okay i have sent 2 e-mails back home, so i thought i would pot them here for you guys to read what and how i have been doing. somethings i say pertain to people at home and stuff, but i thought these would be useful so you know what´s up!!!

hellooooooooooooooo everybody,

well i have been meaning to send this e-mail out for quite a while, it´s just that i have been so busy trying to start my life here and hoping that this leap of faith i took lands on both feet. well here is the update ready?????????????????????? okay vamanos, well i have started the CELTA course in Madrid, it´s a british based academy therefore ran by british people and all the people that attend are british, which is cool until the other students found out i was an american and weren´t to fond of that. there is like 6 of us in the classroom and 2 teachers alternate teaching us, we are there from 9:30 to 1:30. the other students snicker when i talk because of my accent and that really pissed me off, and then this one
older british lady asks me "are you from another country" and i wanted to say yeah.............and so are you, and she was like well you sound very american, and i was like well i am, i am from los angeles california, and she was like oooooohh okay. i was like dude this really sucks. and then this one guy is from saskathewan Canada Mr. know it all who said some comment on spelling and i said "oh yeah i still have problems on how to spell words" and he was said "well we are really going to mess you up on your spelling because we spell our words differently" and i was like what? and this one girl who is so irritating was like "well it´s because americans don´t speak english correctly" and i was like dude i am right here i can here you how rude, and this one guy who is the only cool one was like "that´s pretty harsh for you to say that" i was like whatever i just smiled cause i am stuck with these people for almost 3 months and i am defintely not going to cause tension but i was so irritated. they were saying "ya you guys don´t have a "u" in honor or a "u" in flavor like that was going to be difficult for me to figure out what the word flavour was cause it has a "u" in it. so i said well the band in living colour had a "u" in it............ they weren´t amused. well anyways today was the 2nd day in class and it went a little better. this new guy joined, a friend of the irritating girl (named simone) and the cool guy (named andrew) his name was mark and he is like so british looking and has a very very heavy british accent he comes from the north, manchester i think. and he is dressed like he just came out of a british punk movie in the 70´s he was actually really cool with me during our break. anyways the classes are going good, i am learning how to teach and i am getting very excited. Cristina (gonzalo´s girlfriend) has told people at work i am teaching english and 2 people want me to tutor them twice a week. i met all of them last night when her work went out for dinner cause one of the people working for them which was an american, was moving back to the tsates. there are people working from all over the world in her office so i met alot of interesting people, it´s small company but a cool one. the boss is an american he was cool. there is this one german guy named bjorn who speaks spanish fluently with a german accent, he is soooooo cute he has pretty blues eye and blond hair and nice lips and was wearing this cute hat. well we ate at this mexican resaturanmt of all places in amdrid next to plaza mayor. the boss arrived late with this other guy which was like very very very cute. and he sat right next to me so we starting talking and stuff and i was like he is really cute. well they brought the food around and i was eating like an animal i was like mexican food, give me those taquitos, nachos, beanssssssssssss mexican food, salsa yes yes, well after like 20 minutos talking with the cute spanish guy (named miguel) he was talking about where he has been in america, he has been to alot of places, well i asked him where he was born, and he said new york, the guy was a fricken american........... i was like "you are a american" and he said "si", and i hit his shoudler and say dude what´s up, and he started laughing i said i thought you were spanish he spoke perfect spanish with a perfect accent, and he thought i was from argentina ( alot of people think that, don´t know why) well anyways i was like dude this guy was american the whole i thought he was some spanaird, then the american in him came out when he wouldn´t eat the fattening foods and he was talking about the gym. anyways after we went out for a few drinks then me and cristina went back home.
now the apartment situation is good .......... i found a place. the 2 women that work at one rental agency had a place for me but was rented out, but then the friend of the lady that works there called her to tell her that she was going to rent this 2 bedroom apartment in the center of town for 50,000 pesetas (285.00) they called me first and told me, i went to go see it. if you could believe the apartment she showed me was the old apartment of a friend i used to know there in town, and i rememeber going to his apartment thinking, i would love a place like this, and out of alllllllllllllllllll the places in town, that one happend to be the one for rent. it is right in it he center of town (note to the people who have been here with me, it is located right next to the phones by La Gramola that we call from) anyways the problem is that i am illegal so i have been having alot of problems trying to do anything here, but that lady was like look,
