Check out this cool little guy - a robot clock on a necklace chain. I picked him up at El Rastro on Sunday. This weekend I'm heading north to the Basque country, and he's coming with me...more updates when I return!
The mountains are calling...
...and I must go. City life is great, but sometimes I miss the beautiful mountain air I enjoyed while living in Boone, NC. On Saturday, my friend Jessie and I took a quick bus ride north of Madrid to a town called Manzanares El Real. While there is a castle there, we instead chose to take a short walk down the road and hike through part of La Pedriza, a mountainous collection of giant stones that make a very steep hike with really beautiful views.
You might not be able to tell unless you know what you're looking for, but those familiar with Madrid's landscape will be able to see the Cuatro Torres on the horizon. (Those not familiar with Madrid's landscape may notice two goats in the shadow of a nearby boulder.) Even though Manzanares El Real is only about 35km (~21mi) from the city, it felt like we'd traveled much further away. This was the first real hike I'd done since I was at ASU, so even two days later my legs are a little sore. I guess I'll just have to get back in hiking shape while the weather is still nice!
 |
 |
 |
 |
Days like this renew my love for la capital. Though I live within the confines of the city-shaping M30 motorway, I can easily take a Saturday and find myself having a picnic on top of a mountain after less than an hour of travel. Menos mal that I'm not much of a beach person.
Year two
Well, here I am once again! I've been back in Madrid for nearly two weeks and have done nothing but look for a place to live and rediscover all of the things that I love about this place. After about a week of searching, I found a new piso near my bus station, cutting about twenty minutes out of my previously hour-long commute. Toma!
Here's what my room looks like. It's pretty small, but I have a big comfy bed and an actual closet with a door with a bit of storage space above it, and it doesn't really feel that small until I lie down and look at how small the ceiling actually is. The rest of the apartment is very cozy, and I don't mean cozy in real estate agent terms, but rather that I find it very comfortable. The living room has a giant window across the entire exterior wall, so the afternoons are very warm and sunny. The couches are soft and comfy, and the TV has more than five watchable channels. I've been able to watch Will & Grace a few times so far. No complaints from me. I have an oven this year, too! I haven't yet attempted using it, mostly because I am generally afraid of ovens and this one uses gas so I have to light it by hand which scares me even more. But anyway, my roommates are really nice, too. I'm living with a Spanish girl and a Colombian girl who have both mentioned they'd like to aprovechar living with an American and practice a bit of English. I know that my Spanish suffered by not using it all summer, so hopefully these two will get me back to, if not better than where I was in June.
My favorite roommate, however, is only two years old:
My roommate adopted this cat, seen above napping in my lap, two years ago when she was just a baby. She'd been injured in some way that caused damage to one of her eyes, so a veterinarian had to remove the eye to prevent further injury or infection. Now she is just like any other cat I've seen, and very playful! Plus, her name is Mira... Spanish for "look." How's that for a sense of humor? It's been very comforting having a pet in the house. She's really friendly and likes to follow everybody around. Today she jumped on my bed and snoozed while I read through some papers I received at school today.
Speaking of school... today was my first day back on the job. My schedule was among all of said papers, and it turns out I will have Mondays off this year. I'll also be working exclusively with second grade, therefore I'll be working with the same students and teachers as last year! It seems a bit strange that they won't have Jennifer and me changing each month like before, but I suppose I can't complain. I really enjoy working with these kids and I'll be spending a lot less time trying to figure out which students need that extra push to understand English, which I think will help me in the end. Even though I've only spent one day back, I'm already kind of sad to think that this is the last year!
While it was nice to see my students again, it was especially nice to see the other teachers. I got to be pretty good friends with a few of them so it was exciting to catch up and hear about everybody's holidays. If first days are any sign of things to come, this should be a fun year.
Hopscotch, after
Another Hopscotch has come and gone. Like last year, I had a lot of fun, saw a lot of bands--about twenty, if I'm remembering correctly--and spent a lot of money on delicious downtown food & drink. Unlike last year, I was unfamiliar with about 95% of the bands playing this year. I love live music under pretty much every circumstance, but it's a different experience when you can sing along to songs you know. I can't choose the first or second Hopscotch as my favorite, so I guess I'll just have to look forward to the third. Thanks, Hopscotch and Raleigh, for throwing another great summer send-off party!
Hopscotch, before
You've taken 362 days to regain strength and increase stamina. You remember the quickest path from Tir na nÓg to Berkeley Cafe. You have this paper, a phone app, a pocket schedule, too many Google links and a dozen friends tugging you in different directions. There's a wristband on your arm, and your work colleagues don't understand why. It's Hopscotch weekend: Don't conserve energy. Expend it. Rest will come sooner than you'd like.
- Greg Lowenhagen, Hopscotch founder and director
Last year, the inaugural Hopscotch Music Festival was sort of like a going-away party. It was this great huge event all across downtown Raleigh that happened to fall during my last weekend in town before I took off for a year in Spain. This year, I'll have two weeks to bask in post-festival bliss, and I have no doubts that Hopscotch will wow and exhaust me just as much as it did a year ago. It all starts tonight!