December 2024: Factory Reset
Thank you to the holidays for a much-needed respite
While November came and went quickly, without much incident, I feel as if I’ve lived multiple lifetimes since the beginning of December. It hasn’t been remarkably eventful, so I’ll attribute the feeling to the fact that I am currently in the United States. Heyyy. It has been a much-needed factory reset, with a fair balance between bed-rotting and accomplishing tasks. Until a few days ago, I was followed by a cloud of moving-related ligma that intensified earlier this month, but everything has been sorted out now. I hope. I still have a second before I return to Madrid, but I think I’ll be more level-headed when I get there. I hope. I’m optimistic about the new year, despite the horrors. While it’s been nice to be surrounded by the comforts of home, such as drinking diet coke, singing along to music in my car, having reliable free access to a dryer, and sleeping underneath my weighted blanket, I’m starting to find myself missing the excitement of non-threatening instability defining my early 20s. At home, my life is on pause, but not really.
Practically overnight, when December began, every street in Madrid was suddenly adorned with bright, beautifully festive lights. These were especially pronounced in the densely-populated tourist areas, along Gran Via, through Plaza Mayor, and of course, the giant tree in Sol. While I could appreciate their appearance, I was not thrilled about these lights, at least at first. These streets, already jam-packed with people whose definitions of sidewalk etiquette differ from mine (or maybe don’t exist), somehow became 5x more packed. To be honest, I didn’t have much holiday spirit at all this early on. Homesickness was creeping in, strengthened by the anticipation of my brief return. I was annoyed by the omnipresent crowds, the overplaying of that annoying Christmas song by Sia, and the harsh weather, which the coat I purchased for seven euros at a thrift store was not doing much to protect me from. I was too stubborn to buy a better, well-insulated one or to purchase gloves, a hat, or really anything that could make me a little warmer. This will be rectified in January, but it was killing the vibe at the time. Despite my complaints, I was not miserable the whole holiday season. I visited a Christmas festival in Torrejón de Ardoz and thoroughly enjoyed window-shopping the market offerings, ironically contemplating riding the Grinch-themed scrambler ride inexplicably accompanied by a smoke machine, and yes, viewing the lights, despite the crowds.
I don’t want to paint the 3 weeks I spent in Madrid in December as full of despair; I enjoyed plenty of lovely small moments and everyday joys that mitigated the occasional negative feeling. There were days it was pleasant enough for an outdoor picnic. I went to a movie theatre in Madrid for the first time and later discovered a cool movie theatre turned bar a short walk away from what is soon-to-be my apartment. I put myself out there, just a little bit, and attended a free pilates class in the park. Did I speak to anyone while I was there? Maybe not, but that’s a goal for another time. I reconnected with friends I had met at the beginning of my time in Madrid, going out one night to another aux’s DJ set. I took the Cercanias to Alcala de Henarès for no real reason one Saturday. I braved the crowds and spent some time at El Rastro, not finding as many Christmas gifts as I had hoped but instead taking note of the fantastic thrifting potential for the future. I ate two vegan doughnuts from a vegan doughnut shop, on different days. I spent my days surrounded by children who became increasingly excited for Christmas. The last week of school before the break consisted mostly of free periods, where I would either read, talk with the kids, or help the teachers decorate their classroom doors. Every day, there was a new holiday treat to try in the teacher’s lounge, and one of the kids gave me a little bag with candy and a super sweet handwritten note.
Technically, I did not spend the entirety of these three weeks in Madrid, as I spent two days in Barcelona. We took the early morning train up Friday morning and started our weekend having brunch, smoked salmon on avocado toast with a side of yogurt topped with granola and fresh fruit. Fueled up and ready for the day, we set off, doing a LOT of walking to observe the sights of Barcelona without paying for public transportation. I was told to expect crowds, which were indeed present, but they didn’t strike me as any worse than in Madrid. The most fascinating aspect of the city was observing the crossover of cultures and the stark differences between neighborhoods. It was as if we were in three different countries in a day. People speak a lot more English there, which was surprising as I’ve heard they are hostile towards tourism. It was also interesting to see Catalan everywhere; it’s similar enough to Spanish to be recognizable in most cases, but just different enough that it almost felt a little alternative-universe-esque. Barcelona as a whole felt a little alternative-universe-esque.
We did more than walk around during our two days there. We saw most of the notable Gaudi architecture from the outside, our limited budgets preventing us from entering. Yet, I could not let my trip to Barcelona pass without entering La Sagrada Família, a breathtaking basilica, still under construction. The tickets may have been obscenely expensive, even with the student rate, but witnessing the colorful interior firsthand was the closest I’ve felt to religion in a while. We ate at Honest Greens not once but twice and sampled every infused water they offered in their “H2O bar”. We went to a bar that our coworker recommended because they “swing the lights and throw ice in the air”, both actions that were difficult to imagine until they were performed right in front of me. We were at a nightclub for approximately 15 minutes. I bought a magnet. I caught a cold/sinus infection that didn’t go away until right before New Year’s.
