Metro Madrid le informa....STRIKE!

Right outside Atocha Renfe Train Station

On my way to work last week, the EMT, public transportation of Madrid, was handing out little blue booklets titled, "Muévete major en el autobus, Viajar en los autobuses de la EMT."  I knew something was up as I can not fathom who on earth needs instructions on how to get on the bus, what to do while on the bus, and how to get off the bus and mind you, I was coming up the stairs from the local trains. 

Pamphlet on how to get on and off the bus
which includes how to behave on the bus

Metro Strike! The strike started yesterday and according to El Mundo, it is going to continue.  The article gives no specific termination date which in Spain that means indefinitely.  The metro workers are government employees and to help with the Spanish deficit, all government employees are going to have their salaries lowered by 5% as of January 2011.  The metro workers are protesting such decrease and the Canarian in my office comments, "Lo que me da rabia, es que van a bajar los salarios de todos los funcionarios y los trabajadores de Metro parece que son los únicos que pueden provocar problemas por eso a todos lo demás."  She essentially has stated that it bothers her that the metro workers are the only ones that can cause problems due to the salary decrease.  I tend to agree with Mauricio who claims that he would make a "nueva plantilla" (an entire new staff) as currently, Spain has an unemployment rate of 20% and surely there are enough people out there who would be delighted to have a job.

A metro strike happens almost every year, I should be used to it by now.  The underground workers always seem to be able to complain about something.  Strikes in Spain are a nightmare; it is the time when you see Spain at its' finest.   The day starts out with traffic that doesn't move, no taxi in sight, and having to queue for at least 15 minutes to cram yourself into an overstuffed bus where you find that you have an unknown man's penis pressing on your thigh, a woman's arm flattening your boob, and something that you hope is a bag pressing on your ass.  To add to the flavor of being stuffed into a sardine can, there is the typical man, yelling his complaint about how the strike is not legal to the entire bus.

I get my daily routine interrupted by the transport strikes which makes me extremely exhausted and gives me anxiety.  A trip to work that normally takes me about 15 minutes can extend into an hour and forty minute bus ride, packed with people, and then a ten minute walk.  Due to lack of metro services, the crowded sidewalks are enough to give you claustrophobia. 

"Nunca me ha dado cuenta de la cantidad de gente que usa el metro, como la gente está bajo tierra,"  The Canarian commented that she never realized just how many people used the metro because you don't see anybody because they are all underground.   

El Mundo states that 2 million people in the Community of Madrid have had to figure out alternative ways to get to work.  Luckily, the local trains and buses are still circulating but they are over-crowded and even still, the metro seems to be door to door where the others have their routes and often don't leave you right by the door.  A friend from Finland had to walk an hour to work yesterday, mind you it is hot out and arriving to work sweaty is not always pleasant.

The public transport in Madrid is usually quite exceptional, a traveler can basically get anywhere in the City by Metro or bus quite easily.  Somebody once told me that the Metro was designed so that you could get from point A to your destination without having to change more than 2 trains; so far that has been my experience.  I am the queen of the public transport.  I have even taken the metro to a wedding!  A monthly pass, abono de transporte, cost a mere 46 Euro which if compared to New York, is a bargain.  Basically, I can travel anywhere in Zone A as much as I like via buses, metro, local trains (cercanías).  I must say, on lazy or hot days, I love my abono as I will take the metro or the bus only a couple of stops.

The Metro designed a new map in 2007 and it resembles London's Tube map.  I find the map awful and illegible.  I have the worst sense of direction and the new linear design has made it worse so I use the maps that I saved from previous years.  My old, tattered maps don't have all of the new lines on it but I figure if I have to travel out of Zone A, I better be in a car.

