Day 41: Autonomousness!

This is going to shock you all, but as I set out for my solo journey to Madrid this morning, it occured to me that I haven't spent an entire day SOLO since before I moved from Wisconsin. o_O How is that possible?! I used to spend practically every day alone... but since getting ready for my move and arriving here... well... there's simply not time to be solo! And, better yet, why be solo when you can be out having adventures with other(s)?! (lol) But alas, the time finally came when everybody was traveling doing their own thing and I found myself with an entire 24 hour period without anything to do and without anybody to do it with... and so I packed a book and jumped on the train to Madrid.

Mission #1? Find Taco Bell. As you recall, it's "Eat like an American Week" and it was Taco Bell's turn next! After feeling lost for a few blocks, the big purple bell finally entered my sight and I belined for what I hoped would be a deliciously gross meal of tacos! Um... not so much. The Nacho Surpreme was pretty good (the nasty cheese is much better here than in America, but they really skimp you on the sour cream), but they put LETTUCE on my taco surpreme. Hello? I said NO lechuga. Under ANY circumstances... >_< I don't know what it is about Taco Bell lettuce, but even the smell of it makes me feel like I'm going to gag. So... I had to throw away a perfectly good (and really overprised) taco. Grr.

Mission #2? Get defuzzed. Or, rather, get the balls to find a defuzzery, set up an appointment and go through with the appointment - all in Spanish. Normally, I'm down to speak Spanish and risk the possibility that either I won't be understood or I won't understand the other... but when it comes to matters of how my face will look for the next month of my life... well... it's a little daunting. One has to put special faith in the foreign-language abilities to chance such a thing! I got off at Bilbao, 'cause I'd seen a cute defuzzery there... but it was Saturday and they were closed.

Mission #3? Explore a new neighborhood. After Bilbao being I bust, I journeyed through part of Malasana, a nearby place bario. It was ADORABLE! Picture 1950's diners, Parisian cafes, cupcakes, flower shops, colorful graffiti, chic 'n tiny bars, grungy streets with random puddles of who-knows-what and vintage/rockability/tattoo parlors all mixed into one neighborhood and tada! you have Malasana! ^_^

*squeal* Lots of places were closed, again because it was the weekend, but you could still get the proper vibe. It made L bringing me cupcakes one of the first days we hung out all the cuter, because she bought them at, "Happy Day," a Vintage-American pastry shop in Malasana.

Mission #2 (again): A few more blocks and I was almost to Calle de Fuencarrol - but wait! Could it be?! A grungy-chic salon with a Pin-Up Girl theme that advertised cheap defuzzing services AND was open on Saturdays?! I summoned all the balls I had and rang the little doorbell. A sweet gay boy buzzed me in and in no time I'd set up an appointment for my "cejas y labio" (I had to confirm these were the correct words) at 6pm sharp. WIN! Must admit, I still have no idea how to say "defuzz" in Spanish, but the sweet little gay boy only had to look at my face to guess why I was there. Hahaha.

Mission #4: Obtain a new belly button ring. While in my first week I purchased a cute, dangly, black sparrow belly button ring... it'd become... cumbersome (for lack of a better, more truthful word) and I needed a basic one to replace it. All of this is code for: It was time to visit my bestest Argentinian friend, Luciano! ^_^ I <3 Luciano! I was peaking through the window of the Tattoo/Piercing shop when he spotted me and excused himself from his customers to come give me two kisses on the cheek and ask how I was! CUUUUTE!! We chatted for awhile before I told him I was there on official business, as well. Luciano let me pick out the color of the jewelery and then slipped it to me when nobody was looking. CONNECTIONS. ;) Haha. I got his number (finally!) and he invited me out to a club on Wednesday. Midterms are Thursday, so it looks like I have some early studying to do!!

Mission #5: It was hot. I did not have a very clever girl around who magically pulled out a huge water bottle from her purse. And so, I needed ice cream. Copious amounts of ice cream. And then, as if a mirage, I see a huge BEN AND JERRY'S sign out of NOWHERE! Sol?! You never told me you had a Ben & Jerry's!! Wtf?! Awesome-possum style, yo! Cookie sundae? Yummmmmmmmm...

