1. Watching A Building Burn
During my first week in Spain, I was walking at around 8 pm with Vicki. We were both greasy, hungry, thirsty, and confused. We clutched our passports to our hearts. Periodically, I would stop and exclaim, "This would NEVER happen in America!" The aforementioned phrase can be used in any sort of context be it incredulous, or exclamatory, but my favorite time to drop a "This would NEVER happen in America" is when I am particularly indignant. Anyway, Vicki and I were wandering and we stopped right by the Reina Sophia as black smoke poured out of the first floor of a nearby apartment building. We quickly became part of a gathering crowd. This was just the sort of thing that the US Embassy warned us to walk away from.
We stood on the opposite side of the street for about 40 minutes while we watched how Spain deals with a crisis. The firemen came, leisurely. They did not block off the street or stop traffic. They did not evacuate the building. In fact, many people from the upper floors of the burning building went out onto their terraces and watched as the smoke continued to pour out of the first floor. One child of about 12 in adorable pajamas stood on the terrace and casually ate an apple. After a good 10 minutes of huddling, one brave fire fighter used a hose to start propelling water into the building where the smoke was pouring out. I heard Vicki softly chanting, "Find the source. Find the source of the fire. Find the source." After another good 10 minutes of smoke inhalation and spectating, we made our way away from the crisis, greasy, hungry, and yet surprisingly content.
2. Visit from El Jefe
Jeff came to visit for a week. The night he arrived was La Noche en Blanco, a festival in Madrid where all the streets are closed and there are performances all night. We went to Plaza Mayor for the release of thousands of white balloons over the city (polluting the city...This would NEVER happen in America!).
Here we are in Plaza Mayor, getting ready to watch the release of the balloons.
There go some of the balloons, off to harm the defenseless marine life.
The streets were so crowded. Everyone and their grandma was out enjoying the night.3. Making a Human Hand (Un Mano Humano)
On Sunday, Vicki and I stumbled onto some greatness. The people of the city of Madrid gat
hered in Plaza Cibelles to annouce Madrid's candidacy for host city for the 2016 Olympic Games. In order to show solidarity and really make Tokyo look weak, a stage was set up in the Plaza, there was music, but most importantly, participants were given free hats and large pieces of colored paper. We were herded 
into areas to create a human hand of many colors to be photographed from above by a helicopter. Vicki and I accepted our free hats with pleasure, I shed most of my American patriotism and gladly grabbed a blue piece of paper to hold up in support of Madrid. You can clearly see me in the blue zone in this picture to the right. On the left is the wonderful symbol of Madrid's candidacy.
hered in Plaza Cibelles to annouce Madrid's candidacy for host city for the 2016 Olympic Games. In order to show solidarity and really make Tokyo look weak, a stage was set up in the Plaza, there was music, but most importantly, participants were given free hats and large pieces of colored paper. We were herded 
into areas to create a human hand of many colors to be photographed from above by a helicopter. Vicki and I accepted our free hats with pleasure, I shed most of my American patriotism and gladly grabbed a blue piece of paper to hold up in support of Madrid. You can clearly see me in the blue zone in this picture to the right. On the left is the wonderful symbol of Madrid's candidacy.
4. Spanish Running Club
My latest, perhaps greatest, success in Spain thus far was going to a Spanish running club. There is a running store similar to Fleet Feet near Parque de Retiro, the big, beautiful park in Madrid. There is a club that runs every day (Vicki found it and brought me of course I could never be this proactive about anything) and we went on Tuesday. Although things were off to a rough start when everyone thought my name was vaca (the Spanish word for "cow") and I imagined being cheered to the finish, "venga, vaca!" or "come on, cow!" We did a way-too-fast warmup run, some strange skipping exercises and a 3000m time trial, all of which I was terrible at, but it was great. I am going to join the club starting once a week and hopefully build up to twice a week. The group was about 30 Spaniards, mostly in their 40s and 50s, incredibly friendly, and all wearing spandex shorts.
These have been the highlights of my trip to Spain. Tune in again for the next time I witness a catastrophe and am inappropriately enthralled.
The strange skipping exercises sound fun. I think you should demonstrate via vchat.
ReplyDeleteOh rubyslippers, I love when you use your multiple aliases...
ReplyDeleteHahaha, so glad to see you are still using that wildly inappropriate phrase.
ReplyDelete