To Madrid! And beyond!

My other flatmate, the one I haven't met yet, still hasn't turned up. I'm beginning to wonder if he actually exists...

Pablo (the one I have met) said he was supposed to move in on either Sunday or Monday. So every time I come home, I step warily into the flat in case there's some foreign presence but so far NOPE.

Had a very alcohol-fuelled Saturday night. It was the last night of San Mateo so everyone was out partying and drinking. My new mantra is: stick to beer. Ugh. I'm sure the whole town was suffering from a collective hangover on Sunday morning.

It was fun though. I've never seen people so crazy. Well, I've never seen people so crazy in other countries. Ruben claims we got home at about 8 am.

My sister taught me how to make a 5 minute chocolate cake, so I did that today. It was delicious. Off to Madrid tomorrow, for an orientation thing where hopefully they'll tell me when I start working. I would like to get paid.

I have internet!

My flatmate is great! I got home to Logrono at about 2 am this morning, to find a note on my pillow from Pablo saying he'd gone back to the Canary Islands to visit his family but he'd call me in the morning when I was awake. And he'd got the internet and telephone installed while I was gone and left me instructions on how to use them.

The other flatmate still hasn't moved in yet, but he's supposed to be doing that either tomorrow or Monday. And I'll be off to Madrid again for my orientation on Tuesday. So I've got the flat to myself for two days, yay!

I went searching for the Muffin Man in Drury Lane. I thought he might look a bit like the Gingerbread Man from Shrek but more muffiny. London was so relaxing. I think it makes a huge difference if you're staying with friends as opposed to paying for accommodation. With friends, it's so much more casual, you don't feel the need to cram in as many cultural things and tourist sights as possible. And my brain had a fantastic rest from Spanish. (Photos: Do you know the Muffin Man, the Muffin Man, the Muffin Man?; Globe Theatre)

Went to see Avenue Q with Laura on Wednesday night, then went to see a matinee performance of Stomp on Thursday. Avenue Q was hilarious. It's about these puppets and people who live on a street in New York.

There was a sex scene that was almost as graphic as the one in Team America. Stomp was crazy. There's no speaking at all, the 8 performers just tap dance and make sounds with random items like toothpick boxes, garbage bins, basketballs, brooms... It makes you realise how inventive people are, and how you can make a musical instrument out of anything. Although if I had a child who insisted on playing percussion on every available item/surface, I would throttle it and chop off its arms.

Vanessa insisted on paying for almost everything, even though I was already staying with her for free, so I cooked dinner on Thursday night for her and her flatmates. Ness is my friend from primary school. Laura's a friend from high school, who I went to Nepal with. It's strange how there are some people you just stay friends with no matter what, and others who come and go in your life. I love my friends.

Yesterday, I caught a bus from Finchley Road to London Stansted Airport. The buses were supposed to come every 20 minutes but I was waiting there for 50 minutes before one turned up. Apparently they'd cancelled two buses. Luckily I got there early, so I managed to get to my flight on time, but there was a guy beside me who was going apoplectic with stress and rage.

And then when I had to catch the bus from Zaragoza airport to the train station, to catch the train back, I missed the bus stop. It's normally the last one, so I wasn't paying attention and then suddenly everyone was getting off. So I asked the bus driver and he said 'It was back there. I didn't drive in, but didn't you hear me calling out "Get off here for the station"?' They have a weird system. There are STOP buttons on the bus, but the driver decides whether to stop or not by shouting out 'Does anyone need to get off?' and if no one answers, he drives on.

He was really nice though. Once everyone had got off, he drove back to the train station and dropped me off by the entrance.

On the train, in the food carriage, these two old men started having a fight. It was absolutely hysterical. They were both old, fat and drunk. One of them worked for the train I think, and he was talking to his colleagues really loudly and suddenly the other man got up and lurched to his table and shouted 'You have no shame! You are shameless!' over and over. Then the first guy stood up and started shouting 'How dare you say I'm shameless?' and the second guy shrieked 'Let's get off at Logrono and we'll settle this! We'll sort this out then!'

I was really hoping they would actually get off at Logrono so I could watch them fighting, but they didn't. Everyone else was pretending not to be interested, but I was fully enjoying the free entertainment.

