abroadcast: La Vida Cotidiana: Metro

So as I've already explained to a lot of people, what I like the call the "honeymoon" stage has more or less ended. I still wake up sometimes, or take a second in the street to smell the smog and realize

..:::...¡¡IM IN SPAIN¡¡...:::...

But I will be living here for the next 4ish months (I cannot believe a month has already flown by!) and this is all going to be just daily life! Or...La Vida Cotidiana in Espanish. I haven't quite gotten a set schedule yet, and part of me hopes to never actually have one. I am quite a structured and scheduled person, and although I would die without some order in my life, one of my goals of being here is to try to break loose of that rigidity and simply enjoy. There are some things though that have already become too normal, and I can't help but tell you all about them!

#1: Metro riding. I like it. I love it. I want some more of it. Well maybe not, but it is GREAT! I curse the gods of LA for not installing some sort of underground mass transportation in that behemoth of a city. The most common metro ride for me (and a majority of people in this city) is my morning commute to school. I timed it once. At a leisurely pace, it consists of a 4 minute and 26 second walk to the nearest Metro station, Menéndez Pelayo. a 10 minute and 38 second ride on Linea 1 to Sol, where I make a change to Linea 3 and have a solid 10 minute and 22 second trip to Moncloa, the closest stop to school. Then it is a 12 minute and 43 second walk to the IES office building, kind of through a park, and there are always a bunch of IES kids at the corner when I get out of the metro. I also do this morning commute with Kevin, who lives pretty close. And sometimes we pick up some other straggler study abroaders too.

My favorite part of riding the metro is the announcements. Not all the trains have them, but they do a little "¡doo do dooo! ¡Próxima estación, _____¡" sometimes followed by "Correspondenica con Linea _____ (y _____)." (Translation: "doo do dooo! Next station ______! Correspondence with Line ____ (and maybe Line _____.") I've pretty much got most of them memorized by now. My favorite is the train station one, the station is called Atocha Renfe, and it corresponds with Renfe. I love the way the automated Spanish man announces it. Tickles me every time. Also, sometimes there is an announcement that the station "está en curva, y tenga cuidado para no introducir el pie entre coche, y anden." (translation: Station curves, be careful not to put your foot in-between the car and path.") I love that announcement too. This is all probably waaaaay to much detail on my metro life...but I ride this thing at least twice a day, everyday....so its the little things that keep it from getting boring. I've also had all sorts of musicians and entrepreneurs on my trains. From people playing accordion, guitar, singing, keyboard, rapping (yes, a guy came on, started up his mini amp with a beat and rapped.) (some talented....some not), and people selling candy, flashlights, flowers... Also there are people just asking for money. Its a rough economy here in Spain.

I also get to use my Abono, which is my official metro pass. Totally legit.

And now, a bit of history on the metro. I visited an abandoned metro stop once, which is now a museum made out of an abandoned stop that they discontinued sometime in the 60's I think because the station was too much "en curva" and too dangerous to use. It is actually on the line that I ride to and from my house, which is the oldest line. The Madrid metro was founded in 1914, with financial help of one the kings, and is supposed to be one the cheapest, cleanest and best metros. I think 3rd best in the world maybe? I could have just made that up. It also was revolutionary in Spain because it employed women as ticket sellers. Now it has like 12 lines and a light rail and commuter trains and mass transportation here and take you anywhere in the Madrid community...so not just the city, but the state of Madrid.

David and Ed in the abandoned Chamberi metro stop

Dumb metro moment....I tried to walk through the turnstile without putting in my little ticket and got reallllly confused why it wouldn't open for me.