Madrid the Third

So, good news: I think my Spanish is improving!  Today when I used my visa and entered my PIN the machine said 'numero secreto correcta' and I totally understood it!  Plus Meg and I went to the grocery store and I recognized the signs for both tomatoes ('tomates') and mayonnaise ('mayonesa').  I guess what I'm saying is that I know it's only been two days but I'm basically fluent in Spanish now.

I don't have the hang of everything though.  An example: I read in a Madrid guidebook that when you eat in a restaurant, it's customary to keep your hands above the table where people can see them.  What kind of questionable exploits are Spaniards engaging in down there for this to be proper restaurant etiquette?  And do you have any idea how hard this is?   Restaurants are where the wifi is so my hands are under the table all the time-- on my phone!  It's crucial that I don't miss any precious pet videos being posted in Canada.

Unfortunately because I have no mobile coverage here without wifi I do miss stuff.  Like, Manu, my Spanish friend from soccer in Tsawwassen, was in Madrid today too and trying to message me because he was killing time waiting for a train RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from where I was at a museum, also killing time waiting for my sister.  In fact we later figured out we were drinking beer at the same time, except because he is smart, he was drinking beer at McDonalds where it costs 1 euro, while I was drinking it in the museum cafe where it costs 4 euros for a smaller glass.  I guess it doesn't matter that we didn't meet up in person since we ended up texting for an hour anyway and I'm going to see him at soccer next Monday.  But why did he have to make me promise not to eat at McDonalds here RIGHT BEFORE he told me they sell cheap beer and chicken wings and ice cream with coffee on it?

I also saw many amazing Picasso and Salvador Dali paintings today but I cannot post pics with this blog because of technical issues.  Calling them 'technical issues' is a nice way of saying I have tried to post photos for hours but cannot and I just want to kill blogger.  With fire.   If you want to know what the paintings looked like just use your imaginatiion and think about paintings where people's teeth come out of their ears and they have extra eyes on their foreheads and everyone's watch is melting.

Adios amigos!