Mission #6: Connect the dots. I still had a half hour before my appointment and decided to wander around Sol to see if I could figure out how various barios connected in reality. Okay - that sentence perhaps made no sense to you... but here's the thing. I have my metro map and I can tell you the surrounding one or two metro stops/mini barios next to each of the main stops I frequent... but I could not tell you in which direction to walk from Tribunal to get to, say, Atocha. I decided this needed to be fixed. As it turns out, Atocha is NOT that far from Sol (which is close to Opera, Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real, Templo de Debod... which is past Plaza de Espana), which is not far at all from Callao, which is really close to Gran Via, which is a stop away from Chueca, which is a hop away from Malasana/Tribunal which is near Bilbao, which is close to San Bernardo where L works. DAMN! Suddenly this map is all starting to make sense in my mind. I feel like a bamf at this point when it comes to getting around Madrid. That's right. I'm pretty pro. ;)

This statue had a traffic cone as a hat. HAHA.

It reminded me of the day after the Packer's won the Super Bowl and Lincoln on Bascom Hill had a cheesehead hat on. ^_^ Win.

 Mission #2 (for the third time): Annnnnd it was time to return for my epic defuzzing-in-a-foreign-country appointment. The girl who defuzzed me was very nice and more or less patient with the fact that she talked way too damned fast for me to understand considering I was focusing solely on the imminent pain of being defuzzed and not on the colloquial Spanish coming from her mouth. The wax they use in Spain? Nothing like American wax. It's much hotter, they spread it on with what feels like just their fingers and then just as you think they're gonna spread it one last time they peel it off real fast without you hardly noticing anything happened! America - WHERE ARE YOU ON THIS INVENTION?! There was hardly any discomfort and my skin didn't get even a wee bit red and puffy afterwards... plus it was faster! She, like all aesthetitians, complimented my nice, dark, full eyebrows (and eyelashes - that's a new one!) and "formed them and cleaned them up" very nicely. I've been craving Spanish Girl Eyebrow Perfection and she did a pretty darn good job at it! Yay! No disasters ocured on my face nor with my Spanish! Success!

Defuzzed! Yay!

Mission #7: Wander around for two hours and take pictures. At this point, I was pooped. Exhausted. And so I wandered around a snapped pictures of what typical Madrid looks like. I realized that the city seems so normal to me now, but that to anybody back home it would look quite quaint and different from what they're used to. So... a few ordinary pictures of the city are in order:

 The symbol of Madrid is a Bear trying to climb up a tree. This statue is in Puerta del Sol. :) I don't know why this is the symbol. The first person to look it up and let me know will get a special little souvenir from Madrid, because it's siesta time and I'm feeling to lazy to look it up myself!

The picture on the right is between the Opera and the Royal Palace. ^_^ Pretty!

 Mad City... wait WHAT? How come this is the FIRST time I realized that Madison and Madrid both start with "Mad"  >_< I'm so SLOW sometimes... Brother! The picture to the right is from the San Miguel Market. Seeing random hanging pig's legs is the norm here in Spain. It disturbed me at first, too... but you get used to the sight. For the first few weeks my family had one sitting next to the 'fridge - like nbd. You cut meat off of them as you need it - jamon iberico? I think that's it. It's nasty. The end. They also have stores called, "Ham Museums" where they sell you pig legs and fancy wooden stands to proudly display your chunk of meat to guests. Sometimes other cutlures are so strange... 

After such a long day I made it back to Alcala and came home to a shindig at home with Jorge's friends. Cute! They invited me to hang out on the patio with them and we all chatted for hours. It was actually pretty adorable as they were asking me questions about Denver and English, etc. And I tried to participate as best I could, despite being totally worn out. :) Hee hee.

And so, it's finally time for bed. Who knew going solo for a day would be SO much more tiring than hanging out with somebody else for a part of it?? Damn. I gotta rest up 'cause I want to go to El Rastro in the morning!!

XOXO

Jet-set Cupcake