We have internet! Woooooooo! The entire process was pretty painless, aside from a 20-minute wait at Telefónica yesterday and our technician having the thickest Madrileño accent ever--very difficult to understand on the phone. Speaking of which, I have a cell phone now... not that it is very useful to those of you reading from the States, but if you happen to be a Madrileño (honorary or otherwise) let me know and we can get in touch! So, here I am, day 4 in Madrid. So far I've gotten some things set up, all that's left is to set up my bank account and get started on my National ID/residence card etc etc. We are supposed to hear a bit about that at orientation this week, but Erica, the girl who lived in this piso last year and helped me get set up here has been telling me a lot of useful information to keep in mind.
I've mostly been showing Tasha around Madrid since she's never been here before, and it's strange to think that I actually know this city better than someone after spending only a month here a year ago. We've been to the "must-sees" of Madrid already--Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, shops on Gran Vía, etc--but we haven't yet hit Retiro or anything North of Sol, really. She said she's been giving an entire day for every task that she'd normally take an hour to do in England, and that isn't such a bad idea.
Last night, we watched the movie (500) Days of Summer to swoon over Joseph Gordon-Levitt rather than fight the throngs of people in Sol that we saw there all day yesterday. Near the end of the movie, around midnight, fireworks started going off very nearby. It sounded like they were going off inside our apartment and the ashes were falling on the roof! We couldn't figure out why fireworks would be going off aside from maybe the end of the Real Madrid game, but their stadium (Santiago Bernabéu) is nowhere close to where we live! Very strange.
This morning we woke up early and got out to the Rastro to see what goodies were being offered. Nothing special for me, unfortunately, but Tasha bought a few Spanish books to get back in practice. After that, a quick snack at 100 Montaditos before coming back here to deal with the internet (an obvious success) and watch Fear Factor in Spanish. Very strange.
Finally, Sonal has asked me to continue the Tour de Sangria, and so here are my first contributions!
Sangria 1: from La Soberbia, near Tio Pepe in Sol
This sangria was absolutely perfect!
Sangria 2: from Cañas y Tapas near Sol
This was on-demand sangria--wine, lemon Kas, and a few pieces of fruit.