Monday, April 3, 1989

Confusion Sets In ...

Ate breakfast with Viv this morning, but once everyone left for class, I went back to sleep until late morning. The hot water heater was out of gas, so there was no hot water for a shower this morning.

Everyone was finished with class by 1 p.m., so they came back, and after Viv and I ate some sandwiches, we headed out to the Royal Palace. It started to pour down rain (only the 3rd time on the entire trip so far), and when we got to the palace, it was closed for formal functions until Saturday.

So, we walked back through the rain and stopped in a doorway until it died down. We walked through a few shops, buying another International Herald Tribune to read, and pricing pillows in Galerias Presadios and El Corte Ingles, two larger department stores here in Spain.

Finally, we returned to the piso to wait for Kurt, Angie, and the rest of the crew to go visit Sanchez, the real estate agent. Of course, although we were scheduled to be there by 4.30, they didn't arrive at the flat until 5.

And that's when the confusion began.

Viv and I left to go shopping and took the keys with us to make copies, so that everyone who is living there would have one. We left under the pretext that we would be back in an hour, so that when they returned from the agent's office, we could let them in.

We made the mistake of locking the door to the flat when we left, thinking that it could be unlocked from the inside, no problem. So we went and had the spare keys made, gathered a few other provisions, and also purchased tickets to see "Rain Man" later that evening. We returned at exactly the time we said we would.

Viv and I only discovered our error after returning from this excursion, and everyone unnecessarily started yelling at us, upsetting Viv and angering everyone. These doors are quite funny, and when they are locked from the outside, they cannot be unlocked from the inside. Wow, that's safe.

I installed a lock on our other door, and then Viv and I went out to do some grocery shopping at El Corte Ingles. When we returned, we received apologies all around and all was well once more.

Next I installed some lights for Viv in her room, and then we once again headed out for a budget-friendly meal at McDonald's for some Big Macs, etc. Then we went to see "Rain Main," dubbed in Spanish. It was strange for me to watch, and not nearly as good as seeing it with the original actors' voices. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see an American film presented as a foreign film, and although I could understand very little of what was being said, I could still catch the jist, having seen it in Hull not too long ago.

We returned to the room at 12.30, and an hour later, after unpacking our food, talking to people, reading the newspaper and doing all of those little things that you do before going to bed, we went to sleep.

Still need to get a pillow and sheets, though.