HaLLOween (the Spanish way) vs. HalloWEEEEN (me)

The entire week leading up to October 31^st was filled with a lot of emotions. I was really excited to teach the kids, the teachers, and my tutees all about the American way to celebrate Halloween. I put up posters all over the hallways with signs from past years about Halloween. They said “Trick or treat”, “It’s Halloween Time”, “Happy Halloween”, or it pointed out a few scary monsters that are unique to Halloween. Throughout the week students would bring their posters from home and they would ask me to put them up in the hall. It was great. Kate even commented that when she came to Menendez to teach she really enjoyed the posters because it got her in the spirit of the holiday.

Not only did I give a special 15-minute presentation on Halloween to every grade on my own, but also I had to visit classes I had never been to before that were not part of the bilingual program but Pocho insisted that they should learn about Halloween from me as well. The best part about the presentations was teaching the kids how to say all the vocabulary. They would all say HALLOween but I would always say it HalloWEEN. Emphasis on the EEEEEEEN, ending on a high note of course. By the end of the week I was a little tired of repeating the same speech over and over. However I was convinced that all the kids would show up to school on Friday with either a costume or orange and black like I told them to do. I told the kids I tutored on Thursday to wear orange and black and they said, “why? Halloween is on Saturday.” I replied but we celebrate it in school on Friday and I won’t see you on Saturday. Well, apparently the message really didn’t sink in because nobody dressed up except for me. I felt like an idiot wearing sparkly star earrings and orange and black from head to toe. I guess Valverde just can’t handle Halloween and all its traditions and rituals. Pocho told me that in the countryside you would find more people celebrating Halloween then in towns or cities. I thought that was interesting.

I was really glad that I bought this Halloween book to show the kids and even more thankful that my mom sent me a picture book of Halloween from when I was a kid. That was a HUGE hit with everyone, adults and kids alike. I think I wore it out a bit because I had to hold it up in front of all the classes and constantly flip to a page in it. Of course if I had the right materials I would have liked to show them actual Halloween candy verses everyday candy or some of the decorations that they would find in a normal house. I watched this video with some of the classes about how kids in the UK celebrate Halloween. It was very similar to the way we celebrate in America but not as over the top. Also they referred to “Jack-o-lanterns” as “Pumpkin-lanterns” instead. That just sounds wrong to me…

What I wasn’t prepared for by the end of the week was how much thinking and talking about Halloween made me miss it. I got really sentimental over certain things and I kept thinking about all the traditions I had in my own house (Halloween BINGO!!!!). The worst part was that I wasn’t able to wish my mother a proper happy birthday. I couldn’t call her through Skype or on my phone because I was away for the weekend and I wasn’t there to help hand out candy to the 2 trick-or-treaters she received. I was able to send her an e-card and as I wrote a little message it hit me hard and the tears started flowing. I didn’t realize how much I associate her birthday with the Holiday and how much of Halloween I really do enjoy. If I had stayed in Valverde for the weekend I think I would have been thoroughly depressed for the lack of festivities and therefore been in a rotten mood all weekend long.

That leads me to my past weekend. Well we had a four-day weekend because in Spain they celebrate All Saint’s Day on November 1 and since it was on a Sunday the schools took Monday off. We thought about going to Madrid to see Real Madrid play Getafe but that plan fell through late Wednesday because the tickets were too expensive for Corrie. It didn’t leave us much time to figure out a new plan so on Thursday night I went over the Corrie and Kate’s and they told me that they were still going to go to Madrid for the long weekend because they had managed to get a ride with a teacher to and from Madrid (sooooo sweet!). They asked if I wanted to come (did they even have to ask?). Of course I wanted to go!!!! It’s MADRID baby. So at 11:15pm we booked the last Hostel that was a responsible price for being so last minute and planned on leaving for Madrid on Friday at 3:45pm meaning that we would arrive in Madrid around 9:45pm.

