No, I've been a tad lazy on the blog front because I've been so busy on the life front. Since we last spoke, dearest relatively silent readers, I've nearly gotten my wisdom teeth out, have turned another year older, completed a full month of work at school, successfully opened a Spanish bank account, and many other things. A quick photo review:
On October 14th I celebrated my birthday with a few friends--actually, a lot more than I realized I had here in Madrid after less than a month of residence!
Jorge, my roommate, began the friendly birthday embarrassment by baking me a delicious, alcohol- and chocolate-fueled cake:
We moved on after the cake-feasting to a bar nearby in La Latina, called Bodega Aguila, where I had previously shared many hours of drinks with French friends and the friendly owners and bartenders. It's a small, simple affair, but beautifully decorated and reasonably priced. Many friends joined and made me feel special (it's hard having your birthday early in the school year--you haven't had much time to build up your friend network, but it seems I've had incredible luck so far!)--new and old alike! Here's me and Jorge of cake-making fame:
Speaking of Jorge, he wasn't quite done on the embarrassment front. A chino (the term used for just about everybody trying to sell you crap for a low-ish price, it literally means a Chinese person; in this case, it was a random guy who entered the bar selling novelty sunglasses and other assortedly worthless items) kindly dropped by so that Jorge could purchase me this gem:
All in all, quite a delightful birthday!
The following day it was still quite warm enough to consider going to a rugby game (who am I kidding? I'd go if it were snowing sideways!) with Fabrice, which was lots of fun though felt a bit more like going to the park and drinking beer than attending a sporting event. There were fewer than 100 spectators, I'd estimate, and neither the clock nor the scoreboard was turned on, making it relatively difficult to follow the game. Pints, however, were a low low 3.50 euros, the sun was shining, and the grass was inviting. How could one complain?
Following the game Fabrice had a RDV with some Republican friends [note: Republicans here are in favor of making Spain into a republic instead of a monarchy, it's current state. They are similar to certain individuals one might meet in the U.S. who never gave up their hippy-dom despite their greying locks and respectable jobs] near the protest, which mirrored protests occurring all over the world on October 15th. Except that it was HUGE. Running, in theory, from Plaza de Cibeles to Puerta del Sol along Calle de Alcalá, there were so many people in the streets that the only movement really consisted in slipping off to the side streets where, once you hit a street running parallel to Alcalá, you were again halted by another wave of protesters just as large as the one you left behind. It's hard to capture visuals of this sort of thing without some height to angle down from, but I gave it a shot:
Though of course the protest was full of different groups and factions of political ideas, there did not seem to be the same sort of incessant labeling and posturing as we often see in the U.S. (that is, those of us who go to protests). During this protest I never once saw (though it was hard to see much) a group with a big banner announcing them as socialist or communist or polygamist or whatever, thereby implying that all those marching behind them were also part of that ideology, as one is wont to see in LA or NY (one of my father's greatest fears is that I will be photographed behind one of those signs and the photo will come to haunt me later on in life--a legitimate albeit improbable concern). To be entirely truthful, now that I know what this means, I would rather not be photographed next to it:
Literally translated, this means "plant a pine tree with your neighbor", which is why I took a photo--how friendly, how open, yay! It has nothing to do with capitalism, really, but I like the idea! Get to know your neighbor while helping the planet. Cool beans, right?Nope. More specifically, it means "take a sh*t with your neighbor". Friendly, I suppose, but not really my cup of tea.
I will leave you with that thought, my friends, as well as a promise to update more regularly!
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