to bed. Bad idea. It's so not the same. I feel so disoriented still. Anyway, back to the real topic of this post...
I woke up around 6 in the afternoon and I totally didn't feel like leaving my house. But I had to go to the supermarket or else I would have nothing to eat at all for dinner and the next day. Fortunately Sara's boyfriend, Miguel, who had spent xmas with her family in Minnesota, just happened to be on my flight. He reminded me that the 6th was a holiday (Reyes Magos) and everything would be closed. Mierda! So I went to the super crowded supermarket. All prices had gone up! Tomato sauce had gone from 48 cents to 56 cents. The package of croissants had gone up at least 10 cents. And my fave 8-pack yogurt had increased by 23 cents. It's total crap. Fucking "la crisis"!!! And to top it all off, the lines were so freaking long. Everyone was shopping for their Reyes Magos meals and their Roscon de los Reyes (some cake thing with a prize inside traditionally eaten on the 6th). Ugh! If only I would get higher wages too!
Feliz Reyes Magos!!!
Later on the day, after I got some much needed sleep, I went to the supermarket. SIDENOTE: my sleep is all effed up. I totally broke my anti-jetlag rule and slept after I arrived. But I figured since I got in at 8, it's just like I was at the bar all night and just now going to bed. Bad idea. It's so not the same. I feel so disoriented still. Anyway, back to the real topic of this post...
I woke up around 6 in the afternoon and I totally didn't feel like leaving my house. But I had to go to the supermarket or else I would have nothing to eat at all for dinner and the next day. Fortunately Sara's boyfriend, Miguel, who had spent xmas with her family in Minnesota, just happened to be on my flight. He reminded me that the 6th was a holiday (Reyes Magos) and everything would be closed. Mierda! So I went to the super crowded supermarket. All prices had gone up! Tomato sauce had gone from 48 cents to 56 cents. The package of croissants had gone up at least 10 cents. And my fave 8-pack yogurt had increased by 23 cents. It's total crap. Fucking "la crisis"!!! And to top it all off, the lines were so freaking long. Everyone was shopping for their Reyes Magos meals and their Roscon de los Reyes (some cake thing with a prize inside traditionally eaten on the 6th). Ugh! If only I would get higher wages too!
Feliz Reyes Magos!!!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tenerife: Cambio de Sentido
Literal Translation: Change of Mind
Figurative Translation: To make a u-turn (You’ll see cambio de sentido signs on highway exits which basically tells you that you can go back around)
As strange as it sounds, this trip got a bit emotional/philosophical at times. The past few months, I've become really good friends with Tess and we pretty much tell each other everything. Every once in a while, we get to talking about really serious things...and really dumb things. She has become my confidant and she always provides me with good insight or some new perspective. So, during this trip I've had a few cambio de sentidos - the literal translation. Maybe not necessarily a change of mind, but many things got me thinking for sure. Here are some of those:
LATINOS v SPANIARDS: Tess and I have noticed how it's really difficult to to meet Spanish men. We've realized that most of them won't just come and talked to you if they saw you, say, in a bar or whatever. I know it's a rare thing to meet the man of your dreams at a bar, but what I'm saying is the Spaniards can be way too shy. I did a little bit of a survey on my students and every single one of them who are in a relationship met their significant others through someone else. None of them just randomly started talking to their bf/gf at a party, a convention, an AA session, or whatever. The Latinos ,on the other hand, are way too forward (see previous post)! It got us wondering: which is better - the timid one or the aggressive one? Then this led me to another question: why is it that the conquerors (the Spaniards) are less aggressive than the conquered (the Latinos)? Shouldn't it be the other way around?
HIDDEN Xs: If you are a Spaniard from the Basque Country or Catalonia, most likely your name will have an X on it. Like Xalba: it's Salvador in Castellano; it's Xalbador in Basque. Javier in Castellano becomes Xavier in Catalan. Where are all these Xs coming from???
KITE SURFERS: Having lived in Miami for the past few years, Tess is all about water activities. She wanted to go kite surfing while in Tenerife so we did. Hahaha...kidding. Not we, I meant she. While she did that, I got to lay on the beach and enjoy a little bit of relaxation, a nice siesta, and good weather. And as always, I loved people-watching, especially the kite surfers. They all look so cool and healthy and strong. And their kites were so pretty. One day, I would like to try it...whenever I actually learn how to properly swim .