The next day in school I spent my free time looking up things to do in Madrid and printed out some Google maps of our hostel and other important places. It is a good thing I did that because they came in handy when we arrived in Madrid and toured around the first night. After school I took out some money for the weekend, bought a watch since I am lost without one and my trusty $20 watch that lasted me THREE YEARS WITHOUT A BATTERY CHANGE finally died (on day light savings day no less), and a new purse. I am very picky when it comes to purses so the fact that I found one I liked and it was cheap was something I couldn’t resist. I finished packing, made a large lunch, and then headed out to meet the others. I met Corrie and Kate at Charro’s house (the teacher that was taking us). She and her husband were traveling to Munich for the weekend and they’re flight left from Madrid. It was their first trip alone since giving birth to their 4-year-old daughter Violeta. In true parent form we didn’t hit the road until 4:30p. We got to see their amazing house and spent a few minutes with Violeta. Javier, Charro’s husband loves minerals and rocks and has an amazing collection of both. It puts my mom’s small collection on the shelf of her office to shame. He has rocks and minerals from all over the world but mostly from Portugal and Spain. It doesn’t hurt that Valverde is really close to a mining town full of minerals and rocks just waiting to be discovered. When we got into their car Javier pointed out that we might find some minerals in the car and we are more than welcome to keep them haha.

Besides leaving a little late, the car ride was not bad at all. We made one stop about halfway to stretch our legs and have a coffee break. It took us around 6 hours to get to our drop off point. From there we took the metro to the Hostel Villar in the center of the city. Instantly Madrid was delightful. My bag got stuck in the turntable and a girl instinctively just lifted it up and helped me through. In the metro as we were exiting I said to Corrie and Kate, “I have a really good feeling about Madrid” and then BAM COCKROACH! Both of them shrieked and ran up the stairs as I busted out laughing. Perfect timing. The second we stepped out of the metro a lady asked if we needed help finding something and escorted us directly to our street. No questions asked. After the friendliness factor, the second thing we noticed instantly about Madrid was how clearly and slowly the people talked. We could easily follow every conversation on the metro. It was a great sense of calm knowing that we could in fact understand Spanish well, its just we still haven’t adjusted to the awful Andalucía accents yet. The Spanish in Madrid is wonderful and a great place to test out your Spanish for the first time.

Our hostel wasn’t kidding when they said they were in a good location. It was smack dab in the middle of all the nightlife festivities and touristy locations. After we buzzed into the hostel we noticed this creepy Tower of Terror looking elevator. It really added to the ambiance of Halloween. After we checked in, Lurch I mean the bellman, helped us into the creaky, spooky elevator to the top floor. Our room had three beds, a desk, a closet, and a sink and mirror. It was a little weird for me but Corrie said that having a sink in your room was a common thing in Britain and Scotland. We discovered that we were put in the “purple room” for every room was painted a certain color. Our floor was equipped with two very dirty looking bathrooms. And when I say bathroom I mean each room had one toilet, one sink, and one shower in it. Someone did an awful job of designing this building. Naturally each “bathroom” was out of toilet paper almost every time I used it. Lovely. The floors were uneven and creaky as well. If I were in charge of writing the Hostel World blurb about the place online I would play up the creepiness of the place just for Halloween in order to attract more people. If we had stayed there any of time I would have been properly frightened for my life. The other thing about the Hostel was that you couldn’t leave the same way you entered. You had to go all the way down the hall to take the stairs, go all the way down the next hall a floor below to get to the next stairs and descend two more levels. I know for a fact that if there were a fire in that building I would not survive because I was located on the fourth floor. Also the ceilings were so low. I almost hit my head and I’m 5’6”. Imagine being 6 feet. Talk about a nightmare. I’m making this place sound bad but we actually didn’t mind it too much in the end.

After we settled into the room we decided to walk around a little and see Madrid at its prime, 10-11pm. We were located next to lots of bars and restaurants but we wanted to explore a little more in order to get something to eat. We passed a Hagan Daisze that advertised waffle sundaes. OMG mouthwatering—but no I did not get one. Then we passed a Dunkin Donuts. It was so ironic because I was just telling my friend the night before that I was craving a Halloween Dunkin Donut (you know the one with black or orange icing covered in black and orange sprinkles) and that he had to eat one for me because I wouldn’t be able to get one in Spain. I looked inside the place and they didn’t have it so I never did get my Halloween donut :( We decided that the Museum of Jamon (ham) was the cheapest place to get a sandwich for dinner so we stopped inside. The place never slowed down. The men behind the bar were constantly making food, clearing plates, taking orders, cleaning plates, ect. They wouldn’t have noticed if we didn’t pay, but we did anyways. After that we were tired and wanted to spend the whole day exploring so we headed back to the Tower of Terror. Our hostel room faced the noisy street so it was very noisy most of the night but I slept through it.

