Today was day 5 of my long weekend. Frankly, I probably should have gone into work to keep myself busy. I got an e-mail around noon from my supervisor who was at work, but I had dreams of doing some exploring today, so I worked from home for part of the day, setting aside the rest for exploring. Unfortunately, today was probably the ugliest day of the long weekend - both in terms of weather and my mood. I think my mood was directly caused by the gross-ness outside. I woke up to it being both cold and disgustingly rainy.
I was extra crabby about the rainy part because I did laundry yesterday. Laundry here is (a) expensive and (b) requires lots of a coin I don't get very often - the 50 cent coin. The euro coins come in a variety of denominations - 2 euros, 1 euro, and then 50, 20, 10, 5, 2, and 1 cent coins. 20 cent coins are good for me because until I get my bus pass (Dear bus pass, please come tomorrow!), I pay 1,40 euro for each ride on the bus. The bus drivers hate you less if you pay with correct change. [Once I get my bus pass I have unlimited rides without paying - just touching my card.] A lot of places (including the bus) will give you three 20 cent coins for 60 cents of change, rather than a 50 cent coin and a 10 cent coin. So, I have very few 50 cent coins. And each load of wash requires 4(!) 50 cent coins to wash and who knows how many to dry. I say "who knows how many" because I don't. Yesterday I washed two loads of laundry because I had exactly eight 50 cent coins. I decided I'd rather split my clothes into lights and darks, than wash and dry everything. Because I have air! And a terrace! Which is just like a dryer, except free! Except when it rains. I hung most everything around my apartment (that's what an entertainment center, extra chairs, and a mostly empty closet are good for, right?). Except for my jeans, pants, and pajama pants which I hung out on the terrace railing. Which got soaked in the night by the torrential downpour. I know, I know, it's just water, but I was still SUPER crabby about it. Everything is mostly dry now, and my pants are coming inside for the night in case it rains, but still. CRABBY!
I was also crabby because I forgot to put my key in the light switch slot last night and thus had no lights this morning until I hunted down my key and put it in the slot. My key to my place is a lot like most European hotels. The key itself just touches the outside of the door and magically unlocks it. Once inside, there's a slot for your key next to the light switch - it's required to turn your lights on (mostly - some of those plugged into walls don't require this but most do). Your lights go off a few minutes after you take the key out of the slot. But, it's a pain. I'm also SUPER paranoid about forgetting my key, so I have a little note on my door warning me to remember it. If I don't, I can't get into the building or my room and would have to call the emergency number if the desk is closed. I'm sure they'd want to punch me in the head if this happens, so I'm trying to avoid it.
Anyhow, I spent the afternoon studying Spanish, trying to work, and being crabby that everyone in the US is sleeping and it's hockey playoffs and baseball season and very few games happen while I'm awake. Finally, I decided to brave the outside and go for a walk. So, I went down the hill into the town. I stopped by the infamous Chinese shop to try and find a soap dish for my shower (sort of found one - not sure it's going to stay put), and a couple of full-size dish towels (since mine are more washcloth size). I also got enough hangers that now all of my clothing is on it's own hanger (except for the hangers that are designed for four pairs of pants). I also found a cheap power strip until I find a slightly better one so I can plug in my iPad and my bedside lamp at the same time, and a broom/sweeper thing I was hoping would clean my dust bunnies better than the regular broom I have. It doesn't work either. I have no idea what is wrong with these cement floors (not kidding - cement tiles), but they gather so much crap and refuse to give it up to any amount of sweeping. What I really need is a Swiffer. I saw one in the Super Amara, but I couldn't find any of the little pad things that go on it - which defeats the purpose. Any advice? I also tried to find a whisk, tongs, and spatula or turner in the shop, but had no luck. I'm hopeful I'll find one eventually.
I also stopped by the bakery and got some bread, since every other shop (besides touristy gift shops and bars) are all closed still today. I wandered around finding a couple of other shops I want to stop by later this week - one sells yarn, one sells home goods - yay new sheets towels, and something to put under my sink so my medicine and hair dryer aren't just laying around in plain view, and one sells my shampoo that I use! I also found a store which literally made me laugh out loud. So, in El Centro, there are tons of really fancy, posh stores and boutiques. Right in the middle of these stores is a Carhartt store - except they don't sell any of the stuff I typically associate with Carhartt. It's all pretty fancy looking jeans and shirts for guys, with some fancy bags and shoes as well. Apparently, it's very popular here, which I think is hysterical, since they pride themselves on being so fashion-forward (another day I'll have to talk about the fashion in this part of Spain which I ... do not understand).
I strolled around downtown for nearly two hours and then decided that since I was carrying my loot from the Chinese shop, I'd take the bus back to my place, so I wouldn't have to climb the hill. Except I forgot which street the bus actually stops on, and walked on the street parallel to it, walking past the cross street by about 8 blocks before I realized where I was. At that point, it was stupid to turn around and backtrack, so I climbed the hill with all my stuff. The hill is getting slightly easier, but I still want to die ~half way up. The problem isn't the climb so much as how quickly the bulk of the climb happens, after you've already done a fair amount of climbing. I made it home just fine, but still sort of crabby.
I also have realized that I definitely didn't over pack. I have a lot of work appropriate clothing, which is good. I do not have a lot of casual clothing, and am missing a medium warm coat. I have a spring-weight coat, a dressy coat, a rain, and a very warm winter coat, but I need something that's more like a wool coat in terms of warmth. Who knows if/when I'll find something like that since it's now "summer" in all the stores. I also don't really have enough casual shoes or warm casual clothing. I think Pete's going to have to put together a box to ship to me.
I think the real reason I'm crabby is that, coupled with the weather, the reason I came here to begin with is to work. And I haven't been able to do much of that since everyone took almost all of last week off and we had the conference the week before. Hopefully, this week I'll be able to get started really doing work here, and then I'll feel even more settled than I do now!
No comments:
Post a Comment