Edificio Metrópolis

Mercado (Market) Day

One of my favorite things about Madrid is/are (idk - English grammar isn't a high priority for me these days) the markets.  Saturday morning is my 'explore the market fun time' of the week.  Sometimes I decide to be really adventurous, sometimes I just buy normal stuff, and sometimes I just wander around and enjoy looking at things.

I've been wanting to try a new recipe for beef barley stew.  So, my mission this morning was to find reasonably priced stew meat.  I ended up at my usual butcher and took a number.  While I was waiting, I listened to pieces of the various conversations happening around me and watched the butchers fill orders since I find that incredibly interesting.

The mercado knife sharpener (afilador), Luis, saw me waiting and came over to say hi, so we chatted a bit.  He gave me a hard time about always coming to the market when the lines are long and we joked about that a little.  Then he asked me what I needed to get, so I showed him my list.  Then he gave me a hard time about it being in English.  I laughed and told him he had a good point.  Might as well write my future lists in Spanish - why not?

Anyways, they called my number and I ordered a half kilo of pork chops, and a kilo of stew meat.  So, I'll tackle that stew recipe tomorrow.  But for now, I'm going to download some Spanish podcasts then go explore an area of the city that my language exchange partner showed me last night.  Looked like there were some interesting places to discover!

The butcher slicing my pork chops.  Good job guy!

Typical Breakfast

One of the ways we're trying to meet people and become part of the neighborhood is by being regulars at various places.  I searched for a while before finding a couple of cafes that like to go in the mornings to study and work.  I usually get a cup of tea or a cafe con leche (coffee with milk), and then for another 50 cents or so I can get something for breakfast.

Here's my usual at this cafe - pan con tomate y aceite (bread/toast with tomato and olive oil).  I should probably switch it up sometime.  But I am absolutely and without doubt not a morning person, so my adventurous nature usually hasn't kicked in enough for me to change my order and try something new :).

Step 1.  Drizzle some lovely olive oil on the toast.

Step 2.  Spread fresh tomato and sprinkle with a little salt.

Step 3.  Enjoy and continue studying.

Calle Mayor

Watching the people walk by during a break in training.

Residency

Last week, we received the great news that our residency had been approved for the next two years!  However, we also learned that we needed to get to Malaga before March 3 to finish up a few things for our new residency cards.  So, most of us headed down there on Tuesday (the Harmons will go next week as they're still awaiting word on Sam's residency).

We allowed for some extra time because we didn't know what the lines were going to look like.  Turns out there wasn't much of a line anywhere we went, so everything moved really quickly and smoothly.  As you could guess, we were pretty happy about that because it gave us some time to relax a little before coming back to Madrid on Wednesday.  The next and final step is returning to Malaga in forty days to pick up our cards.  

Last year's residency card photo on the left.  This year's on the right.
I may have possibly been a little less shell shocked this time :).

Downtown

Nikki is deep in thoughtful contemplation...

Erin inspecting the beach.  I think it passed...

Dramatic dark clouds that helped us decide to return to our hotel.

Sunset

Irritating thing of the day:

When you know that you know a word that you really want to use, you have utilized it many times in previous conversations, and you can see a glimpse of it right there on the shelf of your mind - almost within your grasp - but you 

just. 

cannot. 

reach. 

it.