Orientation and a wedding

The past week has been so busy that it´s hard to believe that it´s only been one week!
Last Sunday all of the Spanish Fulbrighters arrived in Madrid for a 4-day orientation on program logistics, etc. The program itself wasn´t super useful since I had already gotten an apartment, a bank account, a cell phone... there were a lot of talks about how to understand the university system in Spain, but since I´m not working through a university, it wasn´t that applicable. On the other hand, it was really nice to meet other interested, intelligent, students from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of projects. My new Fulbright friends include people who are working on fluid mechanics (yeah, I still don´t really understand what that is) in Barcelona, forestry in Lugo, archival work on early Spanish colonialism of Mexico in Sevilla, and sociology studies in Granada.
I got back from Madrid Thursday afternoon and we had the first rain that I´ve seen since I´ve gotten here, and even that was maybe a few drizzles for about 5 minutes. Everything is so incredibly dry... Spain has a persistent drought problem during the summer, and it´s pretty easy to see why.
Friday was a day of adventures at the Office of Foreigners. Once I finally found the place I walked into the office only to find myself walking past dozens of staring faces - not one of them American, British, or even Western European. There were quite a few Moroccans, some people from Latin America, and a group of Romanians, plus assorted people from across different areas. Apparently you have to get a ticket and get in line if you want information, but there were no tickets to be had. So I waited. Finally the police officer came out of the information office and handed out a few. I got number 69; there are only 70 numbers per day. The police officer, meanwhile, did absolutely nothing, even when people asked him how to get a number or how to get an appointment - he merely gave them vague answers and wandered in and out of the building, smoking. I think that the Romanians were trying to bribe him by giving him cigarettes. It seems to have worked, too, because they got an appointment even though they didn´t have a number and I didn´t get an appointment even though I did.
By the time it was my turn to go to the information counter (not for an appointment, mind you, just for information on how to GET an appointment) an argument had broken out between some of the people who didn´t have numbers and the police officer. At the information counter they merely gave me a phone number to call in order to make an appointment. I have yet to be able to get through to that number despite numerous tries. Oh bureaucracy.
As much as I love Spain, things like that really bother me. I can´t imagine how difficult it would be to go through that process for people who don´t speak Spanish, who don´t have much education, who don´t have papers...
And while we´re on the subject, one other thing that bothers me here is the meat. It´s quite possible that I´ll be a vegetarian by the time I leave. I am not a picky eater but I am certainly a picky meat eater. I want my meat skinless, boneless, fatless, and well cooked. Pretty much everything I´ve had here has been with skin, with bones, with fat, and worst of all, WITH EYES. Man, I hate that. I got invited over to someone´s house for dinner the other night and when I arrived there was a plate of whole, fried fish waiting for me. Imagine my delight having to break their little heads off and chew the meat (and guts and scales and fins) off the spine. By the time I was finished I had a lovely little pile of heads staring up at me from the plate. At least I didn´t have to eat the heads. There´s my picky American stomach for you!
Yesterday was absolutely wonderful, however. Eva, Antonio - an excellent flautist - and I went to the town of Consuegra to play for a wedding. The wedding was in a medieval castle surrounded by those tipical Castilla - La Mancha windmills. Absolutely gorgeous. I have pictures that will eventually go up here as well once I get my act together. It was seriously like something out of a movie or a fairytale.
Well, I´m off to Granada for a few days... can´t wait!