Vague Ruminations

Some firsts:

First day I saw a Spanish lady wearing Uggs. I was shocked.

I saw my first seeing eye dog. He was on the metro, and he was lying down in the middle of a very crowded metro car. I wonder if he gets stepped on a lot that way.

Speaking of the metro, and its crowded-ness factor: I'm really surprised I don't hate it. Usually when there are crowds and traffic jams and people walking every which way (okay, I know I walk into people sometimes, but this is different), I usually proceed to announce that I "hate people". But somehow here it's different, maybe because it's somewhat to be expected. Nothing says "good morning" like being pressed up against someone a little too close.

Also, the metro is PDA central. On the platform, benches, in the train cars themselves. I'm all for a little affection but yesterday after spending 5 stops with an older couple making out (lots of noisy sound effects included), I was ready to applaud when they parted ways.

Riding the metro has also caused me to start giving people a once-over from the bottom up. Even though Spaniards seem to be more okay with making eye contact in the metro than New Yorkers, I find myself starting at the shoes and looking up, whereas in the states I never really notice past the shirt. (Maybe also because people wear more interesting shoes here, and I try and guess Americans by their footwear. It doesn't usually work. Except for Uggs.

Another difference between New Yorkers and Madrileños. Here, no one ever really seems to be in a hurry. Yes, sometimes it's extremely crowded when I get off the metro and people are definitely pushing and moving, but it's not really urgent. Drives me nuts when I'm actually going to be late! Also, everyone reads on the metro. I have a hard enough time learning to keep my balance without holding on to a pole... I guess that will be a goal for the semester.

Another thing that I've had to get used to here: the sunset. Even though I'm basically on the same latitude line as Princeton, the sun sets here a lot closer to 7:30 or 8pm. But in the morning, when I have to wake up at 7am, it's pitch dark, with the sun just starting to come up around 8 when I leave for school. Luckily when I emerge from the metro 35 minutes later it's a bright sunny day.

Today I was also informed I wash my hair too much by my señora. I didn't even have a reply for that except, "um, okay". Or rather "vale", as they say in España.

Foods I'm craving: frosted mini wheats