Finally Settled

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent pretty much the same way -- waking up at noon or so, finding our way around the Metro and the area to find stores and purchase things we need to get settled. So far, we've discovered a wonderful Target-like store called Carrefour. The one nearest us, about 7 blocks, is an Express store, meaning they stock mainly the grocery items: fresh fish, meats, pantry items, etc. We bought a few items, although we are still waiting for the roach problem to get fixed before we set out on a big grocery expedition.

The realization that eating out for lunch and dinner is quickly emptying our pockets has encouraged us to seek food alternatives that don't require much cooking or a need to be stored (Amy has spent countless hours researching roaches and has become the expert, and we all agreed it would be best to not give the roaches any more reasons to nest. And to avoid opening my box of Spanish cereal and having a crunchy surprise in there).

Yesterday we took a trip to IKEA, the very same Swedish-made furniture that was such a big part of apartment living at Northwestern. We took a bus out to San Sebastian de los Reyes, a small suburban town about 30 minutes outside of Madrid. On our way back to the bus stop, we found ourselves caught in a downpour, so we ran across the IKEA parking lot to a Burger King to seek shelter. Ten minutes later, semi-wet and grumpy, we returned to the bus stop and made our way back to Rios Rosas.

At night, we opted to find a Tapas bar and have a night of authentic Spanish cuisine (instead of the pizza, tacos, and sandwiches we had been eating for dinner). Setting out in search of El Tigre, a tapas bar in Madrid's Chueca neighborhood, we were lost for about 20 minutes before finding El Tigre, closed of course, just as our roomshare-mate Luisma (who joined us for dinner) had suggested earlier. We ended up having Turkish kebabs (kabobs) for dinner (so much for authentic Spanish). After dinner, we stopped at the oldest McDonald's in Madrid, found off the Gran Via Metro stop, for a McFlurry, before meeting our other roomshare-mates Eucevio and his friend Jaime. The six of us went to O'Donnells, an Irish pub filled with Americans and which was blasting music in English, from 50 Cent and Ludacris to Gloria Gaynor, Bruce Springsteen, and Timbaland ("Give It To Me," a song which holds so many memories for me, made me feel almost at home, -- big ups to Emmet!). Although the pub's music was quite loud, we had a great time. I asked about 30 billion questions, from Spanish futbol (soccer) teams to the depth of American cultural influence in Spain. Apparently, there are many Spaniards who think they are "thugs" too!

I've been learning so much already in these last few days, mostly about Castilian vocabulary -- bleach, mopping, and beef are completely different words here than in Mexico/the U.S. I also find it very amusing that I am "obviously" Mexican here. At Northwestern, I was always ethnically ambiguous, some days appearing Indian or Persian and others looking half-black. Not in Madrid. Here, there is never a doubt that I'm Mexican. I've heard that my accent (I have one?) gives it away. My Spanish neighbors were getting a kick out of hearing me speak last night, using Mexican slang and a very "charra" intonation. I'll take that as a compliment...