it´s my friend i´ll talk to her, what we can do is you can just pay for like 2 months in rent in advance and you won´t need any papers. so i was like sure please, thanks you sooooo much. well we went back to the rental agency and she spoke with her friend and it was settled, she was going to rent it to me. i was like no way, i just did not get a place in spain. it has a washer for clothes, heating, hot water, beds, t.v. and so forth. so it has just barely enought what i need to start. and i have a view of the monastery from the living room window. to enter a place in spain you need to pay the
security desposit since it´s furnished and the same amount of the rent to the rental agency, such as i have to pay 50,000 pesetas to the rental agency for getting me the place plus the months of rent, so it pretty much tapped me out but with these few job leads i hope i have enough to buy food and pay the utilities. it will all work out somehow, today i got an e-mail of someone offering me work to tutor young children in madrid, so things are falling into place. i will send you guys the e-mail i got after this one.
well anyways it was sooooo cute when i went back to the rental agency to pay them 100,000 peseats to hold it for me (cause they need to repair a leak and they have to wait for it to stop raining so they can go on the roof) so the 100,000 pesetas is for them and the security deposit, and then when i move in i pay the month´s rent. anyways they were all excited for me and were looking for sales in the paper for kitchen tables for me, they were like wanting to get the apartment all cute and ready for me, they are so adorable. so right now i am just waiting for them to call me to tell me i can move in. well now i have an annoucement to make, and i know you will flip out, but i did this out of neccesity, i had NO other way out, hear me out first okay. it was going to cost me $190.00 to set up a phone in this house, and i would have to do it under like gonzalo´s name or something
and i didn´t want to ask him and i didn´t want to pay $190.00 to set up a phone, i don´t have it, so .......i...........i...........i bought a cell phone, okay wait wait wait, i need it for people to call me for teaching so i can
be availble for people to call me if they want classes. but now i can´t give anybody crap anymore for using cell phones so now everyone is off the hook, but i am NOT wearing that stupid ear peice thing. so
guys.............christina has a cellphone, this is a day in history we will all remember. i still don´t know how to use it for the fact i have never had one and you know what´s even better, it´s all in spanish, great, i am soooooooo screwed i was trying to turn it on and some voice in Spanish was like giving me commands to punch stuff i was like oh my god the phone is talking to me in spanish, you should see me, i just got it yeaterday so i haven´t gotten calls on it, but i will give you all the number. so anyways i think i have told you guys all a good summary of what has been going on. it snowed here 2 days ago, that was very new to me to walk down the street
and it starts to snow, i was like caught in the moment of walking down a street in a small town in spain and it was snowing, watching the snow stay in my hair and on my jacket, until i could see and the snow flakes were sticking to my eyes and the mascara was getting gooey and i was wet and cold and couldn´t feel my hands, i was like, okay moment over need warmth. you know i get cold at 75 degrees, it was like 30 degrees. it has been soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cold here, and i have to keep the kitchen window open here at gonzalo´s house for his cat to come in and out, so it´s like i live in an igloo. i am staying in the loft upstairs, so i rely on any heat left in the house rising to the top and this small portable
heater next to the bed to defrost me, i am very very very cold, but it´s all part of the esxperience (that´s just what i keep telling myself.) i take 2 hot showers day to defrost (but they are only like 2 minutes long cause the water heater is the size of a thermos) but overall i am in my town and 2 and a half years later i have finally made the leap i have been talking about, boring eveybody with my spain talk, now i am here and all of you don´t have to hear me [censored] about L.A. people and starbucks. i hope i haven´t left anything out, i know i have not made one grammatically correct sentence but oh well you understand. here is my phone number. calling from the U.S. it´s 011-34-64-976-2658 if any of you do not have MCI worldcom as your long distance carrier you should get it cause it will cost like 8 cents a minute to call me, so if you want to call think about getting mci worldcom , please don´t if you don´t cause it will cost like $10.00 for like 2 minutes. i´ll give you my address when i move in so you can use the new adddress to write letters or whatever. well i think this about covers evrything miss you all a bunch and i hope things unfold for me. i know Tia has the virgen de caridad working overtime because i have been very very very lucky and everything is unfolding slowly. well tommorow night i am going to my friends alejandro and adan´s house they are going to make dinner and watch a movie, sounds like fun, tonight i may just go to a bar (i have my hair in curlers)

