If I were hipper, I might make a Vampire Weekend reference.

Did you know that there is no such thing as an Oxford Comma in Spanish? No discussion. It just doesn't exist.

That makes me sad because the debate over the Oxford Comma is my favorite thing about English grammar. I even like the Oxford/Serial Comma debate.

You know what I don't like about grammar? Learning it in Spanish.

Mis amigos Diego, Daniel y Ernesto

In my English class today (I teach English to teenage immigrants from the Dominican Republic/other Latin American countries. I'm not sure that was clear), some of the boys wrote on the white board in permanent marker.
You know what, though? It turns out cheap AXE knockoffs do a really good job of removing it. Good job, guys.

It's easy to win games when you make up the rules

I think I've gotten really good at this game I've invented. I call it "Spot the American".

Clues:
Speaking English (you would think there'd be more British people, but 90% of the English I hear on the street is American)
Wearing any sort of "comfortable" or exercise clothing
Or sneakers.
Smiling.
Wayfarers.
Sweatshirts.
Backpacks.
Eating food/drinking beverage on the street.
iPods (this is trickier, lots of Madrileños seem to have the iPod touch/iPhone, but the classic iPod is far rarer)

I will never know how many people I miss, but I love when I spot one and then he/she starts speaking English. So much victory.

On an only slightly related note, I overheard this conversation last week in American:
Woman: What's that? (indicating a pretty building across the street).
Man: I think its a Church.
This is a great example of Americans' relationship to Spain. We assume that all pretty/old buildings mean something significant, but there are just a lot of churches in Spain.

Like that time we walked past a really long line on the street and thought it was some sort of free concert or the like. No, it was just Mass.

This is some crucial advice.

If you ever find yourself in Madrid, working next to a place that sells TWO CROISSANTS FOR ONE EURO (not like they're the best croissants ever, but they're not bad and they're big and you get two of them for just one euro) obviously you'll buy them. You're not stupid. You can only eat one at work (you're only there for two hours) and you don't need to seem like a fat American.

So you eat the other one on the metro, right? WRONG. Do not eat your second croissant on the metro.
1) People just don't eat food outside of the house/restaurants here. Eating is not for the street. Starbucks is trying to get people to take coffee to go and, thank god, it's not working.
2) Madrileños are rubberneckers. They have no shame in staring at the strange thing that is happening to by them. They love watching fights. There was a dog on the metro today and you'd have thought it was a parade. The metro is also boring, that might have something to do with it.
3) Croissants are really crumbly.

Next thing you know, you'll have crumbs all over yourself and all 20 people in the Metro staring at you, judging you.
Wait until you get home, grasshoppers.

The metro and I have a tumultuous relationship

I took pictures yesterday in the metro and left my battery charging over night so I could show you the awesome metro signage.
THEN, this morning the metro tried to take advantage and eat my hand. I was running to catch it, and managed to stick my arms in the door when they brutally closed on me, trapping my bag inside. The people on the train had to pry the doors open so I could get my bag out.
So the metro and I are not on good speaking terms rights now. I'm thinking of taking the bus to my internship today.

Anyway, the Metro is clean and prompt and all that, but my favorite thing is the really clear signage. BART could learn a thing or two.



So let's say I have to get from Rubén Dario to Velázquez. I see that I have to take the green line (number 5) to Alonso Martínez and get on the brown line (number 4) to Velázquez. They have these maps in the stations, too, but that picture would have come out horribly.

But let's say you're Naomi, and you only remember the color of the line you have to get on, or you don't remember the direction or the stop. If you were on the BART, you would be screwed. In Madrid:

This handy sign tells you all of the stops this train will hit, and what transfers you can make at each station, referring to the lines with their color, number, and names. Amazing.

This sign is also visible from the metro, so if you're on the metro and you're like, dang, what was my stop? You can look out the window and see which stop does your transfer, and how many stops are left, etc.

Then, when you get off these help you out:
And my favorite: Although the unit of a "min" seems to vary, the signs are pretty reliable.

Overall, good signage, Madrid Metro people. Don't think I'm not still mad at you about this morning.

Reading Lolita in Madrid

I'm not reading Lolita in Madrid, but I keep thinking about Vladamir Nabokov.

At some point I heard that English was Nabokov's second language, after Russian, and that Lolita is supposed to be one of the best books written by someone in their non-native language. I've never really appreciated what that means. It's really hard. My thoughts in Spanish are super limited.

I've got some mad respect for Nabokov.

What a baller.

Blanquita strikes back

Since she seemed to be a fan favorite, here are some more pictures of my sister.

In the kitchen (allowed):

In the bathroom (not allowed):

In her dog bed (this is where she's supposed to be):

She doesn't really like having her picture taken.