COOKIES v CRACKERS: These two things are clearly very different. One is sweet, the other is salty. But did you know both are called the same in Spanish? Galletas is the word. There is no distinction! Tess and I discussed this extensively and were very annoyed by it. I mean seriously! For a language that has two words for "to be" and two words for "to know", they couldn't come up with two words for two very different things??!! WTF!!!
TEIDE: I’m not exactly who you call a “nature, outdoorsy” person. Anytime anyone ever mentions going on a camping trip, I’m usually the first to say no - I need a clean bathroom with indoor plumbing. Maybe I could do it for a day/night, but no more. But every once in a while when I see things like the Teide, the Alps, etc., I can’t help but feel ridiculously happy. Seeing something so amazingly beautiful really just puts everything in perspective. I don't know why it is but I feel completely at peace when I'm among natural beauty. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to hike up the Teide, although we really wanted to. So, we've decided we would go back someday with our future husbands/boyfriends and hike all the way to the top. Maybe then, I wouldn't mind camping out.
VINO: On our way up to the Teide, we drove past a couple of vineyards. One looked really cute so we decided to stop by on our way back. The man was wonderful and let us taste three different kinds of wine. Now, I'm not usually a wine drinker, but I have to say these were pretty damn good. And he won me over when he said it's organic and it doesn't give you a terrible hangover the next day. It was great! I felt so Euro at that moment: driving - or riding - around in a manual car and wine tasting in some random vineyard. Every once in a while, it hits me that I live in another country and this was one of those moments.
AN EMOTIONAL END: On our plane ride home, Tess and I got to talking about love, relationships and family. It got pretty intense because all of a sudden we found ourselves crying...then laughing because we were crying. This emotional moment really made me realize how fortunate I am. It's so easy to forget how lucky we are and we take so many people for granted. Sadly, I need one of these moments to remind me of this fact every once in a while.
Alright, so not all were exactly extremely philosophical but whatever. You get my point. I love you everyone!!!
Figurative Translation: To make a u-turn (You’ll see cambio de sentido signs on highway exits which basically tells you that you can go back around)
As strange as it sounds, this trip got a bit emotional/philosophical at times. The past few months, I've become really good friends with Tess and we pretty much tell each other everything. Every once in a while, we get to talking about really serious things...and really dumb things. She has become my confidant and she always provides me with good insight or some new perspective. So, during this trip I've had a few cambio de sentidos - the literal translation. Maybe not necessarily a change of mind, but many things got me thinking for sure. Here are some of those:
LATINOS v SPANIARDS: Tess and I have noticed how it's really difficult to to meet Spanish men. We've realized that most of them won't just come and talked to you if they saw you, say, in a bar or whatever. I know it's a rare thing to meet the man of your dreams at a bar, but what I'm saying is the Spaniards can be way too shy. I did a little bit of a survey on my students and every single one of them who are in a relationship met their significant others through someone else. None of them just randomly started talking to their bf/gf at a party, a convention, an AA session, or whatever. The Latinos ,on the other hand, are way too forward (see previous post)! It got us wondering: which is better - the timid one or the aggressive one? Then this led me to another question: why is it that the conquerors (the Spaniards) are less aggressive than the conquered (the Latinos)? Shouldn't it be the other way around?
HIDDEN Xs: If you are a Spaniard from the Basque Country or Catalonia, most likely your name will have an X on it. Like Xalba: it's Salvador in Castellano; it's Xalbador in Basque. Javier in Castellano becomes Xavier in Catalan. Where are all these Xs coming from???
KITE SURFERS: Having lived in Miami for the past few years, Tess is all about water activities. She wanted to go kite surfing while in Tenerife so we did. Hahaha...kidding. Not we, I meant she. While she did that, I got to lay on the beach and enjoy a little bit of relaxation, a nice siesta, and good weather. And as always, I loved people-watching, especially the kite surfers. They all look so cool and healthy and strong. And their kites were so pretty. One day, I would like to try it...whenever I actually learn how to properly swim .
