José

My last full day in Spain was spent with the lovely and always entertaining José Vaquero, whom I met at camp.

August 4 and 5, 2008.

I left the hotel and got into a much friendlier cab than my first in Cordoba and made it to the train station just in time. The high speed train from Cordoba to Madrid was like silk. It travels at 270km/hr (they have a little spedometer you can watch) and has very roomy seats in tourist class (2nd class). It got us to Madrid in an hour and a half. That is unbelievable! To drive would be like 4 or 5 hours. I napped a little bit, and couldn't believe it when we got there ahead of schedule.

I had planned on taking a cab to the bus staion, but I thought, heck, I am making such good time, why not save some money and take the metro. I actually managed to take the correct train in the correct direction to get from Atocha to the bus station. This is a feat for me in the Madrid metro, especially when I have all my luggage with me.

I got to the bus station at 11. My bus was at 11:30, all I had to do was buy my ticket. The line ups in the main madrid bus station are something that should be legend. I got into the ALSA, I was probably the 30th person. Unlike at the train station, they don't have a "next bus" line so if you need to get a ticket ASAP, you can. I got to the front of the line at about 11:22, keep in mind I was wearing my pack the whole time, the woman told me "We don't have a bus that goes to Navalmoral". CRAP.

I looked over at the line for AUTORES (the other company) at least 20 people. There was no way I could get to the front of the line and down to the bus in 7 minutes. Sometimes, you can buy your ticket directly from the driver, so I ran (with my GIANT backpack) down to the terminal to see if I could do that. The driver was not friendly and was not about to help me out. A woman tried to console me and said "don't worry, there is another bus at 2!" I appreciated the sympathy, but having to wait an extra 2 and a half hours AND be late for José after I got up early in Cordoba and packed up all my stuff? I was not a happy camper.

I went upstairs and couldn't handle getting into line right away. I went and sat down in the cafeteria and put my stuff on the floor. A friendly Spanish man nearby suggested that I put my backpack and stuff up on a chair, as that would be easier and more comfortable for me than having it at my legs. I didn't do this at first, but when I wanted to buy a sandwhich, which was about 3 meters from my table, I decided it would be a good idea, so I could keep a constant eye on my stuff. I got my sandwhich and got back to eat it, when this odd lady sat down beside me. All of a sudden, she asked me if I was Spanish, (remember all these conversations are in Spanish) there was a big Canadian flag on my suitcase, so maybe this was a rhetorical question. I told her no I was not, and then she went into a huge diatribe about me putting my suitcase on the chair and how if she sat down in the chair her pants would get dirty and what was I thinking, and something about me not being Spanish (that part wasn't really clear to me). Just to get this wacky lady to shut up, I moved my suitcase to the floor, but I left my backpack, it is usually on my back, not the ground and it is friggin heavy. She seemed pleased, I was not. I am looking forward to coming home and being able to tell weird opinionated people to sod off, something I am not comfortable or that adept at doing in Spain.

The friendly man who told me to put the stuff up there in the first place gave me a very sympathetic look, that was nice.

After leaving the lady who needed to be in my business, I went to get into the line for AUTORES, which sadly, had doubled in number since I left. It now had about 40 people in it and I waited there for half an hour. Something with my backpack cuts off some of the circulation to my hands and so while standing there, my hands kept going numb. I got my ticket and when the bus came I got on without much ado.

I arrived in Navalmoral de la Mata, José's town and he was there at the bus station. He insisted on carrying my backpack to his apartment, which was only a 5 minute walk, but which he immidiately regretted. He later said for the trip back we would drive, I wouldn't allow it, and instead just insisted I carry the pack.

José is a wonderful host. He first let me have his bedroom and he slept in one of his guest rooms. Next, he had lunch all preprepared, pasta salad WITHOUT TUNA, because he remembered I don't like it, and GAZPACHO because he remembered from one of our outings that I did. What a guy!! The gazpacho was even home made from one of his friends, just for me! And it was delicious!

After lunch, we cleaned up and he asked me what I wanted to do. We decided to drive to a nearby town to go swimming. Where we went was a mountain stream coming off of the Sierra something or others in Extramadurra (the province we were in). It was gorgeous! It was also full of Spaniards, including, many of José's neighbors. José complained about how it was soo cold (it was warmer than lakes in Canada, but not bath-like, like the mediterranean) and I told him with the heat it was lovely. We swam around, well I did, he mostly stayed in the sun. Then he took me to a small mountain town to see the town and the church and the castle.

We went back to his apartment where we got ready for dinner, then hit the town! We went to a couple bars, I met his friends and we had dinner. José insisted that I try all of the local specialities. These included fried pigs' ears, which I informed José that only dogs eat in Canada. They were okay, a little too crunchy though, but mostly just tasted like bacon. Also on the menu was sheeps stomach cut up into sqaures and cooked in a thick tomato sauce. The flavour was okay, but soo fatty and just too mooshy. I am pretty adventurous, but the texture was just too much for me. I stuck to the bread and mushrooms mostly.

We went back to José's apartment and after about half an hour in his room, I couldn't take it and slept in the living room, the only room with air conditioning. His room was so hot my face was sweating just lying in bed. He told me the night before he was so hot he couldn't get to sleep until 4am. This meant that on this evening, he slept fine, despite the heat, in the guest room because he was exausted.

I woked up when José was going to work at 8:30 (I think) while he was doing something to the air conditioner and generally trying to make me more comfortable. I fell back asleep until 11:30, when I packed up my things, had some Cola cao (basically nesquick), got dressed and washed a pair of underpants for my last day. He got home about 2:15 and began to put the last of the lunch together. We had homemade pork and zucchini sausage (delicious!), french fries which we made from some very soft potatoes, and a special dish José made ahead just for me, red peppers stuffed with cod! After he was such a good host, there was no way I was going to say anything about the truth of me and peppers. I ate two or three of them until I was stuffed. Everything about the dish except the peppers was extraordinary, the cod was in a creamy sauce with potatoes and cheese. He is an excellent chef.

After that, we looked at each others photos on facebook and his computer and then had an argument about how we were going to the bus station. I won. I put on my backpack and started walking so there wasn't too much he could do. He carried my purse.

The bus ride was great and I slept soundly for most of the way. I made it to Madrid and had a classic Sumantra-Kate cell phone conversation while I tried to navigate the two story Lacoste in Madrid. At one point someone started asking me about sizes, like I worked there. What kind of shop employee wanders around on their cell phone, speaking obnoxiously in English while they are supposed to be working? Well, then again.... it is Europe.

Now I am off for dinner with my old friends, Julian and Lidia. We all worked together at the camp in Salamanca two years ago, and have kept in touch since then, thank you facebook!

Tomorrow morning I am spluring on a cab to the airport, I can't take anymore metro trips with my stuff. I fly to Frankfurt and then to Toronto. Here's hoping it is without incident or excitement. I saw a news report today that said "Atrapados En Barajas" which means "Trapped in Barajas (the Madrid Airport)" unfortunately I didn't understand what they were saying in the story, but I hope everything is alright.

See you soon,
Kate