Section of the OLD map

When I was a student at NYU, I was obsessed with writing an article about the metro experience.  My brilliant idea was to spend an entire day riding the Gray Line, Line 6, the Circular.  Spaniards generally refer to the line number where I usually associate the different metro lines by color.  I think that the Circular is the worst line ever, along with the Green line, Line 5.  The Circular trains make you feel like you have gone back to the 50s as they are cumbersome and outdated.  You can find all types of people on the Circular as the line just travels round and round and round Madrid.  So my obsession with the Circular just kept growing as I find people fascinating.  It seemed as though this one crazy lady would always travel at the same time I did and boy did she make my day.  I called her the "Pink Fairy" as she always dressed different shades of pink and a tiara with missing plastic jems.  She didn't really look like a fairy as her over-bleached teased hair was dirty, she caked hot pink make-up all over her face and the pink clothes were soiled but without fail, she always wore the tiara.  The first time I saw the Pink Fairy, I looked around for a hidden camera after she got out of the wagon.  She got on the train in her big pink outfit and the tiara with a ton of plastic bags, started singing, sat down in a seat and started opening up cans of tuna and eating the tuna with her fingers.  It was totally nasty and yet totally fascinating.  I remember the next time I was riding on the Circular and she entered, the shocked look on the others faces was priceless.  I haven't seen the Pink Fairy in years as I have tried to avoid the Circular but I remember her with a smile on my face.

Like I said before, normally, the Metro is great.  I only hope that the strikers resolve their issues so I can get on with my routine and keep claiming that the metro in Madrid is really great.  If they can't resolve their issues, I hope that the government will insist on having the military drive the trains as they did in January 1976 according to El Pais or that the the strikers are replaced by more willing employees.

7 Weddings in 5 Months means Crisis

The Chinese say that it is the Year of the Tiger, Spanish newspapers claim it is the year of the crisis, 2010 for me is the Year of the Weddings. My husband and I have officially been invited to 7 weddings over a span of the next 5 months; we have R.S.V.P.ed “no” to 2 of them and will do our best to make the other 5.

While I was eavesdropping on the elevator ride up to my office, I overheard two women talking about the number of weddings they had in the next year and I just had to say:

“Mi marido y yo hemos sido invitados a 7 bodas en los próximos 5 meses.”

“Buah, es una multa!,” she replied almost in shock. She said that my situation was like receiving a ticket or a fine. I probably couldn’t have said it better.

5 out of the 7 weddings we have been invited to are in Spain and 2 are in the United States. Weddings in Spain are quite the affair, perhaps which is why I opted for the “are you sure you aren’t pregnant?” type of wedding, in Spain, this type of wedding is known as “se casan de penalty”, meaning they are getting married because the bride is pregnant. I got an estimate for the type of wedding I wanted in Spain from Toda Boda, a Spanish wedding planner agency and the estimate was about the same cost as my student loans which in Spain, many couples take out loans to pay for their weddings. Ridiculous.

I used to LOVE weddings, I still do but in a different way.  When I was a bit younger and I dreamt of the day that I would get married and hoped that it would be an event right out of a fairy tale. But as time has gone on, each time Ismael and I get an invitation; I chuckle and actually get a bit claustrophobic which you will understand the reason why just shortly.

I think that the process of the wedding is pretty similar in Spain as it is in the States – it all starts with the engagement: you hear first about the engagement through word of mouth, or in these days, the news arrives via some form of cyber space.

Traditionally, the engaged couple arranges a “cena de pedido”, an engagement dinner, where both sets of parents are invited to have a dinner. This can be quite “violenta” as it is typically the first time the parents meet. Tradition has it that the groom’s parents give the “novia” a ring while the bride’s parents give the “novio” a watch. The diamond ring is a new concept that has been adopted all over Europe which I think is due to the American influence and I must admit that I don’t always like the selected engagement rings and have found that they are much lovelier in the States where you can even get them custom made.

Once word has been spread around, you soon learn of the date via email, sms, phone call or whatever. One of my American friends who is getting married on September 11th sent a paperless post save the date and I thought that it was adorable and very formal.

Soon the invitation arrives, which is usually handed out personally by the bride and groom in a bar or over tapas and if you couldn’t make it out on that particular day, it is sent via post.

The first wedding I went to in Spain was our friends who got married in Southern Spain. They got married in Marbella in 2003. I remember when their invitation arrived and it had little numbers on it.

“Isma, ¿Qué es esto?” I ask Ismael what the numbers meant.