The next day we decided to hit up the free stuff in Madrid first. We walked around Sol, then to the Palace, and ended at the Egyptian Temple. I thought the temple was going to be this large ancient building like museum so I told Corrie to meet Kate and I in the lobby of the building after she met up with her friend Meiri from St. Andrew’s. Before Corrie left us they got Churros con chocolate at a café. That is one of the things that Madrid is known for. I wanted to wait and have my Churro experience a little later so I only got tea since I was trying to delay the sickness that was slowly taking over my immune system. The whole car ride to Madrid my throat was very thick so I bought Halls and sucked on them every hour. On Saturday I started to get a runny nose so my goal was just to delay the worst of it until after Halloween night. Unfortunately Corrie and Kate paid more than they should have for the Churros and the chocolate wasn’t even that thick or hot. I think they got gypped. When Kate went to pay for her food she was shocked to find that she was clearly missing 40 Euros—now its time for the gypsy flower lesson of the day.

Right before we got food I noticed that these two women were giving Corrie and Kate flowers. I wanted to tell them not to accept them but I was too far away. As I got closer I saw them trying to give the ladies money and I was like DON’T DO IT!!!! Too late, they both had their purses out and were letting the ladies rummage through their coin purses. The ladies were asking for 1 cent for the flower. When Corrie went to give them 10 cents instead the lady said NO and started looking at her purse for 1 cent. When she didn’t find it she snatched the flower back. The same thing was going on with Kate. The ladies then asked if I wanted a flower and I firmly said NO and looked away. The continued to ask, “Why don’t you want a flower” but I ignored them completely. I knew all to well what their end game was and sure enough they succeeded because I’m fairly certain they swiped 40 Euros from Kate. Kate was incredulous on how that was possible since her bills were in a separate compartment then her change but I tried to point out that they are professionals and its all about misdirection. You don’t even notice them touching things because your flustered holding onto your bag and trying to find the right change for them. For someone who has traveled 2 months in Europe she was very naïve to the notorious gypsy flower ladies of Spain. I remember them from when I was in Spain for a school trip 9 years ago so I knew better than to indulge the ladies. Sadly Kate learned the hard way that you just don’t accept anything from anyone on the street. It was funny because Javier had told us in the car how he loved Madrid except that was the only city he has ever had his wallet stolen. Also another teacher from Kate and Corrie’s school had said the same thing about getting their wallet stolen. All these warnings and still they didn’t get it.

So back to the coffee house…well now Kate only had 20 Euros left for the trip so obviously she would need to hit the ATM sometime during the trip. The rest of the trip anyone that approached her she just blurted out NO. It was the loudest I have ever heard her talk to be honest. After the mini break Corrie went to find Meiri and Kate and I walked to the Temple. Well the Temple ended up being this small building that you needed to wait in line to go into and there was no lobby area. There was no museum as a matter of fact. It was just a set of pillar gates and then the smaller house. It was cool but I was expecting something a little more spectacular. Well we ended up waiting there for over an hour for Corrie to return. I was getting upset because I wanted to do a lot of things on Saturday before the RM game at 6pm and she had MY MAP. When she FINALLY caught up with us she and Meiri were catching up, which is fine but they were walking slower than turtles. I don’t understand how that is possible but it was. I could not for the life of me attempt to walk that slow. This was really pissing me off because at this rate we would maybe get to one more sight before 6pm. AHHHH!!!! Meiri was teaching English just like us in Madrid so I figured that she would know her way around and it would be faster. NO. Not the case, she had no idea how to get to places so I had to take the lead with the map and force them to move their feet in the proper direction. She kept mentioning all these places we should see today but all I could think about was “are you kidding? We’ll be lucky to get across this street before the sun goes down!”.

