An excerpt from The Spanish Hunger Games

EATING ALONE IS NO FUN. That's what I thought after lunch today, anyway. So the solution is to just not eat very much, obviously. (Just kidding, Mom!!!)

My first morning was a lil rough – went to an ATM to withdraw most of the money I had left in my American account, and the machine kindly spit out a receipt but failed to spit out any of what I really wanted, i.e. cash, HELLO. And apparently that's an issue that can only be dealt with right when the bank opens because when I went inside to complain I mean explain, the teller told me he couldn't do anything about it but that I should keep my receipt and come back tomorrow at 8:30 a.m when someone else could. I was like whaaat. (But I didn't cry cuz I remembered I had a credit card + a few U.S. buck-a-roos, HUZZAH.) -->

At that point, I realized I hadn't eaten since the plane ride oops. So I ate lunch in a little café, where I permitted myself a moment of holy cow loneliness. I thought: "These waiters probably think I have no friends..." And then I thought: "Wait, I actually don't have any friends here yet, OH MAN." 

The afternoon shaped up to be much better, however:
- I bought my very first smartphone! I-i-i-i love technology.
- I took a nap (this is key, considering mad jetlag) and procured snacks to stash in my purse, pockets, hotel room, etc.
- I wandered about and saw a lot of the beautiful city that is Madrid. Hey, is there a word that implies aimlessness like "wandered" but includes an added element of swiftness? Because whatever that word is, that's what I actually did. (J-Man, help me out here.)
 

Pan y jamón ibérico nom

And then, somehow, it was already 7:30, a.k.a. TAPAS TIME. But I kept walking past places where no one, I mean no one, was eating alone. I almost chickened out and ate a bowl of cereal for dinner. But then I gave myself a pep talk ("Girl, you GOT this") and went into a chill/slow restaurant and took a seat at a table near the bar. By that time it was quarter to 9 – I had both literally and figuratively been dragging my feet (hehe, sorryyy). The result? Not only were the food & drink DELISH, but the waiter was also super nice and chatted with me from behind the bar for most of the time I was there.*

Un rollito de salmón con gulas
(salmon-wrapped imitation eel)

And the best part is: as a result of manning up and just walking into a restaurant already, I found a solution to the hunger problem!! Until I am settled in an apartment, I will just eat tapas AS MY DINNER, why did I not think of that before duhhh. A few tapas make the PERFECT-sized meal for me, plus they are super economical, and they are served starting at like 7 or 8 p.m. That is what I call a WIN, WIN, WIN, my friends.

May your dinners be as tasty as mine!

❤ ,
E.

*I forgot to take photos of the food! (Sorry, Soph!) But the photos in this post are Google images that look exactly like what I ate tonight. And the beer, well, beer just looks like beer, so. :)