Spain 2005 - the odds and ends edition

* I do not think that people in Madrid bake. I say this because I did go to several grocery stores and only in one did I see flour. I already mentioned that I could not find chocolate chips at all even after several days of searching. I suppose you just buy baked goods if you live there. I also never saw vanilla, or pesto, or hummus in the stores there. Not that the last 2 have anything in particular to do with baking.

* The milk is not refrigerated before you open it. It comes in boxes like boxed soup does here. It didn't taste all that different. But it did surprise me at first.

* Someone who was more outgoing would probably have met people in a month and made friends and gone out. I did not. It was a very isolating experience in a way. I talked to my host mom. And the host son. And wait staff and museum attendants and the like. Which is pathetic but the best I could manage combining my natural introversion and reticence to use my so-so Spanish.

* On the other hand I did get to see a lot of Madrid and feel like I didn't stick to just the touristy areas. I actually experienced daily life there which was one of my goals.

* I do wish I had been able to travel around the country more. I also wish I had made it to some of the famous nightlife areas or at least one measly discoteca. Also a Flamenco show.

* I regret all those times I rushed to be back in the condo for English lessons that never happened. On one hand I feel like I didn't uphold my end of the "teach us English and we'll put you up for a month" bargain. On the other hand, I tried. I really tried. And if you aren't going to be there at all one day (never mind the times you are technically there but refuse to interact with me) tell me because I really could have found something else to do. Something more fun than sitting by myself in an otherwise empty condo.

Week 4 of my Spain trip. In 2005.

Day 22 - My trip diary notes that Diana apparently did not return at all during the previous night. It also mentions the possibility that she could have gone away for the weekend. I spent the day puttering around the condo. I headed in to Madrid in the evening with the intention of catching a Flamenco show. Though the place recommended by the guide book was in a busy-ish area of town, I could not find the actual address. Plus the street that it was supposedly on wasn't so much a street as a mostly-deserted alley. At night. In a foreign country. So I admit I only walked up and down where the address should have been about twice. Having given up, I walked around Madrid, hit a Starbucks to hear a few words of English, and finally caught one of the last busses back to Las Rozas.

Day 23 - Started the inevitable shopping for gifts for the people back home. I also discovered that writing post cards while dining alone made me feel less conspicuous. This was a Monday, so after wandering Madrid a little, I headed back to the condo in time for the English lessons or whatever small amount of work in that area that Borja would allow. However, neither Borja nor Diana were there so I did a bit of shopping and made dinner. I also started musing about whether I should contact anyone about Diana's continuing absence.

Day 24 - Finally got to El Prado. Really enjoyed the bulk of my day there. There's something about seeing the real actual paintings and artwork you read about (in high school most likely) that is just cool. An art student was copying "Las Meninas" when I went past and another was trying to copy something by Hieronymous Boch ('El Bosco' in Spain) and while I've never really had artistic talent, I sort of envied them.

Lunch was the vegetarian restaurant and my notes say that the food was really good even though I had no idea what, exactly, I was eating. Post-lunch I took a quick side-trip to the Principe Pio mall but didn't have much time because I had to hurry back to the condo for English lessons at 5:30. Which never materialized. Again.

Day 25 - The alarm went off before 8 a.m. Ugh. But I did manage to take the bus into Madrid, the Metro to another bus station (Estacion Sur) and catch the 10 a.m. bus to Toledo.

I did some wandering down streets just because they looked interesting. I did actually pay the entrance fee to see the Catedral. While paying to enter a church still seems wrong to me, it was impressive. Lots of nooks and crannies instead of one large unified apse. It was beautiful inside and very, very ornate. Parts were set up almost like a museum with paintings and old vestments on display.

At one time there were 12 mosques in Toledo. Only one is still standing. It was very very small, but worth the admission all the same because it is more than 1000 years old. It had the typical Moorish arches and was well preseved considering the age. Several of the gates into the old part of Toledo also have a clear Moorish influence.

Bussed back to Madrid then Las Rozas. No Diana, no Borja, no English lessons. Convinced myself that if Diana's disappearance was really a problem, someone would have been by the condo to look for her. Like her husband. Did laundry and ate dinner and enjoyed the fireworks from the festival from the balcony of the condo.