One week after our Barcelona expedition, it was time to fly back to the States. I learned that I am not a fan of the Madrid airport, and maybe not the Dulles airport either, but I did redevelop trust in the Frankfurt airport, where I had a lovely experience waiting for my flight back to DC. The international flight itself was not bad, as far as international flights go. I flew Lufthansa, on a 747, and had an aisle seat! Even better, the woman sitting next to me got up at the beginning of the flight and never returned. I hope she didn’t mysteriously disappear into the void or anything, but it was pretty nice to have an extra seat to put the space-consuming airline-issued pillow and blanket, which was bestowed upon me even though I had no intention to sleep on the flight. Instead of sleeping, I watched 3 movies and 3 episodes of Friends Season 9 (Ross accidentally proposes to Rachel, Phoebe meets Mike, and Chandler moves to Oklahoma), and played one round of the in-flight trivia game. After my parents picked me up from the airport and I ate some American McDonalds, I did finally sleep a little in the car before a life-changing Sleep In My Own Bed.
Over the two weeks I’ve been home, I haven’t done too much, really. I celebrated Christmas with my family, as usual, but it was extra special to be home and see everyone this year. I reconnected with some hometown friends, went to the movies with my parents, took advantage of our family gym membership and its included workout classes, and have almost finished season 3 of The Bear. For New Year’s Eve, I took an ~east coast tour~ visiting friends. My first stop, the night of the 30th, was to my college town, specifically my old college house, “The Barn”, to visit my friends Caroline and Emily who are #stillincollege. I missed the rest of my old roommates, but unfortunately, winter break isn’t the best time to visit your friends who are #stillincollege. We met with a few other friends in town and got dinner at my old college favorite, Asado, because it was Marg Monday. It’s not the same anymore because apparently I don’t look young enough to be ID’d anymore (everyone else was) and they now charge extra for non-lime flavors… sickening. It was, however, very exciting to eat spicy wings because spicy food does not seem to exist in Spain.
The following morning, after getting a bagel from Bodos, I drove up to Brooklyn for a long-awaited reunion with my old-old roommates (we’re all #collegegraduates). I was nervous about driving up to the city, mostly anticipating horrendous traffic and scarily high toll fees, but luckily there wasn’t much traffic. No comment on the tolls. I was also nervous about parallel parking as I’m notoriously horrible at that and have Parking Spot Anxiety, but that was also okay/easy! And it was all so worth it to see my friends, where even though months had passed since the last time we were all together, it felt like no time at all. It was close quarters with ~13 of us in a tiny Brooklyn kitchen, but they’re people I don’t mind being crowded by. In fact, I prefer it! I miss sharing a tiny kitchen with six of my best friends, developing rhythms for three people to cook at the same time, all while sharing the mundane and exciting details of their day. So of course it was a very special night, even if we were the ones bringing the fun to the bar we paid a $50 cover for. This is the 3rd year in a row we’ve spent NYE together and it’s a tradition I hope continues for many years to come!
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Quick media moment. I guess. I’ve watched a decent amount of movies this month, thanks to my international flight. Before that, I saw Wicked, the first movie I’ve seen in theatres since moving to Spain. Of course, I loved it. On the plane, I watched Trap, Twisters, and Asteroid City. I liked all three of them for different reasons: Trap because it was comically bad (sorry), Twisters because it was more captivating than I expected, and Asteroid City because of the little alien. I also watched A Complete Unknown with my parents, which was a decent experience despite my inability to imagine Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan. I read a few books as well, but I’m feeling insecure about not meeting my Goodreads goal this year so I’m too ashamed to write about reading right now. My music this month has been influenced by other people’s “Best of” lists, so I’ve discovered some 2024 releases I glazed over upon release, like Diet Pepsi by Addison Rae. This month felt emotionally potent for me, and whenever that happens, I bottle up the feeling in a playlist. It’s sort of summed up in this receiptify too.
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And now it’s 2025! One of my 2024 resolutions was to write more and share my work more, which I certainly did. In 2025, I want to do more of the same. I have some ideas floating around in my brain for projects I may want to tackle in the upcoming year, perhaps a series of essays about internet culture/archiving/untraditional & unprofitable forms of online creativity. I don’t know. These are not solidified yet. I’m still working on something connecting themes of Suzanne Scanlon’s memoir to social media behaviors; hopefully, that’ll materialize in January. Hopefully, I get better at Spanish in 2025. Hopefully, I travel more in 2025. Hopefully, I chill out a little this year. Hopefully, you all have wonderful years as well! I think we’re going to be okay.
would kill for a bodo's bagel and some spicy chicken wings rn
yes NYE tradition and love the polariods!