At least ten times throughout the day I felt like peacing out and saying I have some other thing I want to see so I’ll just meet up with you later. I felt bad because I think they could sense my frustration but at the same time they didn’t walk any faster so I quickly got over it. I wanted to talk and get to know Meiri because she seemed very nice but at the same time I wanted to make the most out of my one-day to explore Madrid properly. So at this point in the day we had been to the Temple and had lunch at Plaza Mayor and it was already 3pm. We decided to go to the Reina Sofia museum because it was free and Corrie and Meiri really wanted to see Picasso’s Guernica. I didn’t object, I just wanted to get there and back to the main center in time for the game. The game was the only thing I made a point to doing today and really tried to reiterate to them that it was important to me. On the way to the museum we got lost, or course we did, and then Kate spotted a Starbucks and just HAD TO STOP. She has to have coffee everyday and that means we always have to include a coffee break into our travel plans. She just shouts, “Coffee Break!” and everyone laughs. I cringe inside. Oh my gawwwwwwwd we’re never going to make it! Starbucks took forever and she said it wasn’t even that good. Great, I’m glad it was worth it then. (yes I actually was in a pretty bad mood throughout the day despite the fact that I really enjoyed being in Madrid)

It was now 4pm and we had finally made it to the museum. I had to personally point them into the proper direction and escort them to Guernica. I know that I can be impatient at times and that I’m more observant then most but I just don’t understand how some people can be so helpless at times. They had no sense of direction or awareness of there surroundings. Well it was nearing 5pm and I knew at the rate that they were walking we should make it back just in time to find a good bar to watch the game. Oh no, they had to go to the gift shop and then they wanted to purchase these Flamenco posters that you can get engraved with your name. To be fair, I would have gotten one myself if I hadn’t already had one from my first visit to Spain in the 8^th grade. After Kate and Corrie finally purchased their posters and we had finally managed to walk in the right direction again they would just stop in the middle of the road and just talk. You’ve got to be kidding me!!! I had had enough; I just walked off and wished them the best because I was done waiting for them. I’m sorry but I didn’t complain about not having gone to the other three places I wanted to see today but I was not going to miss the game on their account.

I occasionally glanced behind me to see if they were walking and when I saw a glimpse of movement I continued. I came across the bar I wanted to watch the game in and then the three of them stopped at this craft place. I just sat down and made myself comfortable. I don’t care if they thought I was rude, I was here to watch a game. They could have gone off and done something else but I told them from the beginning that I wanted to watch this game at 6 on the dot. Eventually Corrie and Kate joined me but Meiri went home and promised to meet up with us later to celebrate Halloween. I ordered my first Spanish Tortilla (just eggs and potatoes and some onion). It was huge and very filling. I nursed it throughout the whole game. With food in my stomach and having finally got to the game I relaxed and tried to repair relationships because I knew that they were put off by my behavior. We left the bar in better spirits. At least I thought we did….

After the game we walked back to the hostel and relaxed for awhile. It was 8:30ish but that was too early for dinner so we just hung out and took our time getting ready for Halloween. It was HALLOWEEN night and I was determined to have a good night despite my cold and the day that had just occurred. I still didn’t have a good idea as to whether Madrid dressed up or not so I created a half costume out of my outfit. You could say it was appropriate for just a night out but it had some matching colors to it so it could be deemed as perhaps a Halloween outfit as well. I was the only one of out the three of us to wear heels and get really dressy. I put on lots of shimmery and dramatic makeup. Its Halloween, go big or go home. (Just look at the pictures)

So once we were all ready we decided not to wait until 10:30p to meet up with Meiri for drinks since Corrie and Kate were hungry. We found a cheap place for tapas and the two of them split three tapas while I ate the free bread. It was a nice night out, not too cold and not hot. We saw lots of girls wearing the same witch hat. We also saw some kids dressed up in costumes, but for the most part it was mostly a younger crowd or adults. Most people who dressed up were on the scary side, wearing white face paint with red blood on their eyes or neck. Nothing too scary though. At the restaurant I stocked up on good quality napkins and stuffed my purse full with them so that I wouldn’t have an emergency runny nose situation during the night. It’s a good thing I did that because they came in handy throughout the night and well into the next day. After dinner we still had some time before meeting up with Meiri so we walked to Plaza mayor. It was difficult enough wearing heels but add cobblestones and uneven pavement and it was insanely uncomfortable. We asked this man to take a picture of the three of us and it turned out the people were American. This one couple was from San Diego (Corrie’s bf’s town) and they were visiting a friend who lived in Madrid because when she taught English here ages ago she met a Spaniard and married him. IT DOES HAPPEN!! The people were very nice and we talked with them about why we were here in Spain and in Madrid and exchanged stories. They told us that they were going to Toledo on Sunday and we told them that we were going to do that as well so we hoped to run into them the next day.