San Mateo, so much wine

San Mateo last Saturday was INSANE! Ruben told me on Friday that we were meeting at 10:30 am on Saturday morning. (Photo: Javi and me at the chupinazo)

'That's a bit early isn't it?' I said. Apparently we were going to start drinking before the chupinazo, which is the launching of the rocket at 1 pm to signify the start of the festival. And then people throw food at each other. And other things. (They should throw babies at each other too. Although that's probably illegal. Well, maybe not for the ugly ones- you need to get rid of them somehow.)

Anyway, so I, forgetting that it was Spain, turned up at around 10:35 am and surprise surprise, no one was there. So I waited... And waited. Actually, I did call Ruben earlier to see how he was going for time. I live around the corner from him now, so I thought if he was ready I could ring his doorbell on my way there and we could head up together. He told me he was still having breakfast, and reminded me I was in Spain, so to not be too punctual. 'Yeah, yeah,' I thought. 'I'm sure someone will be there.'

Two of the guys eventually turned up just after 11 am.

Bobi (the Guy Of Few Words- my longest conversation with him was 5 seconds long), Vero (his girlfriend) and her 7 friends from Barcelona were in the park drinking so we went and joined them. And actually he's a lot more conversational now. He told me he'd been living in Barcelona with Vero for a year for work but had come back when that finished. That conversation took maybe 20 seconds. I really like talking to him because I don't have to talk that much, we let the silence do the speaking.

Bobi had made 15 litres of zorracapote, a potent mixture of wine, sugar, cinnamon and other stuff and we'd brought 4 litres of kalimocho (wine and coke). It was boiling hot, about 30 degrees when we went to watch the chupinazo and food (+ other things) fight, which was as hilarious and disgusting as I remembered.

Javi bought another helium mascot balloon to tie around his wrist so we'd be able to find him if we got separated. In 2006 it was a shark. This time he got a girl balloon because it looked like me, he said. It's actually a very good idea, except that about 10 minutes later, he was already sucking the helium out of it and singing songs in a chipmunk voice.

(Photo: Ruben and me. NB Notice how Ruben has no beard? He had a job interview and had to shave it off) We went to the old part of town where the bars are and drank and drank. Then I got separated from everyone, but found a French guy who used to be Ruben's flatmate so I tagged around with him and his friends and ate tapas. By the time I found the others again, it was almost 6 pm. I'd told Alexis I'd be home at 6ish because he was bringing blankets over for me to use. The first night, I'd only had a sheet, so I had to use my winter coat as a blanket.

(Photo: Calle Laurel, the tapas street, packed with people.) Woke up at midnight, remembered I'd maybe agreed to go out again, so called Ruben. He had been out since he started, non-stop (although I think he went to a park and slept for half an hour, like a drunk) for more than 12 hours and was still bright and alert. There was a Cuban band playing in front of the town hall plaza which was where he and the others were.

(Photo: Some guy with his homemade portable wine flask) Afterwards we went back to the bars and drank some more. I left at around 5 am because I was catching a plane to London that day, but the others kept moving from bar to bar...

The Spanish people are insane.

In London and lovin' it

Arrived at midnight on Monday morning, but took me till 2:15 am to get to Laura's place. Bloody Ryanair and their bloody airports in the middle of nowhere.

When I got to Liverpool Street in London, some dodgy minicab driver tried to rip me off. I was standing in the street, trying to find a cab when this guy walked past, smoking a cigarette. He stopped next to me.
'Need any help? Looking for a taxi?' he asked. 'I'm a taxi driver. Where do you want to go?'
'Tower Hill Underground,' I said. I was a bit sus because there were no cars parked on the road that I could see. 'Where's your cab parked?'
'Just around the corner,' he said. 'So do you want a taxi?'

I asked him how much it would cost.
'15 pounds. My minicab's just around the corner,' he insisted. 'So do you want a ride?'
'That's a bit expensive, isn't it?' I said, slightly sarcastically, because I had a feeling I was already being taken for one. Luckily at that moment, a taxi drove by so I flagged it down. It ended up costing me 8 pounds.

Honestly. Like I was going to go round the corner to some dark alleyway to get ripped off by a stranger from the street.

Other than that, it's been great. Walked around a lot. Decided not to see any of the sights I have to pay for because I'd be broke in two days. Yesterday I walked from St Paul's Cathedral to Oxford Street via Covent Garden (I got lost, took the scenic route). Laura, Vanessa and I had dinner in Chinatown. I'm loading up on as much Asian food as I can get my hands on before I get back to Spain.

Today I went to Camden Markets. My brain feels so relaxed here. I don't have to think and translate before speaking. And I don't have to concentrate when people are speaking to me, to understand.

Success! Flat!

