Lets go for a Walk: An Brief Commentary on the People and Dogs in Madrid.

There are a lot of dogs in Madrid. Not just any dogs, but small dogs. I mean, the apartments here are small- who wants to be sharing their apartamento with a big Golden Retriever? The most popular dog here, by far, is the Yorky. Imagine this:

In the far,far, distance there is a Yorky and an old woman walking with a cane.

Me: Awwwwww

Lindsay: ________ (probably eye roll)

Me: A YORKY! Awwww how cute.

Lindsay: You always say that.

Me: They are SO CUTE!

The Yorky approaches, and I realize the Yorky is not on a leash. The Yorky is running around on the sidewalk, sometimes fetching these little nuts that drop from the trees. Their owners, usually trailing behind ( I mean we all know fast these old ladies with canes go!) and the Yorkies somehow stay within the boundaries.

Me, I pull a little Scrubs/Zach Braff head tilt and daydream back to the days of our Yorkies back in Durham. 

My family is sitting in the car. My dog, Sandy, is sprinting down the street in the freezing cold. She is not fetching rocks and bringing them back to us.

Fast forward to Brosius, yet another yorky. She is even faster than Sandy, however far more stupid. There is no way she could have sensed that we were in the area had we not been yanking on her leash. In fact, she also had no sense of direction. She wrapped herself around several poles, sometimes legs (being ours of course).

Back to Madrid. Not only do these dogs wander around and fetch, but they navigate the sidewalks! I have seen several dogs wandering up and down the sidewalks of Parque Retiro, while their owners chat it up. I have also seen dogs that approach a street, and stop when they see cars coming. What a concept!  

Where are these dogs leashes? Oh you know, in the owners hands, non-existent, or perhaps stolen by a gypsy. I'm surprised there aren't more dog-nappings. Somehow these owners manage to keep track of their dogs, even if they are frolicking around in the fountains. 

In the picture above, I actually saw the leash on a CHILD! The dog just strolled along next to the mother. Backwards perhaps. Degrading, yes. I guess the parents thought the dog had a higher intelligence than the children. After working with kids all these years, I sometimes wonder the same thing. 

I have decided that a study should be conducted on Owners and their Dogs. Why is it that dogs here LISTEN? Wander without leashes? Fetch when other dogs/people are around? Jamie and I often joke that the dogs are a reflection of their owners. I seem to think this must be true to some degree. Everyone knows that Spainards are more relaxed, easy-going, like to fetch?, and don't seem to need a leash on life! Americans on the other hand, seem to be a little less of all those things. They definitely don't fetch. Well, my mom does.

Well now that we have discussed Dogs in Spain, lets focus on the people who choose to walk without dogs. They are in the minority, but they exist.

Spainards love to chat or stop whenever, wherever. The streets are THE place to catchup on life stories. Such a big contrast from New York. It really doesn't matter if they have somewhere to be. Here are a few scenarios:

Lets say we are walking on a busy street, and they see something shiny. Lets stop and talk about it for an hour! It doesn't matter if there are people trying to walk behind us. 

OH look! The walk light is green, lets have a little chat on the side of the street so people can't pass us. 

It's 4am, I really like that shirt in the window. I'm going to window shop! 

I am not even talking about the older people, who really can't move any faster than they are. They really haul @$$ through these streets! Canes included! 

I really shouldn't talk, being Senorita Gimpy and all. But even I find this stop and go annoying. They even greet each other from the other side of the sidewalk! I guess the sidewalk navigation is yet another reflection of the Spanish. So friendly, so chatty, so unaware of the time. I kind of like this. I mean, I am never aware of the time. I did, however, get my watch battery replaced today. It is called a "pila" in Spanish. I have no idea when the battery actually died, but it has probably been at least a year. This is muy importante, because the rooms in our school have NO clocks. Talk about problematic. I had been using my cellphone as a time piece, but thats really not a good idea with all these kiddos watching your every move. True story!

I have been observing quite a bit (I don't have a schedule) and the teachers decide that I need to sit RIGHT in front of the classroom. So now I am in front of all the students, while sitting and doing nothing. What happens if I decide to fix my hair? I feel 28 sets of eyes on me. A student answers a question and I look? The other students see that the student has my attention and try to decide whether or not I understand Spanish. This has been a fun balance to figure out!

Anyways, this is another long entry. I guess I could entitle it Yankees M&Ms, because they are right here. But I felt like mixing it up.  And while we are on the subject of food, my poll was a TRICK question. I had limited quantities of both Twizzlers and Peanut Butter here. The Twizzlers were gone fast, and I bought more. But the little $.99 packs, oh yeah they cost like $3.00. Peanut Butter is something I still do have, but I don't have the freedom like I did at home. No more "OH, I'm in the kitchen. Better have some Peanut Butter!" It is in high demand, I am glad I put that in my suitcase instead of some unused children's books!