Day 26 - The plan was to sleep in and try to finish off my souvenir shopping. Sleeping in didn't happen. As to the shopping, I think I will quote directly from my trip journal:

Calle de Hortaleza. Supposedly good for traditional Spanish
goods. Actually good for clothes, art supplies, eateries, tattoo parlors
and sex shops. Also prostitutes if I'm not mistaken.

Calle de Fuencarrel. Supposedly good for quirky and
kitch. As advertised if a teen mall, skateboarder vibe is what you
consider quirky.

So, no, I didn't buy anything. I did walk a lot. I was also watching my cash because in Diana's absence I was trying to figure out how I, and my humongous suitcases, were going to get to the airport the day after my all-metro monthly pass expired. During morning rush hour.

Day 27 - Woke up early again even without the benefit of an alarm. I did manage to get the last of my shopping done including a hostess gift for Diana. I got back to the condo and lo and behold - Diana was back. Yay!

I am *sure* that she explained to me that she was going to go on vacation. She thought that I understood the whole thing. And, in general, I did understand much more than I could communicate. But I misunderstood what she said (I thought she was talking about a vacation she had taken to the coast in the past) so to me, she left one day saying only "I'm going now" and didn't show up again for a week.

The English lessons that I kept rushing back to the condo for could have happened. She told her husband to bring Borja by, but he never did. I only wish I had known ahead of time. I definitely would have stayed out later on several occasions. I would even have managed a couple of days in Cordoba.

I am an expert avoider.

For example, today I have:
* watched a TV show that I recorded last night
* gone to lunch with 2 former co-workers
* puchased half-price Halloween candy at Target
* visited a few web sites
* played a couple of computer games
* started this blog post

Today I have NOT:
* looked for a job
* applied for a job
* thought about what kind of job I might like to have
(um, hi unemployment office, please keep sending the checks anyway, thanks)

Why? Because the decision of what to do seems so enormous. Which I realize is silly. If I choose the wrong thing, it's not as if I am stuck in that career for the rest of my life. Getting started is hard. But it must be done. I hereby promise to look at job listings and read another chapter of I Don't Know What I Want But I Know It's Not This. Today. Now.

Well, I just signed up for NaBloPoMo so I should be posting something every day. Not that it will necessarily be anything interesting. Since "what should I do with my life" is just about the biggest thing on my mind nowadays, I'm sure that will play a big role in my musings. I'm just saying - you have fair warning.

Topic for today: What do I want to be when I grow up? Part 1.

Since being laid off 3 (4?) weeks ago, I haven't been in a huge hurry to find a new job. I mean, this is why I have an emergency fund, yes? And also, there were gymnastics National Championships nearby. And my sister's wedding things to think about. But really, I haven't done more than peruse craigslist because I have no idea what type of job I actually want.

Most everyone else who was laid off (most of them went almost 2 months before I did) found a new job and are happily adjusting to the post PhotoSite work-place. I'm sure I could do something similar if I wanted to jump back into another QA or QA manager position. But I think I'd rather take a job an In-n-Out (they pay well for a fast food place and treat their employees fairly) than another QA job. In fact, other than letting down our users and not working with the same group of great people, I'm thrilled about the shut down and layoff because it got me out of that job.

What is so bad about QA? For a lot of people, probably nothing. For me? I was bored beyond belief. There is a lot to the QA job that I could have done but didn't; I could have gotten more involved with automating tests for one. But I never wanted to. The mere thought of trying some of the stuff my manager wanted us to start working on made me tired. Not that I didn't start doing it, but I had little to no enthusiasm about it. The main tasks my team did were repetitive in a way. I did them for 9 years. At a certain point, I started not caring. Which is really, really dangerous for someone doing QA. Because if you aren't going to get upset over a misspelled word on the splash page, it isn't going to get fixed. I truly don't know how I didn't make a huge mistake sometime in the past 2 or 3 years. I was forcing myself to do all the necessary parts of the job but very little beyond that. I was unhappy and depressed and had at least 30 extra pounds to show for it.

