something I need to do more of...

hace ruido

I'm quite stressed. So in our little handbook that the program gave us, it states that noise after 11PM is forbidden. The director told us all during orientation that people can just call the cops on us for being noisy without any warning. I don't know or understand what is considered an appropriate decibel at night. When you put 5 girls who love to laugh together in an apartment that echos like a tunnel, things tend to get loud.

I wished that the program had put us all together in a dorm-like place, like Steph's Berkeley travel study program. They're all together and connected (albeit their internet connection sucks, so I've heard, and they also have a security guard). It's quite difficult to plan activities with other people in the program when we're all spread out around the city. It'd also be nice to know if I'm bothering people or not with my noise level.

In this creepy, dark, and echo-ey apartment building, I haven't seen any of my neighbors except for these guys who live on the floor below us. They told us to shush one night when Tina and I were talking while eating dinner in the kitchen. They need more laughter in their lives.

The landlady also likes to pop in at random times to check up on us. Apparently she has gotten some noise complaints about us from other tenants. When? How? What were we doing?
I don't want to be disrespectful and add to the stereotype of rude and loud Americans. I don't want to draw any attention to myself. I already stick out like a sore thumb, being of Asian descent and whatnot.

It's interesting that Spaniards go out until 4-5 in the morning, play tonsil-hockey on the metro and at the park, and yell at each other on the streets at night, but they're bothered by a bunch of girls giggling. Heck, the garbage truck comes every night at 2 AM on the dot. Where do I file a noise complaint for that?

The landlady also popped in unexpectedly while we were having a couple people from the program over to watch Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone. We're not allowed to have people over, even if they're in the program. It is quite inconvenient because there's really no place for us to just hang out (or have study groups). I guess it's understandable because they don't want to be liable for anything that happens.
Apparently, Armine was napping when the landlady came to install smoke detectors and she told Armine, "Tu no vives! (You don't live here!)" Uh.. yeah she does.

Spanish Gastronomy

To introduce us to Spanish Gastronomy (art and science of food), the program rented out this place called "La Solera," where the head chef gave us demonstrations and samples of the most typical Spanish foods: el gazpacho, la tortilla espanola, and jamon.

El gazpacho, a cold vegetable soup, was extremely easy to make. He blended together tomatoes, cucumbers, a clove of garlic, half a bottle of olive oil, and a handful of salt. I would've liked it a lot better if he hadn't put so much salt in... I was kind of wary to try this at first because it brought back memories of my aunt's juicer. She would take whole carrots, beets, celeries, apples, whatever vegetable she could find, and put them through the juicer. My cousins, brother, and I got tired of forcing ourselves to chug it every single day for a whole summer. 

Lesson #1: Spaniards love their olive oil.

Tortilla espanola. This is basically a potato omelette. 

Lesson #2: Spaniards love their potatoes. 

un bocadillo de tortilla espanola. it's a potato omelette in baguette. that's it. no vegetables or sauce. it's extremely dry. 

Lesson #3: Spaniards love their jamon. 

They hang these legs of cured ham in bars and stores for up to 6 months. 

Slicing ham is an art form, apparently. It should be thin enough to read a menu if you were to plop it on a menu. The legs of ham can grow mold, but the chef says it's ok, you can just cut it off. 

making some tapas with pulpo (octopus)

we were allowed to just chill after the demonstrations and eat all their food and drink all their non-alcoholic drinks for free!

Usually when you buy a drink, you get a tapa, which is a small snack. It's called a "tapa" because its purpose was once to cover the top of your cup so bugs don't drop in. Some tapas I've eaten are tortilla espanolas, bread with jamon on top, patatas bravas, and chicken wings. 

My roommates and I have been loading up on a lot of carbs. We've been trying to get a decent amount of fruits and veggies into our systems.

our favorite: chocolate con churros! The chocolate is a bit thicker than chocolate milk, which is ok with me because I can just drink it up after the churros are gone!

there's jamon flavored chips, but no hot cheetohs :[

Each region of Spain has their own specialities. I'm excited to travel to Galicia next week to eat. I'm a big fan of seafood! 

no seas pulpo

Today in class, we were learning adjectives to describe personalities. Someone asked what the word was for "creepy." My profesora couldn't think of a word for "creepy," but when someone is acting weird or "creepy" at the club or a bar, they call them "un pulpo" (an octopus).

