Welp, That Was Fun - Back to Real(ish) Life

So, I'm off to a trawling start in 2011. I have been reading and "writing" and puttering around on the computer, doing a little experimental cooking, keeping a fairly low profile. I've still been thinking about new themes to put up, and I'm entranced with the idea of posting about pants/trousers (in my lexicon, they are the same thing).

You have seen this before.

However, part of me also thinks that it's okay just writing about myself, my works and days. Riiight now, however, I am searching for internships for this summer. They are the banes of my holidays.

I officially dislike searching for internships, because what you're looking for in terms of company/experience isn't exactly what prospective companies are offering. Companies and organizations are forever looking for the perfect, cancer-curing intern. I don't know exactly what I'm looking for, and I have a feeling that companies aren't looking for me.

It feels like every advert for intern jobs goes something like this.

"We want a creative, energetic, intelligent, self-motivated intern to do a few menial jobs and learning the basics about our industry. She must be willing to wash away the tears of blood that her forebears have shed with her own lignin. At all times her body must resonate at a perfect A flat that will bring harmony to the universe while entertaining her superiors. Her skin must shine through rainbows, and her brain must be able to sense macro- and microwaves. Being able to microwave leftovers with said brain is a huge plus.

"P.S. This internship is unpaid, but we might be willing to give you some compensation. Like a bus pass."

Sigh. Bus passes are better than nothing, though.

Part of landing an internship is to sell yourself, but there can't be too much of a discrepancy between what you are and how good you make yourself sound. I may have done so a bit last year, which is why I wasn't that great of an intern, I feel.

Last year's internship did come with some pretty awesome experiences, though, and overall I did learn a lot.

Estoy Cansada

I have less than a month left to go in my internship, and I’m tired.

I’m tired of trying to understand a language that I still don’t speak very well, of mosquitoes that bite me in the night, of jokes that I don’t get because they don’t have the right influx, of working and having the work that I do ripped apart. I’ve gotten used to the metro, I’ve gotten used to going to the local supermarkets, I’ve even gotten used to managing on just minimal food because – I admit it – can’t cook very well over here. I’m sick of feeling useless and superfluous. I hate feeling like I’m stupid, which is what this internship does to me a lot – however, it’s teaching me to have a tough skin in a way that school can’t teach.

I bought more stamps earlier today, and I went to my English bookstore yesterday. I’m happy with the three new books I have – Cymbeline, St. Mawr and the Man Who Died, and World Fall – but I’m not as excited as I was when I got the Colour of Magic (which I finished today) and The Book of Lost Things. You won’t be seeing any pictures of me peering over the tops of these books, although I’m really interested in the D.H. Lawrence St. Mawr and the Man Who Died.

I suppose that I can’t be happy and satisfied all the time, or energized and ready to take on all of my tasks. However, I can be optimistic – I can get a good night’s rest tonight, not stay up way too late perusing other blogs or working on this blog, and perusing the internet for good recipes I want to make. (I don't want to have another salami-ham-cheese sandwich for dinner, although they are quite heavenly on any other day.)

Being self-sufficient makes me feel good about myself. Doesn’t it?

"I Just Told You My Dreams" - Eddi

Oof

Today one of my fellow interns quit. Her decision was unexpected, and it caused the rest of the interns to have to scramble to learn how to do her tasks and get them done today. Needless to say, it threw a wrench in my project planning, as well as everyone else's projects, but such is life.

I understand her reasons for leaving the company, but she will be missed, especially by me. She sat at the desk directly across from mine, and I had to go through the day without having anyone to look at, tell me about the crazy things she had to moderate, or ask me about an obscure English word I may or may not be able to explain. I have inherited her office plant, and it will be looked after.

With this new development, I certainly won't be bored at work anytime soon.

My co-worker and I are taking a Spanish language course together, and we had class this evening. So I got to see her, and afterwards we stopped at a little cafe alongside the Parque de El Retiro. It was good getting to chat with her and to see her in a setting outside of class and work. We chatted about work and experiences as the sun faded over the Spanish sky.

It was very nice.

This One Has Pictures Which Are Not on Facebook

This morning I needlessly took the bus again to Retiro because Magi thought the Metro was still down. We stayed up last night trying to figure out a quicker way to get to my work via train and bus – however, I don’t think there is a quick way. And once I was sure that the Metro was running this morning, I got off the stop and walked to Principe de Vergara. Ohh, Principe de Vergara is such a beautiful name. It’s not a very beautiful street, but it means so many things – you’re in the Centre, you have access to a lot of lines. (It's the same with Avenida de América.)