After spending some time in the Plaza we headed back over to Sol to meet Meiri. On the way a group of very good-looking Italians asked if I could take a picture for them. I was more than willing to oblige. After the picture they critiqued my photo taking skills and made me take another one. Picky, picky. Once we found Meiri we walked around the center for a while in search of a cheap place to get a drink before we headed to some Irish bar farther away to meet up with the rest of Meiri’s roommates. This guy promised us free shots if we went to his bar so we went there. The shot was bright pink and tasted like the medicine I use to get when I was little. Everyone else agreed with that statement. We tried to enjoy the bar but once again the music was okay but nobody was dancing even though there was a dance floor. It was very sad. Also the place was very hot and smoky so we left after 5 minutes. On route to find another place to get a drink this guy was like “Hey” to me. I just kept walking because all over the street people try to get your attention to give you a flyer for their bar and I wasn’t giving anyone of those people the time of day. But then the same guy said HEY again and tried to touch my arm, I turned around did a double take and realized it was PAUL FROM LAGOS. NO WAY!!!!! What are the odds that we would run into him in the middle of Madrid on Halloween no less? Sometimes the world is a peculiar place.

We were all in shock of the major coincidence. He told us that he had a table reserved at this really good Indian place and told us to join him and his friends. We had nowhere else to go until much later so we gladly joined him. He was staying at another hostel in the center of Madrid with five other friends. Once we arrived we went into the basement to find a hookah bar. It was very hot and smoky but I guess comfortable because they had throw pillows. We talked with his friends for a while and enjoyed their company. I exchanged numbers with Paul and took a few pictures. Paul’s friends were all a little drunk or stoned (not sure which) and they offered us Hookah but we all declined. Paul’s one friend, Jeremy was that guy that asks you questions and gives you a hard time no matter the answer you give. I really don’t like it when guys do that. I think it’s a method of flirting, but it’s a big turn off for me. Some people who like arguing as a form of flirtation enjoy it, but I don’t like arguing so I just find it bothersome. He kept asking what my costume was to the point where I took off the things on my arms just to make him shut up. Of course once I did that he’s all, “don’t do that now. I was just kidding” blah blah…. Too late buddy.

At around 1pm Paul and his friends wanted to get going because they were going to the 7-story nightclub Kapital. We wanted to go but it was 15 Euros to get in and you only get like one or two free drinks. It really isn’t worth it and nobody wanted to spend the money so we decided not to go with them. I wanted to go but my feet were killing me and I could not walk there even if I wanted to. We did the Spanish thing and gave each other two kisses and said we would be in touch because Paul really wanted to visit our quaint town. I was really tempted at this point in the night to go back to the hostel and change shoes even though I would look really funny with chucks instead of heels but I didn’t care. I don’t think the girls understood how much pain I was in for they just shrugged that idea off and said, “you can do it”. Easy for you to say you haven’t been standing in heels for 4 hours already.

