Life in Madrid: Getting Comfortable

I’ve been abroad for three weeks now. It’s starting to hit me…I LIVE here now. It isn’t just a vacation or a study abroad anymore. I have a Spanish phone number, and a Spanish bank account. Pretty soon, I’ll have a residence card and then a job here… How crazy is that?!

So far, I’ve been in my TEFL class for two weeks and I’ve taught two classes on my own. Only four more classes to teach before I’m certified! Thankfully I’m getting used to lesson planning. I swear… if it was still taking me as long as the first one did I would not make it through.

It’s always hot and sunny, so I haven’t really had to figure celsius out yet

This past week my friend and I changed our phones so that they are completely Spanish. My phone’s language is totally in Spanish, it tells military time, and my weather app is in celsius. This means I only have a vague idea of what is going on in my phone, but I’m trying my best to immerse myself in Spanish culture. What better way than to add an ñ to your iPhone keyboard?

With all the homework and lesson planning going on, my friends and I have had to work to make time for socializing. We went out Wednesday night to El Tigre for quarts of mojitos and free tapas. After that we hit euro shot night, meaning my hangover in class Thursday morning was absolutely miserable.

6 euro mojitos and free tapas, how can you go wrong?

This weekend again was full of homework and studying, but we all did our best to have fun too. Saturday night was spent enjoying a house party with all of my classmates and then transitioning to another weekend of street parties. Sunday, I needed some recovery time, so I spent the day in Retiro. Naps in the park are unbeatable.

the drinks at these street parties are HUGE (yes I took this pic off my snapchat)
This is only a third of our TEFL class… imagine the chaos all thirty of us were causing

To round out the weekend, I met some friends to watch Real Madrid beat Barcelona… I’m really getting into these fútbol games, and I’m honestly not sure that my heart can take it. I’ve only watched two games here and I’m already so caught up in the excitement that I’m in the bar shouting without really knowing what’s going on.

group pic BEFORE my heart attack

All week I’ve had these moments where I realize… I live in SPAIN. Sometimes, it is super overwhelming to think about, but most of the time this crosses my mind and I literally can’t stop smiling.

Even though things are weird here, and I don’t always understand what is going on around me, I’m having the time of my life. Sometimes it feels like everything is already so routine, but then I remember… this year long adventure has barely even started!

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