Last week was Halloween, a slightly anticlimactic holiday, as only small children dress up. But I did go to see a very good pianist for free (we all know how much I love cheap and free things!) at the Palacio de los congresos. My science teacher friend tipped me off, and I am very glad I went. When Kara and I heard the World Youth Orchestra in Riva del Garda it made me remember how much I love and appreciate classical music, especially when performed live, especially when it is free. Afterwords I went and had a beer with the couple I give private lessons to, and went home, for a very tame halloween.
The next day I went to Madrid! A 5.5 hr train ride north, (or a 9 hr bus ride, for 40 euro cheaper-my selection for the ride home) I was met at the train station by Raquel, who took me back to her place for dinner. What a trip to see her again! The last time I saw her was in 2009, between Peru and Italy. On this same long weekend we went to Morocco together and had quite the adventure-Raquel has an amazing ability to meet and befriend the most unlikely and most friendly people.
To sum up Madrid, I walked around the whole city seeing all of the beautiful sights and beautiful people. La Linea suffers from the small town syndrome where it loses a huge percentage of their 20 somethings, as they have gone to larger cities, leaving teens and families and grandparents. So it was nice to see people my age everywhere, not to mention gay people! A sight for sore eyes. Imagine living in downtown Edmonds and visiting Capitol Hill... For all that though, I have to say it was nice having the 'home' feeling when I got back to La Linea. I know the streets, I know the restaurants and the bars and I see people I know walking around town.
I met a number of guys from Senegal, met a Senegalese holy man, had Senegalese coffee (very sweet, very herbal tasting, good!) paid twice as much for everything as I do in La Linea, I went to a scream-o concert,I chatted with a lot of people from Sweden (my other friend in the city, Charlotte, is from Sweden), bought a scarf and a new leather purse (my ugly multicolored one finally broke- I took it hiking the other week, and I jumped off a boulder and the shoulder strap ripped through the bad. Time for a new one!) and an umbrella. So many people here were very concerned with my lack of umbrella state. Here getting wet from the rain = you will get sick obviously. People are starting to get colds now, and it is because of the rain. Period. The good news about the rain is that it controls the jellyfish population, which was a huge issue here this summer, as it only rained a few times last winter. People couldn't swim here because the water was thick with the 'medusas' (jellyfish) (I love that they are called Medusas- Little Mermaid much?) They apparently had boats with nets in Barcelona, trying to clear the water so tourists wouldn't be scared away. But I digress, back to Madrid:
I took the night bus back, getting in at 530 in the morning. I slept for 2 hours and went to school, the bank to cash my check (I got a check!) and pay rent, the grocery store because I had 0 food left. I then had two private lessons. One of which is with a 14 month old, and he is finally comfortable enough with me to stay in the playroom without his mom. He loves me; when he sees me he gets a huge grin and squeaks 'ordan!' I went on a walk with a few teachers from my school with our umbrellas, hoping they wouldn't break as the winds popped them inside out and back again with regularity.
Then I slept like a rock.
Most recently, I have to say that I am so so content with the results of the elections. It felt strange to sleep through the final sprint on voting day, and waking up today was like waking up on Christmas-a huge feeling of expectation, forcing myself to be patient as my computer loaded and I typed in 'US election result' and then the project of containing my glee at seeing the answer. Obama won by so much! So many states swung in the right (left...) direction! And just as important to me, gay marriage passed in Washington! It did surprise me how close it was, I guess I get used to living in King County, or I guess it really is surprising that so many people would want to strip me of this right, seeing as they it won't affect their lives. I like the sassy quote I've seen floating around - "if you don't support same sex marriage, don't get married to someone of the same sex..." Why is the majority voting on the rights of a minority? I mean, granted, they voted well, but I just don't like it.
Obama! I have health care! I can get married! Recreational marijuana!
cue the Proud to be an American song please....
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