For the last few days, Anthony and I have been trying to assimilate into the Spanish culture. This has proven to be more difficult for me than my partner. For instance, yesterday, we went to the police station to acquire information on how I can receive a residency card and get free healthcare (this is easy for Anthony to attain since he has dual citizenship in Italy). Our inquiries led us to a couple more buildings-mostly Italian government offices where we needed to request our marriage license. To make a long story short, the morning consisted of Anthony speaking fluent Italian to the tellers while I nodded like an ignorant American. In addition, Anthony's knowledge of Italian has helped him to pick up more Spanish words.
We went to open a bank account today and had to converse in Spanish the entire time. The information states that my home city and state is Maryland, South Dakota. I really don't understand how that happened. In addition, Anthony told them my name was "Anita Maria" instead of "Anita Marie." Our new bank account has my location and name wrong and apparently, this is ok. I decided not to protest.
The heat raged on and I forced Anthony to stop at a local restaurant. Since it has been so hot, I was hoping for some kind of slurpee (of course, NOW I desire 7-Eleven). I realized that the Spaniards have a drink that I have only had before in Italy called "granazado." In Italy, it's called the "granita." It's usually a slushy fruit drink. It was the perfect beverage for the scalding weather.
Later in the day, we were finally able to visit Sol, which is the more touristy part of the city. The last thing I expected in this famous place was to find the plaza completely demolished and overrun by construction! It looks like the plaza will not be finished for a long time. We are not sure if we will ever see Sol without the drills.
On a positive note, we saw a lot of beautiful buildings on our way to the Prado. Here is one that I thought looked like a castle. Most of the castle-like buildings were business buildings. Makes total sense.
The Prado is free every evening from 6-7:30, so Anthony wanted to stop by to check it out before he moves in. Afterwards, we stopped at a small bar for some tapas and little beers. The tapas were basically potatoes with an orange sauce. It hit the spot. As we ate, some swimming meets were on the television and we watched Michael Phelps lead the American team to first place (I have no idea what kind of competition it was). Take that, Russia!
As we walked back, I noticed an incredible amount of hostels in the area. Plus, I found that there is a Scientology church in the area. Weird.
Finally, here's a poster that's all over town for a big music festival. I don't know if it's supposed to be cool or what, but it makes me laugh. You can write that on posters, here?
Can't believe that I'm missing Jotamayuscula and DJ Yulian playing together at F***erLoop. That's the second year in a row. I'm going to have to come out in the spring and try to catch them on the *#$*(#*** Tour in Madrid next spring.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're having fun. Keep blogging. It is great enjoyment to read.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed seeing that Tom Clark was performing. :)
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