Fin de Semana and other buzzings-along..

A week rolls on and the axle gets smoother. In the morning I walked to the metro and realized I left my pass back at the place and hadn't a single euro in my pocket with which to buy my fare. Hours later, however, it became apparent that the day would be a good one. Fresh dressed like a million bucks, I was eager to get my teach on. The sun shone and my shit was pretty much straight. I got bumped from a 6pm to a 3pm lesson, and after my religious observation of the vino tinto things went so well with the class that they asked me when I was teaching again so they could be sure to attend. After that, it was still 4pm and most of the day was ahead of me. I took the metro to Tribunal, which is only half way back to my flat, and had a long walk around Malasana to research for the night. I realized that even in the old city there is still so many gems for me to discover that I became energized. Walking home I made sure to imprint the images of the barrio on my mind and when I finally got to the flat I danced around for a bit as plans swirled in my head. Why not? It had been a productive week to say the least and much of my Monday homework was already done. There would be no sleep before the dawn. I still had many hours to kill and with my energy and the agreeable nature of the weather outside my window I decided to go run for the first time since I landed. I have a feeling I got a lot of strange looks along the way because I did not see nor have I yet seen a single runner along city streets. It was only when I got toward the Palacio Real that I found more of my kind. Following their lead I stumbled onto a massive network of tree-lined trails and grassy knolls which took me far from my origin. I finally got back into the city somewhere north of Gran Via and had a long way of navigating the increasingly congested streets of the old city ahead of me. 

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Things appear to me different yet the same. Streets, buildings, buses and trains. Kids with dyed hair and face hole jewelry sitting in circles with cigs and bottles, couples strolling by statues. But its got a different flavor. The buildings are similar to those in other European capitols but not really. Far grander in scale than anything save the Vatican in Rome, far more elaborate and ornate than anything save the Opera in Paris, the city seems like an experiment that was carried out under a series of unrelated stewards and never ended. People walk with the air of belonging but not with the arrogance of superiority that you find in many capitols. Bars and restaurants outnumber banks, post offices, and basically everything else 2 to 1, but they don't exist in the state of competitive fever that marks so many other metropoli. Beer can come in massive mugs or pequeno glasses, both with the requisite tapa to keep one from getting too strong a buzz. Cigarettes are smoked everywhere (except my flat, goddamnit) and the metro is the best I've seen in any city in my life. Perhaps I will elaborate on the metro alone in the future. In fact, every aspect I've seen can be discussed for pages, especially with the absence of photographs (which I continue to work on, half-assedly). 

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Anyway, tonight begins another weekend of Spanish practice, friend making, barrio exploration, and bohemian dance ceremonies. And a little consumption on the side. Ground zero - Chueca, for what's rumored to be one of the best bars for complimentary tapas with one's cerveza. This will be my first time in the barrio known for its parties and bars so I anticipate mucho excitement...the world spins round with lyrical sounds bumping and flowing from cobble to brick to mohawk to mojito with smiles and eyes and feet shuffling. horns honk but cars don't move as scooters slide by like sleds on ice while someone yells and another sneaks behind and all around children feeling like adults stepping on stones through a shallow but ancient river and you stand, trying to keep from jumping. Or maybe you just bump up against people in a bar. Anything can happen when the night turns to day rather than to sleep.