Madrid

I just got back from Madrid last night and I'm sure soon I will be able to genuinely recount all of the fun I had there.  But right now, I am too angry that my backpack got stolen yesterday afternoon just before we left for the airport.

Luckily, it was not full of anything too important (my wallet, passport, and boarding passes were in my purse).  But, I just spent a few hours this morning re-buying everything that I lost and it's adding up quite quickly.  To me, the most annoying thing is that there was NOTHING in that backpack (except maybe the backpack itself) that the man who stole it can use.  I'm not sure what he's going to do with my planner, French cinema class homework, the keys to my apartment, and my unwashed Williamsville East HS Class of 2007 shirt, but they were certainly useful to me.

It didn't help that I had to walk 10 minutes in the pouring rain to the police station to report that the backpack which contained my umbrella was stolen.

But that's life. Now I have a happy story:

About an hour ago, after spending an absurd amount of money on a cell phone charger, umbrella, and other replacements, I was sitting on the Paris metro somewhere in between furious and annoyed and sad.  I should preface this story by saying the Paris metro is not normally a happy place. No one talks. No one wants to be there. Everyone is in everyone else's way. So, the metro was not exactly improving my mood.

Then a man got in the metro car and started asking for money.  This happens approximately one billion times a day in Paris and usually once a day in my travels.  Normally, I don't give them anything.  But today, I happened to have just come from the grocery store and a bag of about 30 apples was sitting in my lap.  I offered the man an apple (partly as a thank you for asking instead of stealing) when he passed and he thanked me and kept moving through the car.  A few minutes later, he came back my direction holding the apple and yelled "where did this apple come from?"  I timidly half raised my hand and everyone looked at me.  Then he looked at me and said (in french) "this apple is amazing. this is so good. where did you buy this apple?" I told him. He responded (in half English) "Thank you so much.  Have a wonderful day and enjoy your time in Paris."

It was small, but it made me happy.  Usually when I travel to a new city, I fall in lust and wonder why I picked Paris.  But this time, Paris wins.