Sigh; well I slowly followed them to our next destination. The only information I was given at this point in the night was that we were heading to some Irish bar far enough away that we needed to take the metro and would have to taxi it back home. I didn’t know the name of the bar, the metro stop, or what line we were going on. I got my metro ticket with everyone else but as I put the ticket through the machine I got “Espero por favor”—which means Wait please. Well all I had in my purse was a 20 and I wasn’t going to break that just for a 1 Euro ticket so I waited. Everyone else proceeded down the escalator I yelled their names but nobody heard me and nobody turned around. Great. Well some guy took pity on me and opened the exit turnstile so that I could get in. I ran (as best I could in heels) down the escalator to where I thought they would have been waiting for me but they were nowhere to be found. I’m not one to panic, but I had absolutely no idea where I was going. I couldn’t even ask people if they knew where the bar was because I didn’t know the name of it. Uhhhhh gulp?!?!?!! Well I figured they had to notice that I wasn’t with them so I just waited in the main area where I could see every entrance and exit hoping that someone would come back for me, but NOPE didn’t happen. At this point this guy came up to me and asked if I was okay. I told him no, I wasn’t okay because I am lost. I then proceeded to tell this guy my story about how my friends left me and how I don’t know what to do. I tried calling Corrie but she didn’t answer (I later found out she didn’t have any minutes left so her phone was useless). I then called Kate and once again got nothing. I think when I called Kate she had called me because she left a message. I had no other option but to wait in the metro so I talked to this guy. His name was Tony and he was a meat carver. He lived in Madrid but outside the center of the city about twenty-five minutes away by metro car. He pointed to the direction he was supposed to go and asked if I wanted to follow. I politely said I think I should just wait here for a little while. Well we continued our conversation for another 25 minutes in the middle of the Sol metro stop. I’m not going to lie I kind of enjoyed it. I know the only reason he was talking to me was because of my outfit but I went with it. Mind you that our conversation was completely in Spanish. It was great practice for me. I understood everything he said and I think most of what I said back to him was proper Spanish. So the whole getting left behind thing wasn’t so horrible.

But as I assumed would happen the conversation turned to the “no novio” situation, as I like to call it. The point in the night where both people talking to each other do not have a significant other so it is just natural that they go home together. No. I was not going to go to some far off place for the night and have a walk of shame in that outfit and with that makeup. No, but seriously I would never go home with someone that I met on the metro. That’s how your story ends up on Law and Order SVU! Well he wasn’t giving up that easy. At one point he had his arms around me in a half hug half arm lock and didn’t let go until I gave him a yes. I told him every excuse I had: I didn’t know him, I didn’t want to go with him, my feet hurt, and I was sick. This didn’t deter him. At some point he tried the serenading approach to win over my heart. When that didn’t work he tried the “mi Corazon!” and put his hand under his shirt and gestured heartbeats. When that didn’t work he tried the never failing pick up lines: “your eyes sparkle like stars”—please I heard that already and of course they sparkle I have enough glitter on to out-sparkle a disco ball haha. Finally he just offered to come back to my place. Oh how considerate. I was half tempted to take him to the Tower of Terror and say this was my house just to scare him but I held off at the end. I tried to just leave by means of the escalator but he followed me so that didn’t work. He kept saying, “Please Erica, come on. Come with me. I come with you. Don’t go now…” The polite route wasn’t working so I waited for the moment where he was leaning towards his metro line and then I made a mad dash for the escalator and didn’t turn back around. I didn’t turn around until I was back in my Hostel so I know he didn’t follow me. I didn’t have my map but I had a good sense of direction so I knew the way back. I’m not sure if Kate could have done that if she was in my shoes…

When all was said and done he was very nice, short but good looking, and perhaps if we had met at his meat carving store and talked for awhile I would have been more inclined to accompany him to his house, but not that night. I finally checked my voicemail and it was from Kate and I couldn’t really hear her because she talks so damn quiet but they mentioned some metro stop but it was too late because the metro was already closed, me feet hurt, and I was starting to feel worse, so I was glad I went back when I did. The only thing I regret was meeting Meiri’s roommates because I was told they were very funny and I missed out on obtaining a pumpkin hat that all the Irish bars were handing out for free that night. After talking to Corrie and Kate when they returned they said the bar was nothing special and most of the time they spent out was getting to the bar and then trying to catch a taxi back. They got home at 5am while I got back at 3pm. I think I actually came out with the better story so I was okay with having missed out on the Irish bar. What I was mad about was the fact that they were all oblivious to the fact that I was missing until halfway through the metro ride. Come on now, am I really that invisible? They just aren’t observant people. Corrie was the one that noticed I wasn’t with them and told Kate to call me instantly so that I knew what stop to get off at. Kate was being her usual self and taking her sweet time making the call while Corrie said she was urging Kate to go faster. This is all what Corrie told me the next day of course so I don’t really know what happened.

