Ambassadors of Lavapies

“Muy bien, contigo vamos a ganar la guerra”, I shouted at the bus driver. This is a literal translation from Dutch (Met jou winnen we de oorlog wel) and it means “Well done, with you we will win the war” – sarcastically aiming at the inexistent valiant character of the person receiving the insult. I was furious that I was refused entry to bus 34 in front of our house in Piramides. My suitcase – in which I was moving stuff from Piramides to Lavapies – was deemed too big by the bus driver who didn’t understand my verbal abuse (what war?). I poked my head into the red urban bus and asked the three people inside it whether they had any objection to me entering this public transport vehicle. No response from the crowd and the doors were duly closed. I decided to walk the ten minutes uphill to our new flat in Calle de Tribulete. In total it took us nine trips (all on foot as the Madrid Public Transport Association had sent out a neat communiqué reminding bus drivers not to take on citizens with excessive luggage – the world has truly gone gaga) to move our stuff. On various trips we were accompanied by the ever helpful Eduardo. Whilst transporting a bookshelf through Paseo de Acasias it suddenly struck me. “Edu,” I said, “I have seen it all, really.” Not understanding where this was going he looked at me, encouraging me to follow. “Three years ago I was settling myself quietly into Bjornkulla on the outskirts of Stockholm – with a nasty winter rapidly approaching – and now I am moving into a flat in the centre of Madrid which is the complete opposite. I have made a complete turnaround, the circle is complete.” It was obvious that I was trying to impress Eduardo and I realized that I had used the world ‘complete’ three times – which in no way reflects the reality of what I am going through right now. Soon after this remark our arms got tired so we rested for two minutes in front of a Repsol petrol station and I let my moment of completeness pass.

Can you spot the difference?

It didn’t take long for it to come back, but this time I wisely kept it to myself. Our new flat is indeed the exact reverse of my residence in Sweden. As some of you know Bjornkulla was situated in a forest. The 15 minute walk to the University took you over a muddy path, past an abandoned water tower towards the Flemingsberg Pendeltag station. On some days you could see young deer hopping alongside in the fresh winter snow. In contrast, here in Lavapies, the way to the nearest Metro station is somewhat different. First of all, there are people and people from all over the world. We are now located in the centre of Multi-cultural Spain. There are at least two shops (a fruit shop and an internet café) in the street which I have never seen closed whilst ‘Tanger’ hairdressing advertises ‘an International haircut’ for 5 Euros. In Bjornkulla I shared a corridor with seven Swedes who didn’t care too much for communal life. The kitchen was mainly avoided and I only really got to know one of my neighbours, Dana, who loved her peace and quiet, but at least let me share it with her on many occasions. Here in Lavapies our neighbours are a mixture between the old generation of Madrilenos (mainly widowed women) and immigrants (mainly Latins although we also have a colony of Sub-saharians downstairs). On weekends the corrala is buzzing with life and music. A neighbour down-stairs has an impressive music installation mainly playing Luis Miguel (a Mexican singer of Boleros). Nobody seems to care and neither do we actually, it honestly adds to the character. So, we live in what is called a ‘corrala’. This is a typical style of communal housing dating from the 19th century and can best be compared as the older sister of Melrose Place. Everybody looks out onto a main patio with all the balconies connected. Each flat has its own washing line spun between the opposite side of the corrala (as you can see from the photos) which creates an artistic display of colours and cotton. The flat itself is small, but very cute. Basically it has a living room (with sofa, table and an oversized cupboard/bookstand) with an American-style kitchen (i.e. an open-planned kitchen), a tiny bathroom and a bedroom. But this is sincerely all we need. To celebrate our new home we threw a party the other day with two special guests from our Erasmus period: Tamara and Paqui. Scroll over the pics to get an idea of our new palace. You are all invited to come visit the corala.