A Weekend Getaway in Madrid!

Mario and me (Ecuador, 1998)

Hello friends!

I just spent a long weekend in Madrid visiting one of my best friends from my year in Ecuador (1998-99), Mario, who now lives there with his Spanish wife, Bea.  They were lovely hosts and fantastic tour guides who had me walking up and down and all around the streets of Madrid!  We ate and drank our way around the city taking in the sites and catching up on life. They have this fantastic set-up in Madrid where most bars have a deal that you buy a beer or tinto verano (red wine with something like a lime flavored soda water) for one or two Euros and you get to choose from a selection of tapas to go with it.  It's incredible!  I guess people were getting too drunk at bars, so there was a law put into place to make giving a bit of food a mandatory part of a typical beer order.  Love it!

Now you see the tapas and tinto verano....

...now you don't!

It was so nice to spend time with someone that I knew so long ago, even though I hadn't seen Mario since my last visit to Ecuador around 2007.  Our friendship is an example of one of those lifetime friendships/family members that I've spoken of before; that no matter how long you go without talking or seeing each other, you are always welcome to visit the other and good times will be had by all.  He's one of those people that you just cherish and hold dear because of how comfortable you feel when you meet up no matter how many years fall in between the visits.  So in between stories and laughs (and over cervecitas), we showed Bea photos from my year in Ecuador that I happened to have on my phone in which we always seem to be celebrating something; and they showed me pictures of their time in Iceland, where they met and fell in love.

And to top it all off, while we were touring the city on Saturday I walked right underneath a pidgeon as it shat the biggest of shits.  Fortunately (yes, fortunately!), I only got sprayed by some rogue splashes in my hair, on my face and a bit on my shirt too....but honestly, had you seen what landed on the sidewalk, you would realize how lucky that was!!!  I screamed a bit when I realized what had happened and again a few minutes later when Mario noticed there was some more by my lip...but I also laughed enough that I cried a bit.  And, as Bea assured me, it's good luck to be shat upon ;)

A few minutes before the pidgeon incident...

...and a few minutes after!

It took me at least two days to stop thinking in German, although every once and a while a word would slip into my Spanish sentences.  Sometimes, I'd have to ask them if the word I'd said was in Spanish or German because I was too mixed up in the languages to tell!  Really, it was kind of a fun problem to have ;)  By the middle of the weekend, I was thinking in Spanish...but knowing that I'd need to work even harder to switch back to German upon my return since German is a bit more difficult than Spanish.  Doh!  It was a welcome challenge and I'm sure my brain appreciated the challenge too.  Actually, before my flight took off from Madrid last night to come home to Berlin, the flight attendant came to tell the woman seated beside me with her one year old that there was a possibility that they could move to the back of the plane in order to have two seats instead of the one.  The flight attendant only spoke German and English, so the Spanish woman next to me chose to speak with her in German.  I was right there and heard everything, so I just said in German that it seemed easier if I just moved to the free seat in the row behind us so that the mother and daughter wouldn't have to move and the flight attendant wouldn't have to bother someone else.  Everyone was grateful for this small gesture on my part, and so I moved.  Then the woman I was meant to sit next to moved to the window seat so that I was stuck in the middle.  Honestly, since it was a night time flight and I wouldn't be able to see much but dark skies anyways, I really didn't mind.  However, the flight attendant was worried that I would be unhappy with the middle seat, so she asked if all was okay which got the Spanish woman now seated next to me worried.  I quickly assured everyone, in both German and Spanish, that all was okay and there was nothing to worry about; that I was fine where I ended up and it was no big deal at all.

In those quick and simple moments, I felt really happy that in such a rare occurrence when both of my extra languages were needed, I was so easily able to use them and communicate with all of the parties involved.  The thing is, I never took up learning languages for professional purposes...which is perfect since I've never had a job that necessitated them (although I would kind of love that!).  I learned Spanish and German simply because I loved the cultural aspect of getting to know about different countries and traditions.  And to me, what better way to do that than to learn languages??  I really love immersing myself into the culture within which I am living (whether it be for a few days, weeks, or months).....and, even if I'm not able to live somewhere else, I love the idea of expanding my language skills if for nothing else, than just for those unique moments in which they could randomly come in handy.  And, perhaps part of me loves being able to express myself in the additional languages simply for communication sake. I love to write so much and I'm typically emotionally expressive in my writing; so having two extra languages in which to have my thoughts, feel my emotions and write them out...well, it somehow multiplies it all a bit for me!  

Soooooo anyways, all in all it was a great weekend in sunny (and much warmer!) Madrid, full of things both old (my friendship with Mario) and new (my friendship with Bea and exploring Madrid)!

Old friends (Ecuador, 1998)

Mario, me and Bea underneath the Ecuadorian bakery's sign
(next door to their apartment building!)

New friends!