So I just arrived in Madrid yesterday! The flight was alright; I went Rochester --> Chicago --> London --> Madrid. The flight from Chicago to London was a lot shorter than flights to Madrid, only 6 hours, so between eating dinner and watching some of my last American television shows I didn't get much sleep. I also decided that I don't like Heathrow. Bad news is that I have to travel through London on my way back home. On Christmas Eve. Not looking forward to that at all. And the icing on the cake was that when I went to pick up my luggage in Madrid, one of my four wheels was missing. So I had to file a damage report. Granted they're going to send me a new suitcase, but I still had to drag the broken one through the metro and for three blocks to my host family's apartment.
I am so thankful they're letting me stay here. I was a disaster when I got in yesterday--just overwhelmed with everything. I know it's going to be a good experience because I am really worried right now (I was really worried before I studied abroad and before I worked in Italy this summer, but both turned out to be really great experiences), but it's definitely a very new experience. If I didn't have my host family, I would have no one that I knew in the city and nowhere to stay except in a hostel (by myself! terrifying!) So I am very lucky to have them.
I started the apartment searching a little while I was still at home, but now that I'm here, it has really begun! I have been scouring the web looking for rooms in shared apartments. I get paid 1000 euros a month, so I want to try and find something for 4oo euros or less...I would also like to share a flat with young people, who speak spanish, prefierably girls, who don't smoke, and I don't want to have to share a bathroom with tons of people. I might be a little picky, but for 9 months, I don't want to be miserable!
One of the English magazines the city puts out has a section about finding a flat. It's really optimistic. The accommodation page opens with: "If it was a choice between flat-hunting in Madrid and having three-hour root-canal work with no anaesthetic, it'd be the dentist's chair every time. Finding somewhere to live in Madrid is not fun." Super, huh? Well, I'm a little frustrated, but I'm not giving up! Today, I saw a tiny dorm-room like apartment. It didn't have a living room, the kitchen was in the hallway (basically non-existent), there was no kitchen table, there were two bedrooms (the free one had bunkbeds, even though it was a single room), and it was for 395 euros plus 20-30 euros for bills. I was not impressed. I continued to look and found a few more options online, but the problem is that all the students are arriving now, so the rooms go super fast! You almost need to look daily and call only the ones from that day, because if the room's been advertised for more than a few days, it's probably taken. However, I do have an appointment to see some rooms tomorrow. There is some kind of agency that must have a bunch of rooms in different zones, so I'm going to meet with her and look at a few rooms. I also have a meeting set up for Sunday, and I am in contact with two other people! So, I have to be optimistic! If nothing else, next Wednesday and Thursday I have my Auxiliares orientation, so maybe I can find a roommate/friend there and we can team up to look for something! We shall see. Until then, lots of searching, calling, and waiting.
--christy
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