Food

I made my first meal in Spain just now.  It was so tasty.  The meat here is so good and only 1,76 euro per pound, and the olive oil was also remarkably cheap ( <2 euro).  In fact everything is cheap.  For only 13,50 euro I was able to buy:

• an onion
• two small jars of tomato sauce
• 1 liter of olive oil
• four red peppers
• 400 grams of ground beef
• a bag of pasta
• 40 ziplock bags
• a shopping bag
• cashews (i needed them for the Tupperware container they were in)

It was pretty awesome.

Quick Update

Here's a quick addendum to yesterday's post.  I realized later that I should have included some photos of my hostel, and the area around it.  Nothing has really happened today.  I have the beginnings of a cold, so I'm trying to fight it off.  I successfully got Claritin D at the farmacia without using English, and I unsuccessfully tried to get my monthly metro pass when I found out that you need a photo of yourself for the pass.  Also, the only place I found to get a photo of myself is closed today.  O well.  Other than that I've been lazy, trying to relearn some Spanish phrases I wish I remembered from high school when I've been talking to people, and I took the pictures of the surrounding area.

These pictures are of my room.  There are seven beds, and all of them were filled last night.  My bed is the one with the two huge black backpacks blocking my way into it.  Fortunately, I'm next to the window because if it weren't for the occasional cool breeze, I would have died from heat last night.

Above you can see the common room.  It's about twice as big as what's in the photo, but I didn't bother taking another shot because the other wall has the exact same couch, and there's nothing else to see.  It's an incredibly comfortable place to use my laptop and charge various electronics.  There's also a TV with a DVD player and there are a bunch of DVDs with Spanish dubbing or subtitles for anyone to watch for free.

This next set is of the kitchen.  It's fully functional with a fridge and all the pots, pans, plates, and silverware you would want.  I'm thinking of making myself dinner tonight.  It would be fun.  This is also another place I use my laptop and charge things.

These doors are for the hostel and the building containing the hostel, respectively.  To an American, the outside door might seem trashy, but this is actually a relatively small amount of graffiti for Madrid.  All the walls and doors in the city are covered in it.  It would be more shocking to see a door that was entirely graffiti-free, unless it was brand new that day.

This tiny elevator in the hostel's building can barely fit two people in it, but it was a life savior when I arrived with all my luggage.  I haven't used it since because the hostel is only on the third floor (or what is the second floor in Spain; ground floor is 0, and anything below ground is -1,-2, etc).  However, the apartment that I posted pictures of yesterday also has one of these elevators, which is another plus because that apartment is on the fourth floor (third floor), and it would suck to carry food, or furnishings, up those stairs.

This is Chueca Plaza. Chueca is the burrow that my hostel is in.  That first picture is the "street" I didn't think was a street, that made me misread my map and get lost on the way to the hostel.  It's a beautiful plaza with a bunch of stores and restaurants.

I swear I didn't know when I booked the hostel, but Chueca is the gay district of Madrid.  This is a bar/cafe in Chueca Plaza that looked a lot nicer when it was open last night.  This was taken during siesta on Saturday, so there's people sleeping where there used to be tables and chairs. There are rainbows, everywhere around here ...

... even the tapas bars are gay.  There's more rainbows in this small district than in Provincetown or San Francisco's Castro District.  Seriously, I've been to both.

There are some beautiful and amazing places here in Madrid.  I'm sure Sanel and I are going to love it here.

Craziness

What a crazy first day!  I arrived in Spain today, Friday, at 8:15am (+1) after leaving Boston at 2:30pm (-5).  I only got a little over four hours sleep, but still had enough adrenaline to hit the ground running.  Once I arrived in Spain, I took the Metro to my hostel.  One interesting thing I learned is that the doors on most of the Metro trains don't open unless you push a button or pull a latch; this was tons of fun with three gigantic bags.  I have a feeling like a lot of people here are thinking, "Silly tourist.  Why do you bring so much for a simple vacation?  Do you think there is nothing you can do in our country without bringing all your belonging?"  I want to apologize for my awkward baggage and tell everyone that I really do need everything I own because I'm moving here, but I know it's just paranoia, and no one really cares.

After I got to the Metro station near my hostel, I misunderstood Madrid's definition of a "street" and ended up getting rather lost trying to find my hostel.  Once I found it though I was very pleased with it.  The manager is really nice and speaks perfect English.  She let me store my bags and take a shower, but the room wouldn't be ready until 2:00pm.  That was alright with me though because I had planned on going to work anyways.  After the shower I hopped back on the Metro, this time with only a backpack, and made my way to IMDEA Materials.

The office I'll be working in for the next year is SO amazing (We're moving to a gigantic building next summer that looks really cool).  It's really nice looking and comfortable, and all the people there are super sweet and helpful.  My advisor seems remarkably chill and helpful, and all my coworkers are extremely excited to help me get settled in Spain, and feel included in the group.  They invited me to lunch, but I couldn't go because my system felt so messed up.  My advisor and the office guru, Ines, were very keen to help me start to get settled immediately.  My advisor introduced me to everyone and began to discuss details about the project, as well as suggest a mobile provider.  However, he suggested I not get started on thinking about the project until I get more settled.

Ines was absolutely amazing.  She began by trying to get me a bank account and managed to get me one today, which is unheard of.  It typically takes a week to get a back account, especially when you don't have an NIE number.  She also thought that this would allow me to get a mobile plan, but as it turns out I need the NIE number for that if I don't have an EU passport.  She also helped me find apartments by first explaining the lifestyle of all the various burrows of Madrid, and helping me decide where I would fit best.  After finding some potential places in my price-range, she was even able to get me an appointment with a superintendent tonight.  I was beyond amazed at how quickly everything is progressing.  By Monday we'll be ordering my laptop and getting me accounts on the servers.  It's all very exciting.

At about 4pm I left the office and headed over to my apartment viewing.  I first stopped by a big mall to find an Orange store to try and set up a mobile account.  This is where I learned that I need an NIE number to get a plan.  This is very sad because after a year with the iPhone I can't live without constant data access, and I won't have my NIE until September 1, at the earliest :-(.  O well.  It'll be good for me, I'm sure.

I then went to see the apartment, see pictures, and thought it was a pretty nice place.  Though the bedroom and kitchen are kinda small, the living room is gigantic, so I have a feeling Sanel and I will survive.  Also, this one-bedroom apartment is in a great area, 10 minute T ride to my work.  It's within a five minute walk of the T, a pharmacy, a HUGE mall with most of Sanel's favorite stores, and is about 1 minute walk from a beautiful park.  If something else doesn't have a ton more space, I'll prolly have to grab this.  I also asked to see a two-bedroom place, but it wasn't nearly as nice.

After that I came back to the hostel, grabbed some food near by and then settled in for the night.  It's been a busy day, and I can't wait for tomorrow, when I'll be more awake, to really explore the city's touristy attractions before the novelty wears off.  Good night friends.  Please forward this to everyone!