I have a flat! It's with two Spanish guys, one of whom I haven't met yet but the other one is really clean, doesn't drink or smoke (very unSpanish) and is really nice.

I'd forgotten how crap it is looking for flats and trying to find decent flatmates. I looked at five flats on Thursday and there were varying degrees of grossness (one smelt like one of the flatmates had died and the others just shoved her body under the sofa) and weirdness. In one flat, there was also this guy who was wearing an Iron Maiden shirt and had three electric guitars hanging on his living room wall. When he opened the door, he just looked at me and stood there for a minute. Then he pointed to the bedroom and said 'room', pointed to the bathroom and said 'bathroom', pointed to the kitchen and said 'kitchen' and that was the tour. I though he was going to look at me, point at me and say 'person'.

I asked him how much it would be for electricity and water etc. and he shrugged and said 'I don´t know.' I was like 'Ok...' and we just stood there looking at each other for a bit. Alexis had come with me, and he sort of looked at me and said 'So... We´ll be going then... Thanks.'and we got the hell out of there.

After that I needed some nourishment because I was starting to despair of finding somewhere decent, so Alexis and I went to Calle Laurel, the tapas street and had delicious food.

It was also 2 euro pint night, so after checking out a few more in the evening, Ruben took me to the bar where the other guys had already started drinking and we did some catching up (drink catching up, that is). Also went to Wall Street where the bartender remembered me. He was like 'You're back!' and I was like 'I'm back!' Nice guy.

A day of crises

Hilarious happenings.

Yesterday, Ruben tried to fix Alberto's water heating system. There was a sticker on the heater saying 'If the pressure falls below 1 bar, loosen the bolt until the pressure rises to 1.5 and then tighten.' So he loosened it a little and suddenly all this water started spraying out and he couldn't get the bolt back in because the pressure was too great. He eventually got it back in but after half an hour of futile fiddling, and a complete drenching, the water was still leaking. And the kitchen was flooded.

Alberto didn't want to call the plumber because he said it could cost up to 300 euros but in the end it was the only option. But when the plumber came, he didn't have the right piece of equipment to fix it so said he'd come back.

Meanwhile, Ruben and I met up with Fernando and his girlfriend. Fernando used to live in Logrono and we had many good times drinking, but he now works and lives in Madrid. He took us to a bar that sold over 140 types of beer. And yes, there was one Australian beer and it was Foster's. I told them it was the most disgusting beer in Australia which is why we import it to other countries and sell to the idiot foreigners. Fernando's changed heaps, but seems very happy and it was great to see him again.

We went back to the flat after the beers, and Caroline the flatmate had brought a posse of four Frenchies who were apparently also staying in the flat. Dinner (at midnight again) was monditos - these mini baguette type things with different fillings. We ordered 60 between the eight of us, which was overkill but SO TASTY! And we finished them all except the three with anchovies.

Then we went out for a few drinks but I had to go home because I was almost falling asleep on my feet. We arranged it so I would sleep on the double mattress on the floor with the French girl, two of the French guys would take a couch each and another the single mattress. There was barely any room left in the living room to move but it was comfortable sleep-wise. The Frenchies left to go drinking again and I went to bed. I heard them come in at about 4 am but went back to sleep.

Then at 6:30 am, Caroline came out and woke the French girl, one of the guys on the couch and Alberto and they held council in the hallway. I had no idea what was happening until suddenly the French girl was blowing up a 3/4 camping mat and the French guy in only his Calvin Klein undies flopped on the mattress next to me.

Apparently the third flatmate Devi, a Portuguese girl, had come home with her boyfriend and then her dad showed up at 6:30 am (from Portugal) without warning. And because we'd taken up all the sleeping room, he had to share Devi's bed while the boyfriend was kicked out into the living room to sleep with us. And the only thing left to sleep on was the camping mat, and since Analise the French girl was the smallest (barring me), she had to sleep on it.

I did not want to sleep next to an unknown practically naked drunk French guy (who was very nice, but nonetheless twitches in his sleep like he has a palsy and occasionally kicked me) but I didn't know how to say that nicely, so I asked if Analise would prefer that I sleep on the mat. 'No, no, don't be silly,' both French guy and Analise said.

Meanwhile, the other two French guys slept through this, completely oblivious.

At about 10 am, I needed to pee really badly but there was no way I could get out without stepping on someone. The boyfriend finally got up so I climbed over his couch and went to the bathroom, got changed and left. It was a bit claustrophobic, if somewhat bizarre and amusing.

