How are you?

In Spain after greeting you ask always how are you. Always it is not even necessary to reply or you can reply by asking also after greeting directly how are you. Other curious aspect is that you might ask how are you more than once. Second how are you might be asked right away after the first one without even getting reply to the first one or after the reply if you want to know more. One example how one person can start a conversation when he/she sees his/her friend is: ¡Hola! ¿Qué tal? ¿Qué tal estás? Translation: Hello!, How are you? How are you doing? Then the friend gives his/her reply.

Topless

Demonstration

Yesterday I went for the first time to a public swimming pool in Madrid. Before I had been a few times in a private swimming pool of row houses. I was surprised to see women sun bathing topless. Women from all age groups were taking tan with bare boobs. My estimation is that 20% of the women were sun bathing topless.

On Sunday I saw for a second time Spanish demonstrating against the economical crisis and for more democratic voting system. The busy streets of the center of Madrid were closed because they were full of people demonstrating. Many had sign with different messages, some were singing and one guy painted to the wall of bank of Spain. Jesús took the picture above but unfortunately he was not with in the public swimming pool so there are no photos of topless women.

Smell of the food

Seems that Spanish do not like the smell of the food. Here I will give three different examples. Spanish guy wanted to cook in a hotel room but he did not want the smell of the food to spread all over his room so he decided to move the stove next to the window to prevent the room from smelling food. I have been cooking in a kitchen and then my flatmates have advised me to close the door to stop the smell of the food spreading to living room but it is not problem to take the plate to the living room and eat there. The last one is that I suggested to make a one big room by removing the wall between the kitchen and living room but Spanish did not like the idea because then the smell of the food would spread to the living room

Tapas bar

El Tigre

One of the most famous tapas bars in the center of Madrid is called El Tigre. The bar is almost always full of people like popular discos on Saturday nights. There are no chairs to sit down and just small tables on the wall. The reason why El Tigre is so popular is that they put various different tapas and glass of a drink for 2,5 euros. El Tigre is the place to go if you want to eat and drink well for a good price.

Toledo

Entrance

Bridge

On Saturday I made a one day trip to Toledo with my working mates. Toledo is a old capital of Spain like many other cities. Toledo is on a mountain and surrounded by a wall and a river. As the city is on a mountain the city did not really have flat areas. Almost all the streets were uphill or downhill. The streets were also narrow and walking lines were not separated from the lines to the cars but there were not many cars. Toledo had a old-fashioned atmosphere even the streets were packed of tourists.

Prostitution

Calle de la Montera

You can easily see the prostitution on some streets of Spain. In the center of Madrid there is a street calle de la Montera where you can see various prostitutes offering their services. I managed to get two prostitutes to the picture when I took the picture above in front of the metro station Gran via. Night clubs in Spain are not for dancing but night clubs are to get services of prostitutes. Night clubs can be easily recognized from the colorful lights.

15M

Puerta del sol

The protest to better democracy in Spain is still visible in the center of Madrid. The protesters have still their camps up where they have been living now almost two months. The camp is like a slum of few houses in the center of Madrid. In Finland M15 is better known as a captain of Finland's curling national team.

Views

View from the kitchen

View from my window

As you can see from the first picture Spanish do not try to hide all the possible ways that they are cultivating cannabis. It is also possible to see cannabis plants on the balconies. Second picture shows the modest view from my bedrooms window. It is just made because the rooms must have a window. In big cities flats are constructed side by side which leads to this kind of views. Two other flatmates have a better view to the street.

Gay Pride Madrid 2011

Plaza de España

Gay pride attracted the streets of Madrid full of people. Gay pride was a good excuse to have a party even you are not gay. Various stages were set where DJs or performers were playing music. Few stages were under the name of silent disco where people should have been wearing headphones to listen the music what DJ was playing but the idea did not seem to work because I saw nobody wearing headphones. I spotted many more gay male couples than gay female couples. Many were dressed up in a very gay way or without shirt. The whole center of Madrid was full of people with good party mood.

Flat in Madrid

Living room

I have now moved to a flat in Madrid after living one week in a Spanish family. Also this time I am living with three girls who all are Spanish. The flat has two renovated toilets and also a renovated kitchen. Flatmates seem to be nice and overall the flat is good. When I was looking for a flat the most important condinition was to find a flat near to the working place where I am doing the internship. The flat is one kilometer from the main street of Madrid called Gran via and a half kilometer from the work. The rent is 380 euros including all the costs like Internet, gas and electricity.