Wednesdays are always late mornings because a lot of people go out for the live music at the bar on Tuesday nights.  So, in honor of my slow start, here is a little update.

I finally got my residence card yesterday, with a minimum of fuss.  Unless you count leaving work in the middle of the day to try to track down the Amazon package I was missing and then walking several miles to the Comisaria de Policia to pick up my residence card as being fussy.  I don't, since the payoff was getting the stuff from Amazon (I have tongs!  A whisk!  Measuring cups/spoons!  A Brita pitcher!) and my residence card.  However, when I tried to get my phone I ran into some problems because the company with the best rates requires that you have a utility bill in your name (a bit of a trick when you live in an apartment building and rent there).  Anyhow, we think we figured out what I need to do - and I'm going back on Thursday.  I had a big plan to get an iPhone, but the company that sells them has TERRIBLE rates compared to a company that sells a perfectly good Android phone (a minimum plan of over 3X as much for limited internet service and a small number of text and phone calls).  So, I'm getting an android phone so that I can still have wifi on my phone and internet when I don't have wifi - then I have a great per minute/per text rate, and I can text internationally for the same rate. Overall, it looks like my bill will be less than 20€ a month for essentially unlimited internet and a good number of minutes and texts.  After the phone situation, I sprinted back to my apartment, ate dinner very quickly (eating the leftovers I didn't have for lunch since I had a sandwich instead) and then running back downtown to meet my friends for a quick coffee before going to the live music night.  Overall, I didn't really sit down yesterday at all.  I slept pretty well though, since I completely exhausted myself during the day.  :)

Today, we have Spanish 'til 6 and then I have to run to meet my new language exchange partner (a friend of my Basque teacher in Chicago), so it will be more of a run around day.  Then tomorrow, I'm going to try to change my bank account from a foreigner's account to a regular account in the morning.  We have a visiting speaker at work until 6:15 or so, and then I have to run to meet my friend to get a cell phone before the shops close.  But!  Oncer I get my phone, my life will be easier in terms of making plans with people.  Plus, if I get the bank account settled too I'll be done with all of my crazy bureaucracy for a few months, at least!

Fun with European Symbols

Okay, I'm in my apartment tonight tonight because some of my friends are out of town and others are running the 10k or half-marathon tomorrow.  The maintenance guy just slid the English instructions for my microwave/oven/grill (functions as all three - m/o/g!) under my door.  I thought we could play a little game of "guess what the symbols mean" since this is what I've been doing for the last month (though the m/o/g wasn't working for almost two weeks).  Bonus points if you guess how the program for each symbol functions as well as what it means.  Answers are after the jump:

(I'm describing the symbols but will include pictures if I ever get around to it.)

1.  Three wavy lines in a square.

2. Three triangles at the top of the square pointing down.

3.  Three triangles at the top of a square pointing down at two wavy lines.

4.  A small sort of fan shape in a square (Imagine a fan with three blades).

5.  A single wavy line over a fan in a square.

6.  Three triangles pointing down over the fan.

Okay, ready for the answers??