Casas and Spanish Dining Hours

Today was mostly filled with work, although there was a change of pace because I transitioned from research to actually writing about my topic. Also, I had a buddy working at the other desk in the same room! We didn’t talk much, however, because I think she is Italian and she was busy doing her own work. Our desks are in the front room of the company's building, a casa, near the kitchen and by the entryway. I get to see all the comings and goings of the company. It gets great light in there, too, and it has high ceilings which minimize how hot it gets.

The company is located in a decently-sized casa in an older part of Madrid. The casa is located on a quaint, one-way cobbled street, and the sidewalk is barely big enough to admit one person. It’s a little forbidding because all the casas have fences to mark the property, but a lot of them are lattice, which is great. I can see some of the houses and the lattice provides a great anchor for climbing plants, so vines and flowers hang over the fences while providing shade, too. No matter the time of day, the white cobblestone streets in that part of town always seems filled with light.

For lunch today, I navigated my way to the Alcampo. It is a big superstore similar to Target, but since it is European, it is naturally superior. I purchased some food and ate it in the office’s garden. Really, I am spoiled.

I feel like I move in half-time in Spain. Everything takes a lot longer than I think it will. Today, I got home from work around 8 p.m., went to the Lidl (a local, smaller grocery store) for some food and got back around 9 p.m., and didn’t have dinner until about 10:30 p.m. when the mother of the family had returned from work. A friend of the mother’s had come to chat and she stayed for dinner. Dinner lasted for almost two hours, yet it felt nowhere near that long. I can’t speak Spanish and the time passed amicably with the daughter translating what her mother and mother’s friend said. The later and later it became, the more pantomimes I did, the more relaxed I became, and the more comfortable I felt as I tried to communicate with the mother and friend, who do not speak English. These are people with whom I can really get along. And today, at least, it felt like my Spanish comprehension improved a little bit.

Tomorrow I have off – huzzah for Spanish holidays! I suppose I should invest some time to discover which holiday it is… But on more pressing matters, the family and I are going to spend the morning at the Madrid temple, and then we will be off to do something touristy. Oh, I am so excited! It’s my fourth day here and I have yet to visit Puerta del Sol or the Royal Palace or the Prado Museum. Also - special shoutout to my brother whose birthday it is today. I promise to get you something nice while I'm in Spain!

I like Spain.