Back "home"

Stepping back onto the Madrid Metro, I felt a strange mix of familiarity and homesickness. I had been on these metro lines almost every day for two months, I knew this city far better than any that I had visited back in the US, I was excited to sleep in my "own" bed for the first time in two weeks, and I couldn´t wait to see my "family" again.
But the two week visit was one of the best of my life. Every city brought me to people I loved, most of whom I hadn´t seen since the end of June and all whom I hadn´t seen since the end of July.
On the metro, I took the 8 from the airport, transferring at Nuevos Ministerios onto the 6, running on auto-pilot through stations I know well. It was a stark contrast to the New York and Boston subway systems, where, no matter how simple my route, I asked for directions every time. I love knowing that I´ve mastered Madrid to the point that it´s my city away from LA, but I already miss the people waiting to meet me at the end of those unfamiliar United States underground rides.

Seeing my host family -- Eva, Alberto, Margie, Hector, and Dario -- was wonderful. We got right back into the swing of things.
I gave English lessons to Dario and Hector, and Alberto and Eva gave me a Spanish politics lesson. They have given me a first-rate education on Spanish current events (and American cinema, too -- they know more about movies than their Los Angeles host son -- it´s a little embarrassing), and the night I came back they updated me on the latest. The biggest news, and the most bizzarre, was an incident at an Iberoamerican conference (Spanish and Latin American leaders summit). Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was giving a speech, when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez began interrupting him to call former Spanish President José María Aznar a Fascist. After multiple interruptions, the King of Spain asked, "¿Por qué no te callas?" In English: Why don´t you shut up? Usually, the King is supposed to sit above it all, the perfect diplomat...This time, he lost his temper.
It seems as though Chavez was looking for a fight, because tensions have exploded way out of control considering how small the incident was. Chavez wants Spain to apologize for crimes it committed when it had colonies in Latin America. And he and the South American leaders who are his allies have threatened to penalize Spanish companies.
Gifts that I´d brought from the states went over well. A Red Sox hat for Alberto (after I pretty much exhausted him day after day during the playoffs with Red Sox status updates), a scarf for Eva, a stuffed Schnauzer for Margie (well, for her daughter), and baseball gloves for Hector and Dario (the next night, Dario -- just 3 years old -- and I played catch!).

I got in Thursday. Friday and Saturday night, I went to a jazz club with a friend from Germany and my Venezuelan friends. The music really caught the best of this gap year so far -- the freedom, the unpredictablility, and the roaring ´20s night-lifestyle all rolled into one.