Life in Madrid: Back to Reality

I love Madrid, but I would KILL to be back in Venice right now. Or on vacation in general. When I got home, reality hit.

I have spent this past week on the HUNT. I’ve been both job hunting and apartment hunting every day, and let me tell you it is stressful. The last time I was unemployed for this long, I was 13.

I’ve had plenty of interviews, and in all fairness, I did turn down two jobs solely because they started immediately. Regardless, I still don’t love the instability of unemployment, especially in Spain.

On top of the job hunt, my friend Alanis and I are working to find an apartment before we’re both homeless on October 1st. This time of year EVERYONE is looking for an apartment. People come back from summer holidays, get to Madrid for their study abroad programs, and start to arrive for the government’s teaching program.

This means plenty of competition and not enough furnished, two bedroom apartments with an oven, washing machine, and air conditioning in the city center for 400 euros or less. We’ve had to lower our expectations a little to bring us back to reality.

Even though it has been a bit hard getting back to reality after an amazing trip, I still had an awesome week.

My friend (and future roommate) Alanis FINALLY got to Madrid, and so did my friend Kelley. We spent the week catching up, exploring, and appreciating the city’s night life.

Wednesday was a night out at Gabana, and on Friday night my month of the TEFL course took the new group out and about in Madrid.

Saturday I took over the Girls LOVE Travel snapchat account, so I spent the day eating and drinking my way through the city. I’ll be posting all about that later this week, but I can’t stop thinking about how beautiful touring the royal palace was.

After a week away from Madrid, I feel like I really appreciate the city now. Coming back from vacation actually felt like coming home.

It is still hard to believe that I live here, especially with my life being so crazy right now. I’m ready for things to be more normal, but I’m definitely enjoying every minute of freedom right now. Once I have a job and an apartment I think life here will become even more real.