Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2002 - 2:18 am - a word from Iberia

A week in Madrid, Spain. Over two more to go. It's been pretty good.

Madrid is a lot like Chicago.

Except there are a few more people here who speak spanish. Not a ton more, but a few.

I don't speak spanish. But it's fun to be in Madrid and try to talk to people and make it known what I want. I'm not one of those annoying dorks who talks loud, though. I just use the words I know and do some charades. Ha ha charade you are.

You know what's funny? I call people who live in Madrid "Madridiots". Not cuz they're dumb or anything. Just cuz it's funny.

Actually I don't really call them that. They'd get mad.

Seriously, though. Spain is a fun place with all sorts of cool shit. This is a big city - 5 million people - so it's got all the cool shit you'd expect in a cool city.

One nice thing is that people party here in a serious way. Closing time at 2:00? Are you serious?!? We're just getting started. Seriously. There is no bartime. People party all night long; and those who are on the right drugs can bar hop all weekend non-stop. There's something to be said for ordering a drink at 5 am, knowing that you're just catching your second wind.

The other major thing that's different about Madrid is that the streets here are fucked. Fucked, I tell you. Looking at a map of the city is like looking at a pane of glass smashed in the parking lot. There are no squares, no planning, no common sense. The streets literally go in every direction at once and good fucking luck getting anywhere. They're not marked either. Supposedly, they all have names, but most have little more than a little sign. And the sign is not posted at the intersection. Rather, it's on the side of one or another of the buildings near the corner. Forget it. Take a cab. Or the Metro subway. The tube system here is really good. You can get anywhere - which is good cuz driving a car here must be about as desireable as nutsack soccer.

Enough for now. One more quick note: I can't sleep in this goddamn country. I've been here for a week and I haven't slept more than about 20 hours. Tonight I'm sitting here sucking on a bottle of Jack Daniels hoping for blissful rest.

Be well, Los Americanos. I'll be back to puke on you soon enough.

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