My Life: Underground

Ok, so due to the fact that I'm currently sweating on the metro, I found it fitting to break down how I feel about it. 

So I'll start by saying the metro is amazing, and particularly so in Madrid. Routes are simple, and rarely do I have to make more than one connection. I also have yet to be more than a 15 minute walk from a stop. All of that is incredible. I could even get super and cheesy and say, "I've got the city at my fingertips!" I hop on the metro near my house and 45 minutes later I hop off a few blocks from my school, wowee! 

That being said, I am so tired of being sweaty on the metro. I'm tired of getting OTHER peoples sweat on me on the metro (especially considering I pass the metro stop for the Ebola contaminated hospital daily on my way to work). I'm tired of the cathartic sensation that comes over me in each of the just-a-little-too-warm cars. And the persistent kink in my neck from constantly giving in to this sleepy feeling. 

I'm fed up with the metro cars stopping in between stations and just sitting. Especially considering the number of times I've come running down the stairs and had the doors shut in front of me. I mean, you won't sit at my stop for more than ten seconds but you'll take a break between platforms for a solid 2-3 minutes?! 

[And currently, as a punishment for complaining while on said metro, I have the lovely blinking message that, while sitting for 10+ minutes, making me later and later for work, says, "por averia en linea. el servicio de viajeros no se presta con normalidad. disculpen las molestias. gracias." A break in the line, REALLY?!]

And the worst part is, there is literally nothing I can do. I am completely and utterly dependent on this metro to get me from point A to point B on a daily basis. I live in a central area and have a handful of friends houses I can stroll to, but in terms of work, private tutoring, and making it to the rink, I'm a slave to MadridMetro. I've realized how completely spoiled I was with my access to a car at home. I guess the grass isn't always greener? 

I used to long for better public transport in good ol' Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but now I find myself daydreaming about quick commutes in the privacy of my own car. 

I met a guy in the town I teach in who was talking about loving his visits to the center, and how close it was. I laughed and said, yeah 45 minutes or more in the oven/metro, and was responded to with the simple answer of, no, 15 minutes by car. 15 minutes?! That's at least 45 more minutes of sleep I could be having EVERY DAY!

So, I either need a car, a friend with a car, or to make friends with said guy who has a car so that I can indulge in the quiet and breezy sensation of being in the comfy, padded, rounded seats of an actual, private car.  

So all of you reading back home, or from wherever, with a car parked outside or down the block, please, I beg of you, take a ride and think of me.  Feel the breeze in your hair, and the silence around you.  Breathe air that is (mostly) your own, and live without fear of contracting ebola from feverish looking, sneezing passengers.  Grip the wheel and choose your own speed.  Make your commute, YOUR commute.  God dammit, its completely irrational to lust after a car as much as I am right now… 

I guess getting to live in central Madrid is a fair trade for not having a car, I just thoroughly enjoy an excuse to complain. Especially when I can't physically see the person I'm complaining to rolling their eyes and becoming visibly disinterested.  So, sorry to my readers! I swear I've got some good stuff coming this weekend!