Me gusta Madrid. Battling the initial culture shock, it was hard not to find the differences exclusively. As if marking up Madrid with a red pen would help me fit in better; it’s part of the process. But alas, I’ve moved on from this stage.
For one, Madrid has the best public transportation I've ever experienced, one of the best in the world. This doesn't mean I didn't chase buses regularly—cause I sure did. Riding a bus for an hour to get somewhere 20 minutes away is still and always will be purely infuriating, but it’s doable. If I had to rely on getting to work via public transportation, then I'm glad it was here. Madrid is like many major cities in this world. That being said, it's a hell of a lot safer. They told us at orientation that most incidents are theft and happen after 10 pm usually when drinking is involved. So if you know me well, you know I make it an absolute priority to make the occasions when those factors are present as scarce as possible. But from my American perspective, after living in Philly for the past few years, that subtracts a lot of other fears like assault and harassment taking precedence.
Madrid is alive at night and almost never feels "sketchy." But perhaps its timetable isn't meant for me. Really there's no point in being downtown before 10 am (unless you have an appointment and I can’t say I’m very interested in appointments before that time.) It is however not uncommon to go home at 6 am when the buses start up again. 'Partying' in Europe should be a sport. It starts at midnight and goes till the early AM in ways my sleep schedule could never comprehend. I can't say I've really partaken in the full extent of all that. My sleepy body heads for the buses around 10 pm it seems and it has to as not to be stuck downtown. At midnight on weekdays, I am absolutely Cinderella and fear turning into a sitting pumpkin when the ‘campanas’ (bell chimes) at medianoche (midnight.)
It is painfully normal in Europe to sleep with the windows open. I do not understand this obsession with 'fresh air' (when your neighbors aren't smoking or cooking the nicest meal you cannot have.) They air out the whole house exceptionally regularly. It can be nice until there's a storm and you have to run home and frantically close your windows. The noise of school children, leaf blowers, construction, and people passing by has tainted my morning routine. See, I prefer to sleep in a cave: dark, quiet and chilly. But alas even if you do lose a few Zs to the world, there's always the blessed naptime siesta after lunch. 3 pm to 5 pm in the afternoon is perfectly acceptable to take a load off, and I do partake maybe 35% of the time. Waiting for such a late lunch does create some difficulty for me, but there's also no pressure to make lunch before you're ravenous. If good things come to those who wait, then lunch should be so good every day, no?
The croissant and coffee breakfast doesn’t hold me for very long. I still have a wonky relationship with coffee as I don’t need to drink it every day, yet more and more often, I do now… and I have no divine love for pastries (although I would understand if you did.) They are pretty. I do love the "no to-go coffee" culture. It's nice to sit down for breakfast. Most Americans I know only have that luxury on the weekends. Breakfast was pop tarts in the car or hot toast in a paper towel. The tradition carries on in the afternoons/evenings with beer too. I believe I have only sat down and only drank beer in a bar maybe once in America, but here, it happens all the time. Drinking is quite frequent, and that stereotype is true. It's pretty hard not to drink as almost every social encounter includes a drink and water tragically costs money nearly everywhere.
If you asked me if I like ham a couple years ago I would have said no. I would have said I try to avoid red meat. I might even recount how I tried to be a vegetarian in college but failed miserably due to the fast food industry and the college lifestyle. I still try to avoid red meat but Spain doesn’t make it easy. Cheeseburgers don’t make it easy. And glorious jamón does not make it easy. There are different types of jamón, ibérico ham has 4 different types alone. But the three major types of Spanish Jamón is Serrano, Ibérico and Ibérico de Bellota. Ibérico ham is better objectively, it’s darker and heartier. There’s also the regular saf cold cut slices of ham referred to as jamón york, which I of course use as reference to my hometown. If you ever want to get a Spainard going you can bring up ham, or whether they like onions in their Spanish tortilla ‘omelet.’ The point is, jamón is amazing and I recommend it. Try not to judge when I say I got 2 kilos of it for Christmas and it'll be gone by semana santa ‘holy week’ aka Easter.
I wrote most of this post this summer before I left for Galicia. Being away from Madrid has given more clarity. My favorite thing about Madrid is the amount of things to do at any given time. I love the interconnectedness of a big city, the variety, the exposure. When I get back to Madrid I declare this as a proclamation to try more culturally diverse cuisine. This one sushi delivery place in town and otherwise a 30 minute bus ride isn’t cutting it… the one singular curry, the overpriced tacos. I would like to go to more art exhibits and museums. Madrid has a famous old meat factory called Matadero that has different interactive exhibits all the time, I’ve seen two including one about Gustav Klimt. I will take great pleasure in Madrid’s general flatness topography-wise. I will ride the gloriously inexpensive train, my favorite transportation and try to ride the teleférico (cable car) seasonally. I vow to try every rooftop bar, in time. I want to meet new people all the time from all different places in life.
As per usual, this is only some of my goals and thoughts. I am hoping to return to Madrid and really sink my teeth in there. My next post will be all about Galicia as I’ve alluded to it here. I am having a wonderful time here in Spain. Perhaps I should also make a post about my Christmas break, it was so very busy. I’m posting this in between teaching classes, as it is one of my many New Year’s resolutions to blog more. So stay with me friends, I appreciate it. Hasta luego.
I love your blog!! Thank you for sharing ☺️🫶
Very jealous of the pace of life you're describing. Sit-down breakfasts and midday naps is the dream for me. And my feelings about the space I get now vs the advantages of city life are very conflicted as well.