love you allllllllllllll,

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Spain Page!! Check it out! http://www.geocities.com/missmadrid98

[This message has been edited by MadridMan (edited 02-11-2001).]

here´s another one!!!

okay how can i sum up what´s goign on. well i moved into my apartment, interesting adventure into the world of living in a foreign country and being completely clueless. it´s quite funny now i think about it. well to have hot water i figured out i need like to fill this butane tank that under my stove, which gives me hot water and makes the stove work. so i have to get a "bombita" as they call it, delivered to my house and i have to like hook it up and everything. so i had to wait for taht to come, thus no hot water or stive till the "bombita" arrives. but you see it would really bother me if my cold wtaer was liked tapped from the artic circle!!!!!!!!!!!! okay i swear i could fill my bathtub with the water and penguins would feel at home. the real fun part is the washing machine. everyone has a washing machine in the kitchen it´s under the sink. well i have NO clue on how to use this bad boy,, so i put clothes in and push buttons and turn the dial wondering "what the hell am i doing" "what does this mean" "what does this letter stand for" it was like a movie, i can just picture like a camera inside the washing machine lookinng out and you see my face all confused pushing buttons and turning stuff, well water started come out when i did soemthing so i left it. well like 20 minutes later the washing machine was draining into my bathroom floor and
tub....................okay, now i know this can´t be normal. having no towels, nothing to clean the water with, i used a dress gonzalo´s girlfriend gave me to clean up the water (the dress was tacky anyways and it was made of coton and soaked up very well). then i tried to figure out how to turn
the heater on....................no luck, completely lost, i was like okayyyyyyyyyyyyy, well when gonzals get´s back into town, he´ll show me how to use it, well the washer had stoppped but it didn´t seem done well i figured out this, there are letters "A" to "M" on the machine dial, so i
used my brain and went "oh, we´ll put it on "A" and start it and then it will go all the way around i guessto "M", that soudns logical, well it was logical and that´s how it worked, but like an hour later the washing machine was still washing, so i go over there and see, gee it´s been a while, well the damn thing was only on the letter "D"! i was like what we have like the
whole alphabet to go through still and it´s been an hour. well i left it alone in peace, i didn´t want to disturb it. well i clean up and try to put things in order, well i was a frozen isicle, i had not hot wtaer, no heat, no stove, and a washing machine that has been washing for like 8 hours, and it was like on letter "I" or soemthing like that. well i put on 5 layers of clothing, gloves, hat, scarf, i mean i was like camping in big bear in my apartmnent. i got under the blankets that i folded in half so i would have like 6 layers of blanket, and some funk ass pillow the apartment came with. as i go into bed freezing i thought, okay this will get better i hope, or i am just going to have to wing it till april when it starts to warm up. well i went to bed late, and then my place being so in the center of town, i can
hear everyone leaving the bars and clubs so i was kept awalke all night, which was cool whatever, i have been that screaming drunk many times, but then me.................... the morning the time christina takes great pride in her sleep only to be awoken by horns, drums and dancing of the prosessions starting outside my window that was going to take place all day in the name of St. Anton, the Saint of animals or somthing, it was like this bugle in my ear at 9:00am and cannonballs going off, and drumms and
castanets, i was like this is so cool, but ireally wnat to sleep. these damn spaniards, had their mini parade in the town allllllllllllllllllllllllll day, they went up and down everyfricken street in el escorial drinking and dancing and singing, so sfter a while i got up and went outside and joined them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it was so much fun, i mean when do yo ever wake up and
go join a roaming party? I love this place man!!! well anyways, that´s how the place is going, its really cold. i am getting things situated and gonzalo fixed the heater and got a bombita for me, they are falling into
place slowly. my flamenco is going exceptionally well besides the fact that i am being eaten alive everyday for an hour......... but other than that, it´s cool i am learing so muchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. you want to hear something funny, k. so i started the class monday with maria magdalena, this like 3 foot 11 inch tank, that´s all cute outside in the lobby, and
