Mimidora The Explorer

¡Madre Mia hoy es lunes! I dislike mondays. First it cuts the momentum of your weekend, secondly, a lot o establishments in spain are closed. But anyway, i love my school so nevermind :)

I set my alarm at 06:45 and yes my sister called me through facetime at 06:30 wow... Haha! No problem. She was in the office and she wanted to show everyone in the office. I was not even able to comb my hair.

I stayed in bed until around 07:15 before i stood up, then i fixed my bed, and went straight to the bathroom to reach for my washed clothes outside the window before it rains unexpectedly once again.
Let me take you on a brief tour of my adventures in laundry land... This is the bathroom i always talk about. As you can see there is a shower and there is a window.



This is a closer view of the window...




¡Ay soccorro! Here is the laundry line i was talking about where i hang my clothes and where my laundry fell from...





We are on the 2nd floor or what we call the "segunda piso". The piso here is not our Philippine peso but rather, which floor of the apartment building.





I ate breakfast.... Guess what i ate :)..... No..... Haha! Yeah Galletas and the buttercake thing

It's quite chilly today so instead of wearing some sleeveless thing i decided to wear a sleeveless thing under and an overshirt but i wore a skirt and a pair of peach socks with my sandals.





I was quite reluctant to go to school today because i know we will be having different classmates today. Because out of our class last week it was Eneas, Robin, Induja and myself.

Today we have a new professor, her name is Marisa and we merged with her class. Now we have new classmates, Amy from the US, Anna and Caroline from Brazil, Maria from Russia and Emmanuel from France.

I was quite relieved that Esteban was still our afternoon professor.





At least it's not an abrupt change of environment. This is the sad part about studying here in Enforex, you can have different teachera and classmates every week but that's also good because you meet people from everywhere. It's just sad when you've become close to your classmates and suddenly you find out that it's their last week in Enforex.

Anyway, after class, i went straight home and i ate lunch. It was a smaller portion of last night's dinner :)






After lunch i looked at the directory. I really wanted to try eating or drinking coffee or tea at a bar. But most of the restaurants/bars i was eyeing were closed on mondays. I just decided to go out and walk through Calle Bravo Murillo.... Or was it an Avenida? Hmmm i forgot... Oh well... :)

I bought Quitaesmalte (nail polish remover) and cortauñas (nail clipper) :) and then i found out that there was a nearby supermarket that i can go too so that i don't have to go to nuevos ministerios to go to El Corte Ingles. It's very tiring to go there.

I looked at every bar/resto i passe to see if there's anything i can eat that will not ruin my appetite for dinner. I decided to stay at Cafe & Té. It's cheaper to sit at the bar than to take a table. But i would rather sit at the bar because i can talk to the camareras (waitresses). There were 2 of them, Margarita and Gilda :) they were very nice to me and we talked a lot. I was able to practice my spanish with other people other than my foster family. I am quite used to the voice and accent of my Mama Eva so i needed to hear and talk to someone else. I found out that 1 filipina worked there too but for the morning shift. Her name was Cynthia. I ate a Raviolis Florentina. It was very good :) and i also ordered 1 Té blend de Casa :)






Perdon for my hair, it is very windy today :)











After our short talk, and after i finished my food, i left and i was really happy about that experience. I walked home and normally i would feel very tired walking back but this time, i even felt that the walk home was short to think that i went really far.

I arrived home and read more of the directory and marked places i will be visiting soon.

Mama Eva arrived from her dance class and prepared pasta for us all. Since there are 5 of us now, we had to eat at the "salon" which is by the way the "sala" of the house and not a beauty parlor. A beauty parlor here is called "peluquería" :)

We talked over dinner. We talked about a lot of things and it was really nice that we get to talk over dinner. I've been learning a lot of things as time goes by. I love it.

After dinner, did my evening ritual, homework, etc and it's time to hit the sack.



~*~*~¡Buenas Noches Madrid!~*~*~

I woke up at around 8 today :) i was really so tired from all that washing and walking i did yesterday.

This morning, i checked my facebook inbox to see if my friend Induja had replied because we were supposed to meet today. Unfortunately, she came home in the "madrugada" or very early morning that she cannot come with me to our supposedly trip to El Museo de Reina Sofia... Oh well. That won't stop me from going around on a sunday.

