Yes... I had a coffee at McDonald´s.

Wow. First ever blog entry and I figured out how to add a digital photograph. It´s probably not going to get much more impressive than this. That´s me squating by an homage to my favorite literary character of all time - Don Quijote de la Mancha.

You´ll notice my short hair. My mother kindly offered to buy me a haircut before my departure. The last time I flew internationally (to Santiago, Chile) I had shoulder length hair and what was generally agreed upon by everyone who knew me at the time to be a pretty poor attempt at a beard (you´ll see I still haven´t given up on that front). Anyway, I guess I looked like the kind of individual who ought to receive special attention from people in uniforms. And I did. The folks with blue clothing and slow-twitch facial muscles examined my Eaglebrook faculty ID card. Then used the internet to verify that Eaglebrook was not founded in a basement by me and Hewlett-Packard. And then quizzed me to be certain that this real school really employed me: Location? Deerfield, Massachusetts. Year of founding? 1922. Current record of the hockey team? Are you serious?!

My mother hoped that an improved (read shorter) hairstyle would prevent more ´get to know you´games with immigration officials. I agreed, but opted to spend the $20 on a Conair reusable haircut. I´ve already had two haircuts for the price of one! And I got through security checkpoints and immigrations like Obi Wan Kenobi. Thanks mom!

I have to share my proudest accomplishment of the trip so far. I carry a small black moleskine in my left pant pocket at all times, and I decided to use it to record every expenditure I make. (This may not seem like a revolutionary idea to those of you who do responsible adult things like keep a budget and/or balance a checkbook.) I hope that this system will accomplish two excellent things - 1) help me to avoid ridiculously regrettable expenses AND 2) provide a remarkably thorough log of my days. Since expenditures of time are often linked to expenditures of money, I´ll have a pretty solid account of how I spent my time too. Here is a typical example (Sunday, January 13th):

• 8 AA batteries purchased at El Rastro (Madrid´s big outdoor flea-type market) 2 €
  
• donation to Plaza Mayor string players 1.76 €
  
• lunch supplies purchased at el Corte Ingles supermarket 2 €
  
• cafe con helado from McDonald´s 2 €
• tapas, chocolate y churros (dinner) 11 €
• entrance to a discoteca 8 €
• coatroom fee at same discoteca 1 €
  

My most common cost-free activities - ranked by time spent - are 1) walking 2) writing 3) yoga. I enjoy walking so much that I´ve decided to do it for the next 15 days with 25ish pounds on my back. I leave tomorrow by bus for the province of Asturias and town of Oviedo where I plan to walk the Camino Primitivo - one of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela. Everyone says the Camino Primitivo is beautiful, but they also say it is mountainous and - in this season - plagued by some combination of rain, snow, and mud. On the plus side, I shouldn´t have trouble finding an open bed in the albergues (free hostels for pilgrims with official documentation). I obtained my official documentation yesterday and found it far easier than I had imagined. In my fear-based fantasy, worthy candidates were identified Inquisition-style: prayer recitation, biblical verse recognition, Latin chanting, and ´name that saint´. In reality, I had to show them my passport, sign my name on the dotted line, and then drink wine and eat snacks with the kindly souls who shared their advice, experiences, and food recommendations with me. I didn´t even have to convert to Catholicism!