Life in Madrid: Week One

Living in Madrid is surreal. Sometimes it feels like I’m back at home, then the rest of the time it’s like I am in a totally different world.

The view from the roof of Palacio de Cibeles

Even though I’ve been in Spain for almost two weeks, I was all over the place during my real first week. I stayed in 3 hostels, 1 Airbnb, and spent 1 night on a bus. All that was more like vacation, so I’m counting this as my first week living in Spain… and it has been quite a week.

I started my crazy intense TEFL course Monday, but couldn’t move into my apartment until Tuesday night. Thank God homework was light the first couple of days, so hostel life wasn’t too much of a burden.

The sunset by my new metro stop

Tuesday, I had to trek all over the city getting my luggage from wherever I left it. My suitcase was 70 pounds, so it lived at the airport until today. Naturally I couldn’t travel with that on the metro, so I took a taxi back to my place. The ride was uneventful until we got to my apartment and the driver asked for my number… I was unsure how to politely say no to him in Spanish, so I gave it to him. No big deal right? …He’s called me twice a day since. I still haven’t answered.

We explored the Temple of Debod as a study break one day

On Wednesday, after barely sleeping because of the heat Tuesday night I was on a quest to find a fan. I wandered the streets of my new barrio until I found a store that had what I needed. I got a fan and headed home, super excited to finally sleep but when I opened the box… some assembly required. This is fine right? I moved to SPAIN, I can put a fan together… Nope. No go. I was NOT sleeping without a fan, so I went back out and searched until I found another store. I explained in horrible Spanish that I needed to be sure this fan worked before bringing it home. This poor couple was so confused by why I needed this, but they opened the box and showed me anyways. Mission accomplished. Super bummed about the 50 euros I spent on my quest, but in the end a restful night of sleep was so worth it.

After finishing our first week at TtMadrid, we had earned a (sort of) relaxing weekend. We went out as a class on Friday and danced all night at Kapital, Madrid’s 7 floor club. Even with all the lesson planning we had going on, we made sure to see some of the city. Saturday night we found a Spanish street party, and Sunday we explored Madrid’s biggest flea market.

fiestas barrios in Madrid mean you can dance and drink in the streets all night
Me and my new friend Corinne embracing Spanish culture
The El Rastro flea market has everything you might need

Class has been hard and long and the workload is heavy, but so far it’s worth it. Five days in and I’ve already learned a ton. I can’t wait to see what the next three weeks bring!

 

 

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