In Prague!

A quick update, lack of internet lately...

Berlin=awesome. I loved: Tiergarten, the sweet hippie cafe where Florian and I ate a vegetarian buffett breakfast and all the history. What an amazingly interesting city. We saw the wall, tons of commie apartment buildings, amazing uber-modern skyscrapers and a lot of great Doner Kebaps (Turkish gyro).

Before that I was in Giessen with Florian. It has been nice to be with more people who speak Spanish! Although the Argentinian accent of my dear friends can be hard to understand :). Early on I got to see Marburg, where Florian studies, which is just north of Giessen. It has a castle and several very old churches. We had a coffee at a cafe by the river. Between the river and the castle, I was ready to spend another month just in Marburg.

Also got to see Amsterdam with Helen and Allie, though the rain and lack of planning limited severly what I got to see. We still managed to enjoy ourselves. It is a beautiful city, loved the canals.

I am currently panicking about moving back to boring old America, trying not to get emotional about leaving Florian and trying to figure out this Czech language. I want to devote my life to studying languages.

Also wondering if I could handle the winters in Berlin. I am thinking no, but will you all still love me if I run away to Europe? I am very much looking forward to coming home. I am already planning potlucks in my head. And I am in desperate need of a good dance party, so you all have to fill me in on where to go now that Shattered is closed.

Love & besos! Be home soon!

Nearing the end

The title of my blog limits me a bit. But I'm going to keep it going through July when I will not be in Madrid. I'll be in Giessen, Germany!

Things I've done this week:
1. Got reprimanded by the super for talking too loud. Go figure.
2. Stole lavander to dry & make things smell pretty.
3. Watched Germany work their way into the final game of the Euro Cup!!
4. Hung out w/ two of my oldest friends (Helen & Allie were here!)
5. Kicked Flo's butt racing him back to his apartment. I'm faster, stronger, better.

The trucking strike is apparently still on.

Just now, in the midst of a well-warranted study frenzy I realized I don't have any notes over one of the poets I'm being tested over tomorrow. On my walk to the library I realized how light headed I was from only eating fruit and chips and drinking too much coffee.

So I decided to stop over at the local CarreFour Express and get something to eat. I was also interested to see what was left.

Last night Florian made me some amazing pasta and on limited supplies.

In the fruit section there is a handful of spotted apricots and probably 20 apples (okay, and a ton of ginger).
The fresh fish section is empty and the lights are turned off.
screens are pulled over half of the empty meat section.
There are no vegetables.
There are no eggs.
Milk is getting low, OJ too.
No onions or potatoes.
The sausage section is about half-full.

Yea for bacon and mustard sandwiches?! I'm not as creative as my novio.

Toledo-third time around

Florian & I took a bus to Toledo on Saturday and spent the weekend sitting in coffee shops and getting lost in winding alleyways. Poppies are blooming here right now and the view from the bus was incredible-brilliant streaks of red on each side of the highway.

We saw an old monastery where Isabella & Ferdinand were planning on being buried (ended up in Granada)-old and cool; Florian got bored somewhere during my commentary (probably at the phrase 'nave lateral') but I think at one point we were actually standing in a crypt. Sweet! We drank lots of café con leches and café solos-several in a cafe that was obviously a straight portal to 1988 (check out the couch in that photo & think lots of Tracy Chapman). My favorite part was that the cafe wasn't trying to be stuck in the 80s, it literally was.

Also ate some yummy pizza in Plaza Zocodóver and talked with a Portuguese woman who had 13 kids. Decided that was a few too many.

P.S. Happy Birthday Dad!!

I am anything but a madrileña.

Went to Canal today for the first time. One metro stop away from my piso. Anyway, played some padel (I think that's how it is spelled). It is just tennis on a smaller court with smaller rackets. Super fun! Luckily Florian had never played tennis before, so I didn't look like a total idiot, just a bit of one.

Today is another fiesta. This is the first madrileño holiday I actually know something about, though sadly, only the name of the Saint: San Isidro. I get two days off school and all the little girls in my neighborhood are wearing dresses with red flowers on their head. And there are fireworks tonight! I don't get it, but I like it.

Charity

Madrid has quite the homeless population. After reading Irresistible Revolution this fall, sharing makes more sense. I really want to live a life that has community and giving at its core.

Which is great and all...except when I start giving away things that don't belong to me. Florian's food. Florian's money. Florian's sweet comic book in Spanish that we found sitting outside my apartment. And the latest:

Okay, clearly not a tragic loss. First of all, the front wheel was busted. Secondly, well, Florian is a fully grown man.

The convenience store by his apartment is run by an Asian family, like most of the 'alimentaciones'(or 'chinos') in Madrid. Florian tried to ride the bike from the dumpster to the chino. Hilarious!

It was around midnight, but the Asian kids were still up, helping their mom run the store. We bought what we needed at stepped back outside to get the bike and go home. The kids followed us out. The little girl was eying the bike-I don't think she even noticed we were there. I opened my mouth and offered the bike to the girl. She didn't have a clue what I was saying, but her brother immediately said "Sí" and she hopped on.

You should have seen her face! So cute! Hopefully Florian will survive.

Boredom strikes: Cass blogs.

Going to see Iron Man tonight with friends. The last movie I watched was crap, so my expectations are pretty low. Vamos a ver.

Today I cleaned the bathroom (so exciting!) and took a bath while listening to a sermon from The Crossing. I am so glad they podcast their sermons!

Florian has been teaching me German. So far the only thing I can say with any confidence is "ich mag dich auch sehr, hübsche" which basically means "I really like you too, cutie." I think I'm going to have to take lessons if I'm going to learn anything useful.

Florian

I drank too much coffee today, apparently, because here I lie, wide awake at 2AM. Amanda requested some photos. This is the guy I met at John's birthday party in January. I've been crazy about him ever since. He is constantly encouraging, brings out the artist in me and likes my cooking. To say the least. First photo is at Plaza Mayor and the second is at The Cure concert!

Ich bin freue!

Yesterday was lovely! It became lovely when I met Miguel. Miguel is in my Women's History class (the orange from the previous post). He does an excellent non-flattering imitation of our professor.

But the highlight was The Cure! I've never seen more middle-aged women dressed in all black. It was freaking awesome. Did you know that in Europe, bands usually do two encores? When he finished singing the first time, I was disappointed because I thought he'd only come back up for a few more songs. But he ended up coming back up 3 times in total! Crazy. Why not just have an intermission or something? It was great though. I've had this song in my head all day, along w/ Boys Don't Cry. Thanks to Flo's mom for giving sweet birthday presents to her son.

Then this morning we said goodbye to Jenny. Lame.

Tonight? Pizza made by Roberto, clearly.

Comida

Today I organized the refrigerator (which is not spelled with a D?). Among other things, I created a "random meats section." Seriously, hot dogs, some kind of fish, what I think was chorizo, bacon, and the star of the show: pate made out of a rabbit our neighbor killed. That's right. I have a neighbor who goes rabbit-hunting and makes his own pate.

I made Florian french toast this morning, with eggs and bacon. Pretty sure he's not impressed by American food. Neither he nor Adam nor Roberto could handle maple syrup. To be fair, the man does now how to make some mean cereal. Walnuts. Raspberries. Yum.

Ciao!

Germans are awesome.

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