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.