I checke out the directory that mama Eva gave me and i was supposed to visit the Thyssen Museum to see the Heroína (Heroin-female hero not the drug) exposition. But i suddenly saw "Museo Naval" and it caught my eye not just because it is a naval museum but because it said that admission is FREE!!!! :)

So i dressed up and all, and one of my American foster sisters arrived. And we were introduced and then i left :) i could not wait for the other american to arrive because i have no idea if the line at the museum is long and on sundays, museums close early. As i left the building, it started raining... Vaya!! Mis ropas que llavé ayer!!!!! (oh no! My clothes that i washed yesterday!!!") i felt bad but i just have to wash it again later.

I went to the station and as i stood in front of the metro list of stops, i forgot to ask which station is nearest the naval museum. I took so long standing there skimming through the pages of the directory because apparently my bookmark fell off.

A kind Spanish gentleman approached me and asked me in english "do you need help?" and i answered in Spanish that i needed to find out which station is closest to the museum. And then off i go to Sol station and change lines going to Banco de España :)


As i surfaced from the metro, it was still raining... A little.... And then it stopped.


I honestly do not know now where the museum is. But i did see the gigantic Instituto Cervantes :)



I walked a little more and i saw a tourist help center and i asked where the naval museum is. I asked her in spanish though. She gave me a map and she pointed out our exact location and wherr the museum is and then she asked me where i was from and ofcourse i said i was from the Philippines :)

I love this area of Madrid. So much beautiful structures!! Even their Army Headquarters!



I arrived at the museum and i noticed that people were bringing out their passports as they entered and i freaked because i never bring my passport with me...



So i asked the guy in uniform if the passport is needed and i i don't have it, if my Philippine Driver's license will do and he said yes. *sigh*... What a relief :)



The place was wonderful!!!! I can't believe i'm in Navy heaven!!



There were so much miniature ship nodels of different times/centuries, shapes and sizes






Original old helms were there too:







They have those big-ass torpedo things:



What made my heart jump was that out of the 20+ sections of the museum, 2 sections are dedicated to the Philippines :) I wanted to cry tears of pride :)
These apparently are the armour and other equipment of the people from Jolo durin the spanish invasion:









Here is an armor of a Warrior from Jolo made of Carabao horn




This is the original agreement on paper of the then Spanish King and Portugese King, agreeing upon the division of jurisdiction/sovereignty. I think east belonged to spain and west to portugal... Whoah i forgot. My point is, good job Spain for having preserved this piece of history: ( see the blood? Yes how nice. It's their signature)


Here are old bullets and bullet molds:



There's more but i can't post it all here. I'll include them
In another post.

It was really something. Well, after 2
Hours inside, i decided to go home and eat lunch because i'm starving!!


I met the other american foster sister of mine, but i forgot their names... Both of them :) hahahaha!

I talked with Mama Eva about the stuff i saw in the museum and she told me other places i should visit.

Oh n the way home i saw this thing on the street whwre a girl pretends to be a statue and asks for donations to support other sculptors:



After the other girls ate lunch, they left for the welcome thing of the school the girls will be going to.

As for me, i re-washed the clothws that were soaked in the rain earlier. ¡Que Rollo! - how boring. There's already a burning sensation on my fingers.

I was still soaking some of my clothes when Mama Eva arrived. But she let me finish, anyway i asked permission if i can re-wash the rain soaked stuff :)

Irina finally arrived :) she came from a trip to the country side with her boyfriend Nicolas and his family.

I stayed in my room to read a bit and to iron the shirts that i was able to get this morning :)


I read a little news and then i don't know if i fell asleep or my mind just wandered off and then Mama Eva and company arrived, just as i was about to eat dinner.

I had some chicken thing with mushrooms for dinner. I love it! It's so flavorful! :)



After dinner i took a bath, did my homework and looks like it's time to sleep



~*~*~¡Buenas Noches Madrid!~*~*~

I was not able to finish this blog entry on time because i had to do so much things today.

I woke up a little later than usual because it's a Saturday :)

Guess what i had for breakfast? Yes! Galletas as usual :) Mama Eva had been insisting that i go to The Plaza del Puerto del Sol and so i looked for it on my map and which metro is closest to it.

I decided to play with my make up today instead of daily fashion statements.

I walked to the metro and grabbed a metro map because i forgot my metro map back home and i checked which stations i have to change lines if necessary. Well, it was a straight ride from Estrecho to Sol.

Once i got out of the station i saw right away, flyers and posters and tents and lot's of protesters.... Apparently their protesting has not finished yet.

I took pictures ofcourse and then left them alone. I walked around and i saw TOPSHOP!! :)




i checked the topshop website and apparently this is the only topshop in Spain.

