Madrid Needs to Borrow the Big Citgo Sign for My Directional Convenience

I get off the train at the Moncloa metro stop and follow the morning crowd and the signs towards the salida*. I check my phone. It is only 10:30am; my interview with European Vibe Magazine is at 11:00am. Mentally shrugging, I climb the stairs up to the Tuesday sunlight, which is actually exactly the same as the sunlight on every other day of the week, and look around me. Not only do I have no idea where I am--considering the fact that I have never gotten off at the Moncloa stop--I do not even know which way north is. Or east, south, and west, for that matter. Back homes (Chicago and Boston), I orient myself using the appropriate body of water. Or, occasionally, the Sears Tower or Prudential Building, respectively. Here in Madrid, not only is there no body of water nearby, there are no tall buildings, so I simply have to learn. But I digress. Coming out of the metro station, I pick a random street and direction, praying that it will lead me to Calle de Fernando Católico 63, local 1 (I do not know what local 1 means in terms of the address). I quickly arrive at the realization that a)I have no idea where I am or where I am going and b)I am glad that I got to the neighborhood so early. And to think I was beginning to admonish myself for perpetually being early for various functions.

I continue walking, knowing that I either have to ask other pedestrians for directions or take out my embarassingly huge map, which doesn't really go with my Gap dress pants and Banana Republic sweater, and which wouldn't aid me either considering I do not know cardinal directions. To my right appear stores bearing the signs for the Universidad Complutense, which I vageuly know is somewhere northwestish. Shit. Maybe I am completely and utterly lost. After another block, I approach a woman walking towards me. ¿Perdóneme, sabe dónde está la Calle de Fernando Católico?** I ask, my nerves highlighting my American accent. The woman isn't sure. Next block. Same question. She thinks that Fernando Católico is somewhere farther, perpendicular to the street we are on now, but I should keep asking. I begin wondering if this street even exists. Several people later, a man overhears me asking a woman--who (surprise!) doesn't know the answer--and points me in the right direction. I walk two blocks, as directed, and hit Fernando Católico. Thank God. It's already 10:50am. Fernando Católico turns out to be parallel to the street I had been on originally. Thank you, Spanish man! Without you, all would have been lost! After a little more confusion regarding the local 1, I get to the European Vibe office at 11am sharp. Oh yeah, and the interview went swell.

*exit

**Excuse me, where is the street Fernando Católico?