I wasn´t even supposed to be here today

Madrid is ruining my small town vibe and making me grumpy. I woke up in Almansa today, as far east as you can go in La Mancha. I wanted to get to Badajoz, which is all the way across the country on the western edge of Extremadura. It would have been doable in a day if it were a weekday, or maybe if I had just gotten up earlier, but getting across Spain just wasn't in the cards for me today. The only place you can get to from Almansa is Albacete and the bus didn't leave until 2:30. Albacete and Badajoz are both smallish and far apart and going between them on a Saturday asfternoon wasn't happening. Madrid isn't directly between Albacete and Badajoz, but it's not that far out of the way and you can get anywhere from Madrid, so I'm here for the night. I really don't feel like being here; about the only thing that appealed to me less was staying a night in Albacete. (It's just kind of a hole.)

Madrid is great; I'm psyched to spend some time here next month. But tonight I'm getting over a minor bender and all I want to do is sleep. I'm gross and sweaty. I have no energy for or interest in going out, and I'm staying in this hostel full of young dolled-up British girls who are gonna be a total pain in the ass when I'm trying to sleep later. And one of the metro stations is closed so to get from the bus station to the hostel I had to get off the metro and take another bus just to get back on the metro which, by the way, is about a thousand fucking degrees, no air conditioning, no ventilation. Joder. If only I had that benefactor I could have just rented a car, since it turns out I really can drive a manual car, more or less. But no benefactor for me, just a slight detour and a hostel full of young people making me feel old. Whine.

While I've been writing this, one of the ubiquitous rose-selling south Asians approached the couple at the table next to me. And the guy part of the couple started negotiating with the rose guy. I lose all kinds of respect for any guy who buys me one of those stupid roses, but to try and negotiate a lower price for one? So many magnitudes more lame.

The good thing about today was I met this old lady on the bus from Almansa to Albacete. She was so cute. She asked me to help her off the bus. While we were waiting in Almansa I had told her that I was trying to get to Badajoz but might stay overnight in Ciudad Real. She said I should take the train there and when we got off the bus she walked me to the train station (not far away), holding my arm the whole time. Preciosa.