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So you’ve probably noticed, I’ve slowed down on daily blogs these past few days.  Last Friday, I broke the routine of writing, & it’s got me out of sorts.  So now, I’m feeling stressed that I need to catch up, but I don’t want this blog to turn into a stressful thing, so I’m just going to tell you the highlights and start back Thursday with a fresh account of just one day at a time.  Or not.  Not gonna stress about it.

MONDAY:

• We slept in.  Really exciting.  Our apartment is in the basement and has very tiny windows just above the bed.  We woke up-ish to a grey, rainy day and decided not to get up just yet.  Our apartment is cute, with a small kitchen, living room, bathroom with Jacuzzi tub, bedroom, and dressing room with washer and dryer.  But, it IS in the basement, so I’m missing the green trees and blue sky of the farm.

• I did laundry.  Really exciting.  I’m getting bored of wearing the same pants. You already know about my failed experiment with understanding Finnish washers, so luckily the pictures on this one are easier to understand.  It’s a washer and dryer in one, which blows my mind that someone could invent that.

• We went back to the grocery store.  Really exciting.  We found a bigger and cleaner one, so a better selection this time.  It’s interesting how many choices we have in the States compared to here.  Instead of having 75 apples on display, there are 25.  Instead of 40 cereals, there are 5.  Instead of 100 wines, there are 150 wines.  Just kidding, but they do love their wine.  Food is actually cheaper here than back in the States.  My favorite is the orange juice machine, which churns and drops one orange at a time onto the juicer.  It squeezes the juice out, fills up my large bottle, and I get to enjoy a lot of truly fresh-squeezed orange juice for $3.50.

• We had lunch with Pritch at a Peruvian restaurant.  It was actually exciting! Since Pritch worked in Peru back in the day, he knows legit Peruvian food, and they had it. He said the place is usually full of people from Peru, including the staff.  I pointed out to the guys 6 things that I was tasting that I either didn’t know or didn’t like, so I’m continuing to challenge my picky eater self.  After lunch, Pritch came back to the basement hideout for a while until Chad had to take more calls.

• Later, Chad and I watched Cobra Kai until I fell asleep on the couch.  Really exciting.

• Basically, we’re settling into everyday life here.  Especially me falling asleep on the couch.

TUESDAY:

• I did a really cool thing on Tuesday—I took a walking tour of the center of the city (el Centro, if you’re wishing you could have been learning more Spanish) with a writing professor.  Emily was insightful and thorough at sharing places where famous writers lived and telling stories about their lives.  I didn’t take notes on any of that because I wanted to stay present to the place, but one of the things she said that most made me think was: “During the Civil War, the first people they went after were the writers and artists, because they’re the ones who were thinking and making other people think.”  This made me think about the works that we saw in the Prado that had hidden (or very bold) political commentary.

• Emily also shared some of her favorite writing tips, including the top 3 rules for writing by Stephen Sondheim: 1) truth  2) “God is in the details”  3) the content dictates form (it will tell you style, mood; trust the voices; takes pressure off to make decisions)

• “Revising is what has energy.” - Natalie Goldberg (I’m pretty sure)  Write for yourself the first time; the door is closed.  When you do revisions for other people, the door opens. -not sure

• “Writing is a kind of telepathy because you’re reading someone else’s thoughts/sharing your own thoughts.” - Stephen King

• As we walked, we would point out balconies, bridges, statues, barber shops, walls, etc. that piqued our curiosity.  (I’d love to go sit and write at some of them.  Maybe next week.)  It was so much fun to be with someone (yep, you guessed it) who is passionate about what she does and equally passionate about sharing it.

• One thing I noticed for sure…this city LOVES its ham.  There is a restaurant called the Museo del Jamón, the Ham Museum (there’s more Spanish for you for the day.)  Outside of the restaurant is a sign that basically says their ham is a delicacy of the kings and you have to go through there on your way to heaven.  (Better than my grandma’s saying: You have to go through the Atlanta airport to get to hell.)

• I wandered my way home with a somewhat cooperative Google maps.  I don’t know how some people manage to learn their surroundings so quickly.  i still got lost in Charlotte after being there for 32 years.  This was my first time wandering like that and even though I had some dicey turns and twists, I did make it back to the apartment after about 45 minutes!

WEDNESDAY:

• Today, we met Bea and Dani, a sweet couple who also offer Air BnB experiences (while a couple of AirBnB experiences haven’t been great, for the most part we just love how they open the door for a present, authentic, unique, and “gritty” time.)  They asked where we were from, and we jokingly said, “Madrid.”  After we told them what we’re doing, Dani said, “You have to live your life with freedom of the heart.  You have to live your life so you have stories to tell people.”  They told us stories of living on a farm nearby, where they grow their own veggies and ferment their own wine.  They said they wanted to teach us not only how to cook paella and sangria, but how to do it healthy.

• They started by showing us a version of Sangría that doesn’t have a bunch of white sugar.  (Did you know that sugar + alcohol means you get a buzz after only 5-7 minutes?)  Instead it used fermented fruits, and Bea told us all about how to make our own.

• We started by making a common Spanish dish called Huevos Rotos (Broken Eggs.)  It has potatoes, chorizo (sausage), and (broken) eggs, all cooked in sunflower oil.  It took me forever to slice the potatoes, because Bea showed us how to hold our hands (knuckles against the knife) and how to cut the food like you’re playing the violin.  Of course, I was trying to make the slices even, so Dani said, “There is no room for perfection in cooking.”

• He told us that we needed to connect with the food & “think of the people you are cooking for.  It’s different when I cook just for the 2 of us vs. for friends vs. 20 people I know, all together in a home vs. in a restaurant.”  He said his most important ingredient is love.  And he reminded us of that if we started thinking too much or moving too fast.

• In addition to the sangría and the huevos rotos, we also made a huge seafood paella.  (Did you know that if you handle garlic or other smelly foods that to get the smell off you should wash your hands by holding your fingers down and letting cold running water wash over them?  Do not rub your hands together, as that intensifies the smell.)

• I think making a paella is more of an ephemeral art than a cooking experiment.  It took a long time to prepare, cook, and eat (because we went back for seconds!)  It was gorgeous. (Check insta for pics.)  It was delicious.  One of a kind.  Definitely not as easy as making a Stouffer’s lasagna, and definitely far tastier.

• Bea’s wisdom to send us off for the day was “If other people say it’s impossible, maybe it’s not impossible for you.  Try.”

• We’ve spent the rest of the day with Pritch & Jodi.  Awesomeness.

• The guys are heading home from the Real Madrid Champions League game right now.  Chad will sleep like a baby since he’s just had a dream come true!

FOOTNOTES:

1) This made me think of Norway.

Tips for improving concentration:

[ ] Make a list for tasks.

[ ] Take on one task at a time.

[ ] Take On Me was a fun song.

[ ] Ooh I found the video.

2) Writing prompts

• Take any of the quotes Emily shared and go to town!

• What does it mean to be a writer?

• Why do you suppose artists and writers had a target on their backs during the Civil War (& during countless other political situations around the world)?