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.