Feeling a little homesick 2...

I, Nicki, am also feeling a bit of the homesick, but my list of things is mostly food and Lola, of course, and all of our friends. Kara wanted me to mention how much she misses Ranch dressing, so much so that she wanted me to let all of you know that she forgot it. I think as a defense mechanism, she has pushed it to the back of her mind, but we went to the grocery store today and the absence of salad dressings in general brought it back to her. She's truly suffering and deserves all of your pity. She also has developed a little bit of an eye infection that we are referring to as her "Spanish Stye." So, yes, we are having a grand ol' time in Madrid. So, mostly I miss Thai food, in case you were wondering, but lack of funds and variety in general has resulted in the need for a belt if you know what I mean - mostly bread, cheese, and wine. I am not complaining, wine at our local Mercadona costs us a whopping €1.65 A BOTTLE. That's right folks, I'm wasted. But even a 12 pack of beer will run you €3.36 whereas Coca-Cola is about €6. It's a frat-boy's dream. We actually had a really nice meal tonight with our roommates - we have a kind of commune thing going on with the food situation which is nice, everything is fair game for the most part, so we are learning to share. This is seeming to be a food-centric blog, so I'll explain a little bit of the Spanish food culture for those who are unfamiliar - First, Europeans don't really have a clue about coffee and I am sorry if I offend, but all those who think that French Roast or Italian Espresso is where it's at, you are WRONG. I would kill for a drip coffee from Intelligentsia or even Starbucks (It's that bad), but the best they can come up with is burnt espresso and hot milk, which is good compared to the instant stuff that saturates the rest of Europe. So, yeah, but breakfast is good - The Euro folk take their meals seriously - no shortcuts, very little cereal, mostly pastries and fruit. Lunch is seemingly nonexistent in Spanish Culture which I attribute to the fact that from about 10am to 10pm, it's SO FRICKIN HOT here, like 95+ degrees. They trick you with thier 33 degrees Celcius, but there were definitely some triple digits last week. So, around 8 or 9 the Spaniards partake in some Canas y Tapas, basically little drinks and little eats. And 10 or 11 is dinner time, I know, weird. But the food is pretty good if you know what you are ordering and even sometimes when you don't know what you are ordering. But for those of us accustomed to eating in the 6-7 time frame, there's not much for ya but tapas. So, we're adjusting and cooking at the apartment. They've even adjusted our class schedule to accomodate the late nights. So, that's all for now. I miss Pad Thai and Chipotle, but other than that, we are having a great time!!