After a very, very long two weeks, I am so pleased to report that we now have internet at home! Only now does life begin to take on a more normal feel. Little had we realized how utterly dependent we had become on technology, especially being so far from all of our friends and family.
During the last two weeks, Fede went to Segovia for the inauguration of the MBA program. Segovia is about two hours away and he said it was very nice (no pics to show yall, sorry). After quite a bit of paperwork and appointments, we also got the kids enrolled in school -yay!- The school is called La Natividad de Nuestra Senora (The Birth of Our Lady). It's about half a kilometer's walking distance from our apartment, so roughly 6 minutes walking. Their first day was last Wednesday.
The kids wear uniforms and they were actually happy about it. They both look very formal and cute. I hope the novelty won't wear off too soon!
Above they are dressed in the formal uniforms. They also have a sport sweatsuit and then something similar to a smock that they wear over everything called a "baby" but they pronounce it "ba-bi" --which is kind of humorous!
Each day I drop them off at 8:55am at school. Then, at 12:50 pm I pick them up for lunch. We come home, eat, they play with Francisco and at 2:45 we walk back to school. I come home with Frankie and he naps and then we go pick up Ale and Antonio at 5pm at school. While it is close, this entails 8 walks for me (4 daily trips), amounting to 4 km. This, in addition to any other errands (10-20 minute walks) leaves me pretty tired by the end of the day. Good exercise though!
The school schedule is bizarre (for us) in that lunch is late and they get out late (5pm) but we're trying to work with it, because we have no choice! I also have the option of paying extra so that the kids can eat/stay at school from 1-3 (sorry no packed lunches allowed here). This is probably going to become a necessity every now and then so that my day is not so compartementalized and dependent on picking and dropping them off. After all, I have to get out to the museums!! tee-hee
One great thing about Madrid is that groceries are delivered to our apartment (for free if you spend over a certain amount). It is a huge advantage to not have to cart groceries home. I could get used to that back in the states!!
In addition, we have found that certain foods are actually cheap here (ok, don't think about the euro-dollar conversion). A baguette for .50 cents, two good bottles of wine for $6, Spanish potato-egg tortilla is 1.5 euros, so we are definitely learning what things are our go-to foods.
One major disadvantage: NO CLOTHES DRYER. Yes...you heard right. The vast majority of homes do not have a dryer. Here, we have to line-dry everything. This is not as as simple or convenient as I initially thought it would be (for example, a minute ago I accidentally dropped a pillow case that was hanging over the balcony and now I have to go knock on our neighbor's door downstairs because it fell on to their drying rack..urgh). We also have a moveable drying rack beautifully displayed in our living room with everything from underwear and socks to Fede's work shirts.... The kids complain that all their underwear is stiff and rough, so now I find myself ironing everything to compensate. Towels feel like sandpaper. I suppose we'll get used to it, otherwise we'll have to breakdown and get a dryer.
The weather has been getting colder and wetter. Umbrellas have become an indispensible accessory (even for Fede who says he's getting in touch with his feminine side as he totes his around!). Luckily, Fede's bus stop is right around the corner and in fifteen minutes he's at IE Business School. As for me, I don't have to get on the subway daily or bus for that matter because most things are closeby. All last week was orientation for him so he was gone every day, all day.
We're starting to get the hang of things as far as making our way around the neighborhood, grocery shopping, school, going to Mass, the park and then venturing around Madrid on weekends. I will take pictures and send them soon.
One thing that we can't seem to get used to is the amount of people who smoke. Seriously. I thought smoking was a thing of the past, at least in the U.S. it is. But not here, boy, EVERYONE smokes. In fact, I have to keep the door to the balcony closed otherwise the kitchen smells like smoke from all of the neighbors.
Another thing that has been tricky to manage is the "business hour" concept in Spain. Most businesses close some time in the afternoon: 2-4, 3-5pm so it's likely that you can show up somewhere and it's not open. Some businesses don't open til 10am, but then they may close later (8, 9 pm). Just the other day I went to the public library first thing in the morning and the children's section didn't open til 3pm. So we have no books yet :)
Customer Service is also not a concept that has been well developed in Spain. The Spaniards don't seem to be interested in getting one's business. I guess they figure if it's not you, it'll be someone else who buys their stuff, so who cares. The slogan "the customer is always right" doesn't fly here. It's more like "If you don't like the way I do business get lost".
A week ago, Fede went to buy a formal dress shirt and a tie at a nearby store. When he went to try on the shirt (afterall, European sizes are different from U.S. sizes) the salesman told him he couldn't try it on. Well, then, Fede figured he would just return it if it didn't fit. Nope: can't return merchandise either! hahha. The salesman very assuredly told him it would fit. And, lo and behold, it did :)
Tomorrow I will tell ya'll about Toledo, so stay tuned!!
