Capítulo trce: Me encantada Madrid

You know, there's just some things you'll never forget. This night was one of them.

After two weeks of a cold spell, it finally lifted. Today was absolutely gorgeous. In was in the upper teens (that's like the 60s in fahrenheit) and sunny. In the height of the day, people were taking off their coats and enjoying the warmth.

Much like my first trip to France, language in Spain is difficult, but I was in better shape here than I was then. But every transaction is a little success to celebrate. I was hungrier than hell and grabed a sandwich at a little deli down the street. Like, my biggest fear is I'll do something wrong, and then a parade of muy rapido espanol comes out of their mouth and then I'm totally lost. I went to lunch the first day and a woman came up and asked if I wanted something to drink. Anxious to try some spanish wine, I started reading off the wine list. "No no no," she said, and then spouts off a long list of spanish and then say "Café, cerveza o aqua". If no wine, why did someone just hand me a wine list. "Uh, café au lait" "Café?" "Si" "Normal o con leche?" I thought I just said that, but oh right. "Con leche" "Bueno" A few minutes later someone comes by and asks me if I wanted something to drink. "Uh... lo tiene" I stammer out and point at the other girl. She has it. Ah claro. The first person could take my drink order, but the second person was actually my waitress, and I could order wine from her. Ahora yo entiendo.

So at the sandwich place, the place was hella busy. A warm Saturday afternoon in the main shopping district a few weeks before Christmas, yeah it was busy. People are barking orders in Spanish. You know, now I know what it feels like to be in the opposite shoes. But I lucked out. The woman at the cash register was new. She spent more time looking for what keys to press on the cash register. Un pan premium, un cola grande, y patatas bravada. Si, es todos. Perfecto. It went off without a hitch. And for being a good boy, I get to eat.

So I go out for a little bit. Then I head back to the hotel. After two weeks in Europe, I decide to do tonight right. The Spaniards go out late. They go out to dinner about 9 or 10, out to the bars at midnight, out to the discos at 2, and don't leave until 6 or 7. I got a grand siesta in. I had a bit of a sinus headache, so I took a couple asprin and sleep about 5 hours. I wake up at 11. Perfecto! I'm ready to do the night.

I hit a couple bars. I'm getting the hang of this. "Un Habana Club Siete y cola, por favor". Rum and coke, Cuban style. I'm only doing it to subjugate our government. :-) I meet up with a couple friends. Eventually about 2:30 we head over to a disco. Two Germans, a Canadian and an American in one Taxi. None of us know where this place is, except a name and an address. The taxi driver speaks no English, and I have the best command of Spanish in the car. Oh this is gonna be fun. We drive through busy narrow streets of Madrid. We're going around and around. "Sabe donde vamos?" I ask the driver. Do you know where we're going. No answer. He's busy trying not to run down people. 10 minutes later, we get there. I look at the meter. 3.65 euros. I hand him two coins. "Did you pay?" one of the mitfahrers asks. "Yes." They can't believe we went around and around, and that's how much it cost. Nor can I.

So we arrive and walk in. Almost tres in la manana, and the place is packed. We wait for a very very busy coat check. Apparently the had run out of numbers to hand out. We talk to the manager. Eventually he brings just our group back to one of the bars, and stores our coats there. It's crazy.

So we have a few drinks. We dance a little bit. I talk again with the German. I had talked to him the day before. He has a boyfriend (they all do), but it's so funny. Being from the midwest, we're all northern european. Everyone looks like people I grew up around. He looks exactly like he should be from the midwest, until he opens his mouth and the thick German comes out. He actually thought I was German. "Du hast das gedacht, weil ich mit meinen Freunden auf Deutsch gesprochen hatte" You thought that because I was talking with my friends in German. We proceed to talk for five minutes in German. This man is one of the beautiful men I'd ever met in my life. Suddenly it made 3 years of German classes worth every second. Speaking was practically a sexual act. Then he puts his hand on me and says "Ich sehe dich später." "Ich höffe schon." I'll see you later. I hope so, I respond. I'm instant puddy.

So afterwards, we spill out onto the streets, hot and sweaty. "Que hora es?" I ask someone outside smoking a cigarette. "Sies y media." "Sies y media?" I repeat back. "Hablas ingles?" he says to his friend, like I didn't understand. "No no, yo entiendo, pero... no creo." They laugh. It's 6:30 in the freakin morning. And the scene is absolutely unbelievable. "Donde es la estacion mas cercana?" I'm trying to get my bearing. As it turns out, I'm only about 600 meters from the hotel. I walk by a Burger King and order a hot dog, and walk through the Puerto del Sol eating it back to the hotel. The streets are packed with people, and it's 6:30 in the morning. The sound of discos thump through the streets. I've been out in many many cities, New York, LA, San Francisco, but it was nothing like this. Muy loco.

I've done some crazy things in my life. This one definitely just got added to that list.