Madrid!

Today is just a day for blog posts, I think. But also I'm too tired to go out and find food, so I've decided just to hang out in my hostel and shower and maybe watch Aguila Roja (In Spain, Anna! I'm sure I won't have any idea what's going on, but good news, Juan is still alive).

The flight into Madrid was quite short, and I kept falling asleep so I'm not really sure how much time passed. But even though the flight was short, we got fed! Bear that in mind, all of America's airlines! And it was delicious. The Dutch really know how to make a whole wheat chicken and egg sandwich. And the bread! Where have you been all my life?

Anyway, then it was Mr. Toad's Wild Ride to my hostel, involving turning corners and sidling two lanes of traffic, crossing lanes of traffic with no signals, honking at pedestrians hoping they'll move out of the way but not slowing down at all, almost hitting several cars, and merging in the same spot another car or motorcycle was trying to merge. And the city streets are crazy. It's like the designers drew a maze, except with more roundabouts. (I will not be acquiring an international drivers license.)I'm looking forward to being in my city, where I think things will be a little bit slower.

I'll post a video with what my hostel looks like at some point. It's nice, private room, shower/bathroom, closet, towels, and a television! My view is an alley, but that's fine. The only downside was there is no elevator (people kept putting 'elevator' in apartment announcements and I was kind of like, duh, but maybe that's not so frequent here). I carried all my luggage up, and tomorrow I'll have to carry them all down again. Not looking forward to that, but at least it's a workout.

A couple tips for future auxiliares/travelers:
1. You don't tip taxi drivers
2. You don't need to get your passport restamped in Spain if you've already gone through customs in another EU country
3. Your hostal might require you to buzz a key pad. This is probably obvious to most, but was intimidating for me.
4. No one in Spain waits for their turn to queue at the airport. Just line up. (neither does anyone wait for the fasten seat belt sign to turn off)