COOKIES v CRACKERS: These two things are clearly very different. One is sweet, the other is salty. But did you know both are called the same in Spanish? Galletas is the word. There is no distinction! Tess and I discussed this extensively and were very annoyed by it. I mean seriously! For a language that has two words for "to be" and two words for "to know", they couldn't come up with two words for two very different things??!! WTF!!!
TEIDE: I’m not exactly who you call a “nature, outdoorsy” person. Anytime anyone ever mentions going on a camping trip, I’m usually the first to say no - I need a clean bathroom with indoor plumbing. Maybe I could do it for a day/night, but no more. But every once in a while when I see things like the Teide, the Alps, etc., I can’t help but feel ridiculously happy. Seeing something so amazingly beautiful really just puts everything in perspective. I don't know why it is but I feel completely at peace when I'm among natural beauty. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to hike up the Teide, although we really wanted to. So, we've decided we would go back someday with our future husbands/boyfriends and hike all the way to the top. Maybe then, I wouldn't mind camping out.
VINO: On our way up to the Teide, we drove past a couple of vineyards. One looked really cute so we decided to stop by on our way back. The man was wonderful and let us taste three different kinds of wine. Now, I'm not usually a wine drinker, but I have to say these were pretty damn good. And he won me over when he said it's organic and it doesn't give you a terrible hangover the next day. It was great! I felt so Euro at that moment: driving - or riding - around in a manual car and wine tasting in some random vineyard. Every once in a while, it hits me that I live in another country and this was one of those moments.
AN EMOTIONAL END: On our plane ride home, Tess and I got to talking about love, relationships and family. It got pretty intense because all of a sudden we found ourselves crying...then laughing because we were crying. This emotional moment really made me realize how fortunate I am. It's so easy to forget how lucky we are and we take so many people for granted. Sadly, I need one of these moments to remind me of this fact every once in a while.
Alright, so not all were exactly extremely philosophical but whatever. You get my point. I love you everyone!!!
Tenerife: No Es Moco de Pavo
Literal translation: It’s no turkey booger
Figurative translation: It’s no small thing/It’s no easy feat
My trip to Tenerife has been quite the adventure. Tess and I arrived to one of the seven Canary Islands very early Friday morning and left late Sunday night. We went to Tenerife for a couple of reasons: to celebrate Tess’ 23rd birthday (my god, she’s young!), to take advantage of our 4 day weekend, to take a break from chilly Madrid, and of course, to visit the Canary Islands.
Lots of shit (good and bad) happened that got us saying “No es moco de pavo” a lot. Here’s a summary:
STICK SHIFT CAR: As you all know, I don’t drive. So that left the driving to Tess. She has driven a stick shift car before (like a long time ago) so she didn’t mind if we saved some money and renting a manual car – like all the other islands here, renting a car is the best way to get around. Tess did awesomely! She was a bit nervous at first and the car stalled a number of times. But by the end of Friday, she was getting used to it. I was very proud of her. Me on the other hand felt really bad because I couldn’t help her at all. When do you let go of the clutch? I have no idea! So I concentrated on my navigating, which I have to say I’m pretty fucking good at. Yes we had to do some cambio de sentidos (see next post), but it was mostly because of the stupid confusing rotundas, bad road signs, construction work, and lack of street names on the map and on the streets. Yup, I got lots of excuses.
ALAN? ALAN WHO?: Tess and I had rented an apartment we had found on the internet. The man, Alan, who we were in contact with, sent Tess an email with a map that led us to their “sales office” in Costa de Silencio, the area where we were staying. After some time of looking for the office (these islands really need to get their act together and draw a proper map), Tess and I walked into the office, told the lady about Alan, and got the response of WHO??? The lady had no idea who he was and no one in that office has any contact with this guy Alan. Somehow, we found the apartment and we had a place to stay…whew! But it’s still a mystery as to who this Alan guy is and why he directed us to that office.
