What a Typical Day Is Like in Spain For Me
8am-9am — Wake up, eat breakfast with my son. Listen to Paw Patrol soundtrack. He likes to look at my phone just to see the Paw Patrol cover art on Spotify. His favorite song is the sad song that plays when Chase, one of the pups, run away. He laughs when it plays. It’s completely normal. Wrestle him into some clothes and get him ready to go to school.
9am — 10am — Spanish class. Pretend I know what my Spanish professor is telling me. Just say, “Si, si, si, si, si,” and hope for the best.
10am-12pm— “Work” — i.e., look through Instagram. Try to find some jobs. Hmm, I just don’t like working. What can I say? I don’t like it. No, thanks.
12pm-12:30pm — Eat olives stuffed anchovies. They are so good. I love them. I can’t stop eating them. Seriously, I can eat a whole can. I Google, “Are olives good for you?” I find out they are high in vitamin E and other powerful antioxidants but also high in salt and fat. Fuck it, I’m eating olives. I’ve always been a rebel. Ever since my homeschool days.
12:30pm-1pm — Break. I’m tired, and I need to rest up for lunch. Look at the news. Feel badly about all the shit going on in the world. Feel guilty about how nice my life is.
1pm-3pm — Lunch at the beach in a perfect European cove. Have a beer and look out at the shimmering, clear water and blue sky and on myphone look at snowstorm pounding New York City where I used to live. Start laughing.
Start my meal with a salad with tuna and some patatas bravas. I love that spicy patatas bravas sauce. I stand up and do my spicy sauce dance. “Stop,” my wife says. Eat the fresh fish that was just caught earlier that day. End the meal with a chocolate cake.
3pm — 6pm —I want to take a siesta but I need to pick up son from school and go to playground (where there is a bar open in the summer months). Go with him on the zip line again and again but only after the scary teenagers have stopped using it. (Yes, there are alcohol and zip lines at playgrounds in Spain, they know how to live.)
6pm — 7pm — Nap while son watches Paw Patrol.
7pm — 8pm — Tapas. More olives. Have a Cava or Vermut.
8pm-11pm — Dinner in the historic city center of the town. Have lamb or chicken. Gelato afterwards.
11:30pm — Good night. I’m exhausted. I say a prayer that it will never end.
