Wednesday, February 24, 2010
9:10 AM | 
Posted by
Sebastian M
Last night I went to bed expecting everyone to be back from their weekend adventures by the time I awoke. When I woke up this morning however, no traveling room mates were to be found. When I got back from classes I ran into my French room mate who had just gotten back and he explained to me what was happening to everyone, I quote.
"Well the French airlines decided to go on strike for four days simple because they're French and that's what they do. Then the German pilots decided they liked the idea so they went on strike too. At that point all hell broke loose for 24 hours until the Germans realized they weren't getting any work done and they're not French. Then they went back to work and I was able to grab a 4:30 a.m flight home"
At this time my room mates are slowly trickling in, but I think the fragile state of affairs with airline companies has become very clear.
Viva la résistance!
"Well the French airlines decided to go on strike for four days simple because they're French and that's what they do. Then the German pilots decided they liked the idea so they went on strike too. At that point all hell broke loose for 24 hours until the Germans realized they weren't getting any work done and they're not French. Then they went back to work and I was able to grab a 4:30 a.m flight home"
At this time my room mates are slowly trickling in, but I think the fragile state of affairs with airline companies has become very clear.
Viva la résistance!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
It's close to 1 in the morning. I'm sitting alone in the living room with my laptop. It's been a quiet night with no one around. But just as I'm about to call it a night, my epic battle begins. Two small beeps shatter the silence. At first, I think it's simply the dishwasher informing me it's done, or the electric stove top acting up again. I let it pass and carry on in my vegetative state. It doesn't stop though and after the third time I go to the kitchen to investigate - it's the dryer.
You see, our dryer is not connected to our plumbing and therefore has a removable compartment in which all the water goes. Nice and simple, before you start your load you empty all the water into the sink. It's usually not a problem, but when you wait long enough to have a pile of dirty laundry and the washing machine doesn't have a rinse cycle, things begin to get a little complicated. The water cartridge had filled up and this was the second time now that I was emptying it. No easy task when you have to turn off the the machine to take out the cartridge and then restart machine, at which point the machine will determine how it feels and either work or not work.
It's nearing 2 in the morning now and the battle is over. I'm left with a pile of steaming damp clothing to fold and the water cartridge to empty for the next unsuspecting victim. Sweet dreams.
You see, our dryer is not connected to our plumbing and therefore has a removable compartment in which all the water goes. Nice and simple, before you start your load you empty all the water into the sink. It's usually not a problem, but when you wait long enough to have a pile of dirty laundry and the washing machine doesn't have a rinse cycle, things begin to get a little complicated. The water cartridge had filled up and this was the second time now that I was emptying it. No easy task when you have to turn off the the machine to take out the cartridge and then restart machine, at which point the machine will determine how it feels and either work or not work.
It's nearing 2 in the morning now and the battle is over. I'm left with a pile of steaming damp clothing to fold and the water cartridge to empty for the next unsuspecting victim. Sweet dreams.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
People in Madrid wear clothing just like everyone else, but it's the amount of clothing that sets them apart. Even if you went into your closet right now and attempted to dress in half the clothing you own, you wouldn't be much competition for the Madrid's Fashion Elite. I say "Fashion Elite" of course, because not everyone is layer crazy. The majority of people I've seen here maybe wear two scarfs instead of one, perhaps an extra shirt over their shirt, or maybe they're just wearing a second jacket. Also, the ladies LOVE their leather knee top stilettos here. I can guarantee you that there will not be a day that goes by in which you do not see a woman with a pair on. When I see them, I just wonder how long it takes to get them on.
But back to the Fasion Elite, one of whom just happens to be Pedro. Pedro, is a friend of mine from one of my classes and he is a true Madrileño. A man who tries to put deep thought into management and warned me that the terrorists would try to impress me in San Sebastián, but other than that he is a superb example of the fashion in Madrid. One day he walked into class with a t-shirt, a shirt, a sweater, a jacket, a trench-coat over that, and then of course to top it all off, he had two scarfs on. Although you're thinking that Pedro wouldn't be able to make it out the door at this point, it was in fact that exact opposite. He looked good. The only draw back I can imagine is the heat, if you're enter a warm room with all that clothing on you're most likely to loose a few pounds in sweat. But I've learned that Madrileños have an extremely low tolerance for cold, after returning to my room everyday and finding that it has the same temperature as hydrogen fusion with my room mate under a blanket shivering.