Usually, they say, "No seas pulpo!"  - Don't be an octopus!

I was daydreaming so of course I imaged Enrique Iglesias sprouting octopus arms dancing to "Tonight (I'm Loving You)"

The director of the program told us at orientation to yell "Dejame en paz!"(leave me in peace) when we experience unwanted attention or if we're being followed. It's kinda a mouthful to be yelling out quickly.

I prefer Steph's method - just act all wild and crazy and scream random noises.

Fuego

So yesterday, Annie and I noticed a new addition to our room: a smoke detector. right above our beds.

The smoke detectors were supposed to be installed before we even moved, but here they are,  a couple of weeks later. It's good to know that study abroad programs now require living spaces to have smoke detectors installed. Unfortunately, it had to take a tragic accident for them to realize that smoke detectors or fire escapes are necessary (2 students studying abroad in Paris (one was from Berkeley) died trying to escape a fire that had engulfed her apartment).

Apparently, the system in place here is to yell "FUEGO!" and run down the only staircase in the building.

Chica de Ayer

So yesterday, mi profesora introduced us to one of her favorite bands from the 80's: Nacha Pop!
We sang along and translated their song "Chica de Ayer." Me gusta, pero I can't seem to find a good version on youtube. boo..

and of course, Enrique Iglesias has a cover:

Phở me now

So I'm craving for phở despite the heat here in Madrid. Actually, if I were to have a bowl of Phở right now, I'm pretty sure I'd pass out from a heat stroke (and I've been trying very hard to minimize that risk). I googled Vietnamese restaurants in Madrid and came up with a handful of Chinese restaurants, but the reviews don't look very promising. I also can't imagine myself spending 9 euros on 2 eggrolls (9 euros ~ $12-13, depending on the exchange rate, but of course this is a rough estimate).


Steph and I searched for Vietnamese restaurants while we were in Paris. My mom highly suggested that I should check out the 13th district because there's a large Vietnamese population in that area. 


After getting lost and drinking coffee at a cafe so we can use their wifi, we found ourselves in front of this:

Thoughts going through my head: 

• "OMG, finally I can understand what I'm reading!"
• "OMG banh cuon! I love cha!"
• "It smells like Lion Plaza! I AM HOME!"
• "I recognize this song, and it's not one of those top 40 hits like Bruno Mars!"
• (Why are these bullets so far away?!)

"The food of our people!" - Steph

(not gona lie, we were very excited to bust out our Vietnamese)

The menu looked pretty awesome. I thought it was a clever design. I couldn't decide between a good ol' bowl of pho or some banh cuon. Definitely wanted some che (jelly dessert) afterwards, but I was smart enough to wait to see how I felt after my meal.

I was so excited! So full of hope! SO HUNGRY!

but..here's where everything went downhill. I tried to order my food in Vietnamese, but the waitress couldn't understand me. I was confused. I switched to English with some pointing at the menu. Still blank stares. Steph stepped in with her French. Then Steph said, "Cam on" (thank you) and the waitress kinda just gave her a confused look and walked away. 

Then our food came. Unfortunately, we did not take any pictures to show how disappointed we were. The rau (vegetables) were wilted, the broth was bland, the noodles were soggy and falling apart. It just did not taste right no matter how much hoison sauce or lemon I squeezed into my bowl. I feel bad for all the times I put down Pho Me Now (pho delivery service in Berkeley) because that was definitely better than this. 

The Vietnamese music playing in the restaurant just seemed to mock me. I had such high hopes since Trip Advisor highly recommended this place, "best bowl of pho I've ever had!" 

These people need to visit San Jose or the other Little Saigons or Vietnam. Le sigh.

Outside the restaurant were these two gasoline pit stops. Seriously looked like Vietnam to me. 

DURIAN! I love the smell of durian. I could definitely go for a "sau rien" smoothie right about now. My mom makes some pretty good smoothies...

And then the lady told me I can't take pictures in the Asian grocery store. again. le sigh. 

I could just be extremely hungry and homesick. So excuse me if I sound a bit bitter :]