Late continuation

October 5, 2008 at 5:00 pm | Posted in la vida, Real-life adventures | 2 Comments

It’s been about two weeks since I wrote part one of the apartment search in Madrid, so I doubt anyone’s been waiting on their toes to read about part two. You try keeping a blog when you’re getting settled in a new city and you don’t have the internet in your house!

I’ll just sum up what happened to bring me to where I’m living now and what I’m up to.

That first night in the Argentinians’ house, the Portugese student started saying negative things about the house in the same breath he used to introduce himself. I’d only known him for two minutes when he complained about the washing machine and the TV not working right and the air being “not very breathable,” whatever that means. Then, he popped his head back into my room to tell me that “you can find something much better for what you’re paying.”

Now, I definitely considered the source of this information, as this guy seemed a little off, and I’d seen enough apartments in the same area to know what I could expect to find in my price range. However, I was in a vulnerable state as Jaime had just gone back to Germany, and my friends had not yet arrived in Madrid. Not to mention the fact that I was already a little unsure about my decision to take that room, and I wasn’t even 100 percent sure I’d made the right decision in coming to Madrid. To top it all off, I’d just discovered that my roommate and I would not be friends. Needless to say, that was not a happy night.

I’ve never been one to sit and pout with my arms crossed when I find myself in a situation I don’t like, just as my mom likes to point out that I’ve never been able to take no for an answer. But I half-resolved to relax and give the apartment a try for a week. I even went grocery shopping and started to unpack a little that night. But by morning, I knew I wasn’t going to last a week.

The night of sleep didn’t calm me down — it got me more worked up. What had I been thinking taking that place that was empty and dark from 9 in the morning to 10 at night, and where the only space I felt comfortable in was my little room? That was exactly the kind of scenario I had set out to avoid when looking for apartments. I had gotten desperate and impatient. Well, I decided to fix it.

My only concern was that I’d already paid the deposit, which was 600 euros, and I didn’t know how much of it I could get back. I hadn’t signed any sort of contract, but I’d told them I’d be there until June, and there wasn’t any proof that that money had ever changed hands except for a hand-written, unsigned receipt.

I spent the next day calling my lifelines for advice and planning my escape, and my friend Rachel and her friends from the U.S., who are all doing the same program as I am, arrived that afternoon. I decided to talk to the Argentinians that night and tell them my school placement had been changed and then beg for my deposit back. Before I’d even seen them to talk to them, I started looking for a new room, and I agreed to look at a four-bedroom apartment with Rachel and her two friends, as well.

We saw the apartment that evening, and told the landlord YES without hesitation. The location was perfect, the apartment was cute, and the price was right. So I suddenly had two apartments, and I wasn’t freaking out at all…really.

Long story short, I talked to the Argentinians that night and told them I’d help them find someone to take the room. They said yes I would, and they’d try to get my deposit back to me as soon as possible. I put up an ad online that night, got a ton of calls right away, and also mentioned something to a British girl I saw looking at another apartment in my building. She ended up coming back to look at my room, and she took it that next day…and I took her deposit money. Problem solved.

Morals of the story: *Don’t get impatient or desperate when apartment searching in Madrid. If you have doubts, wait it out. New rooms open up every day, every hour, every half hour…And moving again after you’ve already moved is REALLY inconvenient. You always have to sacrifice one luxury or another, but remember your priorities and stick to them.

*If you do have to move again, finding someone to fill your room (unless it really is unacceptable and you shouldn’t have even thought about taking it in the first place) can take less than 24 hours if you put forth the effort. Use the internet, and talk to people on the street.

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As for what I’m up to, I just started working at my school last Wednesday. It’s a tiny school, with just more than 100 kids, and it’s in a pueblo about 10 minutes outside of the city. I explored a little bit on my lunch hour last week, and it looks like there are some nice running trails near the school. The kids are cute…they give me free hugs, and one little girl (she’s already my favorite) drew me a picture last week. It’s on the fridge.

This week, I’m starting a German class at the university. I’ve been saying how cool it would be to learn another language, so I just decided to do it. Granted, I don’t even know how to say adios in German, so the going will be slow. But I’ll be going to Germany several times this year to visit Jaime, so it seemed like a practical choice.

I’m also starting a couple of private English classes this week to earn some extra money. I’m not going to do as many as I did last year, and I may just do them until Christmas, but it’s nice to have that option. Being a native English speaker, whether or not you have teacher training, entitles you to get 15-25 euros/ hour for classes.

That’s about the end of my news for now, but I’m on the search for more activities to meet people, as living with three Americans means I don’t speak any Spanish at home. Like I said, you always have to sacrifice something.

Hasta luegoooo