Typical Spanish Day

Yesterday was a glorious sunny day. First really warm one in awhile. I decided to take advantage of the lovely weather and uh, go shopping.

My main goal was to start buying gifts for relatives and close personal friends. I had a specific plan to go to my favorite tourist shop. The thing is its kind magical. It’s much like the famed Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. Sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not. I once willed it to appear by walking very slowly arm-in-arm with a friend last semester. I’m not crazy. She can corroborate this story. Anyhoo, I went and it was closed.

So I decided to take a walk to the shopping center of town and check out some clothing stores. I browsed, bought two dresses. Had a realization while shopping: Spain is like Las Vegas. People get carried away and do crazy shit. This why I found myself drawn to ridiculous items of clothing that I would never even consider in the U.S. and seriously debate purchasing them.

I went home for lunch. Naturally we almost didn’t have lunch because the power went out. This is becoming a startlingly frequent occurrence. We were also served a plate of sardines that no one touched.

After my art class, my friend Kelly and I decided to go to a café we’ve wanted to try. They serve many different types of fruit juice. I got kiwi juice and she got fresh orange juice. The kiwi juice was delicious but the ground up seeds made it really grainy and thus sent me into a coughing fit. While leisurely drinking our juice, we saw a parade of bizarrely dressed French tourists. Not long after the French people passed us we were nearly hit by a car backing up into an impossibly narrow road. There was a sign next to the window of the café advertising their possession of magnum bars. We ask if they have them. The owner tells us no but insists on showing us all the other ice cream he has. We don’t want any other ice cream and refusing makes things awkward.

We head down towards the Mezquita to get ice cream elsewhere. All the popular flavors are all gone; possibly because it’s the first sunny warm day in awhile. So I decide to try a caramel milkshake. Once the woman hands me my milkshake, I ask for a straw. There are no straws and she looks at me like I’m an idiot for A) not knowing that there were no straws and B) wanting one in the first place. Clearly I am deranged.

While sitting near the Mezquita and enjoying our ice cream, we see an elderly woman in a wheel chair parked in the middle of the road. Why was she in the middle of the road? Because her family left her there. Why did they choose to put her there? I cannot fathom an answer to that question. She is almost hit by a taxi before her family finally comes to get her.

A woman runs by carrying a head of lettuce under her chin; literally holding it underneath her chin. She looks lost and confused. She runs down the street erratically. She does not look Spanish and we wonder if she speaks English and if she is lost. She disappears into the ether or a narrow side street.

Then at dinner we finally have vegetables!!!!!! Greens beans. Emmalie, Shannon, Alyssa, and I eat them with wild abandon. The Spanish girls make a show of how much it disgusts them. Repeatedly tell Maica that they are gross and that if she brings them for us, they need something to supplement their meal.