Loving Laryngitis

I've been fighting a cold and over time, my throat has been hurting more and more, until yesterday I basically could not speak. So today I went to the doctor and he confirmed that I have acute laryngitis.

Anyway, the fun part was walking around doing some of my chores without being able to talk.

I went to the social security office to update my home address. Think of it like your local DMV office - you walk in, pick a number, fill out forms, talk to someone. So I walk up to the counter and immediately signal that I have no voice to the lady - and she automatically becomes more caring towards me. SUWEEET - She's gonna hook me up with a number that they'll call sooner than later. I should use this trick more often. I was pleasantly pleased to find that everyone there was caring and patient enough to help me.

Next stop, get some fresh squeezed orange juice to wet the pipes before I go and visit the doc. I go to the least smokiest coffee shop that I can find. For those of you who have been to Spain, you can understand that this is extremely difficult. Anyway, I enter and do the same signal to the coffee guy- that I have no voice. I ask, with the best voice that I can do for "zumo de naranja". The guy looks at me and says very slowly, yet very loudly -- like I'm a retard -- "no te entiendo". Somehow a lady who was sitting much farther away understood me and told him, "she said she wanted zumo de naranja". Anytime this guy had to talk to me, he kept speaking slowly and deliberately, with a loud voice. LOL. I feel bad for mute people, they must have people who react this way all the time. Mute does not equal retard! Now I have a new justice to fight for....

Walking Strategy in Madrid

I have decided, after months of analysis, that there doesn't exist a common walking etiquette here in Madrid.

My ideas of "walking etiquette" before coming to Madrid consisted of the following:

1. Walk on the right side of the sidewalk, unless you need to enter a store or you are passing somebody who is going really slow (similar to when you are driving a car).
2. If you are about to run into someone, try to get out of their way, out of respect.

Well, that doesn't work here. My first few months here, I was practically walking in circles. Trying to pass the people I needed to, trying not to run into others and walking around them. In fact, when my mom came to visit, she did the exact same thing, further proving my hypothesis....

Madrid Walking Etiquette = Walk however the hell you want, and stay your ground as long as possible! Allow me to explain.
Take this picture as an example, so that you can understand what normally happens on the sidewalk.

• There are many people always on the sidewalk. Since there is no "right side" etiquette, people are all over the place. In fact, I'm convinced that people stay on the side closest to the shop windows so they can have the best view. Voyeurs.

• There are also "props" that get in the way. Perhaps you want to pass someone, but there's a garbage can or a tree in the way

• The type of people and what size groups are also a factor. You could be behind a family of three and that damn family will take up the whole sidewalk. Why? Because they don't care about the flow of the sidewalk or moving out of the way for other people. I really don't think that enters anyone's mind here.

There are many, many more examples that I can give. And I'd like to further qualify my theory by stating that I see this in my own neighborhood, which isn't right downtown where there are huge crowds.

So, what do I do? My whole mentality has changed. I now "play Chicken". I stare down my opponents and keep walking where I want to be walking until they finally decide to move around me!!! Or another way is to keep looking at the store window until they realize I'm not paying attention. Like they say, when in Madrid, do as the madrileños!!!

You know you're unemployed and living in "La Crisis" when.....

1. Double-digit unemployment figures sound normal.
2. You have memorized all the job vacancies in the career search websites.
3. You have edited your LinkedIn profile as "Full-time, Self-Employed JobSeeker" to sound more exciting.
   
4. You recently saw some part-time trainee position that sounded absolutely fascinating.
5. You go to a party with old friends and more than 20% are also unemployed.
6. Headhunters call you to see if YOU have job openings that THEY can manage.
7. Shops are liquidating, left and right...and you STILL don't have enough money to take advantage of the discounts!
8. Creating a new business seems more realistic than finding a job.
9. You catch up with your network of contacts, and they ask YOU for help in getting a job.
10. Living with your parents sounds like fun...

Do you have more examples to share???

Día de San Valentín

Valentine's Day is celebrated here, although it's not quite as commercial as it is in the States. Sure, you find teddy bears on display, special Valentine's day promotions, an occasional heart decoration here and there. But it's nowhere near the same level of "marketing assault" that we get in the U.S.

