Bells, Whistles, and Spanx 20/100.

Last night, I gave a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Bells and Whistles." Elena has an alarm system in the house that we set at night. It activates motion sensors in the basement and on the ground floor. I've had to activate it when I stay with the kids at night, so last night was no different. Or so I thought. I don't know if it was because I was extremely tired or what, but I pressed the wrong button to activate it and ended up setting the entire system off. We're not talking one of those silent alarms. No, this was louder than 30 screaming kids, a trombone, and an ambulance. Combined. Full blast. At midnight. It was loud enough for all of Madrid to hear. I'm surprised no one sent me an email saying that they heard it in the states. It scared me to death and woke up the kids. I'm pretty sure it spooked me more than it did the kids. Dan, bless his heart, slept through ninety percent of the whole debacle.  And then, I couldn't get the stupid thing to turn off. I kept punching in the code and the Symphony Orchestra and Mass Choir kept laughing at me by getting louder and louder. I'm surprised the police didn't show up, as long as the alarm went off. I had visions in my head of the police swarming up to the house, guns pointed at me. Dead serious. I just felt bad because it woke up the kids. I'm sure the housewives were talking about me at the pool today. I can hear them referring to me not as the American, but as the stupid, incompetent American. Oh, and none of them work, so it's not like I messed up their schedules or anything. I so wish I could have been a fly on the wall in the pool area today! The entire episode sent my heart racing! Thankfully this morning, everyone, including the kids woke up just fine. Why do the most simple things always turn out to be so difficult for me?

The metro was extremely crowded this morning. We were packed in there tighter than my excess baggage underneath my spanx. (And that's really tight, FYI.) Ladies, you know what I'm talking about :) Anyways, this nice guy on the metro gave me his seat. What can I say? When we get to the station at Gregoria Maranon, the metro clears out. That stop is right on the main street of Madrid, right in the middle of the financial and business district. Everyone and their mother gets off at the stop. Me being such a dork, I just looked it up on Google Maps. I am surprised to learn how close school is to the main street. I think one day I'm just going to walk and get lost on purpose. That's the best way to do it. Of course, it will have to be a day where it's cool. I can't deal with anymore sweaty toes or blisters. Although, losing a pound of sweat from my pinky toe was kinda worth it, now that I think about it. Lost weight is lost weight, right?!

Anyways, let me just profess my love for the Spanish school schedule. The students came today - they were all so adorable in their plaid uniforms and jumpers. Seeing all of their parents drop them off and pick them up made me appreciate my job even more - I'm telling you, being able to love on kids during the day and then send them home to their parents at night is amazing :) But seriously, everyone I met was really nice and I can't wait to start teaching tomorrow. Now if I can only learn all 400 of their names....So back to what I was saying. The school day starts at 9:15. I was one of the first teachers there. A whole thirty minutes early! Apparently, no one gets there until 9:10. So, we work for a little under two hours, and then we get a thirty minute coffee/breakfast break. It's a full cafe in the basement of the school. Everyone gathers and sits and breaks bread. Literally. We have fresh bread, muffins, and something that resembles chocolate doughnuts to eat, coffee, tea, water, and chocolate milk to drink. Then its back to work for another two hours, followed by an-almst-two-hour lunch break. Then, another two hour period and it's time to go home. The kids don't even stay the full day during the month of September. Right now, they leave at 1:10. They won't stay a full day until October! Like I said, I LOVE this system. If I ever become a school principal (this is after I run for public office, become the first woman senator from Kentucky, teach, go into international business, and become a writer for a travel magazine,) I will adopt the spanish schedule.

Today at school, I ran into a friend from the first time I was here. I was so glad to see her, especially since a mutual friend of ours told me that he thought she graduated last semester. We are going to hang out on a weekend. It was really nice to re-connect though, because we are both older than a lot of the other students and we both work and take classes.

Sadly, I have nothing else to write about. Oh wait, that was a lie. I received my spanish debit card today and picked it up at the bank. First of all, it's a mastercard, which is weird to me. Secondly, I had to activate it and that was the hardest thing I've had to do since I've been here. Elena helped me, but they wouldn't let her speak to the representative. So, I had to try and translate everything. She asked me if I had stocks and retirement funds with the bank. (I guess to verify I was the real Sarah Trainor.) And then tried to sell me some type of security package. Absolutely not. Now I have to wait another 3-7 days to get my pin. And then I have to go to the bank to change it to whatever code I want. Talk about difficult!

I'm going to sleep now. In the words of my mother, "Seven comes quick."

Quote of the Day: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." -Eleanor Roosevelt