There's a nice clothin store in Spain which i was able to visit earlier. Blanco :) i love their footwear and dresses




I walked some more and checked out some souvenir shops... I was even thinking to myself "it's ok to get lost in Madrid today.... It's a saturday, i don't have class and there are lots of metro stations everywhere"

...true enough i did get lost :) i walked and walked and walked i even saw a gathering of hearin impaired people :)



it's kind of nice to get lost sometimes.

I found my way back to the El Puerto del Toledo station... It's quite far from Sol station so i can't believe until now how much i walked.

I finally arrived home, ate lunch and called my folks.

Mama Eva left for awhile and after a few minutes i left the house as well to buy a bottle of "Suavizante por Las Ropas" or Fabric Conditioner :)

Along the way i saw so many stores with beautiful items both clothes and accessories, much much cheaper than in H&M and Bershka, Mango and Zara...

But i was sad because i found out that my favorite accessory store was cloain and it was the last day today.

I was sooooo tired so i walked back home and Mama Eva was back waitin for her friend to contact her because they were going out today.

I read the newspaper as usual and a few brochures. Mama Eva's friend finally arrived.

They left and now it was my chance to wash the clothes i don't want to be washed in the washing machine... Oh man that was tiring, washing, wringing and most specially the hanging because you know how vertically challenged i am, it was hard to reach the clothes line.



I ate dinner while waiting for my clothes to be left for awhile on the suavizante and then i came backto rinse and wring and hang.





After the hanging, i took a bath. A good one.

i decided to watch tv a little. Mama Eva is still not here and she told me anyway that i cam watch whenever i want.

Such a long day, must sleep already :) before i went to sleep i listened to Chanquete Radio España and to my surprise, "A Dios Le Pido" (i ask God) by Juanes played!!!!!!! Juanes! Oh by the way he's coming on 20 July.... I really hope i can watch his concert even if i'm faraway from the stage :)

Anyway, i really have to sleep already. I'm going to a museum tomorrow with a friend :)


~*~*~¡Buenas Noches Madrid!~*~*~

I woke up today by alarm clock. I prefer that here in madrid :p

Oh my goodness, more galletas today! Hahahaha! Literally more today

After eating Mama Eva seemed to insist that i leave the house because i am always. In the Philippines my mum would hate it if i went out much. Here, my Spanish mum hates it when i stay too much indoors. Hahahahaha! The world no?

Well i was expecting it to be a bit warm today so i wore shorts with my baggy tank top and a polo top just in case it got cold.



And it was a bit cold but the tolerable cold, because it rained last night and it seemed like it's going to rain again today.



It was the last day of classes for Papa Ingo, Michelle, Felipe, Chun Xiang, Isil and Igor. Well Igor was just going to transfer to Cadiz. So it was just me, robin, induja and eneas left for monday.



I was able to have my picture taken with Isabel too:



I will miss Papa Ingo the most because he is like a dad and a friend to us all:



After class i decided to call my family on facetime already so that after eating lunch i can leave for somewhere.

Oh but it's raining so i dont know if it would be nice to go out. It is a bit cold. But even if i am wearing shorts, the cold is still toleranle unlike last week.

I arrived home and i had omelette again and bread but i don't mind because it was really good :)

Mama Eva apparently is leaving me alone in the house tonight because she has some tourist guide meeting thing i don't really understand the point of the meeting. Irina will be out for 2 days with Nicolas her boyfriend and his family because they are going to the country side :)

Well, as usual, after lunch i fell asleep again since i have nothing much to do, and when i woke up i read my Enredados book and i am sorry to the book lovers but i wrote on my book. I had to :p it's easier for me to remember words if i write on my book.



After hours of scribbling, searching and reading, i decided to eat dinner at 21:00... As you can see it had been wrapped since earlier, ready to be placed in the microwave or what we call here the "micro-onda"



so that i can do more with my time. And yes i washed my clothes again... Well some of it :) and i took a bath, blah blah... Oh by the way i bought laundry pins so that the next time i hang my newly washed undergarments i can use 2 pins at a time and i am sure that it won't fall into "oblivion" ever again!!!

Then i watche tv. There was nothing interesting on tonight except for the "atrapa los milliones" or something like that... It means "catch the millions). It was a game show i cannot explain much because i did not really pay much attention :)

Then a show came up about prostitution in Spain... Supposedly it is legal in Spain but the pimps get punished for the human trafficking...

Then Mama Eva came home and i decided to retire for the night because i want to go around tomorrow. So...

~*~*~¡Buenas Noches Madrid!~*~*~