Money

When I came back from the States after Christmas, I stopped at the money exchange kiosk in Chicago and exchanged most of my Christmas dollars for euros. Whether it is because of the writer's strike, global warming or our economy, I left a bit short-handed. Especially because the bright lady working the kiosk couldn't tell the difference between a franc and a euro. I paid $1.47 for a relic of pre-EU France. Yes! I have another coin to add to my growing collection of useless U.S. quarters and dimes.

Well, maybe not entirely useless. My new fire hazard/incense burner:

I am in love with...

The Streets.

If my door would close, I might feel differently.

So, I've had two dreams in the past few weeks about having my own room. No hidden subconcious messages there.

That said, Anna is the best roommate I could ask for. But, maybe next year I need to think about living in my own place.

Molly!

I called my Mom yesterday. Poor lady hadn't heard from me in like 2 weeks. I realized I'd even forgotten to reply to one of her emails! Being that I feel this need to communicate constantly, that was very unlike me. I realized a few days ago while talking to my italian friend Giovanni, I am not consumed with depression anymore. In fact, I love living in Madrid. Luckily, I have plenty of time left here. I am so glad I chose to do a year-long program.

Molly Moore, my good friend from Mizzou, is leaving today. She has been in Madrid staying with me all weekend and it has been a blast. I was a bad host and didn't take her to any museums or historic old buildings. But I did take her to a sweet house party where she practiced her spanish with a bunch of french and german students. It was so nice to go out in Madrid with a friend from home! It made me realize that my friends in Madrid are amazing. Everyone was so nice and would talk with Molly in her always-improving spanish, or english. At el Junco (where we watched the best blues show I've seen yet), my friend Florian even tried to buy her a beer. The beers were 7 euro. Seemed like an extra nice offer to me.

I can't remember which day now because the whole weekend was kind of blurred by staying out so late each night, but we found ourselves in Plaza Mayor at one point. We had gone out to see the city during siesta and everything was closed. It was kind of a downer until we got to the plaza. The sun was out and the day was beautiful (I honestly thing winter is over in Madrid, though I don't think it ever really came). The night before we had been reminiscing about hot summer days where you can't breathe and have to go for a swim to stay alive. Sitting in the sun, listening to this incredibly joyful guitarist, I could not have been more content. There has been a lot of happiness going around lately. Hopefully you can catch some of it too.

Last night Anna, Molly & I went to a bar in Sol for Molly's last night. It is a place Vincent has taken us before. It is small, dark and filled with cushions and hookahs. We were all exhausted from having so much fun, this was the perfect place to relax. Though someone walked off with Molly's jacket, which still makes me kind of sick, it was a great night. We smoked some peach hookah and talked with these colombian guys about la vida madrileña.

Some of my dearest friends have finally joined me over here. Sarah will soon be up north, Nancy is in Fez, meeting all kinds of amazing people-she has a moroccan roommate! Erin will be in Paris and Molly is about to get on a plane to Granada. The other night I skyped with Amy in France. I don't feel like I am missing out on as much now that everyone is off on their own adventures. I have also been very distracted by a nice german boy lately, so that might be why I am feeling less homesick.

Germans are awesome.

Some things that have gotten lost in translation the last couple of days:
-my birthday. It isn't tomorrow.

D.A.N.C.E.

Went out dancing at Club Low off of Gran Via this Friday. When I got there, my feet hurt and I was tired. At about 4 in the morning, Roberto and Anna had to drag me off the dance floor. I protested...one more song! I lost a little hearing, but at least it wasn't techno. Yea for Postal Service and the Stones and so many lovely dance songs.

Noticias madrileñas

Today is my first day back to school. Exams are coming up at the end of this month and the beginning of Feb., so naturally I am in the computer lab updating my blog. It is also the warmest place on campus. I ate some delicious cafeteria tortilla and read the news after my horrendously boring Cervantes lecture. I found out today that I do have to read Don Quixote. Sweet.

Now for the news: The metro cleaners' strike ended today. Which is pretty awesome, because the pile of red-wine tinted vomit at the Quevedo station was starting to gross me out. Plus all the metros were starting to smell like the NYC subways. The question remains: How awful was it to have to clean up a few weeks worth of trash after the strike?

Javier Bardem! Oscar worthy? We say yes! I highly recommend No Country for Old Men (No es país para viejos). It is about an assasin, the man he is chasing and the policeman chasing them both. Lots of people die. It is so choice.

España and the rest of Europe are talking about the primaries. Mostly they are saying what I am: anything will be better (Although I admit, Huckabee freaks me out a bit). In 20 Minutos, the paper I read this morning, they seem pretty excited about Obama. As am I. I haven't heard much about his plans, but as the paper put it, he would change the way the world sees the United States. I think we need that.

There was also a feature on prostitution in Madrid. It made me realize how I have grown used to the girls standing on the streets. When I go out to Sol and walk back home, I walk past them on Gran Via everytime. The article explained how most are foreigners and are in a state of semi-slavery. Some were sold into prostituion by their families. They have to pay rent and a pimp of some sort as well as a prositituion mafia for protection.

Some Portuguese tried to sneak cocaine into Spain...they froze it in with octopus. How is that for news of the weird.

Living in Madrid, I have learned a few things:

1. If you want your name spelled right, change it to Katarina.
2. People standing on the left side of the escalator are not to be tolerated.
3. Watch the sidewalk when you walk to avoid stepping in dog crap (At first I just thought everyone was having a bad day, looking at the ground all the time).
4. I know how lucky I am to have an oven in my apartment.
5. When I ask someone out for a drink, I know they expect me to pay for it.
6. Staring at a beautiful man on the metro is totally acceptable.
7. Dread-lock mullets happen to good people.
8. When walking towards someone, you don't have to move out of the way until the very last second. They usually won't run into you.
9. Calimocho is yummier than most red wine. Sangria is even better.
10. I am not surprised by tuna pizza. I even enjoyed it once.