Good times...yardie meet up in Madrid

On Saturday I caught up with an old mate. Good ole Kayson from church and University (UWI - Mona). Good times get better when friends are together. Seeing him reenergized me - he is a good soul. Kayson is great encouragement and always has a good laugh to give and to share.

Before heading to eat we passed by the center of Madrid - Puerta del Sol. KC and I got our pedicures on the map dwl.

Kayson is a great tour guide but he definitely should not quit his day job. Keep calm and teach on son lol :). He took us to see the Plaza Mayor, Royal Palace, gardens nearby  and the Opera house. He even walked us through the red light district, oops! Okay it was on the way to the Borax place.  

Then we went to Borax - a Cuban hole in the wall. That food was mad!! See my plate of salmon with orange sauce? Man I can't even describe that food for you. The laughter, reminiscence and camaraderie was even madder though lol. 

It was a beautiful night out. Wow, talk about an Arabian night. Well, I have never seen or experienced an Arabian night but the term sounds fitting. The crisp breeze was caressing us as we meandered our way back to the train station where again we stopped to chat and laugh some more. Bring back the good ole days, dwl!

All I want to do is bottle the weather and take it back. It would transform ATL into a paradise - un paraiso. Listen, all I can say is that I was beginning to taste a slice of Madrid that I wanted to keep nestled in one corner of my jaw for a long time. I wonder what my mom would think if she were here. Still thanking God for allowing me this opportunity and guiding/protecting me as I go where my mom has not gone before. 

Our first Sunday in Madrid seemed quiet to a certain degree. It is still lively. The people still spill into the streets, malls, tapas joints and subways. Oh and they do make it to church the Catholic Church I think. It was a day to stay local for us. We went to the mall and walked around again. This time we paid attention to each level of the mall and what it really had to offer. I like to look at fashion and accessories so going slowly was perfect lol. 

Then we went to the Chinese Buffet for lunch. It looked like real Chinese food this time or definitely way better than the first attempt - yuck! The line to get in stretched way past the doors so, we decided to take a look. Meh, whatever is what came to mind after we stood in line and finally made it inside. It stopped a gap for the price. Note to self: I must eat well, I must eat better, I must, I must, I must.  

On the upside, my S Health app tells me four days in a row that I keep breaking my own record for number of steps taken in a day. Bravo, bravo, that means I am outdoing 10, 000+ steps per day. Love S Health for that. I know you want to get in on the step action so get S Health (I have Android) or get a comparable app. Walking can be so much fun especially when you get to do some people watching while at it lol. 

The pickneys dem got to "drive" remote controlled cars while at the mall. KC was eager to get in and when she did, she put on her game face or her serious face. She looked oversized in the car for a minute. The party started when boycito got in though. "Whoaaaaaa" was the sound from his weeee little mouth. Can I tell you, this kid was in heaven. He started turning the steering wheel, opening his eyes wide and laughing so hard. He is a little edgy for his age. He was having "un monton" of fun. He cried when the time was up, pobrecito. I could tell that they wanted to do it again. Well why not, I mean when else would they be able to get into a BMW sports car and just drive? Unlicensed at that - HA! Their dad will be working until forever to give them these luxuries. They want the best - already! 

Welcome to (Bienvenido a) Madrid and EF

Madrid, Madrid where you can find a plethora of tapas bars, monuments, historical buildings, Spanish architecture, tourists, small cars, more tourists, spectacles of all sorts, even more tourists and of course night life.

I chose Madrid as my place to complete professional development this summer. I wanted to taste and see how good it is to be in the land of the Spaniard, speaking Spanish and partaking of Madrid's everyday life. I dreamed the dream back in high school and I saw myself in Paris and Madrid. 

Ole, ole, it is I in Madrid! I did begin an application to a University here back in 1998 and was dead set on going when the US and A called hahaha. Well now EF Madrid has called. Education First Language Centers of Madrid is an awesome place to take Spanish classes while immersing in the culture. Check them out on Facebook - EF Madrid or www.ef.com.es. On Friday, the day after Madrid's Fiesta (holiday aka I just need another day to chill out and not work day) the troops and I went to EF, situated down there at Avenida de America metro station.

Did I mention that I love the freedom of mobility via the underground train or metro system? It reminds me so much of London's Underground or the "tube" as they call it. I think it can be expensive if you don't spend long enough to buy their monthly metro card though. The 10 ride card I bought for 12, 20 euros, takes you on the metro and the blue EMT buses. Nice but gosh it makes me miss the privacy of my own car and regardless of how dirty my car is, I still feel like I am in a less germ infested mode of transport. Okay I sound OCD eh? I know. 