What about QA was a good fit for me? I'm a little bit nit-picky naturally. I like knowing about the code without having to actually write it. I like having an idea of how all of the moving parts work together. I like organizing things logically. I enjoy working with all the various groups - development, project management, design, etc. I like the consumer internet space. I love the casual atmosphere of software/internet companies.

Part 2 , I promise, will have less whining.

I am battered and bruised and a little bit burned today.

Tuesday I went whitewater rafting. For the first time I tried it on a Class IV river (before I stuck to Class III). It was *much* less crowded than any time I've rafted before. Our two rafts were the only ones we saw on the river all day long.

I think my favorite rapids were the first class IVs we came to called Tunnel Shoot. Some people even call this a class V rapid. Here's a picture (not my trip) - http://www.gikialumni.org/doc/portal/gallery/picture.jsp?view=imagedetail&picId=192. Yeah - that? We went down backwards for the most part. We got turned around at the beginning and there wasn't much we could do about it until the tunnel which is right after the rapids.

There was one rapid on the river that we weren't allowed to raft since it is a class VI. I can't say I'm upset about that having seen them from the river bank. Those looked scary! Our guides, however, ran them alone since we had to get the rafts down somehow.

The only thing that could have been better about the trip would be if I not fallen out of the raft. Twice. The second time onto some sort of rock that left me with a big bruise on my thigh. But it was fun and exciting nonetheless. I can highly, highly recommend rafting on the Middle Fork of the American River.

(Oh, the burned thing. Sunburn in a weird shape near my left ankle. Par for the course. I *thought* I covered every possible inch of skin. But maybe I missed it on the post-lunch re-application of sunscreen.)

Week 3 (I *am* going to finish these posts about Spain. Hopefully before I take another big vacation.)


It's been so long that now I'm mainly going off the trip diary I took, but re-reading it is bringing back memories.


Day 15 - I heard my host mom come into the condo at 8 a.m. That's when she got home from being out partying the night before. No wonder she looked at me as if I were crazy what with my early midnight to 1 a.m. bedtimes. Anyway, I slept more after that and finally got up and headed to Madrid for El Rastro. Which I actually found this time. At first I was in a part of it that was in the alleys between buildings. It wasn't as sketchy as that sounds. I wasn't super impressed - yes people had stuff out to sell, but it wasn't huge or even all that crowded as the guidebook had warned. Then I found the actual heart of it. And yes, it *is* huge. And crowded. And a teeny bit crazy. There were tons of stalls selling all sorts of things. There wasn't anything I needed or wanted to buy, plus it was intimidating, so I basically just walked through the masses and looked around. Then I headed to Plaza Mayor and grabbed another lunch from a restaurant on one of the side streets. I sat at a little outdoor table and just watched people come and go. Lunch took something like an hour and a half. There was just no hurry. It was really relaxing. And the waiter was extremely nice. A group of 4 people with British accents was at the table next to me for part of it and I got to overhear English again. Then on the way back to the Metro I was able to give directions to a couple from Singapore that was looking for the outlet mall in Las Rozas. In English.


Reading my trip diary and noticing every mention of English-speaking reminds me again how almost desperate I was to be able to talk and be understood. My Spanish was passable - I understood at least the gist of everything around me - but it took so much effort all the time. Plus I am worse at the speaking thing than at the listening.


Something that I really enjoyed about the trip was the feeling of accomplishment at mastering the public transportation. It's a silly thing to take pleasure in, but I really liked that I could get anywhere I wanted on the Metro. And when I could even start help with giving directions? Even better.

Day 16 - I spent some time in some of the shopping areas in Madrid. I do not know why. Because I am not a shopper. So I should not spend time shopping just because the guidebook says "Hey - cool shopping areas in location A and B." That means that if you like to shop, go to A and B. Not, go to A and B and what is there will wow even a veteran non-shopper. But hey, I did go into Old Atocha Station which is indeed almost tropical inside. And there are turtles. So that was marginally interesting. I'm not sure if it was this day or another one later (or earlier) that I located one of the few vegetarian restaurants in Madrid. It's near Atocha, so maybe it was this day. The food was very good. Some of the best I had while I was there.

