The “abono” is the name of the monthly pass that you can buy at the beginning of the month and then ride the metro as much as you want. I tried to fight the majority and didn’t buy one at the start of the semester because I thought I wouldn’t take the metro much since I live close to school and work. As much as I do not like to admit it, I was VERY WRONG! The metro system in Madrid is wonderful, and I often take it during the week to meet up with friends after dinner and a lot during the weekend…way more than 30 times each month. Because I am a student, I had to apply for a discounted price, so even once I realized I had messed up I still had to wait for my application to be processed. Finally receiving my abono was a magical moment!!
I am getting to do more interesting tasks at work these days. This week I got to help one of the stylist’s assistant’s, Alba, with shopping for a plastic shoe trend photo shoot that one of the stylists was working on. I got to look through all of the look books of designers that carry shoes and mark the pages where the plastic shoe trend appeared. I found some really cool ones, and Alba told me that she thinks some of the ones I picked will end up being in the photo shoot. I also got to help her with a lingerie and bathing suit photo shoot with just the silhouettes. We went to the photo studio in the basement and pinned the lingerie and bathing suits to Styrofoam boards in perfect alignment and symmetry, so as to not leave any wrinkles. Working along side Alba, I learned that she does not get paid! I was really outraged to find out just how bad the economic crisis is in Spain. I can’t imagine how stressful it must be to be 26 and working as a volunteer in hopes of advancement. She is certainly determined though to find her place in the fashion industry, hopefully as a stylist, which I found admirable.
I decided to exercise for the first time since being in Madrid (woops! I do not belong to a gym). I have been walking a decent amount, but I met up with a friend Emily to go on a legit run. There is an outdoor track near her house, where Madrileños of all ages walk, jog, and run. It surrounds a large shooting range, which my dad would absolutely love. There are different rest areas around the loop of the track, so we stopped to do abs, arms, and some yoga sen salutations. It was very relaxing and felt good to work up a sweat right before dinner. Marta laughed at me (I mean pointed and hysterically laughed) because I literally never wear work out clothes, and I guess it was a shocker.
That Sunday Fiona and I had promised to go shopping with Elsa (our host sister). Isabel (our host mother) returned home (thank goodness) after being gone for 5 weeks. I had never seen Elsa outside of our house, so it was fun to go on an outing with her. She is the most sophisticated, witty 14-year-old that I have ever met. While I can tell that she really looks up to Fiona and I, she carries conversations and makes jokes with us that are on par with those of my peers. She enjoys trying to pry into our love lives and telling us about her crush, Cosme, who has recently starting dating a younger girl. She also talked to us about some drama amongst her girl friends that she is caught in the middle of. It’s funny how no matter what age you are, many of the same tricky situations reoccur.
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