Ok back to EF, The staff at Education First was warm and welcoming. They even made the kids and MC feel like they were coming to classes lol. "I think I will like it here" is what I was thinking. Then I looked around only to see all the youngings of the planet...uf! "I am out of place" was my second thought. Yup I am about to be the granny of the class or school for that matter. You know how these language centers attract the teeny boppers and twenty somethings of the day? Oh well, "I can look it and I will rock it come Monday" was my third thought. Between Arbonne, H&M, Banana Republic and I, we will make it happen...hahahahaha.

Let's Tango, Arbonne Pure Mint and more!

Lawks, on Wednesday it took us forever to leave the hotel room. Clearly we are still trying to adjust to the new time. We finally walked out of the room at what would be noon or near noon Eastern Standard Time. I am not sure what we were planning to eat at that time if it was breakfast, lunch or dinner. Anyway the  plan turned out to be that we would roam the street by heading north. In less than 10 minutes we got to a supermercado, small but had some familiar items and then 2 tapas lounges next to each other. Oh did I mention that this was 90 degrees on Wednesday? Ohh wee yup 90. I did get out the vegan inspired, cruelty free and not laden with harmful chemical or ingredients Arbonne Baby Care Sunscreen and we lathered in some - I didn't know what to expect okay! By the way MC is now an Arbonne Pure Mint toothpaste user....hip hip hooray!! Yup moving away from fluoride toothpaste to Pure Mint fluoride free was easy and he's feeling the result. Morning breath be gone and fresh breath for longer here we are. Don't knock it 'till you try it. Text, e-mail or call me, I got you.

The day was hot indeed! Nice and hot, though no humidity at all. I was pleased - like please puss dwl. So we leisurely pulled our hungry selves to the tapas joint only to find out the cocina (kitchen) wouldn't open until 18:30 or so (6:30) - yikes! In my head I thought - Is wah tek dem mad people yah star? Translation: What the heck is wrong with these people man? I know they have weird hours, I have taught the culture. But I and I hungry you si mi? 

Nonetheless, it was lovely to experience the sidewalk cafe feel, so we hung out and had drinks and some nasty peanut mix for a starter on the house. MC and I chatted about how I was not impressed by what I was seeing so far.  You see when I think of Europe I get this idea that I am supposed to feel like I am in a very different place. Well I am not feeling that - no sah not at all bredren. Minus the appearance of the people, I feel like I am someplace in the caribbean or Jamaica or even the great U.S. and A but it happens to be located in Europe. Okay, okay it is still the early days yet so I am  very open minded. I have classes next week and I will get around some more so we will revisit this - awrite then! 

The kitchen was taking too long to open so we moved on to the mall around the corner that the waitress told us about. BAM!! Here we go, now we are talking. The mall had a supermarket right there and as we walked, we saw some familiar names like Starbucks, Dunkin and some British names MC recognized. We happened upon an Argentinian joint - Che!!! Yup as in Che Guevara. We decided to eat there. The  waiters looked like they were ready to dance the Tango. They showered us with meat, meat and more meat. The picture to the right is just the starter at Che!!! We were responsible and ate with temperance. See my plate below? We will NOT return lol. Food wasn't bad but too much MEAT!!! 

Thursday the 4th happened to be Corpus Cristi day. A holiday in Madrid while we are visiting. The receptionist at the hotel remarked that they have too many holidays, hmm okay then. We trotted quickly to the southern half of the hotel's street and realized that we walked to the mall again dwl. Oh before that we stopped for tapas which were pretty good. I had salmon on flatbread. It came out to me raw - ewwww! I asked for it to be cooked haste post haste. Is who dem tink dem ah bring raw salmon come gi? No bawba mi nuh eena dat. Translation: Who are they bringing this raw salmon to? I don't want any part of that/please remove this from before me. I was not pleased so I didn't even take a picture, man oh man! It was delicious when it returned to me cooked though! The others had some egg and sausage dish which was good they said. 

At the mall we roamed around some more to see the quality of clothing etc. in comparison to what we know. They have a good mix and the prices are really not bad at all. That mall is similar to Cumberland. Dinner was not easy to decide on but we found a spot similar to Chipotle - well sort of similar named Tako-away. There is MC doing his best Spanish ordering to the right. I had an empanada and juice from a place next door to this one. Chico ate all his dad's burrito and then some. He also drinks from everybody's glass. I think he is telling us to get him his own plate from now on. He eats well, thank God. People make much of him when they see him. He just stares at them in return, sigh. The people are generally very nice here. I like that a lot about them. Muy amables! Okay it is 3:00 am and I plan to pass by the Education First Language Center location tomorrow in preparation for my classes next week. I am having fun. I love having my family with me and experiencing all this with them right there. God is an awesome God and I will not forget his goodness to me. Buenas noches familia. 

