This section of the park is for the older generation. Upon first glance, I thought it was a playground for little kids, and when I saw this older gentlemen playing with the wheel (pictured below) I wondered if he was confused.
Joanna and I attempted to do the exercises, but we couldn't really understand the directions. However, it was obvious how to use these:
The sweet little old man came over and talked to us. He asked us what were doing here in Madrid, and we told him that we were students here for the semester. I'm not sure why, but he took care to warn us about Spanish boys. He kept saying something about "amigos con derechos a roce" and at the time we had no idea what he meant. I thought he maybe he was talking about friends in law school, so I said that I didn't have any. Thank God I did! Because after Googling the meaning I realized that had I said yes, I would not have been a very virtuous young lady! "amigos con derechos a roce" = "friends with benefits". He was warning us that the majority of Spanish chicos are only looking for that.
At any rate the day spent at Parque del Oeste was perfectly unproductive, but perfectly relaxing. I meant to read, but I fell asleep on a cozy little hill in the sweet Spanish sunlight.
Later, that night, I met up with Lauren and Lindsey in Tribunal. Just outside of the metro stop at Tribunal there was a massive crowd of young people. I suppose it's the usual meeting place. There were several Asian people walking around selling beer for a euro. Their motto: "Everyday I'm hustlin' hustlin' hustlin'."
Lauren's friend from high school, Paloma, who lives here in Madrid and studied abroad in the US when she was in high school took us to a couple of bars in Chueca and Tribunal. Her boyfriend, who is American, and her friend Carlos who is a Madrileño came too. The conversation was an interesting blend of good/bad Spanish and good/bad English. We would speak in Spanish and Carlos and Paloma would reply in English. Carlos told us about how his father is a torero (bullfighter) and that he laughs at the Americans who get emotional when the bull is killed. It was cool to see the night life from the perspective of young Spaniards. All in all it was a noche muy tranquila (calm, relaxing, "chill")
Switching gears a bit:
So I have found two language exchange partners for intercambios. I've told y'all about Vanessa already. She's the periodista (journalist). On our second meeting I spoke a lot more Spanish. What a mental workout conjugating verbs in the correctly in the correct past tense. In Spanish there are 2 past tenses! It was good though, I learned so much. I even taught her how to use the word "chill" in all of its contexts.
Last weekend I met Jorge as well. He's studying ingeniero electrico (electrical engineering) at the Unversidad de Complutense -which is basically the UH or UT of Madrid. He's actually originally from Ecuador, but his family moved here about 10 years ago. He was a pretty cool guy. I learned a little bit about the school system here and a little bit about soccer too. Next time I plan to speak only in Spanish. That's the best way to learn.
Poco a poco communicating gets easier. The same with the two children I give English lesson to. They learn so quickly, it's amazing. Kids are sponges, and they're so eager to learn.
Now I must come to a close. Today shall be a day of mucho trabajo. After lunch though!
-Hasta luego.
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