Jamón Ibérico

A few weeks ago I boarded a flight to carry me away from Madrid to spend the entire summer, the first in five, away from Madrid´s sizzling heat.  Walking to the metro on my way to the airport, I thought back to my first post (here) about arriving in Madrid, over four years ago. I […]

Something Rotten in the State of Spain

As my regular readers know by now, I’m of the philosophy that it’s necessary to give every new country at least 18 months before the frustrations and cultural misunderstandings begin to subside. It’s interesting that I’ve found that speaking the country’s language doesn’t seem to affect that time frame much at all. I have to […]

Orgasm

We all find out sooner or later that perfect simply doesn’t exist. But those of us who tend to pay attention realize that this difficult world comes close, at times, even if just for a moment. And so, the search for perfection becomes a ceaseless quest and potentially a dangerous addiction in itself. Being in […]

Sex Sells, or How to Increase your Blog Hits

Although this blog is really about nothing more than a gringa/guiri culture addict moving all by her little self to Madrid and experiencing the good along with the bad, people on the Internet are not looking for cultural musings or poetic commentaries on solitude. No, they’re looking for sex, of course. What’s my proof? Well, […]

One Night Stand Land

This T-shirt stall is every much in evidence on the uphill side of the Rastro (the famous flea market in Madrid that according to Lonely Planet has operated continuously for 400 years). It’s huge and covers blocks and blocks, starting from the traffic circle a couple of blocks from my apartment, so I’ve started to […]

Sleepy Summer

Although the stats show pretty clearly that the fiercest heat is roughly July 20-Aug. 10th, for nearly a week we’ve been back below 30°C in Madrid. Still, August is vacation month and by god, the locals are on vacation, whatever the weather! As far as I can tell, everyone who has the choice tends to […]

Body Heat

The temperatures have matched or topped body temperature (37°C/98.6°C) for three days and today looks like it will fall only one degree short. Although I should walk the four blocks to the local air-conditioned library and wake up my brain, instead my body has me trapped in a torpid of state that seems to involve […]

Orgullo Gay (Pride)

For the 2nd time in less than a week, Madrid happily took to the streets. Honestly if I estimate the numbers, I almost have to think they weigh out in favor of gays over soccer, can you believe it? For the gay pride parade, where I hung out for three hours, the streets were simply […]

Dr. Strangelove

I’ll just warn you, this is not a happy-happy-wonderful-new-life-in-Spain post. The more I write, the more I find it’s a feeling of something inside, biding its time, never knowing how or when it will come out in words. Often it’s triggered by a film, I think, which is why I am so head-over-heels in love […]

Too Funny for Words

OK, everyone, so you know about my classy personals ad seeking a cultured, gentlemanly companion. But what you don’t know is I’ve also been looking for a desk chair. In responding to the 3 or 4 people whose chairs I did not buy, you guessed it, I mistakenly also sent it to one of the […]