The next morning we slept in until 11ish which is still only 6 hours of sleep. So much for the 10:20am train to Toledo. When I woke up I didn’t feel good at all. I was officially in stage 2 of my sickness. I felt achy, dizzy, low energy, and a constant runny nose. I contemplated staying behind and touring Madrid at my own pace since I have already been to Toledo but I didn’t want to have any regrets or what-if moments so I decided to go with them. I would say that was a bad decision. My breakfast was crackers and orange juice. My lunch was orange juice, an apple, and marzipan. The Marzipan made me feel even worse and Kate had the brief urge to throw up after eating her Marzipan. We didn’t want to spend money on food so we never really had a proper meal the whole day. Bad idea. I didn’t have anything in my stomach. We were really upset about the efficiency of the train station in Madrid. It was just like in Huelva where you got a ticket and wait for your number to be called. It isn’t until then that you can purchase your ticket. What is up with that? Then everyone crowds around the departure TV waiting to see which station you depart from. Once it is announced it becomes a bad dash to the ticket counter where you get checked in airport style with an x-ray machine and train attendants. It was bizarre and so time consuming. You would think a huge metropolis like Madrid would have mastered the train system but who are we kidding this is Spain were talking about.

The train was only a short 30-minute ride to Toledo, which was nice. From there we got a 5 Euro double Decker bus to take us around the main spots of Toledo. The only problem is that we were towards the back of the line so we had to sit on the bottom row. I didn’t really mind because the bus stopped at the nice viewing area so we all got good pictures. Corrie and Kate were determined to get a seat above even thought it tried to warn them that it wasn’t worth it. Well they picked the wrong seat to sit in because a couple came up and demanded that they get their seats back. Corrie tried to talk to them and say, “you know we all paid the same for the bus why not share the experience of the top of the bus with everyone”. The man was not having it and said no those are OUR seats! Kate yielded instantly but Corrie put up more of a fight. Meanwhile the people behind her were shouting “Fight for it!” to her so she tried again to reason with them but the man was not budging. He continued to scoot himself into the seat until Corrie was forced to get up and move out of the way. It was rather rude and unnecessary but whatever, at least it wasn’t me haha. After the bus tour we walked around ALL of Toledo. I was miserable throughout the day and Kate and Corrie were not very sympathetic. They just kept insisting we keep walking around and exploring. I was all for finding a comfortable bench and sitting there for an hour. I was over Toledo after an hour; we ended up staying there for five hours. UUUGhhhhhhhhhh. The only good part was we did run into the Americans in Toledo. They were eating lunch at a little café. They were very nice and the hippy lady offered me medicine but I declined because I was determined to stick it out on my own. I just don’t like to take medicine unless I’m dying or I can’t sleep because of a headache. She again offered me Tylenol and I should have taken it and saved it for later because I ended up needing it but that was the past. As we said our goodbyes I heard them say “aww those girls were just so cute.” :) We felt the same way.

I tried to pick up my spirits toward the end of the day because I knew once again that the other two were kind of mad at me. I’m sorry I can’t help it that I got sick. I know I should have stayed behind but there was nothing I could have done about it once I arrived in Toledo. Once we got to the train station we talked for an hour as we waited for the train and got on better terms with each other once again. I told them how I was desperately craving meat and we all agreed that we would look for a burger place on the way to our Hostel. I walked the fastest I walked all day going from the train back to our hostel. I was on a mission to get food or my bed. Well we didn’t see a good burger place so I streamlined for my PJ’s and hit the bed. At this point I was hitting stage 3 of the cold/flu. I knew I needed to throw up but it just wasn’t coming up because there was nothing in my stomach to release. I tried to sleep and assumed the others would get food but they hit the sack too. It wasn’t until 9-10ish that they got up to get food. I gave them a 10 and pleaded for them to find me something for my head and bring me back some bread. Corrie asked if I wanted a burger but I knew that something greasy like a burger would be a bad idea. While they were gone I attempted again to get the throwing up out of my system but I couldn’t. I also had a brief moment of misery where I shouted out that all I wanted was my real bed! I was praying that the girls would come back relatively soon with medicine and bread and then go eat. No, they were out for over an hour. Meanwhile, I withered in pain and misery trying to sleep. I guess I dozed off because when I woke up they were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake them but I NEEDED something for my headache. I subtly turned on the sink and then Corrie mentioned to me that she found an Aspirina C tablet and put it on the sink. As I was about to take it I finally felt the urge to throw up. I was really hoping to avoid doing it in front of them but there was no way I was running to the disgusting bathroom all the way at the other end of the hallway. As I predicted I instantly felt better afterwards and took my headache medicine. After some time I finally fell asleep and didn’t wake up again until 9am the next morning. I don’t know what time I actually went to bed but I don’t think it was any sooner than 1am.