Devi, the Portuguese flatmate, is apparently really weird. Alberto and Caroline hadn't seen her in a few weeks because she gets home at about 7 am every day and leaves while they're both out. And then two weeks ago, she got really angry at them for no reason they could find and told them she wanted to move out.

I went to Salvador Bachiller HAHAHAHA HAHAHAH - was very excited. Like a fat person with a Krispy Kreme donut dangling in front of them. Yes, I bought some stuff. On sale! Bargain! And I found an Oxfam Shop! Oxfam in Spain is called Intermon. It was fantastic. And the shop assistants were friendly and helpful! I bought Alberto and Caroline a pair or rhino horn/elephant bone (ethically sourced and ecologically sustainable) salad servers as a thank you for letting me stay.

I couldn't get back into the flat because I didn't have keys so I had to call Ruben who was still asleep. Actually, everyone was still asleep, except Caroline who had to go to work. It was about 12:30 pm. I felt bad waking Ruben up but we'd arranged to meet Fernando for lunch.

When we came back from lunch, the plumber came. And Alberto was wrong - it ended up costing 500 euros, not 300. Apparently when the plumber fixed the bolt, he poked around a bit and said something else was broken and needed fixing so he fixed that and before you knew it, the fee had skyrocketed. Ha! Seems like some things don't change, whatever country you're in.

I'm in Logrono now, at Alexis's flat. Ruben and I caught the bus back at 7:30 pm. When we got in to Logrono at midnight, both Alexis and Javier were waiting there to greet me. My heart was beating like I'd run a marathon, I was so excited to be back.

In Madrid

Can't believe I'm here!

After my 24 hours of flight, I was surprisingly not tired at all. But I did sleep quite well on the plane. On the way to Korea, I had a wailing baby behind and beside me so I was really cranky when I arrived in Seoul. But I went to the hotel, ate their buffet breakfast, had a shower and nap and felt better. And then on the way to Madrid from Seoul, the plane was practically empty so I put up the arm rests and had five seats to myself.

Ruben met me at the airport and helped me carry my 22 kg baggage up all the stairs at the metro station (I'd forgotten how they don't have escalators). He has a friend, Alberto, living in Madrid who said we could camp out at his place, so we turned up but he wasn't at home and wasn't answering his phone. After ringing the doorbell for about ten minutes, we dragged my luggage back down the stairs and had some dinner (JAMON! JAMON!).

Luckily Alberto called and said he and his flatmate Caroline had got stuck in the traffic on the way home from Ikea. It was La Noche Blanco yesterday, the purpose of which I still have no idea but they closed down heaps of the streets and kept the metro open till 3 am.

So we went back, lugged my baggage back up the stairs (Ruben must have very strong arms by now) and dumped the stuff. At midnight, we headed out and drank. And drank some more. Got home at 5 am and crashed.

Woke up at 11 am this morning, thirsty, disorientated but relatively awake. No one else was up, so I waited and watched The Family Guy till 2 pm, when Caroline got up and showed me where the food was. Then Ruben and Alberto got up and after showering, we went out and hunted for food (and I had jamon again).

It gets dark at about 8:30 or 9 pm here so it's very confusing because I always think it's earlier than it is. And I'd forgotten how late people eat here too.

5 things I'm looking forward to in Spain

1. Seeing my friends again. Ruben is meeting me in Madrid (yay!) and Alexis is letting me stay with him until I find somewhere.
2. Tapas in Calle Laurel.
3. Jamon and more jamon.
4. The last bit of European Summer.
5. Seeing my friends again. Yes, I'm doubly excited about that.

The Harbour Bridge is my friend

I walked across the Harbour Bridge at sunset last week. My friend came from one side, I came from another and we met in the middle like long-lost lovers.

Then she went to meet her friend for dinner and I went to a seminar. As I walked along, I realised it's the one definitively Sydney thing that I'll miss. Despite the busy traffic, the blustery wind, the ugly grey fences they put up to stop you from jumping over and killing yourself, I love walking across the Harbour Bridge.

I've only ever had good memories of walking the Harbour Bridge (in a car or train is a different story). Once you step on, you can only go forward - or backwards I guess, if you decide you want to get across a different way. For someone who always gets lost and has the sense of direction of a blind chicken, it's nice to know it's virtually impossible to get lost (although when I arranged to meet my friend, we didn't discuss which side we'd meet on so I ended up going onto the wrong side and having to backtrack for 20 minutes).