First Day of School
The first day of school is just the best day of the year. Kids need structure. Parents need time to get things done.
We had to get up at 06.30am to get ready for school, which was about 6 hours earlier than the boys are used to. It was still dark outside. The boys were exhausted, but they were excited too, and excited to wear their new uniforms.
The bus stop is only about 10 minutes away, an easy walk. We weren't really sure which corner was the right one, but we eventually found other Aquinas students in uniforms. I made a crack at another parent, something like, "Hey, now we can go out drinking!" and she looked at me like she had no idea what I was talking about.
I walked home and finally I would be able to get some work done, work that had been piling up for a month. But I was so tired I indulged in a little nap.
Have I mentioned the coffee situation in the apartment? There is a small drip coffee machine, and one of those pod things. I really hate those pod things becasue the waste is so tremendous. But I didn't want to hunt down filters for the drip machine so the other day I went to get pods at the grocery store. Of course when I got home the pods were too big for the machine (who knew that pods came in different sizes?). Great, now I'm stuck with these stupid pods. So the next day I went back and got different pods and when I got home it turned out that those are even bigger! What is wrong with me? This morning I realized that the drip coffee machine has one of those re-usable filters so I don't have to go out and buy paper filters. Unfortunately, I don't have coffee so I opened up three of the pods with a paring knife to access the coffee. coffee. One of these days I will surely slice off a finger getting to the coffee in those pods. Apologies to mother earth about the pods.
I did have to get some errands done that day. I needed some basics, at least what I would call basics, and the apartment didn't have them: a Brita filter, food storage containers, dish towels and a salad bowl. I was feeling a little salad deprived in Spain and the boys and I eat a lot of salads. I found a little store online and went off to explore. It was a nice walk, mostly along the Gran Via which was packed with people. Unfortunately, my little store was too fancy for my mundane shopping list. They had a clear glass salad bowl that would surely break in no time. The shopkeeper recommended that I go to El Corte Ingles. Again the department store! Am I really going to buy a salad bowl at the same place I bought my kids' socks? Its like going to Sears in 1968.
Walking there I passed what seemed to be a palace! It was beautiful, tucked into the back streets below Gran Via. Just spectacular. It turned out to be the Gran Meliá Palacio de los Duques, a 5-star hotel. Wow. I went online later to find out more about it, and the rooms are hilariously pretentious. Can you imagine sleeping in the room below with this giant woman awake all night watching your every move? Too bad. Building is gorgeous, like the Copacabana Palace, but the interior puts the Trump Hotel to shame.
When I got to El Corte Ingles the staff couldn't have been nicer. They had a big selection of kitchen supplies and I loaded up. I'll surely be back to get other things like oven mitts, things the apartment should already have.
Later in the afternoon I rented a Respiro car - for the 6th day in a row - to pick up the kids from school. There is a bus back to where they started from, but Markus had soccer in Alcobendas, clear on the other side of town, at 06.30pm and he would never get there if he had to come into town. I would like to avoid this in the future because it is too much driving, and the parking situation at school is tough. I spoke to the bus coordinator at school and although she was a bit frazzled with a long line of parents on the first day, we did find another bus that Markus can take on his soccer days that will bring him closer to soccer where I can meet him and take public transport from there. We'll try that on Wednesday. It should be an adventure.
We were early to soccer, and hungry, so we had a bite to eat at the nice cafeteria there. We ran into Ana and Murat who were there for Mateo's practice. I have this sensation that I keep running into people, but in reality I am just running into Ana and Murat all the time. I don't know how we would do this without them.
Markus found his soccer group and I had brought Andreas's tennis gear and garb to see if I could set up tennis classes for him on the same days as Markus has practice, which would have been a miracle. It was not to be, however, as classes hadn't started yet and they were having try-outs for different levels the next week. It is really far to come so we are going to try to find something closer, somewhere Andreas can easily get on his own. So Andreas and I sat and watched Markus's practice and Andreas promptly fell asleep.