When I woke up I felt so good. I showered, ate half a loaf of bread, packed my entire bag, and read Dracula as I waited for the other two to wake up. I successfully made it through all three stages of the sickness without the aid of flu or cold medicine. My nose was behaving kindly so I was able to breathe in piece and not have to have a tissue attached to my hand at all times. I didn’t feel 100% but enough to make it through the day and the 6-hour car ride back to Valverde. Hallelujah! Once we were all packed we checked out of the hostel and decided to travel to Retiro Park. Retiro is the Central park of Madrid. It is this massive park with a lake in the middle, lots of open space, and paths to run or walk on. It was very pretty. However, on Monday the weather definitely shifted to fall. It was about time. It was brisk outside but the sun was warm. It made me think of the soccer games I had in October on those windy days at the Soccerplex. After the park we walked all the way to the Goya metro stop and from there we went to the meeting place. We wanted to get a good lunch in before our 6-hour car ride so we find a decently cheap café and had lunch. I finally got my churros con chocolate and it was oh so delicious. It was cheaper than Corrie and Kate’s and the chocolate was a lot better. The farther away from the center of Madrid the cheaper things are.

After lunch we said goodbye to Madrid and headed to Mar de Cristal to meet Charro and Javier. They picked us up at 3pm and we were off to Valverde. The ride was a little quieter since everyone was a little tired. I think I dozed off for maybe a half and hour but after that I was up and chatted away with everyone else in the car. I think the ride only took us 5 hours on the way back so I got into my house by 8ish. The weekend had its up and downs but I’m glad I got the chance to see Madrid again.

Throughout the trip all of us reflected on the pros and cons of living in a city like Madrid. We all agreed that we would prefer to live in Sevilla over Madrid because Madrid was too expensive and too big. Sevilla was a better mix of history and sights with a modern feel to it. Meiri told us that she has to take a half hour train and twenty-minute bus to her school every day. I would hate to commute for that long in the morning and it would totally add up. Also her rent is 345 Euros a month for a four-bedroom apartment. You factor in her rent, transportation, and living expenses and she doesn’t have any money left over to travel. She told us that she would love to visit but probably wouldn’t be able to visit for a while because she has to save up. She doesn’t have the opportunity to tutor after school and she hasn’t made that many friends. Also food and drink in Madrid is so expensive. In Valverde everything is 1 Euro (water, café, Coke, tea, Tinto de Verano). In Madrid you pay at least 2.30 for all of those beverages. Another thing about Madrid is that it doesn’t have any seafood besides Calamari. They don’t have access to fish and fresh produce that we do in Huelva. Everything on the menu is meat based. There orange juice is nowhere near as fresh or as good tasting as the OJ in Huelva and Valverde. We couldn’t believe that we were saying it, but we missed the small town perks of Valverde throughout our trip. Who would of thought?

Corrie was explaining to me that September and October is the transitioning months where everything is new and different and your just taking it all in. November is when you start to settle in and get bored or complacent with your location. This is probably the point where you will get the most homesick. Then you get December and its back to enjoying it because of winter break. You either go home to see your family or you travel. When you return in January you’re use to life in Spain and now just enjoy life as if it is all you’ve ever known. By the time school ends you won’t want to leave, you will love everything about Spain and you will have fully transitioned into a Spaniard. I hope this is an accurate description because I would really like to be fluent by the end of this experience and have all the confidence in the world with my language so that I could strike up a conversation with anyone at anytime. So now that November is here the traveling will die down significantly and I’ll just immerse myself into mastering Spanish. I need to save up money for my winter break trip anyways. Tomorrow I will plan out all of my winter break trip with my friend Julia and Megan. I can’t wait to book flights and just know where were going and how were getting there.