11: Internet Ain't Free

FRIENDS Cafe in Torrevieja. Free wifi with purchase!

There's wireless internet at the Pencion, but it's totally, completely, utterly random. I think it has something to do with both how many people are connected at one time and how close you are to where the router is, but truthfully... I have no idea. On some days, I'll be able to connect on both my iPhone and my laptop with no problems. Otherwise it's spotty on both. Most of the time, I get a spotty connection on either my phone or my laptop. On really bad days, I can't get a connection on either. Sometimes, moving down to the bar area ensures a good connection, but today that didn't work.

There are a few other options. I have an account set up with a nearby internet cafe (4.74 euros for 5 hours) where I use their computers on a timer. The library has wifi for free, but it is only open certain hours and is really slow. I've been able to connect sometimes to an unsecured wifi network from next door. The most reliable and expensive option is to purchase a personal wifi hotspot creator-thing (it looks like a flash drive and connects through USB) from any of the mobile phone vendors.

Right now, I've been sitting in Cafe Eligeme for five hours straight after ordering a cafe Americano. Good thing they don't kick people out of cafes in Spain. It's such a luxury to have stable, fast internet! I'm pretty sure I know the melodies to all of the popular soft rock/pop songs in Spain now too, because that's what radio station they're tuned into.

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8: Get Used to Siesta

View from the 2nd floor

The famous 3-hour midday break known as siesta is sometimes everything you want it to be, and sometimes not. It really depends.

Studio ends at 14:00 (2PM) and lunch at the Pension is served. Lunch is a one- to two-hour affair, though, depending on the speed of the kitchen.* You get a first course (popular dishes are paella, cold meats with potato salad, vegetable omelette, tomato and grilled cheese, pasta) and a second course (I ate a lot of roast chicken, grilled salmon, Spanish kebab, and pork chops)--not to mention the salad, bread, garlic alioli before the first course. And the dessert or coffee afterwards (or dessert coffee in the form of cafe bombon, which is a shot of espresso poured over condensed milk). Don't eat all of it, though, because you might burst, and you need to save food for dinner! Everyone has Tupperware containers.

So by the time lunch is over, you have anywhere from two full hours to only an hour left to chill because studio resumes at 17:00 (5PM). You have to decide--should I drink this coffee now? Will it get cold in this Spanish midday heat? Do I have enough time to take a nap and not wake up groggy? If I don't take a nap, do I have enough time to do work? Or what? Or what?!

Yeah, that's the big important decision I've been making every day lately.

And it's true. It gets so hot here that it's absolutely exhausting. When I run in the morning at 6:30AM, it's already 25 degrees Celsius, which is 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Back in Berkeley, it hits 77F around midday, and you would not catch me trying to run down College Avenue. In Guardamar, it hits 98F around midday and the heat lasts well past 18:00 (6PM). So that is why the siesta exists here. Most shops close and no one is walking in the streets. It's best to just lie down, don't move, and let the ceiling fan blow air over you for a few hours.

*Edit August 27, 2012: Looking back, we went through so many different ways of ordering food! We went from everyone writing a tick mark next to their desired dishes, to family style (think large pans of 15 roast chicken legs and a huge pan of paella for everyone to share), to trying to number the tables and ordering by table... oh man.


- lunch at the Pension (pacing yourself, what to take to go)
- taking a break
- the heat!

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