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Published: November 22nd 2005
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Big Bull
There's a hidden message for me in there somewhere... Hello Allllllllll,
Well, Madrid. I went there, what, month ago? My second trip to the city in as many years, and my God...what a different perspective you get on the city when you've been living in Spain a while. Baulking at paying 2.50 Euros for a
café con leche ,bitching about tourists when it turns out you have to QUEUE (yes QUEUE!) to go to the blummin' park, and generally silently counting my blessings that i live in the equivalent of Spains Norwich!!! It was such a great couple of days, but it felt reassuring knowing that i couldnt wait to come
home to Zaragoza :-) At the very least the weather's better here (read: not 80%!m(MISSING)onsoon), i can pick up a coffee for 0.60cents, and i know the perfect churreria!!! Also, Zara's hardly a hive for tourists, which is a shame, but great if you want the
auténtico Spanish experience. However, this is hardly a slur on the weekend; i don't think i'd laughed so hard for a while (and you know how much i'm always laughing)!!! :-D
The classic start to the weekend was walking to the pick-up point at 6.30am to find Dan still out,
Dan on the Prowl (6.20am)
There's nothing that makes you feel like a grandma quite like getting up when some still haven't gone to bed. The fact that i was 'lured' from bed at 5am by the dulcit tones of Johanna and Daggers' er...continental version of 'Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar' in the kitchen (right next door to my bedroom)was another memory I'll never quite to able to forget...hmmm. I'll keep trying though! :-) plastered, and on the er...'pick-up' with a bloke called 'Jesus' (YES!!! I knew I'd find one eventually, was getting sick of 'Angels'). And then once getting there, going to what appeared to be a Child Detention Centre for our hostel, with soooo many schoolkids running round at 5.30am the next morning, i thought my hangover was going to have to be upgraded to a 'reasonable justification for murder'. As I quickly mentioned in my last blog Annabel and I ended up shoved in with 5 lads; 2 Germans, 2 Italians (that was an eye-opener, lol) and a French Chico...mon dieu!!! Every European speedo-wearing stereotype I've ever been fed, well, they were reinforced ten-fold. Fabio strutting round in his plastic sandals, a miniscule (!!!) towel, and his comb tucked half-in liked a gun put most of the metrosexuals i know to shame. The time-share arrangement on my hairdryer the next morning was also a new-one, and I dont think I've ever blushed so hard as when the Germans stripped down to their birthday suits, keeping such a level eye-contact that they were nuddy before i'd even figured out what exactly was going on! Phew! Is it hot in here or is
Temple of the Dead
Or something like that...after so many of these cultural 'gems', you realise why they're free. Definitely worth a miss, oops! it just me??? Now i know why Spanish women carry fans (I think)!!!
And even though the weekend was supposed to be an 'organised' trip, the crappy weather meant that apart from the free meals (and feasts and a half they were too) we were left to play by ourselves, meaning that everything i'd wanted to do in Madrid last time and didnt get to (the prado, and rowing on the lake in Parque del Retiro) i managed to linger over. Eating a magnum double, playing pirates and learning the dutch version of 'Row, row, row your boat' (that'd be, errrrrr, 'Roll, roll, roll your spliff,' by the way) made it another unforgettable weekend!
'Rolling' (geddit?!) forward to the present, and my feelings about the Erasmus life still haven't changed - I still class it as one of the best things I've ever done with my life - learning a new language, doing more and more studying, and slowly being absorbed to the flow of life in another country, is just a lifestyle i never want to quit. Everyday, something happens that just reinforces the importance of living to the full, and even if at this point, i
Uh-huh!
Guess who hadn't their 8 hours??? Annabel and I, tired but happy in Madrid might not be living with the hill tribes of Mongolia; well i dont think that reduces the validity of what I'm doing out here, and learning. Things that I've had to compromise on, like contact with my friends at home (yes, you amazing people), has been balanced out by meeting new, great, unforgettable people out here. I spent half an hour teaching Johanna, my finnish flatmate, geordie *tribute to Jems* the other day, and have decided that if you've never heard a Finn trilling, "alreeeeeet pett," well - you haven't lived (hahaha)!!! Other than that, without wanting to jinx anything, i think that i should write (and solely 'just for the record')...i'm really really happy! *touches about twelve wooden things! I love you and miss you all, and cant wait to see some of you for the weekend very very soon, but right now, and even though it doesn't exacty apply to my mood at this precise moment, i'm reminded of this quote by Agatha Christie,
"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing." The Royal Palace
The general slope-iness is me holding the camera btw :-S ¡¡¡Viva España!!!
All my Love, Ali xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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clare
non-member comment
oh i remember those rowing boats
oh, it looks so fun, i had such a laugh on those rowing boats in madrid, and you are right they are veru hard to steer! im dans the library with jake the snake, very bordm but well exited about seeing you this week hasta clare x