In the end, everyone wears clothing.
Although some studies would beg differ on that comment:
http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/neuro/get-naked-it’s-good-your-brain
Good Night, Sleep Tight.
But back to the Fasion Elite, one of whom just happens to be Pedro. Pedro, is a friend of mine from one of my classes and he is a true Madrileño. A man who tries to put deep thought into management and warned me that the terrorists would try to impress me in San Sebastián, but other than that he is a superb example of the fashion in Madrid. One day he walked into class with a t-shirt, a shirt, a sweater, a jacket, a trench-coat over that, and then of course to top it all off, he had two scarfs on. Although you're thinking that Pedro wouldn't be able to make it out the door at this point, it was in fact that exact opposite. He looked good. The only draw back I can imagine is the heat, if you're enter a warm room with all that clothing on you're most likely to loose a few pounds in sweat. But I've learned that Madrileños have an extremely low tolerance for cold, after returning to my room everyday and finding that it has the same temperature as hydrogen fusion with my room mate under a blanket shivering.
In the end, everyone wears clothing.
Although some studies would beg differ on that comment:
http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/neuro/get-naked-it’s-good-your-brain
Good Night, Sleep Tight.
Monday, February 8, 2010
The first thing that I would like to share is that today I won a half a gallon of milk at the grocery store today. I can already tell that it's going to be an amazing day and would like to thank the academy for making this moment possible.
But anyway, now it's time for a serious matter that I have come to notice after weeks of careful observation, Madrid has direction problems. It's something that you would never notice as you sit at a cafe and watch city life, but after a while you start to see it. My first example is that people drive here on the right, given that they are on one of the rare streets with multiple lanes. Yet, the Madrid metro system uses the English system of moving forward on the left lane. But that’s not all, it seems that every metro station decided to flip a coin on which way they would set up their escalator or stair system, sometimes you go up on the left and other times you’re going up on the right. This can lead to much confusion if you do don’t pay close attention to where you’re going. I’m curious to know if it has anything to do with the flow of human traffic, but I have yet to find anything to support this theory. For a long time I thought this only applied to the metro system, but I have now finally come to realize that every Madrilèno on the streets also flips a direction coin in their head. I never know if someone moving towards me is going to pass me on the left or the right which has gotten me some interesting looks from elderly Spanish women. So I say this to you now, if I bump into you when I see you next, then I’m sorry but it seems I’ve grown my own direction coin. Welcome to Madrid, and now it’s time for a siesta before scuba classes. Adios!
But anyway, now it's time for a serious matter that I have come to notice after weeks of careful observation, Madrid has direction problems. It's something that you would never notice as you sit at a cafe and watch city life, but after a while you start to see it. My first example is that people drive here on the right, given that they are on one of the rare streets with multiple lanes. Yet, the Madrid metro system uses the English system of moving forward on the left lane. But that’s not all, it seems that every metro station decided to flip a coin on which way they would set up their escalator or stair system, sometimes you go up on the left and other times you’re going up on the right. This can lead to much confusion if you do don’t pay close attention to where you’re going. I’m curious to know if it has anything to do with the flow of human traffic, but I have yet to find anything to support this theory. For a long time I thought this only applied to the metro system, but I have now finally come to realize that every Madrilèno on the streets also flips a direction coin in their head. I never know if someone moving towards me is going to pass me on the left or the right which has gotten me some interesting looks from elderly Spanish women. So I say this to you now, if I bump into you when I see you next, then I’m sorry but it seems I’ve grown my own direction coin. Welcome to Madrid, and now it’s time for a siesta before scuba classes. Adios!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Hey folks! Sorry I've been absent for a while, but I've had a busy week. Here are some photos from last weekend when I went to Toledo and Segovia with some friends.
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