After practice we drove home, I whipped up pasta and a salad (!). The excitement of the evening was when Andreas tripped over his phone charger, bringing his phone directly to the floor and cracking the screen. There is almost no carpeting in the apartment and the floors are hard, so even the case didn't help. So this is what I get to do tomorrow, figure out how to get his phone repaired.. This should sound very familiar to parents.
Tuesday I coaxed the boys out of bed and told them that they would lead me to the bus stop so that I wouldn't have to do that again in the future. The boys are really independent and that was important living in Brooklyn. Markus is particularly good at this, having taken the bus by himself from Fort Greene to Maspeth for soccer practice last year, no small feat.
I did some work, and later with help from Ana and doing a little sleuthing I found a repair shop for Andreas's phone. The screen would cost €129 to fix which is annoying but it was cracked so badly I was worried the glass would just disintigrate. I got caught up in work and soon it was 01.30pm and, like most other stores, the repair shop would be closed 02.30pm-05.00pm, so I jumped on the subway and headed to CellTec (Calle de Orense, 36). I got there at 02.25pm, just in the nick of time. The guy there couldn't have been nicer. I'll pick up the phone tomorrow.
On the way back to the subway I found a little cafe, Faborit (Calle de Pedro Teixeira, 8) which looked nice and inviting. Many little coffee houses I've seen are kind of dark and I don't really know what I'm getting into when walking through the door, but this place had big windows, good lighting, and a few empty tables, so I forged in. It was really good. And cheap (for New York standards). I had a big tuna panini sandwich (half of wihch I took to go) and a large cup of carrot soup. Total cost €6.50. I spent a few minutes with the woman behind the counter saying "zanahoria" (carrot) with the accent in the right place. I keep wanting to say za na or EE ah, but it is za na OR ee ah.
I headed back home and stoped at the Mercado enroute to pick up some chicken breasts for dinner. I had a fun chat with the chicken guy. I asked for 4 breasts, and later different looking, more orange breasts, were put on display. I asked what the difference was and I didn't understand what he was saying. I struggled to understand him but asked "estes pollos estaban mais felizes?" and he said yes. Next time I am at the market I will buy happy chicken breasts.
I made an early dinner for the boys, a great recipe in my regular rotation from the NYTimes, Chicken Breasts With Peppers, Tomatoes and Saffron. It is easy and healthy and makes good leftovers (especially the pepper goop in the morning with scrambled eggs). Once again in the middle of making it I reallzed I didn't have all the ingredients because my pantry is so bare, so I ran off to the market. There are 66 steps to get to the apartment so I definitely don't need to find a gym to do the stair climber.
Later in the evening Andreas and I took the train to Fuencarral. We had set up an appointment at the Madrid Tennis Federation to find classes for him, and he had a level try-out scheduled at 08.15pm. The courts weren't far from the station, and Andreas played just a few minutes with Carlos, a really friendly guy. Andreas wanted to play more but Carlos just wanted to see his ability. Carlos said he can play 2x weekly or 3x weekly, or 5x weekly, and each session seems to be 2 hours of tennis plus 1 hour of fitness, which seems like a lot, but Andreas wants the 3x weekly schedule if it is possible. This is the year for Andreas to work on not only studies but tennis as well. If he is strong enough by senior year maybe he can get on a college tennis team which would be tremendous.
Andreas and I took the train home, and he bought an avocado at a small fruit stand near us. This seems to be the neighborhood for fruit stands and barbers. There is a barber right across the street, Peluquería David (Calle Barbieri, 25), a small place that is always busy. When I checked google he has 65 reviews, all of them 5 stars. I have never seen anything like that.
Andreas bought an avocado and made guacamole at home. He remembers the guacamole that our dear friend Yael made and wanted to replicate it. it was yummy even with our near-empty pantry.
Tomorrow is another day in beautiful Madrid.