everything, well we go to class, and this lady, is like the flamenco fireball, okay she is not messing around. i am sooooooooooooooooo beginner here and i was in the back of the room hiding. luckily i know steps and can catch up quickly, but i am very beginner, i have joined the flamenco boot camp, seriously. i followed along fine, i just don´t have the speed everyone else does, which is fine, i don´t care, but it was hard. she looks at me and shouts orders and i am like pounding my feet as i am sweating and seeing flashes of light that i think is god summoning me to go to him for
survival!!!!!!!! this studio i am at is called amor de dios, and now i know why they call it that, cause you need the love of god to withstand the classes, anyways. the second day she busted out these broomsticks, and everyone gets one, i not knowing what´s goign on, go to get one and she´s like " tu......no.........despues..." i was like yes mam. well it´s cause only half the class at a time can work with the sticks, cause it´s a full class. so this is how i will describe this to you. imagine, you are going to be executed, by being dismembered, okay now think what can be worse? i will tell you, watching the people getting dismemebered before it was your turn to get dismemebered, okay. now i am in the back of the room and these people are using this stick, twisting, turing, rolling their backs keeps their arms straght, all you hear is moaning, sighing, noises of pain and anguish, their faces were showing all the pain they were feeling as they were sweating, i was like "OH MY GOD" and these people were was advaced then me and have done this like a hundred times before, i was like, dude i am sooooooooooooooooooooooooo dead. well it was my turn and the girl hands me the stick, and i´m like okay i just saw what they did, so at least i had and idea what i was going to do. well the stick i had was to small, so i was holding it at the very tips of the ends of the stick, well while i putting the stick complety behind my body feeling my shoulder blades dislocating, the stick goes flying out of my hand and whacks the guy next to me......... kkkkk.... i am going to just pick this stick up right here, ya excuse me sorry, ya thanks...... my stick..yeah, okay ya ya, okay. dude that happened twice. so as i am twisting, turning, rolling my entire upper body
with this stick, as i come around where i see the teacher she looks at me and says "te duele" translation: "does it hurt" and i repsonded by like shaking my head no with a look on my face of terror...... ya so that´s my flamenco class, 5 days a week, it actually sounds bad,but it´s just aloooooooooooooottttttt of hard work, but i love it, i´m goign to come out like a refined flamenco soldier. well everything else is great, the british people at the school have warmed up and i taught my first class this past monday. after i sat down i cried cause i was doing what i have always wanted to do......teach. that students love me, they are all spanish adults, and they warm up to me, i am kicking some serious teaching ass, even the other people in training compliment me on how well i handle the students, and how relaxed i am, it´s cause this is what i want to do, this is what i am made for. i am also teaching a little 9 year old spanish girl in her home, i go everyday as well and they pay me weekly, not much, but´s it´s a start. the
course i am taking to get certified isn´t paying me cause i am in training, so i am trying to find work still, i have a few more leads on teaching kids in their homes. so i hope i can get a few more english teaching jobs. today after my flamenco i walked to the atocha train station and went to have a
sandwich mixto and a cafe con leche, i was so happy, i was smiling and i was thinking to myself, i am so happy, i am sooooo very very very happy. i´m like at home, my life is so wonderful and relaxed, though i am busy, i´m doing what "I" want to do, teach, dance, hang out, enjoy life. i wake up and
it´s okay cause i am going to teach, i´m going to a classroom. life is very very good. i am soooo very very happ, and things are panning out. My life is daily visits to cafe´s followed by walks to from and from places and relaxing outside on the benches in between the places i have to go. I have
met alot of people too and made new friends!!! life is good. i´ll try to keep everyone updated and much as possible, i just can´t get to a computer often. well i have to go, it´s 2:38 am and i am going to go to bed so tommorow i can enjoy life all over again!!!

