Exactly six days after my arrival in the city of Madrid I finally am able to find some time to reflect about the madness and excitement of my time so far in Spain! On September 12th I flew out of Omaha and shared tearful goodbyes with my family at Epply Airfield. I have been to Spain before to study in Toledo for two months in 2007 but this experience in Spain will last until at least June so I will be in Spain for at least 10 full months teaching English at a school in Getafe (just south of the City center).
Before I had left Omaha I was able to say goodbye to my wonderful friends a few days before my departure as well as catch up with a lot of friends throughout the summer to say our goodbyes. I am so grateful for all of the support that I have from my friends and family pushing me to follow my heart and live in Madrid. It is a scary thing to know that I will not be able to see most of these people for almost a year but I know that their support will not be hindered from the distance and for that I know I am blessed.
Our first night in Madrid was one of the more hectic days of traveling I have yet to experience but we are all alive and that is the most you can ask for! I flew from Omaha with a good friend from the University of Nebraska , Emily, who I have many classes with in the past few years and another girl from Nebraska, Christina, who I had met through networking.
The flights were nothing to complain about, especially considering they were international flights, and we arrived about an hour late to Madrid. From there Emily, my friend from the university, had her boyfriend (who is a Spaniard, I might add) meet us at the airport and generously allowed us to leave our luggage with him while Christina and I headed to a hostel so we could begin our apartment search in the city. I have stayed at my fair share of hostels but once we saw our room we decided it would be much safer to split a room in a hotel for a few nights while looking for a place to live. So from there, I have found myself in a great hotel in the center of the city that has made for a great haven after full days of apartment searching.
For anyone who has ever looked for an apartment in a city close to the size of Madrid I hope you can empathize with the process I have endured this last week. Needless to say my Spanish has already improved ten-fold from the apartment search and I am happy to admit that any fear of talking to native speakers has disappeared after almost 50 phone calls and apartment viewings!
I began my search early in the summer looking at pisos on various websites but had no real idea of what I was about to experience until my first day in the city. Though I have been to Madrid as a tourist I was not familiar with the different neighborhoods, or barrios, in the center. My first day was spent walking the streets looking for different pisos (apartments) for Christina and I had found online. The following days we did the same as well as walked around barrios and looked for advertisements (this process sounds simple but if anyone would like the extended story of what we endured, please, let me know). Christina and I found a few places with two bedrooms but nothing that was livable for either of us – some of the more AUDACIOUS choices included a woman and her baby in La Latina and a pug faced dog and his Bob Marley-ish owner in Sol.
By the grace of God I found a wonderful teacher renting rooms right outside of the city in a cute neighborhood that has all that Spain has to offer without the commotion of the City center. Maria, the owner of the apartment, is from Spain and teachers at a nearby school and currently is living with a coworker from Indiana who will be moving to a new apartment in a month or so. Maria speaks a little English (I assume learned from her current roommate) and between that and my Spanish we discussed the details of renting and what kind of person we were both looking for. I will be moving in tomorrow (Sunday) with Maria while Christina will be moving into a dorm like room in an international housing apartment closer to the center of the city where I am sure she will be a great fit. I am very excited to be living with a native Spanish speaker who seems very reliable in a bit quieter area of the city. I hope that living with Maria goes as smooth as I anticipate.
After all of the commotion and pressure to find a home the last few days I was finally able to enjoy the city of Madrid today! Christina and I met for lunch with an amazingly quick girl from Witchita, Kansas who is starting her second year teaching in the city and her friend from, Christian, from Chile who was in town. After a satisfying lunch we went to Parque del Retiro and spent the afternoon enjoying the wonderful fall weather by taking a rowing boat out on the lake and sitting in the park. It was so great to relax and enjoy great company after this hectic week. I hope to have more good news with the next posts to follow and cannot wait to be settled so I can begin enjoying Spain and my adventure teaching in Madrid!
Un beso, Rachel
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