beer, groceries, and shrimp with beady eyes

1/17/11

Ok, I know my last post was a little depressing. For those of you that think that I'm in a corner by myself crying or going through life feeling sorry for myself, don't worry I'm fine. I was just having a sad moment on a hard day. I told you I wouldn't leave anything out. I mostly just needed to vent. Shiesh.

So, I shall continue. After I wrote my blog, most of us went out to dinner. One of the guys Nick showed us around the area, and we ended up going to this small market. Alim, another guy, and I ended up eating these little empanadas de atun or tuna empanadas. They were pretty good. They gave it to us at a counter on china plates, and we pay after we're done. I was really surprised. They're really trusting to think that the people wouldn't leave or run away and not pay. Actually we had to wait a while before we could flag the guy down to pay.

The next day after breakfast, we met our host families. Everyone was so nervous! I was kind of excited though. Everything worked out wonderfully in Mexico, and I felt prepared to live with a complete stranger for a few months. We were waiting for our families, and this lady was calling my name. I raised my hand, and she said apellido and asked what my last name was. I said Mooshoolzadeh, and once she heard it she laughed and was like yup that's it haha. We went outside, and she led me to the Metro. She lived only 3 or 4 stops away. We got off at Lavapies, which is the name of our barrio.

I was expecting to see Europeans everywhere, and the first guy that got on the elevator with us was black. He was joking with us and saying he's from Spain, but he's actually from Senegal. We walked further and I saw Asians. We walked further and there were middle-eastern people. I was like what the heck, where am I? Then Maru (my host mom) explained that we live in the multicultural part of Madrid (YES!) where a lot of international people live. There are Turkish and Pakistani restaurants everywhere. When I was walking, there were more black people than white people, which was kind of fun to observe.

Then we came to the house. The thing about Madrid is that it is literally ALL apartment houses, some being situated above stores. I have not seen one single house since I've been here. We arrived at a white building, and we went through 2 iron gates and took the elevator.  The cool thing is, she lives on the 4th piso (which would be the 5th floor in the U.S.), which is the top floor. There wasn't a button for 4, but she pulled out another key, put it in a slot, and turned it to the right. Automatically the elevator went up to the top and opened up to our front door. It was so cool!

The door opened to cats. She has 2 - Hilda and Bertha. Yes, my host mom is a crazy cat lady. Seriously, she is. She is a little crazy but in a good way. We get along well :P She calls us her bombones. She is really nice. I have my own room and everything and a bathroom I can use for myself. I have a big closet, and a little reading lamp above my bed. It's so cozy at night, I love it. There is another spare room, kitchen, dining area, and living room. There are stairs that lead to the top floor, which is her bedroom. From there, there are double doors to a private balcony that has an amazing view that overlooks all over Madrid. She said I could come up there if I want to study or read or something :)

View from La Casa de Granada

Omnomnom

She was really nice and told me how to get to school in the morning using the cercania or train and the Metro. She literally walked me through everything and helped me by my tickets. She then treated me to lunch in this restaurant called Casa de Granada. It is on the top floor of its building, and we sat on the outside so we could look at the amazing view while we ate. I got a cerveza con limón, and we had tapas with a seafood platter of calamari, sardines, octopus, and shark. It was SO GOOD. We introduced ourselves more, and it was fun...and she corrects my Spanish!! I was really happy. I didn't realize I poor my Spanish was until she started correcting me.

Our last stop was the market. She was really gracious in that she asked what foods I liked, and we went shopping together so that she could make sure she cooked what I liked. If you know me, you know that I love food, and I'll pretty much take anything. While we were shopping, she was asking me, "Te gusta Coca-Cola? Te gusta Oreos? Te gusta arroz con leche?" In my mind, I was like what kind of questions are those. Of course I like them. I'd be crazy not to like them.

I got to unpack and relax, and that night I met Maru's best friend Elisa. We picked up Elisa's parents and headed to a bar. We had ordered beers (again), and they set down 2 plates of shrimp, and I was like daaaang it. This is the kind of shrimp that still had a shell and has the black beady little eyes. Filipinos eat 15 tons of this stuff at every party, and since I was little I always stayed away because I don't like the food looking at me before I eat it. I didn't want to be food, so I had to eat it. It was really good, except the little antennae getting in my drink was really gross. It was fun listening to them talk, and it was very amusing because they have opposite political views and are both passionate. I had no idea what they were talking about but it was fun seeing them pound on the table.

So that was my first day in my host home, and tomorrow I go to Carlos III for the first time. Yay!