TEIDE: The highest point in Spain…and it’s ridiculously beautiful. This one was no easy feat either. It took us about two hours just to get up, over and around mountains to finally reach the Teide (again, poor Tess). Yes we stopped a few times to enjoy the view, but it was quite a drive up there. We had to go through lots of winding narrow roads. During one of our stops, we couldn’t get the emergency brake down and thought we were never gonna get out of there…thankfully a random man just happen to walk by (in a very deserted area) and helped us out. As we were halfway up some mountain, we found ourselves in the middle of the clouds. We could barely see what was in front of us. But once we got above the clouds, it was totally worth it.
PEANUT DISCO PUB: The name, Costa de Silencio, is quite fitting for this part of Tenerife. This area is super calm – compared to Playa de las Americas and Cristianos, where most tourists stay – especially at night. Tenerife is full of Germans and Brits. It’s also full of Latin Americans. I rarely heard Spanish there…at least the Spanish I could understand. In Silencio, the only tourists that were there were old retired foreigners. So Tess and I found only one place to go to – that didn’t involve driving - on Friday: Peanut Disco Pub. Oh si!...not only is it a disco, but it’s also a pub. We were there for less than two hours and we got, against our will, about 5 different guys’ digits and offers to give us “tours” of Tenerife. One even wrote under his number, “Para ligar, trabajar NO!” (In order to flirt, not to work!). It was ridiculous. This place was basically a pub with about twenty Latin Americans (mostly men) hanging out and dancing to sexy Latin music. If only they were sexy! Gradually, they all came up asking us to dance, which eventually led to a lot of “me encantas”! Me encantas my ass! There was a Columbian guy who would not stop telling me this, and I just looked at him half laughing, half “get the hell out of here”. He was 45 years old with two daughters, 14 and 18. Sick!!! Needless to say, Tess and I found ourselves running out of there, escaping as they were all distracted.
P.S. Me encantas means I like you, but it’s more than just like. It’s between like and love.
AIRPORT CRISIS: Oh the airport crisis. For being an island, Tenerife is pretty fancy and has two airports. We flew into the Northern one so we just assumed we would fly out of the same airport. But of course not. We arrived at the Northern Airport, dropped off the rental car, checked in just to hear the lady say Air Europa ONLY flies to Madrid via the Southern Airport. Ooops! With a little less than two hours before our flight, we hurriedly got into a cab and agreed to pay a ridiculous amount of money to catch our flight. We just made it on time for our flight and do some window shopping, which was quite necessary after a nerve-wracking cab ride.
Figurative translation: It’s no small thing/It’s no easy feat
My trip to Tenerife has been quite the adventure. Tess and I arrived to one of the seven Canary Islands very early Friday morning and left late Sunday night. We went to Tenerife for a couple of reasons: to celebrate Tess’ 23rd birthday (my god, she’s young!), to take advantage of our 4 day weekend, to take a break from chilly Madrid, and of course, to visit the Canary Islands.
Lots of shit (good and bad) happened that got us saying “No es moco de pavo” a lot. Here’s a summary:
STICK SHIFT CAR: As you all know, I don’t drive. So that left the driving to Tess. She has driven a stick shift car before (like a long time ago) so she didn’t mind if we saved some money and renting a manual car – like all the other islands here, renting a car is the best way to get around. Tess did awesomely! She was a bit nervous at first and the car stalled a number of times. But by the end of Friday, she was getting used to it. I was very proud of her. Me on the other hand felt really bad because I couldn’t help her at all. When do you let go of the clutch? I have no idea! So I concentrated on my navigating, which I have to say I’m pretty fucking good at. Yes we had to do some cambio de sentidos (see next post), but it was mostly because of the stupid confusing rotundas, bad road signs, construction work, and lack of street names on the map and on the streets. Yup, I got lots of excuses.
ALAN? ALAN WHO?: Tess and I had rented an apartment we had found on the internet. The man, Alan, who we were in contact with, sent Tess an email with a map that led us to their “sales office” in Costa de Silencio, the area where we were staying. After some time of looking for the office (these islands really need to get their act together and draw a proper map), Tess and I walked into the office, told the lady about Alan, and got the response of WHO??? The lady had no idea who he was and no one in that office has any contact with this guy Alan. Somehow, we found the apartment and we had a place to stay…whew! But it’s still a mystery as to who this Alan guy is and why he directed us to that office.
