You know, peanut butter is just one of those things… you KNOW, THOSE THINGS. No matter how you try to eat it (on bread, with a spoon, dipping a cracker inside the jar).. it gets all over your hands. Today, for the second day in a row at my new residencia: La Casona, I ate peanut butter with the most delicious, nutty crackers in the world. I dunked and dunked, and then retrieved more crackers when I was done. But as the process continued, I inevitably ran out of peanut butter, and needed to stick my hand further into the jar. I at first acknowledged the fact that I shouldnt lick them clean… but my defenses weakened, and I licked some intense METRO germs I could almost SEE off my hands. Yum.
On a more relevant note: I now live off of the light blue line, metro Iglesia. Like I said, my old residencia was stinkey, and we made a quick swoop out of there sunday night. Thats right, I got home from Granada at 7pm, packed my entire life up in 2 hours, and vamos-ed in Paloma’s car over here. One downside: there was only one room available, a single, which means I now sleep on the top bunk of a bunk bed. I dont mind except that the ladder hurts my feet and I have to plan in advance what I need for my time up/down the ladder… but I’m not a second hand smoker while I am awake and sleeping, I can walk in my towel without Drooler, Emphazima Man, the 4 other 35 year olds/the 5 20 year olds using their X-Ray vision, and I can (so far) enjoy the comida. Although I have to admit… we left without saying goodbye to Johanna, I didnt leave my keys there (oops) and I will miss a couple things: retiro park, Tomas, and hearing “puta” “tracka-placka” and “conyo” every 3 seconds. Oh yeah, and late night cab rides with Allie and Lauren!
However… yesterday I wandered the streets of Madrid for an hour… trying to find where I live? Silly Tricia (yes, i used the 3rd person) allowed Lisey to negotiate with Paloma and Ana in finding this place, and didnt ever feel the need to ask the street name (obviously you can find ANYTHING from Metro stops… I mean, there was only one metro Ibiza! right?). I knew how to get to school, and how to take the train back from school… but once I got off at the Iglesia metro stop, the world stood still. Where do I live? I asked myself, as I noticed that in my view alone I could see three other Iglesia metro stops. After 30 mins of wandering, and 30 mins of Alexandra Moriarty guiding me on the phone and THEN in person, I made it to my new residencia. I experienced a moment of “wow, there is NO ONE in this world who can help me right now,” which was both scary and comical in my mind. Alex luckily met me (officially) for the second time, the first time being that morning. She was a saint! Thanks to Juan for giving me her number.
So now I have a ton of hw to do. I have 3 days of intense escuela: Mon, Tues, Wed, and then 3 1/2 days of forgetting I go to school here. Where is the extra half? When the realization sinks in on Sunday afternoon and I consider thinking about homework. So for now, I return to my peanut butter and remain on my bunk bed.
Venga, vale, adios.
p.s. (as usual) I finished The Appeal by John Grisham and am reading My Sister’s Keeper, another Jodi Picoult. This one is about stem cell research, designer babies, and the like. Right after the death penalty book I finished right before the appeal. Who knew…?
