Much ground to cover

For starters, I'd like to apologize for the really long delay since my last post. I really thought I would be much better about this blogging thing, but the truth is between my ridiculously long days, my spazzy internet, and my general laziness/apathy, blogging is among the many things that has slipped through the cracks. But I'm happy to report that while I'm writing less, I am reading more!

So since my last entry, nothing much has happened. The weather has chilled, and there has been some snow in Las Rozas, the suburb where I teach. Las Rozas is at the foot of the mountains (I use that word loosely) that surround Madrid, so it's at a higher altitude and it gets more cold and snow than Madrid does. I enjoy the view of the mountains I have; it reminds me a lot of looking westward and seeing the Rockies at home. Quite comforting.

My life has becoming very routine and monotonous, something I always secretly feared. I'm still hopeful that exciting things will happen (they have to in a big city like this, right?), but I certainly don't count on them. And honestly, I don't try very hard either to make new friends or do interesting things. I'm often too tired or too cold to go around exploring the city. But when I do go exploring, it's nice to see how I am getting to know Madrid better and better each day. I'm a really big fan of the Malasaña neighborhood, one of Madrid's better-known 'hoods. It's known as one of Madrid's more alternative neighborhoods, although gentrification has brought in more yuppies (think Chicago's Wicker Park)and has moved lots of the low-brow artists to other neighborhoods. Because its an older neighborhood, the streets are narrow and the alleys are full of character. There are many cafeterias and restaurants, and loads of independently owned boutiques and other shops. One of my new favorite places, J&J's Bookshop, is located there. J&J's is a coffee shop/bookstore owned by 2 American ex-pats. The selection of books in English is pretty good, and they have nights for language exchanges, quizzes, and teachers. The people who frequent the shop are usually American or English, although its known to be a great place for non-native English speakers to go and practice.

I haven't done much to try and keep up on my journalism skills these last 3 months -- It's like I've taken a sabbatical from journalism -- but I really miss writing regularly. The good news is that I'm slated to begin writing regularly for InMadrid, one of the largest (English) publications in the city. It's a monthly publication, so its more of a Lifestyles magazine for ex-pats in Madrid. I'm really exited to be flexing my writing muscles again, although I've suddenly developed this interest in doing more video stuff. I made a short photo slide show about my trip to Barcelona, and I really enjoyed that. Hopefully I can develop those skills further and see where it takes me.

For the past week, I've been in Greece on vacation. It was the best week of my life -- Greece is so beautiful, the food is fantastic, and the people are extremely nice. I have posted some photos on facebook, and I'll be adding some more here as well. Holiday break will be going on for two more weeks (the Spanish don't return to work and school until after the Three Kings' day -- hooray for more vacation!), so I'm planning on creating a different blog to post my photos, videos and thoughts about the different places I visit. I'm thinking of making it a bit more formal, and giving some travel writing a shot. Once I have that up and running, I'll post a link.
In the meantime, I'll have to do some more exploration of Madrid to keep myself entertained.