Huelga General (General Strike)

After living in the center of the capital city of Spain for over a year now, we're pretty used to seeing protests and hearing about strikes.  Today is a quite a bit different though because it's a country wide general strike.  There's an interesting article on it online at El Pais.

For the record, our team is not on strike :).  But there are a few noticeable differences between today and "normal life."  

• The garbage hasn't been collected, so there's trash all over the streets and plazas.
• The majority of businesses are closed, even some that are independently owned.
• There's been some obnoxiousness:  smashed glass, spray painted ATMs, stickers plastered on the windows of stores that did decide to open, etc.
• Transportation services (bus, metro) are running at reduced levels.

After us gals met for bible study this morning, Jenee and I headed out to find a cafe that was open and had WIFI.  The first place we tried was closed, so we started down the street only to see a line of police vans drive by.  Then we noticed that one of the helicopters was holding a pretty steady position over the area, which we found a little disconcerting. (I've checked the news since then and there was a demonstration on Grand Via, which is really close to here.  So, that's what that was about.)

"We're on strike, sorry for the inconvenience."

We headed down another street toward a second place, and discovered a crowd waving flags, wearing stickers, and chanting "Hu-el-gaa, Hu-el-gaa."  So, we watched that for a bit before turning around toward a cafe a little more off the beaten path.

UGT = Unión General de Trabajadores
General Workers Union

News trucks parked near UGT Headquarters.

The third try was a success and we were pretty thankful to find an open cafe that was nice and quiet.  What a crazy morning :).

If you're interested in seeing more pictures of the strike, 20Minutos has a good sized collection going.

La Luna!

I was walking back from meeting with a language exchange partner tonight when I noticed the moon (la luna) hanging out up there!  Kind of adds a sweet element to this picture doesn't it?

Camarera + Cantante

It turns out that the camarera (waitress) at the cafe I frequent (and use as my office) is actually a cantante (singer) as well!  How neat is that?  She invited me to her show last week, so Erin and I went to check it out.   It was fun - she can really sing!

I congratulated her on her show the next day and was able to hang out for a bit and chat, which was really encouraging.  I'm not quite quick enough with the Spanish yet to get a ton of thoughtful opinions into a fast flowing conversation, but I can interject a few :).  Gotta celebrate those small victories!  Getting there :).

I noticed this homemade bird house hanging on one of the trees in the plaza near our apartment when I was going to meet up with one of my language exchange partners on Friday.  Looks like it's made out of a juice carton - in case you were curious as to what juice cartons look like in Spain.  I didn't see it when I walked through there today, but to be fair - I was pretty focused on going to the park with Jenee and Sam :).

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.