I love my Madrilenan lisp!

I am lov-, lov-, loving my lisp!  You didn't know I have a lisp? Yes man, I am running a consistent  lisp since I started communicating with the Madrilenos.  It's only been 2 full days but man has it been awesome to communicate with the Spaniards! Well except for this one woman who was wearing sarcasm as her sun screen. Apparently it is hot here. Hmmm...I don't feel the heat but I love the fact that the sun is out and I can rock my yellow glitter pedicure crafted by The Beauty Concierge (www.styleseat.com/beautyconciergellc) via some flip flops and no sweater or jacket. I thought it would be a cool 65 degrees more or less, but it is even nicer. The heat is definitely not Atlanta's heat with the humidity hanging on to you like white on rice. I can do this kind of heat.

We had to switch hotels yesterday. On Monday when we arrived, we checked into a nice hotel but it was 30 minutes south of Madrid and in a factory/car sales zone. There was nothing for 25 - 30 minutes walk from the hotel but highway and wasteland after you passed a few factories. We walked to the nearest zone of shops on Monday evening and it was a long and picture-less walk; nothing to shoot, so all cameras were tucked away. We immediately decided that this would not be the place to stay - no boss yah so caa dweet fa tree weeks. After eating the most fake Chinese food on the planet for dinner, we taxied back to the hotel and the search for a new hotel began. By the way, MC remarked that the taxis are robbery. They arrive to you with no less than 6,10 euros in charges already on the meter and the increments of 50 cents quickly add on as you drive. We are officially anti taxi!

The one night at Holiday Inn Express Madrid Leganes was real but we said deuces and headed to Madrid or so we were hoping. It turns out that we are near to the airport now and still 20 minutes from el Centro de Madrid but it is a hop away en autobus y en metro - so we hopped onto the 77 bus then el metro. KC had fun doing that yesterday. She is enjoying her time so far with pink glitter on her pedicured feet - lol. She's even catching the lengua via television and listening to me chat with the folks. MC on the other hand has spoken about 5 Spanish words dwl. He has caught on to <<vale>> though. That is their response to close a conversation and also to show agreement or understanding.  I have taught that for years, now I use it daily. Immersion is the number 1 way to learn a language. The Mexicans or latinos would say <<bueno>>...the Madrilenos say <<vale>> (baaleh). Go on say it now....baa - leh! Perfecto - you did it!

We hung out at Gran Via (a nice long wide street in the city with shops like crazy and restaurants, tapas bars, tourists, more tourists and tour buses then bikes and more bikes) for some time. I wanted to see the Fuente de Cibeles in that locale and we did see it. The fountain was not running as you see below, so sure enough we passed it without noticing the first time. As I remember from pictures and videos, water supposed to be coming from the Lions' mouths etc. Cha! O well...there it is - sort of impressive, just sorta.

That's where the sarcastic woman entered the experience because I asked her where exactly it was and she said I must've passed it, so I said perhaps I did and her response was, or maybe it moved. I laugh now, but then? Ahh I just looked at her, gave her one of Chico's evil stares, smiled and walked away. Gran Via reminds me of Piccadilly Circus in London or someplace in Manhatten.

It was Indian cuisine for dinner (Bangladeshi to be exact) and that was 100%  better than Monday's Chinese whatever that was dinner. I will eat that Indian dinner again in a heartbeat. There was a birth control machine next to where we were seated. It takes only the exact change and dispenses some form of contraception (in packets of 3) in time of need. Go Espana, you do what you have to do to curb your population or whatever you want to call it.

So, before I go now, about the lisp. The folks in Madrid apply a lisp for letters or sounds of S, C or Z in a word they speak. Buenos (buenoth) dias (diath) and they almost eliminate the D sound if it doesn't occur at the beginning of a word by making it an ever so soft sound, that it almost goes away. Language is awesome! Learning about it can be a pain sometimes but living it can be serendipitous to say the least. Okay so it is already 3 pm or 15 00 hrs. We have not eaten because our bodies are still sleepy (Atlanta time and a little jet lagged still) but we will discover more today and share. Hasta (hathta) luego amigos.