Madrid Sanitation Strike, Day 10

on my block this week

Last week, sanitation workers in Madrid went on strike. As October 5th approached, fears of our daily grocery bag-fulls of trash piling up loomed large my roommate and I wondered whether this included the porter in our building.

Good news: it didn't include our porter, or the folks who pick up trash from homes. Bad news: it included every other person who empties trash cans, sweeps up sidewalks and removes curbside rubbish. All of 'em.

near the city center

After more than a week without the service of the sanitation workers, things are getting pretty nasty - and smelly. I've accepted that dog waste on the sidewalk is a reality of Madrid, and it's now exacerbated by the addition of waste from businesses and random/lazy/frugal people who regularly dispose of home trash in public receptacles. I've heard that the trash piles are topping 6 feet in some neighborhoods! On top of the sheer volume of trash, word around town is that the striking workers are the ones dumping bins in the middle of the sidewalk, setting trash cans on fire and pulling other particularly foul pranks.

Of course, the stinky, dirty, rat-calling sidewalks are only one side of the issue. From my understanding, sanitation was privatized in the last several years. As Madrid's construction market, which was booming a few years ago, continues to contract, these companies' bottom lines indicate a need to further downsize. Just one of the major companies reportedly has on the table a plan to cut 1,000 jobs in Madrid and decrease wages of remaining workers by 40%. Just pause for a second and think about how you would manage with nearly half the income you currently make. I just did...and now I feel like kicking the crap (literally) out of a garbage can or two myself. As bad as I felt for myself (not that bad, really) or for tourists visiting Madrid during this uncharacteristically dirty episode, the suffering is very real for these people clinging to their livelihoods in a dismal economy. It's not really helping that the mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella, doesn't see a need to address the issue.

apparently café con leche is more Ana's "thang"

More bad news: my coworker said that the last sanitation strike (about 20 years ago) lasted 32 days...Roll up yer' pantalones, Madrileños - this could get nasty!

Toledo: The City of Three Cultures

yup, I took this photo #nofilter

Part of my compensation for working as an auxiliar de conversación is a sweet benefits package (read: time off). All auxies work four days a week, and the government strongly encourages schools to offer a schedule that includes either a Monday or Friday off to provide ample time for travel. As not just language, but also cultural, teaching assistants, our travels around Spain and Europe while living here will help enhance our understanding of the culture, and therefore our understanding of people and how best to help them learn.

Weeeeellll...we all know I didn´t quite get that sweet schedule with 3- or 4-day weekends on the reg. I have Wednesdays off, so while I miss the consistency of frequent long weekends, I do have the opportunity for some kick-ass, superlong FIVE-day weekends, but normally I´m working with the Friday night to Sunday night situation. Last weekend I realized just how great this is. Knowing me, I´d be tempted to hightail it out of the country every time I could snag a Thursday night flight. International trips aren´t as tempting with the expensive Friday/Sunday travel days, so most weekends I'll be in Spain - which is pretty damn cool. It would be a shame to miss out on the beauty and diversity within this country, and thanks to my semi-suck schedule, I won't miss a bit!

Last month my friend Karen and I were trying to get in on an organized trip to Valencia, but that trip fell through. Bummer...but not for long! Karen invited me to go with her and a group of folks to Toledo for the day. We all bought train tickets and hopped on for the quick 25-minute ride on the Renfe high-speed train out of town.

this is my train face!

It blew my mind how different Toledo is from Madrid. In Chicago, I could be driving for 25 minutes going from Hyde Park to someplace in the loop! Granted, I never drive above 110 mph in the Chi...I digress. Toledo is, right outside of Madrid, a crazy hilly little cultural gem.

Toledo was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO specifically because it houses so many gems  and hosted so many cultures - the city has a history as a place where Jewish, Christian and Muslim cultures existed harmoniously. This means cathedrals with both Gothic and Moorish architectural influence. An ancient synagogue now owned by the Catholic Church displays ethnically accurate Biblical drawings. In short, it is unique and mind-blowing.

Bible stories galore at Catedral del Toledo!

13th Century Bible

drawing of Abraham with Sarah and Hagar

I also saw the famous El Greco painting, El Entierro de El Conde del Orgaz (The Burial of the Count of Orgaz) at Iglesia Santo Tomé (El Greco's home church), which depicts the funeral of the Count in Toledo, when it was said that Saints Stephen and Augustine descended from heaven to personally lay him to rest. The two worlds merge seamlessly and looking at this huge painting is magical. I couldn't take a picture, but it was chilling and truly magnificent, and the highlight of my trip - I enjoyed it more than seeing the Mona Lisa!

here's a crummy pic from Wikipedia

Want to see more? I've opened up a photo page to share all my photos from the different cities I visit. Check it out my Toledo photos here: LaLa in Toledo.

Spanish Gym Life

I'm not a gym rat by any means, as much as I'd love to be, but I know my way around the health club....and I must say that gym life in Spain seems to be really different. This conclusion is based on my last month on a Groupon-subsidized membership to a pretty fancy-pants gimnasio.

I gave the place a once-over:

• Schedule: This gym is never open before 7am - so much for those crack-of-dawn workouts! Maybe they figure if the Metro isn't open, you don't need to be getting all crazy figuring out a way to get to the weight rack. And it closes in the afternoon on weekends (Saturday at 2; Sunday at 4) so there's precious little time to "catch up" on workouts and get ready for the week.

• Equipment: Though the gym is pretty small, I was delighted to see several kettlebells (though that's kind of scary to just have them out all willy-nilly for the uninitiated). Free weights, mats, and steps for aerobics or plyometrics are plentiful. The instructors in the cardio studio teach from a little platform, and they are filmed so everyone can see them well - jazzy. 

• Rush Hour: No classes are available during typical siesta time - about 1pm-5pm. There is no after-work mad dash. When I go around 5 or 6pm, it's pretty empty, and doesn't start to get a little crowded until around 7:30pm.

because gym selfies are the worst selfies

Additional observations:

• I have tried and tried to not believe it, but handwashing is just not the norm around here. I saw multiple women exit the bathroom stall, walk through the locker room and head directly toward the cardio floor. 0_o Gross! Looks like I'm bringing my own Lysol, eh? (If only I could buy some!)
• The gym vending machine might just be the only place in Madrid to get a protein shake or protein bar. They shol' don't carry Muscle Milk at the corner store.
• The age-old problem is global: Rack your weights!

So, digesting all of this information, my immediate issue was figuring out what gym life I'll be leading here in Madrid. For now, I'm a nomad - on the hunt for my next Groupon...