Day 17 - Much more eventful. I managed to get up and out of the house early. Like by 8 a.m. The buses were way more crowded at that time than on my usual 10 or 11 a.m. trips! The reason for my sudden industriousness was a day trip to Segovia. After taking a bus to Madrid, a train to the right section of Madrid, walking to the private bus company that handles these trips, and riding on that bus for about an hour, I was in Segovia.

Practically the first thing you see when getting off the bus is the Roman Aquaduct left over from the 1st century. It looks stable and not like it is going anywhere which is impressive. As is the no mortar thing. It's also just attractive anyway. After that I walked to Plaza Mayor (small shops mostly, also the Catedral) then the Alcazar.

The Alcazar was really quite pretty. Painted and decorated ceilings, fancy tilework in the floors, etc. Really great views of the surrounding countryside from most of the windows. Very pretty precise gardens. That sort of thing. Also a room full of armor some of which looks like it would fit a modern 6 year old. They say that Cinderella's Castle in Disneyland is based on El Alcazar, but Neuschwanstein makes the same claim. Having seen both castles, I'd have to go with Neuschwanstein.

I think this is when I successfully located and used a post office. Including communicating my needs with an actual Spanish-speaking person. Yay me! It was so much easier to read and write essays in Spanish than it was to use it to communicate with people...

Afterwards I made a typical tourist faux pas - I ate lunch. I knew it was too early at the time (it was only about 1 p.m.) but I hadn't had breakfast and was starving. They were perfectly nice, but since I was at an out of the way place recommended by my guide book, I think I mainly confused them. So then during the actual lunch time I was left with little to do - mainly wandering the very narrow cobblestone streets and sitting in the Plaza Mayor listening to some piano music. And then some jackhammers. (Ugh. More of that "getting ready for the Olympics which - ooops - we didn't get" stuff.) I did a bit of souvenir shopping. Then I hurried back to Las Rozas expecting there to be English lessons which I specifically asked about the night before. But neither my host mom nor her son were there. *sigh*

Day 18 - Amusing tidbit: my host mom left the house at 11 p.m. on day 17 and returned, I think, at 6 a.m. on day 18. The guide book really wasn't joking when it said people stay out late to party. Oh, and day 18? Was a Wednesday.

I spent the day in the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. It was a relaxing and fun day. The collections were sort of spread out chronologically - some older, some modern. Lots of early triptychs, some Degas/Monet/Renoir, some Juan Gris. Then, because I thought it would be amusing, and it was close, I had lunch at Planet Hollywood. Where I had the caprese salad made with grated hard mozerella and dried basil. Which was not what I expected. Oh well. Also they had VH-1 on several TVs. Sort of funny.

Day 19 - I started the day by trying to shop for ingredients for an easy pie I wanted to make with the host family son as a way to practice English. So I walked to the Carrefour near the condo - no tofu, no vanilla, no chocolate chips, no pre-made cookie pie crust. So I took the bus into Madrid and checked out a few stores there including the grocery section of El Corte Ingles. No vanilla or chocolate, yes on the tofu, but only the hard kind and the recipe called for soft. Nothing else to note except another verging on non-existent English lesson.

Day 20 - Another day wandering in Madrid. I checked out yet another store looking for ingredients. Taste of America had a few cake mixes, marshmallow fluff, Jiffy, etc. But no chocolate chips. No vanilla. (Okay - HOW do they survive? No vanilla? No chocolate chips?!?!)

I hit Petra's International Bookstore again and grabbed the latest (in 2005) Harry Potter. In English. Which I ended up leaving behind for the host son if he ever decides to read it. I loved that store. It was basically a used book store, but in several different languages. Lots of English. I really, really liked it there. Bookstores - my home in whatever country I happen to be in.

Day 21 - Stayed close to the condo. Did laundry. Walked to the outlets nearby. Read a bit. Listened to the Las Rozas festival that was taking place about a block from the condo. (Each little town has a festival - which is basically a big fair - for about a week. Carnival games and rides, food stands, very loud live music being performed, etc. It was in Las Rozas the last week I was there.)

Diana left the apartment sometime in the late afternoon saying "I'm going now." She was carrying her purse. So I said "Okay, bye." Remember this because it will be important later.