So what did we do? Well, our first idea was spontaneous. Let's go to Toledo! So we made our bocadillos (Spanish style sandwiches), packed up a small backpack and grabbed a taxi to get to the Atocha train station. But by the time we made it to Atocha,the tickets were sold out. Before leaving Atocha, I made sure we said goodbye to my friends - the turtles. I love Atocha station; it has an indoor garden with palm trees and other tropical plants, with a fiberglass ceiling that leaks in natural light. It's very calming and I like to see these turtles doing absolutely nothing more than soak up the light.

Anyway, enough of the turtles. So now that our day plan was a bit ruined, we took our backpack with our bocadillos to El Retiro and ate in the park. Then a nice siesta in the sun. Later on in the evening we went to a Flamenco Show in a small theater.

My Sevillanas teacher was one of the main dancers, and damn she is good. It was interesting to see a Flamenco show.

It's basically a musical - song and dance combined with a basic story. Although it's difficult to distinguish all of the words in the songs, so I'm not sure if there was one story or multiple.

The whole show was based on a group of Gitanos that are in love with Flamenco and maintaining its culture (I think).

Anyway, they are all in a house, at the Alhambra, etc. At the end of the show, they had an elderly lady come up and finish the show with a dance. This lady must have been about 65 years old and she hit every note.

These Spaniards are so emotional. Geesh. They wail and cry, then they are happy, and then proud with a bullfighter-like attitude. Now imagine these menopausal emotions combined with singing, dancing, strong stomping on the ground ("zapateo"), tears, mantones flowing in the background.

OLÉ - that's Flamenco!!!

Gala for Cantabria folklore

Every year, various companies sponsor a cultural gala for the region of Cantabria (La Gala de la Música Popular de Cantabria). We were fortunate to hear about the event on the radio and we arrived on time for our free tickets to see this grand event. It's truly amazing that this is completely free, when you realize this isn't some tiny, quirky little event but rather a formal, well-planned program.

Many thanks to:
The Choir 'Coral Salvé de Laredo'
- Approximately 50 men and women.
- One of the main singers was a blind man with a beautiful voice
- Apparently they have been to New York and D.C. to perform
The Orquestra 'Cantabria Infinita'
- With two conductors
- Always playing folklore music
RTVE (National Radio and TV)
- For making this a free event!!
The President of Cantabria
- For being such a nut, speaking with fervor and love for his region
- For singing the hymn of Cantabria. He didn't miss a word - I checked! ;-)
Yes, I asked these men from the choir to take a picture with me. Such the tourist. But I did it for YOU!! These guys form part of a choir and are dressed in typical/traditional Cantabrian dress. Since Cantabria has many ports, they are dressed as sailors. By the way, notice that we are all the same height? I now understand why I couldn't get past 5'4". It's the Spanish in me.

Learning Sevillanas - Y OLÉ!!!

Being unemployed has its advantages. I now can dedicate my time for random things that I wouldn't be able to if I were working fulltime.

I just signed up for "Sevillanas" (a style of flamenco dance) classes at the cultural center. It's only one hour per week, and I'm one of the younger students in the class. I'm convinced my teacher is a gitana, because it makes it more exciting.

Today was my first day. I was fumbling to learn all of these new steps with names I have never heard (each step is named something) and all of this in a sea of women in their sixties that were kicking my ass. That's alright, give me a week. I'll bounce back...

Shoplifters, PickPocketers, oh my!

"We are until the coconut with chorizo sausages."

That's right folks. WE ARE!!!

What the heck does that mean? I found this post-it note right above a cute sweater I thought I wanted to try on. It means "we are sick and tired of shoplifters". And here I almost thought it was an interesting recipe that they would give me if I bought the sweater!

Closed -yet Creative- Stores in Madrid

When stores close down in Madrid, they all have a metal pull-down door that covers and protects the store front. Most mom-n-pop stores are open from 10am to 2pm, and 5pm to 8pm. So generally speaking, during lunchtime (remember that is from 2pm - 4pm here) if you walk down the street, you will see a lot of closed shops, and if you are lucky, some of them have taken a creative way to combat vandalism.