Sunday morning in Spain

Today I woke up at 8 A.M., which was very late for me. I think it was because the temperature was low (around 15 C) and I had a nightmare that lasted longer than usual. The house was really quiet and the only sound comes from the chirping of birds outside. After brushing my teeth, I realized that I did not have food, but I was not sure whether or not Caprabo, a supermarket about fifteen minutes away from where I lived, was open. After browing through its website and failing to find its hours of operation, I decided to walk to Caprabo. It was a On my way to Caprabo, I saw only a few people (mostly older people) on the streets walking their dogs. Unfortunately (but I kind of predicted), Caprabo was closed. I searched really hard but could not find its hours on the entrance (before leaving, I also looked at its website and could not find the schedule there either..faint...). Instead of going back, I decided to explore the area surrounding Caprabo. After walking in a random direction for about 15 minutes, I found a local bakery that was open and bought a loaf of bread for 0.95 euros (about $1.40). The owner was unbelievably nice and patient because it took me a long time to decide which one to buy. Moreover, when I asked him whether or not he sells coffee, he directed me to the bar near the street corner. I went into the bar, bought a cafe con leche and sat there and read the newspaper "el pais" for about 45 minutes. It was surprising that a significant portion of the newspaper was devoted to international news: there was a special coverage on Stalin, on the image of governor Palin, on the conflicts in Bolivia and Venezuela and on the tortures of minor in Guatamolo Bay (the last news definitely disturbed me). It seems that Spaniards pay a lot attention to news, for most people who were walking their dogs were also carrying a copy of the newspaper. In the cafe, where the owner provided "el pais", "el mundo" and "ABC" for his costumers, those who were not chatting were reading the news. However, they were all people who were middle-age or older, so I don't know if young people in Spain read the news as much (though when I talked to Kirsten's son yesterday, he was eating breakfast while reading the news, so maybe :) ). On the book review section, it talked about a book that teaches people how to save money at a time when the economy is bad. Faint....... It seems to be true. When I was walking towards the market, I saw several houses and apartments that were up for sale.
One thing that I remembered from orientation was the talk bu Professor Anden. He was concerned about the fact that very few young people in Spain pursue science and engineering. After observing the people walking on the streets, I realized that young people, much more often than older people, tend to walk in large groups (older people either walk alone or walk in group of two, like husband and wife, mother and daughter). It just dawned onto me that compare to the humanities subjects, science and engineering require more individual thinking. At least for me, I can only absorb the most difficult concepts when I am thinking in a quiet place where no one else is around.
Sigh...today is Sunday, so I know that Prado's museum is open for free. I really really want to go, but I have work to do...sigh....maybe next month, when things become more relaxed...then I am definitely going to spend a lot of time at that museum.