Today at work was different – instead of writing and editing, I finally got to publish some things on the internets! Yay! You cannot see them yet because they’re invisible when I’m not working on them (which is anywhere between midnight and midday for those of you stateside, depending on where you are in the States). They probably won’t be up for another month because of PR, but rest assured that my day at work was good.

I’m making plans to visit this place so that I can get myself a book in English. I finished the only English novel I brought from home a few weeks ago, and it's time to purchase some more Metro-reading material, especially since the Metro seems to be back online. The English bookstore is in the opposite direction of where I live, so it will be an adventure.

And I need to go on another adventure to find stamps. I need an estanco, but they’re never around when you need them.

Now it is picture time – which aren’t on Facebook, so readers will have some incentive to read this blog.

This is proof that I stood in front of the Museum Reina Sofia. I went inside it, too, but no pictures were allowed.

Inside the Catedrale de la Almuneda

Modern stained-glass window. Very pretty.

La, la, lala la la-la. This is from the day trip to Toledo. I think the Alcazar is the large squarish building behind me.

La Catedrale de la Almuneda, right in front of the Palacio Real.

Got my sights and pull trigger... That is actually really terrible.

This is a whole mis-mash of different days. There is no rhyme to these photos (except for the common factor of being taken in Madrid), nor reason to how they were ordered.

I'd like to do a trip to Segovia soon. I would really, really like to go to Barcelona at some point, or visit some acquaintances down in Sevilla. However, I have made no plans on that front yet.

Blogging compatriots, make me accountable to you if I do not go to Barcelona.

In front of the Palacio Real.

The Catholic version of Heaven... an endless eternity of waiting rooms, going on and on...

This is also from the weekend in Toledo. I'm sorry Shakespeare, but I had a weekend fling with Cervantes.

Hey, this is also from Toledo. Alfonso VI, anyone?

I'm trying to mess with your perception, but I think it's going to end up in a very bad, poorly-laid-out post.

Why the Bus System is Marginally Okay

Today I had so many thoughts running through my head. There has been a massive public transportation strike in Madrid over the past two days, and a good three hours of my day was eaten up taking buses from one stop to the next. Standing in a bus for three hours gives you a lot of time to think, and I thought about strange things as I was crowded in a moving vehicle, swaying back and forth. I was very close to a pole, and I almost felt like a pole dancer in the midst of a massive, transportation-al orgy. Sorry, I should censor that. My attempt to be funny didn’t really work out. I’ll be sticking to straighter stuff from here on out.

I thought about posting how much I dislike buses. Oh wait I already did that. I thought about posting some stories and observations I noted while riding the train. They will be coming shortly.

What made my day interesting was that I jumped on the first bus that came to my stop. This wasn’t the wrong bus, but it wasn’t the right bus, either. I needed to get to Sol, one of the big tourist hubs, and switch buses so I could go back to “mi casa,” and the bus that came was heading that way. I did not realize that Sol was the end of the line, and I was at the beginning of the line. I shrugged my shoulders and felt that it was okay to take this bus; I haven’t taken buses much before, so I don’t know the topside of Madrid very well. I took this chance to get to know it a little better.

I let myself get lost.

I knew I was getting lost, and I kind of knew where I was the entire time, but it was wonderful. Walking down the streets listening to my iPod as it played this song (yes, the video is cheesy), seeing the architecture and the people and the fountains. Back home, I used to go walking or driving if I wanted to be alone. I figured out how to be alone in Madrid: hop on a bus. Even though I am surrounded by people, it’s like moving in a sea of loneliness. Wow, I am tired and oh my goodness it’s late for me.

Anyway, I learned today that I still don’t know my way around very well in Madrid yet, even after being here a month. I’ve been able to navigate the bus system passably, but I can’t simply wander around. The wandering will get you farther and farther away from the right bus stop sometimes.

(Argh, I want to rewrite this post and make it pretty and beautiful and poetic, but that will have to wait for some other time. Today really did feel like a page from a story.)

((I also have the phrase, "stranger in a strange land" reverberating in my head. "No more a stranger, nor a guest, but like a child at home"?))

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.