Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Early to rise, as usual, first to shower, as usual! We go down to breakfast and eat quickly so that we can leave a little early and take our time getting to the train station. It’s not too far of a walk, but is much more laborious with the added weight and bulk of suitcases and carryons. We have plenty of time, but like true Americans we all feel the need to hurry, hurry, hurry because there’s a train to catch!



We arrive with no time crunch at all and get to enjoy a moments rest in the Atocha train station. It’s a beautiful building, curved like a Quonset and in the center is a manmade rainforest. It’s absolutely incredible, sort of a giant greenhouse. Tall sprinklers constantly spray warm water in shots of steam onto the canopy. The effect is slightly magical and it seems as though this little pocket of the exotic could have been here in the train station for hundreds of years. I half expect to see a man in a top hat and tails with a bustled woman on his arm emerge from around the edge of the forest. Almost as good, there are a few old men sitting on benches, talking about who knows what. The girls and I discuss how good life must be for the old men on park benches…



The whole group arrives accounted for and we manage onto the train. The train is gorgeous and clean and very comfortable. We manage to stow our luggage with considerable effort and everyone settles into their seats. I’m sitting next to Rikki, facing backwards, looking at Jared and Carin. I’m excited to be sitting with these two because haven’t had much opportunity to talk to them. Carin and I spend most of the train ride swapping stories. She’s hilarious and genuine and so happy in a way that invites everyone else to feel the same joy. I laugh so hard I hurt.

I wander down to the cafeteria car as hunger strikes me and order the set meal called the Gran Via. I get a bocadillo de tortilla, a bag of Doritos (Mexican flavor, not nacho cheese) and a Coca-light for pretty cheap and head back to my seat. They’re showing Alvin and the Chipmunks on the tvs, but I’m really not interested.



The train ride is only a few hours and a total delight. Especially when I think back on my train travel in India! We arrive in Cádiz at about four or so and our hostesses are all there to pick us up and take us home. I’m rooming by myself, and while I knew some of the other girls are nervous about using their Spanish and understanding the Cádiz accent, I’m just really excited and impatiently await my introduction.

Isabel is a bright, curly-haired blonde woman who is dressed in the very current fashion of the time, she has the baggy loose cotton pants that women in India wear under their tunics and a fitted tank top with lots of jewelry. We greet each other with kisses on both cheeks and I’m thrilled that I can understand everything she says! We walk across town to her home. She apologizes constantly for the walk, while I try to explain to her that I don’t mind since I’ve been sitting most of the day on the train.



Her apartment is lovely she has family photos everywhere. I meet her daughter, Debora, who is 29 but looks much younger, her granddaughter, Mirella, who is 17, and her grandson who everyone calls by various nicknames so I have no idea what he’s actually called, but he’s six. No one can pronounce my name and I tell them not to worry about it because when I was in Málaga no one could pronounce it there either! Isabel is quick and asks me, “So what did they call you?”

Well, I thought about it, and everyone in Málaga called me Lucía. Isabel smiles at this and says, “Of course, Santa Lucía, child of light, with the blonde hair and the light eyes. Perfect!” So now everyone in Cádiz will also call me Lucía.

Isabel is excited to have a student in the house again and tells me what good luck she’s had with all the boarders. She has bought fried chicken, croquettes, and French fries for lunch. I anticipated the fact that either no one would actually process our housing requests that included information about dietary restrictions, or no one would actually read them. I explain that I don’t eat meat or chicken, which isn’t a problem for Isabel who has a laugh that it’s too bad because I’m going to miss some really nice chicken! Isabel fries me an egg and explains that she bought the most American food she could find so that I wouldn’t have to worry for my first meal. I think it’s very sweet and then tell her that I will try anything she cooked, as long as it doesn’t have meat. I tell her the story of ordering gambas y gulas and she and Debora have a good laugh about that, but it definitely gets the point across that I’m game to try any food she decides to cook. We sit at the kitchen table and chat until I realize how late it’s getting and Isabel scoots me out of the kitchen before I can try to help clear the table telling me to go rest.

I unpack my suitcase and get organized, deciding to do a little reading before I head out for dinner and maybe to meet up with some of the rest of the group. Instead, I fall asleep long before nine and sleep through the entire night, something I haven’t done in weeks and weeks, since before I arrived in Spain.