40 min walk

Wednesday 1/11/12 


Sarita invites me to go to J&J Books and Coffee. Since I still don't have my Spanish phone, we communicate through FB. Basically meaning once I leave the house...I'm on my own. So she tells me where this place is, kind of. I google map it as I do with everything else (what would I do without the internet?).  I see it's about a 20 or so minute trip via bus or metro. Well, I used up my 10 trip ticket stud so I decide I'll walk to meet her. I look at how long the trip will be if I walk...it's a 40 min walk. So what do I do? I walk it of course! I FB her and say I'll be there in 50 min (in case I get lost) and to look for me then. If I'm not there in 50, call the police. <---(haha, it's funny cause it's true) Anyway, I leave my house at 8:15 PM and begin my journey across town, alone. (Don't tell my mom.)

I get a little lost, but I'm good at asking for directions. I find it, finally!! It's this cute little place where a girl from Florida is hosting an intercambio (A place to practice speaking english/spanish with people there). Sarita is there practicing her English since she's moving to the UK in a few weeks. Hopefully I get to visit her! Long story short, it was fun and some other friends met up with us. Sarita is a great person. So glad Guillermo introduced her to me.
Ps. Real Madrid lost to Barcelona. :(



Thursday 1/12/12

I befriend the Marines after they offer me and Paul (the POL Intern) tickets to the LMFAO concert. I agree to meet Marco after work and hang out at their place until the concert. As I wait for him I chat with Gus for the first time. He's super nice and from Colorado so he understands what "cold" is like.

Marco arrives in his vehicle, sort of. Apparently they have drivers for the Marines. The vehicle is bullet proof. (How cool is that??) We arrive at the gated huge house and I meet a few others. I notice they have pancake mix and I ask if I can make some. (I've been craving pancakes and I was hungry) As I'm chatting with those at the house, Harrison walks in. (He's another Marine.) He starts giving me crap about eating dinner at 6pm (way too early in Spain) and making pancakes in general. He keeps saying it's not IHOP (obviously it's not).

I don't know Harrison and this is how he introduces himself. (Who does he think he is?) After what seems like an hour of being made fun of, my pancakes are done! (Keep in mind they're very small and pretty thin) Yum. Dinner time for me. Well Marco says, can I have some?...Of course, just not all of them. THEN Harrison asks for some TOO!! WHAT?!?! Did you not just have a cow because I was cooking dinner early and that I was having breakfast for dinner? (I'm so confused right now) He's dead serious that he'd like some so I give him some. Men (shaking my head).

We start to get to know each other and they are soooo funny. I can't help but laugh at everything they say and do (Kate, I blame you). I invite Kler to the concert since they have an extra ticket (Paul couldn't go). She goes to La Riviera to meet us and tells us the building is closed. I tell the guys and they think she's at the wrong place. There's a concert tonight...how is it closed? Well, we get there and guess what...it's closed. hahahaha No concert. LMFAO cancelled. We were sad and decided to boycott LMFAO for life.
Alberto, the driver, takes us to TGIF instead. Alberto is the sweetest. His accent is so cute. He's practicing his English. :) (Picture: View Harrison and Milkshake below.)

The guys are TGIF regulars. Harrison always gets a Mojito, claiming they're delicious. So he tells the waiter I want one (But really all I want is a water...). As we're ordering, Harrison tells us he always gets milkshakes. hahahahaha He is a different breed. So I make fun of him and we have a good time. I learn about the 3 Marines and I tell them about myself in return. After a good 2 hrs or so we finish and wait for Alberto. Oh, I forgot to mention my tragic sugar water story. Harrison had told me to get the Mojito because they were super good. If you like sugar water then yes you would have liked it. It was an awful drink!! I joked with him about it afterwards. I ended up paying 27 Euros for a salad, water, and Mojito (I didn't enjoy one bit)...Guess I'll be starving for a week to make up for all the money I spent. I would have taken more pictures, but I was too busy laughing every two seconds. :)

Lessons Learned: Don't trust LMFAO, men are men, Marines are fun and honest (maybe too blunt), and don't order Mojitos.

Enjoy life!


(Picuture: At the metro, lines on the escalators are created.
Right lane = slow/standing lane.
Left lane = fast/walking/running lane.)