TEIDE: The highest point in Spain…and it’s ridiculously beautiful. This one was no easy feat either. It took us about two hours just to get up, over and around mountains to finally reach the Teide (again, poor Tess). Yes we stopped a few times to enjoy the view, but it was quite a drive up there. We had to go through lots of winding narrow roads. During one of our stops, we couldn’t get the emergency brake down and thought we were never gonna get out of there…thankfully a random man just happen to walk by (in a very deserted area) and helped us out. As we were halfway up some mountain, we found ourselves in the middle of the clouds. We could barely see what was in front of us. But once we got above the clouds, it was totally worth it.
PEANUT DISCO PUB: The name, Costa de Silencio, is quite fitting for this part of Tenerife. This area is super calm – compared to Playa de las Americas and Cristianos, where most tourists stay – especially at night. Tenerife is full of Germans and Brits. It’s also full of Latin Americans. I rarely heard Spanish there…at least the Spanish I could understand. In Silencio, the only tourists that were there were old retired foreigners. So Tess and I found only one place to go to – that didn’t involve driving - on Friday: Peanut Disco Pub. Oh si!...not only is it a disco, but it’s also a pub. We were there for less than two hours and we got, against our will, about 5 different guys’ digits and offers to give us “tours” of Tenerife. One even wrote under his number, “Para ligar, trabajar NO!” (In order to flirt, not to work!). It was ridiculous. This place was basically a pub with about twenty Latin Americans (mostly men) hanging out and dancing to sexy Latin music. If only they were sexy! Gradually, they all came up asking us to dance, which eventually led to a lot of “me encantas”! Me encantas my ass! There was a Columbian guy who would not stop telling me this, and I just looked at him half laughing, half “get the hell out of here”. He was 45 years old with two daughters, 14 and 18. Sick!!! Needless to say, Tess and I found ourselves running out of there, escaping as they were all distracted.
P.S. Me encantas means I like you, but it’s more than just like. It’s between like and love.
AIRPORT CRISIS: Oh the airport crisis. For being an island, Tenerife is pretty fancy and has two airports. We flew into the Northern one so we just assumed we would fly out of the same airport. But of course not. We arrived at the Northern Airport, dropped off the rental car, checked in just to hear the lady say Air Europa ONLY flies to Madrid via the Southern Airport. Ooops! With a little less than two hours before our flight, we hurriedly got into a cab and agreed to pay a ridiculous amount of money to catch our flight. We just made it on time for our flight and do some window shopping, which was quite necessary after a nerve-wracking cab ride.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Que frio!
Ok, it has been freezing in Madrid the past week. Maybe not as cold as Chicago - the low is about lower 30s - but I have apparently become accustomed to Madrid weather. I was so annoyed with myself for being cold. I was like, I'm from Chicago!!! WTF!! And I remember when I arrived here around this time last year, I was still wearing a thin coat. Oh global warming!
This weekend is another puente. A puente (bridge) is what they call a long weekend here. Saturday is some holiday I don't remember and Monday is a religious holiday. So Tess and I are taking advantage and going to Tenerife, one of the islands in the Canary. I'm super excited. I need to get away from this cold and I just want to wear flip flops. It will also be nice since I'll be returning to Chicago soon...ahhh snow!!!!
Speaking of Chicago, I am super excited to go home. I've been listening to Christmas music and I'm just imagining all the food that I'm gonna eat...as always, it all goes back to food for me. It's going to be a tight two weeks (again, I'm just so popular!) but I'm going to try to do the most I can. Yay, I can't wait. See you all in a few weeks!!!
This weekend is another puente. A puente (bridge) is what they call a long weekend here. Saturday is some holiday I don't remember and Monday is a religious holiday. So Tess and I are taking advantage and going to Tenerife, one of the islands in the Canary. I'm super excited. I need to get away from this cold and I just want to wear flip flops. It will also be nice since I'll be returning to Chicago soon...ahhh snow!!!!
Speaking of Chicago, I am super excited to go home. I've been listening to Christmas music and I'm just imagining all the food that I'm gonna eat...as always, it all goes back to food for me. It's going to be a tight two weeks (again, I'm just so popular!) but I'm going to try to do the most I can. Yay, I can't wait. See you all in a few weeks!!!
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