Madrid, España: Rough Start

May 19th

So I don’t even know where to begin to describe this day.  It has by far been the worst day of the trip.  We left London early this morning and flew to Madrid.  Flying was a little overwhelming because everything was in Spanish and they talk so fast.  I felt like I had never heard any Spanish before.  When we arrived at the Madrid Airport we each had three bags that we were carrying and we honestly walked two miles to get to the metro station.  We were all so exhausted because we had only gotten two hours of sleep the night before.  We stopped at an ATM to get some cash and I was going to wait but I decided to grab some now instead.

The metro station is so different from London.  We had to transfer three different times to get to our hostel.  On the second train we were a little separated but not far from each other.  I was in the middle, Summer was on my right and Andrea was on my left.  The train was so packed that we couldn’t see each other well.  I was standing by this pole and this guy came and stood right next to me and was extremely close to me.  My purse was on top of my luggage and when the guy stood next to me, I couldn’t get to my purse; it was held down.  I didn’t think anything of it because we were so squished in there anyway.  I was looking around the train and this guy a few feet from me was snapping at me.  I had no idea what he was trying to communicate to me.  I looked away but he kept snapping.  Finally, I looked back at him and he was pointing at my purse.  I looked down and I could actually get to my purse now so I go through it making sure I had everything.  To my horror I didn’t have my wallet; honestly, this was the worst feeling in the world.  I started shaking and I looked up at the guy who was snapping at me and he pointed to the guy who stood so close to me.  I told Summer my wallet was gone and she didn’t know what to do (Andrea was farther away from us).  We couldn’t even think of the word wallet in Spanish.  I looked at this guy and the first Spanish that came to my mind was “yo necesito mi dinero,” which is I need my money.  I started yelling at him in English and Spanish and he just acted like he couldn’t understand me.  This is when the panic really hit me; I looked back at the snapping guy and he made the telephone sign which I assumed all I could do was call the police and cancel all my cards. 

I started to cry and all of a sudden my wallet fell to the ground and I grabbed it so quick.  At this point I was bailing and shaking so bad.  We got off at the next stop to transfer trains and I tried to tie my purse up and the string broke!  I was going to kill someone.  Finally, after the next train and walking through the rain we arrived at our hostel.  This hostel is soooo much nicer than the one in London.  It is so cute.  Spain and England are so different.  I feel like London had more of a tourist feel and when we arrived in Madrid it was the classic European feel that I imagined.  Spain is beautiful though.  The people are different too.  I would say people are nicer here in Spain (besides that guy who took my money). 

Later that night I checked my wallet after my dad asked me if he took money and I realized he took all my cash I had, which makes sense.  That is why he dropped my wallet because he took all he wanted already.  I felt so violated and just stupid.  I should have been more careful.  I don’t even know what I was thinking; I think I trust people too much.

We went out for food and it was around 6:00, which is during siesta so nothing was open!  We ended up at this place and he asked us for drinks and we all just got water.  (People don’t eat around this time so we didn’t know if we had to ask for food or not).  After 20 minutes of deciding what to do and feeling stupid I got the waiters attention and we asked if they have food right now, haha.  We ordered and it was quite an experience! 

Our hostel

May 20th

So right now I am on a train heading to Oviedo from Madrid and it is freaking five hours long!  It’s okay though because I actually enjoy train rides like this.  I have missed music so much and I cannot wait to just listen to it for five hours haha.

This morning was another interesting ride to the train station.  Nothing crazy happened on the metro, thank goodness.  I still haven’t gotten a new purse because everything was closed yesterday but I put my wallet into my zipper pocket and my passport.  When we got to the train station this guy was helping us and showing us to our gate.  When we got the stair that led to up to Platform 17, he offered to take my bag up for me.  I felt weird but he just grabbed it and headed up.  Andrea and Summer were ahead of me and he kept stopping to talk to me and so they were about six steps ahead.  The guy went to shake my hand and I saw his other hand got into my purse!  I definitely pushed him away and started to walk faster.  He didn’t get anything in my bag because I put it in my zipper pocket.  When we got up to the Platform, he was telling me how I was “good looking” (guapa).  He gave me my bag and introduced himself and I told him my name and he kissed my cheeks.  I definitely was creeped out by this and bothered.  I just don’t understand, am I doing something wrong?  Why does this weird stuff keep happening to me?  I am being careful, I swear!

I am feeling the culture shock here and I think it’s because everything is in Spanish. I’m having a hard time adjusting to Spain and the people here.  I’m really nervous and don’t trust them now.   I miss the comforts of home.  I cannot wait to arrive in Oviedo tonight and meet my family.  I actually will have my own room to sleep in and a normal pillow!  I know things will get better in Oviedo so I can’t wait for the new adventures.