Casa de Charo: line-drying laundry, salty salads and TV.

I have been living with my señora, Charo (short for Maria de Rosario) (wait, how is that short for Rosario? Weird, Spain, weird), for a little over a week now. I don't really know how to say how thankful I am that I ended up with her. This past Sunday I went into a bakery I pass a few times every day on the way to school and bought us two pastries to have with cena (dinner) and said thank you to her for our first week. She is sincerely the most comfortable part of my life here so far and after all of the stories that I heard about crazy señoras and their "rules" and weird habits, I am so glad that Charo is as relaxed, kind and genuine as I could hope for. Last weekend when I was panicking and I started to cry on the first night, she was so good to me and helped me calm down, even walking me out to the elevator. This past week we have had a lot of good conversations about her life, my life, family, independence, etc, and I'm really glad that even though sometimes there is a language barrier, we understand each other well.

We also have a lot in common, here is a short list:
1. We like chocolate.
2. We like cheese.
3. We wake up late and are in a hurry in the morning.
4. We like to watch movies on tv. (Well, I never thought this was something that I liked but now I do).
5. We sometimes laugh at what the more conservative party says in press releases (In Spain, it's the PP - Partido Popular).
6. We like turquoise and coral. (She sells jewelry on the weekends in a pueblo outside of Madrid! How cool! I am going with her some day when it's warmer).
7. We are independent/self sufficient.
8. We like to drive.
9. We like bargains.
10. We stay up late.

All in all, my interactions with Charo have been some of the best parts of Madrid so far.

For those who are interested, here is a little run-down of what I do everyday:
1. Charo comes barrelling past my room to the kitchen (next to my room) to make café (coffee) at 7.30am. I mutter to myself that I didn't want to wake up until 7.45, and listen to her making me lunch to put in the fridge while I wait for my alarm to go off. Recently, I haven't woken up to her moving around but to my alarm so I must be getting used to sleeping with noise. Usually I don't actually get out of bed until closer to 8. This isn't a good idea.
2. While Fernando snores in his bedroom next to the bathroom, I take a shower in Charo's round-ish shower.
3. Charo leaves, rushing.
4. I rush around eating between the kitchen and my bedroom getting everything together and thinking about how I should actually get out of bed at 7.45 tomorrow.
5. I leave the apartment, see the bustle of tons of kids and parents heading to school, professionals going to work, and shopkeepers opening up and walk the two blocks to the Instituto for class at 9am.
6. I leave class and take the Metro to my internship in el Barrio de las Letras at Arana-Poveda. I get a little more comfortable with this windy, confusing neighborhood every day.
7. I sit in the backroom of the gallery and translate press releases, presentations and various other publications into English and struggle with how to get Photoshop on my Mac for free.
8. I leave at 2, and take the Metro back to heat up the almuerzo (lunch) Charo has left in the nevera (fridge) for me.
9. Sometimes I have another class at 4, sometimes I do homework, sometimes I go to a museum or something (Thursdays usually) and sometimes, I do, actually, take a siesta (nap).
10. Charo comes home at 6, we have dinner at 8 or 8.30 (early for Spaniards) and I do homework/play on my computer/watch a movie with Charo/go shopping/etc.

At first, I had a hard time because life here seemed like there was a lot of "nothing" going on... I felt like I wasn't busy enough. I am getting busier with my internship, but I'm also learning to relax into the leisure of being able to do whatever I want with my afternoons and evenings. Sometimes I watch movies (usually they are American movies dubbed in Spanish) with Charo... she LOVES TV, we always have the set on during dinner. Also, we have salad EVERY single night, which is nice, and she's being very "sneaky" about figuring out what I like. I finally told her I didn't like uncooked tomatoes, and then she started adding other things like carrots, cucumbers and corn and seeing what I ate. It's very cute. There is no salad dressing. We put olive oil and salt (what?!) on our salads, and I always end up putting too much salt because I can't see it, so I feel like that is taking away some from the nutritional value of the vegetables. But anyway, that is neither here nor there...

Other things I have done in Spain so far:
1. Visit Toledo with my program. It was a beautiful, beautiful old city but the streets were so small, steep and cobblestone-y that my calves hurt for two days after from walking around all day. I am so glad I saw it though.
2. Go to a Spanish movie, También la Lluvía, which was so good! I followed the plot, didn't understand all of the dialogue, but really really loved the theme/overall message.
3. Try to start planning travel - hopefully my first trip will be to Salamanca the weekend after this one coming!
4. Walked around a lot by myself looking at things.
5. Tried churros con chocolate - incredible.
6. Went to El Rastro - this HUGE market/flea market thing that is all within this neighborhood, covering several streets and plazas (not strip malls - more like small "commons" to use a New England-y word) that is set up every Sunday and perused Madrileño wares.

There is probably a lot more but this is already incredibly long and includes more than two lists so I should limit myself and go to bed... and maybe actually get out of bed at 7.45 tomorrow morning like I mean to...

Hasta pronto!