This morning on the metro a woman smelled like a lilac bush in full bloom: wonderful. But yesterday Shannon sat next to a man on the train who smelled "like baby powder and shit." Not so nice. It took several minutes for the smell to fade from her nostrils after she´d moved away from him.
On my way home from my morning class there were not one but two men with dark brown hair and blue eyes. Love it! Have also noticed that I very much like the way a man´s legs look in jeans. Especially the knee and quad when he´s sitting down. I suppose it´s a strange part of the body to find attractive.
10 October 2007
09 October 2007
moments in public transportation
Shannon and I are on our way home Sunday afternoon. A youngish man (20´s? 30´s?) gets on the metro, makes a beeline for us, and proceeds to stand over us, staring intently at us with a half-grin on his face for several minutes. What can we do but laugh? It´s not flattering; just creepy and ridiculous. But he takes our laughter as a compliment and tries to laugh with us, which only makes us laugh harder, our faces turning red.
Some days the platform at Puente Alcocer smells like it´s been hosed down with piss. Today was one of those days.
Some days the platform at Puente Alcocer smells like it´s been hosed down with piss. Today was one of those days.
06 October 2007
I worship the YouTube
I never realized how completely wonderful YouTube is until I found some old-school Care Bears episodes on it today. Hooray for the Care Bears! They had a strong influence on my moral development as I was growing up. And the other day I found a bunch of clips of Ricky Gervais (from BBC´s The Office and HBO´s Extras), including an interview in five parts he did with Christopher Guest. So completely fabulous!
Am feeling extraordinarily lazy today. Have only left the house for a total of ten minutes, and that was in order to go get some post-lunch ice cream. But after being on the go all week long, it feels really nice to have time to just sit around, watch YouTube, do some lesson planning...and actually have time to make food. I´ve practically been eating all day. But now Shannon & I are off to meet a TtMadrid friend for a drink. I was supposed to have an intercambio tonight, but I didn´t want to go out twice tonight and my intercambio couldn´t meet later because she had other plans, so we´ve postponed our meeting until next week. I feel bad for breaking plans, but in the end I´m just looking out for my needs.
Am feeling extraordinarily lazy today. Have only left the house for a total of ten minutes, and that was in order to go get some post-lunch ice cream. But after being on the go all week long, it feels really nice to have time to just sit around, watch YouTube, do some lesson planning...and actually have time to make food. I´ve practically been eating all day. But now Shannon & I are off to meet a TtMadrid friend for a drink. I was supposed to have an intercambio tonight, but I didn´t want to go out twice tonight and my intercambio couldn´t meet later because she had other plans, so we´ve postponed our meeting until next week. I feel bad for breaking plans, but in the end I´m just looking out for my needs.
05 October 2007
moments in Spain
A few days ago walking to the metro: suddenly realized that they´ve planted rosemary bushes along the sidewalks. Smells fantastic.
This morning when I left the house: mist hangs in the air; pitch black, cloudless sky; a thumbnail moon and one bright star.
On the train to work: the man next to me had a runny nose and didn´t have any kleenex. I sympathized but was hesitant to offer him a tissue because I didn´t want him to think I was weird. In the end, compassion won out. He was surprised but took a tissue with a muchas gracias. De nada I replied, and that was that.
When I got to work: I was early, but tried the door anyway--turned the handle and pulled--and found it locked as expected. 8 o´clock comes and goes and my student´s secretary still hasn´t come in. I continue to wait. A random woman walks by and asks, Is the door locked? I think so, I say, and try it again just to make sure. Turn handle and pull: still nothing. At 8:15 my cellphone rings. It is my student´s secretary asking where I am. I´m at the door and it´s locked, I say. No it isn´t, she says. Yes it is, I say, and try it again just to be sure. This time I push instead of pull and the door opens. Oh. Completely embarrassed that I am fifteen minutes late to my class because I couldn´t figure out how to open a door that I have come through three times before.
This morning when I left the house: mist hangs in the air; pitch black, cloudless sky; a thumbnail moon and one bright star.
On the train to work: the man next to me had a runny nose and didn´t have any kleenex. I sympathized but was hesitant to offer him a tissue because I didn´t want him to think I was weird. In the end, compassion won out. He was surprised but took a tissue with a muchas gracias. De nada I replied, and that was that.
When I got to work: I was early, but tried the door anyway--turned the handle and pulled--and found it locked as expected. 8 o´clock comes and goes and my student´s secretary still hasn´t come in. I continue to wait. A random woman walks by and asks, Is the door locked? I think so, I say, and try it again just to make sure. Turn handle and pull: still nothing. At 8:15 my cellphone rings. It is my student´s secretary asking where I am. I´m at the door and it´s locked, I say. No it isn´t, she says. Yes it is, I say, and try it again just to be sure. This time I push instead of pull and the door opens. Oh. Completely embarrassed that I am fifteen minutes late to my class because I couldn´t figure out how to open a door that I have come through three times before.
02 October 2007
very busy and important
Am still alive, just very busy. Yay!
Spent Sunday at Retiro Park at the TtMadrid picnic and Sunday night planning my three Monday classes. Spent Monday night planning for today´s classes. Here was today: alarm went off at 5:45am, got up & took shower, got dressed (remembered to put pants on), left house about 6:30am to find my new morning class in the Avenida de América area (did find it & even had time for a cup of coffee beforehand in the café across the street), returned from morning class at 10:30ish, went and paid rent then in search of the apartment building where I was to have my last class of the day (found it), came back home, took a 40 minute nap (desperately needed), got up & left at 1pm in order to get to my 2pm class in time, taught for an hour & came home, had just enough time to eat something and read a letter that came airmail from Grandma then off to teach my 6pm class, taught 6-7:30 but went a little over then had to book it to get back to my ´hood and make my last class of the day in time (arrived ten minutes late at 8:40), taught until 9:40, got home a little after 10pm and changed into jeans, went out to eat at a local café because I have no food in the house, and now it´s a little after 11pm and I haven´t done any lesson planning for tomorrow yet. Will probably be up for at least another hour preparing for tomorrow morning´s lesson, then up at 6am again for another full day of teaching. This morning was a century ago. But am definitely enjoying the teaching and I am happy to be busy, even if it´s insane.
Spent Sunday at Retiro Park at the TtMadrid picnic and Sunday night planning my three Monday classes. Spent Monday night planning for today´s classes. Here was today: alarm went off at 5:45am, got up & took shower, got dressed (remembered to put pants on), left house about 6:30am to find my new morning class in the Avenida de América area (did find it & even had time for a cup of coffee beforehand in the café across the street), returned from morning class at 10:30ish, went and paid rent then in search of the apartment building where I was to have my last class of the day (found it), came back home, took a 40 minute nap (desperately needed), got up & left at 1pm in order to get to my 2pm class in time, taught for an hour & came home, had just enough time to eat something and read a letter that came airmail from Grandma then off to teach my 6pm class, taught 6-7:30 but went a little over then had to book it to get back to my ´hood and make my last class of the day in time (arrived ten minutes late at 8:40), taught until 9:40, got home a little after 10pm and changed into jeans, went out to eat at a local café because I have no food in the house, and now it´s a little after 11pm and I haven´t done any lesson planning for tomorrow yet. Will probably be up for at least another hour preparing for tomorrow morning´s lesson, then up at 6am again for another full day of teaching. This morning was a century ago. But am definitely enjoying the teaching and I am happy to be busy, even if it´s insane.
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