venga, Ta´Luego,
la chiquitiña de Escorial!!!!!!! ole!

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Spain Page!! Check it out! http://www.geocities.com/missmadrid98

[This message has been edited by MadridMan (edited 03-12-2001).]

Missmadrid, did you tell Gonzalo you wanted to buy a bombita (= little bomb)?. I guess your landlord wouldn't like to see his beloved apartment blowing up . What you need is a bombona. By the way, make sure whether you need butano or propano. If you use the bombona for the heating, you'll probably need propano.

Regards,

Antonio

What would we do without Antonio?

By the way, MM98, sorry about those English people. I hope they didn't mean any harm and you are now getting on OK. Why they should be negative about your accent/spelling is beyond me. I wonder if they were trying to be humorous and it didn't come off?

Anyway, you sound wonderfully busy and excited, if a little cold. Hope your good fortune continues, and keep us informed.

Take care.

Jo-Anne

MissMadrid,

You are making us proud. I am so terribly envious of you. I would be interested in finding more about the celta programme (British spelling, heeeheee). Your update has brought a smile to my face and hope in my heart. You are showing us all what it takes to follow your dreams. I would suggest you follow Antonio advise about the bombona, a bombita may get you deported or at least linkened to ETA. Although, you have dined with Calibasco I promise not to tell the Spanish Authorities heeheee.

Thanks and Continued Joy ,
Shawn

[This message has been edited by Shawn (edited 02-11-2001).]

MissM, te lo digo en serio, !que me tienes descojonao de la risa! Tienes arte! (Lo siento lo de los ingleses en tu clase, es que estamos muy pesados al principio pero solemos mejorar!).

Funk ass pillow? That was hilarious! I had to remark on the bombona, too. Someone who's not 'supposed' to be there...buying bombitas, hmmm... an etarra you are not! What next, stealing placas at gunpoint? Watch it Shawn...I'll go Basco on you! Actually Shawn, I'll send you an e-mail with a funny-Basque story from yesterday, since you really seem to care!

P.S. I miss getting a bombona in the orange tank!!!!

MM98, thank you so much for sharing your experiences very candidly...I actually got teary-eyed...I had a similar experience on my first stay in Madrid in the winter of '89. I am so happy you are experiencing everything with an open mind!@@!!!!!!!
Take care of yourself and keep us posted!

MM98, it sound like everything is turning out great for you. I really like readingabout your experiences. I hope someday, I will have enough courage to do want I really want to do. Good Luck to you.

Way to go MM!

You've already made it. The key to making the change is being able to accept the hardships that go with it in the beginning.

My cousin moved from Wisconsin to Madrid about ten years ago, and is half owner of an Italian restaurant in the city. Even though it's hard work, she has never been happier, and I don't think she'll ever return to the states, except as periodically required by law.

You're now Madrid's version of "Mary Tyler Moore." Go get 'em!

I love El Escorial. There's a little sidewalk cafe that I really enjoy. I can sit there for hours talking to friends.

Wolf