leap

There are rare moments where it's fine to walk around leisurely or drive with no intention. The last four days have been a moment. For this...I am thankful.

It was a rushed departure from my home in Massillon/Canton to come here. The last day at home I had to buy a laptop, cancel my volunteer status and turn in my smock, return my work uniform and get my check, change my temp labor service to send my newest check to my family's house in Massillon, buy a computer, look for an apt. in a city hundreds of miles away, and say goodbye for 6 months.

The travel was hectic. I'm apparently not one for jostling around. Curly blonde hair that is slightly thinning in the front, blue eyes masked behind thick glasses, and three bags: computer and documents in a black computer case. 60 lbs of clothes, a chess set, knitting needles, and books in a giant roller, and a saxophone case were in my hands. Toilitries and socks were forgotten...unfortunatly.

I arrived in Akron/Canton airport on a frigid 4 a.m. morning. Then I said a terse goodbye to a warm, compassionate love. Ditching 30 lbs of books was difficult. I'm down to three now. I'll miss the Canton I carved out with that woman. We made the best of a tepid town. We saw some of the state. Unfortunatly she's not going to jump with me.

That's what this feels like: A LEAP.

I knew no one here. There are four or five acquaintances scattered throughout the country that I have been asking advice from. They try to tell me things but nothing important came out before I got here.

Dragging my bags along the Madrid subway was difficult. After 4 flights, a minor freakout about transferring airlines, and a sleepless redeye...I was ready to sleep. Unfortunatly the Cat's never sleeps. First, I went down to the bar. I met a French businessman. Paul Blauchard. I never saw him again. He was studying the development of poor countries and worked on sustainable development projects there. Then, after a couple liters of mahou, I happened accross some Australians. Philosophy and engineering were their specialties. I got one's facebook and the other talked about coffee extensively. He was a philosopher from Melbourne. All were very nice and hilarious to speak with.

The next day I met Ian and the Canadian again. We went to lunch at the plaza and talked about our respective countries. Ian is working on a volunteer program to track arms dealing by the British government. He's a filmmaker by trade and speaks Spanish well. He helped me order my phone.

After calling a few apts I found one that caught my interest near the plaza of Manuel Becerras. After calling them I ran into Ian again and he said he was going to knitting club. I followed him and met up with a fellow Auxiliar, which is my program, and conversed in Spanish with a very nice Madrilena about everything in Madrid. Time is flying.

I examined the flat on Sunday at noon. Gilberto let me in to see the place. He's a short man who speaks quickly... I wasn't sure what he did for a living. My room is spacious. It's much larger than anything I've seen in the United States cities for the price. There is a large map of Spain with a bull drawn in red paint on it. I have a palm tree in my room. There are two chairs, a double bed, a heater, a nightstand, a large closet, and a hamper for my laundry. Two lanterns sit in opposite corners and a full body mirror sits behind the smaller one. The previous tenant left a laptop and some documents which he said he would get later. I don't leave my room unlocked much. However, it does not lock from the inside. This doesn't bother me much.

In short, I took the place as soon as I saw it. Within four hours I took out money, fetched my bags at the hostel, printed my documents, and left. 320 euro per month with everything included. The people here recycle without making a big deal. They take reusable grocery bags without thinking about it; the neighborhood is quite clean and quiet except for the 2 a.m. commotion accross the street. It's not the same every night.

People move slowly here. There are many men with canes and small dogs. The women aren't very good looking. Everyone smokes on the street and some of the older people look like they've done it a bit too much.

The other night I ate at a chinese restaurant by myself. They're rude to foreigners...surprisingly. The woman brought me a fanta when I asked for orange juice. I still have some Mexican colloquisms from my college education that confuse the Castillians. Anyways. Here I am.

I want to write a bit. Not sure where to begin though.

My schools are nice. I meet 2 days in one and 2 days in the other for 16 hours total and with minimal outside work. I plan on taking no more than 20 hours to dedicate to teaching. I read on the 30 minute metro ride to each job. Because I'm blonde...people stare. Eventually I'll find a way to make this conversational but for the moment I just smile.

It's siesta time.