“Es el número de la cuenta.” He tells me it is the account number.

“¿Qué cuenta?”, not knowing what the account number was.

“La cuenta bancaria”, Ismael responds in a duh tone as if I should know.

The typical, traditional Spanish wedding invitation is nothing that special in my eyes but I shouldn’t really criticize them as I sent all 27 guests to our wedding an evite. The traditional sort is a rather large piece of cardboard in a selected color; I received one in pea green once, with calligraphy. In the top corners are the names of the parents and in the middle the names of the bride and groom with all of the other pertinent wedding information.

Then just in the corner is the RSVP and just below that is the bank account number, printed directly on the invite. If the account number doesn’t appear directly on the invite, the happy couple usually encloses a little piece of paper with the 20 magic numbers on it so that you can make a transfer from your account to theirs. If the invite doesn’t come with the little paper, you feel obliged to email and ask what it is. Hell with registering for gifts, right?

The going wedding rate these days is 150€ a head, that is about $190.19. I can’t remember the last time Ismael and I ever spent 300€ on a dinner out, probably because we never have. I find it a bit outrageous and I, admittedly, never transfer that amount of money. As a tradition, you are supposed to pay for the cost of the dish which usually runs around 40-60 bucks.

A co-worker commented on the transfers by saying that “ellos se van de luna de miel y volvemos a Madrid con una resaca de cojones y sin un duro”, claiming that the couple goes on their honeymoon while we go back to Madrid with a huge hangover and empty pockets.

After you figure out which hotel to stay in and how you are going to get there, soon before you know it, The BIG Day finally arrives.

In Spain, there is no rehearsal dinner the night before a wedding which I have found that I sometimes like the rehearsal dinner more than the wedding itself. Instead of a rehearsal dinner, there is usually a more informal dinner or tapas followed by “copas”. The “copas” can be un peligro total as you usually end up having the worst hangover the next day and have to celebrate the big day with the happy couple.

Guests at Spanish weddings, I am referring to the women, tend to dress quite fancily, although, in my opinion, some can get way over dressed and appear almost gaudy. Most women wear some type of dress or suit, get their hair done which usually includes a tocado, a personal fav, and a fan. Men usually wear the same suit they wear to work.. A bride’s dress is according to her own taste but they can be quite costly. Some of the major brands for gowns are Pronovia, Sarda, Frikki, Rosa Clara or to have one made from scratch. There are no bridesmaids and I have been asked at every Spanish wedding if I have been a bridesmaid in the States and if I had to wear the same dress as the others and if it was as ugly as some seen in the US films.

I remember one year Ismael and I had so many weddings in all different parts of the world that I got away with wearing the same red, long BCBG dress to almost all of them, the almost is because the day arrived when my husband actually told me I had to buy a different dress because he was sick of looking at the red one and from the photos, all of the weddings seemed the same!

In Spain, being the couples’ testigo (witness) is a very important role and everybody wants to be it which I find funny because very seldom do the youngsters stay at the church for the ceremony, most head to the nearest bar to have a beer or wine while the couple is tying the knot.

After the ceremony has finished, there is a cocktail hour, followed by lots of food and more wine, followed by a dance. A typical Spanish wedding can finish well into the next day.

While you are eating your dinner, guest constantly stand up and shout,

“Vivan los novios” or “que se besen, que se besen”…

and at that point everybody raises their glasses, watches the newly weds kiss, and gives a toast, chin chin.

The couple usually gives out little party favor to the guests which are passed out as the desert is being served, mind you, there is no cutting of the cake, by the woman witness and a couple of dear friends of the bride. The typical present is cigarettes and cigars but at the most recent weddings, we have received alpargatas, fans, pins, visnagas, etc. Ismael and I gave out a CD with our favorite tunes on it.

The Spanish newspapers can’t seem to write enough about the crisis, does a crisis cause more people to tie the knot? Since we have been invited to 7 weddings in 5 months in 2 different continents, I am led to believe that crisis definitely bring people together whether it be through marriage or something else. Whatever the occasion, I am always honored to take part and take loads of pictures.