Beer and football. And more beer. Followed by more football.

I finally got my real beer!


But more on that later

Yesterday I was on my own while Maya was at school. My only goal for the day was to find a bank and change my dollars to Euros before all the banks closed at 2pm (yes, 2pm. In Spain they tend to care more about life and family than work, what a concept). This excursion was a colossal failure. Admittedly, I got a pretty late start. Instead of heading straight to the bank, I took the subway down to the center of the city and wandered around. I checked out a lot of the side streets and back alleys people tend not to explore, which resulted in a nice balance of quaint shops/restaurants and complete nothingness. Oh well.

A market, similar to Pike Place. Lots of food inside, including FANTASTIC salmon. Also plenty of "What the hell is that?" foods that I decided to pass up for the time being.

Interesting sculptures in one of the many small parks between main roads.

Madrid, like any large city, is not without its share of crazy people. This would be a good place to mention that I was too slow with my camera to take a picture of the man walking around La Plaza de Cortez in a black KKK uniform.

This is one of the many huge, intricate buildings in Madrid.

This type of architecture is absolutely everywhere, I love it.

Anyway, back to the bank situation. In my wanderings, I felt that going to a bar and having some tapas and a beer was more important than going straight to the bank. After all, it was only noon and the banks were open until 2pm. Plenty of time, right? Well after leaving the bar one of the first hints of a bank I saw was a building that said "Deutsches Bank." "Fantastic!", I thought, "If they don't speak English I can speak to them in German, I can definitely get my point across" (I'm a moron). That exchange went something like this:

"Hola"
"Hola, hablas Ingles?"
"No"
"Sprechen Sie Deutsch?"
"No"
"....shit"

Note to self: Deutsches Bank means it is owned by a German company, not that they speak German. Something to keep in mind. Anyway, she told me (through a couple English words and pretty extreme hand gestures) that I couldn't get Euros there, but she gave me directions to a bank where I could. I made it there eventually (they were pretty bad directions) and went up to the lady at the counter. She also spoke no English, but when I got my point across that I needed to change dollars to Euros, one of the security guards tapped me on the shoulder and said "Only clients". Well for the love of... by the time I made it to a third bank it was 2pm and everyone was getting the hell out. Mission: Disaster.

I headed to Maya's school afterward and met up with a bunch of her teaching friends, and we all went to a bar nearby. We got a few rounds while watching Real Madrid kick some Getafe ass. Maya's friend Andrew (who is from the states) is my kind of people. Typical exchange when we aren't surrounded by Spanish:

Andrew: "Want another round?"
Me: "Always"
*15 minutes and one beer later*
Andrew: "Want another?"
Me: "We've been over this"
*We get big beers instead of the typical 5-6 ounce cana*
Andrew: "Sorry for partying"

10 Euro for 5 small beers and 2 big ones isn't too bad I'd say. Especially when every half hour or so the bartender puts another plate of tapas in front of you. Tapas are awesome, it's kind of like the Vegas "free drinks while you gamble" thing, except "free snacks while you drink." First was a plate of assorted nuts, then potato chips, then chunks of potatoes covered in a sauce I can't identify, then a plate of small crackers and sausage slices. I love it.

Yes, Kyle eats potatoes in Spain. Believe it.

Afterward Maya and I headed to an "Irish" bar where I FINALLY got a Guinness and we watched some good football. We're all going out again tonight, but I'm anticipating even fewer English speakers. Time to practice my German and annoy people? I think so.