Recent accomplishments:
1.) Making it to Santa Eugenia on the bus, and arriving to school early! This will be my usual commute to this school as it is the most direct. By metro, I'd have to make two changes, walking up and down out from one level of underground lines to another..the air in the metro stations isn't the greatest and I prefer to be above ground and actually see where I'm going (not that the metro system isn't a really wonderful way for people to move around). The bus picks me up just down the road from my piso and drops me right at the bridge crossing to Santa Eugenia, and I can see clearly where I am the whole time!

2.) Finding/purchasing a reusable water bottle. They are considerably less common here than in the US.

3.) Getting to La Caixa, where I have my Spanish bank account, before it closed for the day at 2...and paying the fee for my la Tasa, one of many documents I'll need to show to get my residency here and NEI card. I had to talk the person at the bank into letting me do this, even though yesterday at a different branch I was assured that it would be no problem..which echoed what the directors of the Ministerio de Educacion had said to us all at the orientation, that we can go and pay for la Tasa at any bank in Madrid. Anyway, at this particular bank, the woman working told me that I must have a NEI card before I can pay for la Tasa. I explained to her that this is impossible because until I've paid for la Tasa, I can't file for my NEI (Spanish ID), and I mentioned the fact that I already had opened an account at La Caixa and that I'd been promised this service at a branch in the center of Madrid and that many, many people with the same position as me, also living in Madrid and working through this process have done the very same thing that I must do. After all was said and done, I paid the 15 euros and she stamped my paperwork. She didn't even know what to charge me for the stamp, so I told her what I had been told by others. Good grief, Spain! Get your regulations in order...

4.) Becoming a member at a "biological" food coop (they use this term as we use organic) just around the corner from my piso. I found products I've been missing there: miso, tahini, quinoa, SEAWEED, good quality coffee (regular stores mainly just stock nescafe and a lot of crappy instant coffee), tofu/tempeh/veggie patties, organic meats and cheeses, organic PRODUCE!!! They also sell eco friendly detergents, cleaners, soaps, etc. I'm so pleased...I've been feeling sad about consuming apples bathed in pesticides and I bought really terribly quality laudry soap not know what else to do.

5.) I talked to Eugenio yesterday about what our process for disposing of waste is. He said, "lo recoges y lo tiras!" Every day, we just take it out to the hallway outside of our flat, and the porter comes around and picks it up and disposes of it out on the street. I asked Eugenio if we can recycle. He said, "Queries reciclar?" over-pronouncing the "R" as it comes out in an American English accent, hinting that it is a very American custom to recycle. Anyway, he was willing to adjust his routine a bit after I mentioned that I do prefer to recycle than to through everything away. Now, we have begun a process of separating plastics, glasses and paper from the rest of the waste. We still put all of it out in the hall for the porter. I still feel sad about having no composting outlet here. My mom thinks I should make my own worm bin..I'm not sure about that working out too well, living up three stories from the ground, in a completely cementified neighborhood. Perhaps, I'll look into community garden options in Madrid and compost there? Madrid must have something like this. No one grows food in pisos. Where does all the food come from?

6.) I found the mop..and cleaned up after myself in the kitchen. I misused the washing machine and wound up making a terrible mess of the kitchen. Fortunately, I was the only one home and I figured out where the broom closet is. It was not obvious because it's located down the hall where the two brothers' rooms are, an area of the flat I don't really feel invited to use. Mainly, I don't see anyone here when I'm home and so I haven't been oriented to all the ins and outs of this place. I would love to be trained in correctly using the washer machine, for example.

7.) Finally mailing postcards I'd written days and days ago.