I’ve officially been in Spain for almost a week. Tomorrow would technically be a week, but I’m writing this today because I’m procrastinating something else. So where do I start?
Background
If you didn’t know I moved to Spain to teach English. I don’t start until October but I arrived mid September to find an apartment, see the area, and get settled in.
September 15th/16th
These days were spent on a plane or at the airport which went pretty smoothly. I had a red-eye flight where I had hoped to sleep through most of it, but that never goes to plan. My connecting flight was in switzerland and that’s where I got most of my sleep (a whopping 1.5 hours of sleep)–I just remember the plane taking off and the plane landing.
I landed in Valencia midday and took the metro straight from the airport to a station near my hostel. Luckily the metro wasn’t that full as I had a 65L backpack, a carry-on suitcase, and a regular backpack. I held the small backpack but the other two I threw on the floor and people stood around them.
When the train got to my stop I only had to walk a few blocks to my hostel, but I was sweating like crazy. It was 85 degrees, full sun, and I was in pants wearing all my luggage. I checked into my room and met a nice German traveler, Noel, who was solo traveling. He asked how I already got burnt (I wasn’t)–typical Germans, always so direct. I put my things in my locker, got my bed ready, took a shower, and went to bed at 5pm.
September 17th
I woke up at 3am and stayed awake. I always have this discussion with myself when I travel. Do I stay awake until the locals bedtime? Or do I go to sleep when I’m tired? After I hurt my back in Norway from lack of sleep, I decided to always sleep when I’m tired. I no longer force myself to stay awake, because there’s no guarantee I’ll sleep through the night.
I was up so early, but everyone was still awake back home, so I chatted with some people and then sat on my computer until 9am. I was STARVING. I had some granola bars but I didn’t want to eat at 5/6/7 in the morning so I patiently waited for the grocery store to open, got groceries, made avocado toast at the hostel, and then went back to bed. I woke up at 5pm.
This was the start of my terrible sleep schedule that I still can’t fix. I did end up walking to a nearby mall that night to get some exercise and feel somewhat productive, but I still wasn’t forcing myself to do anything strenuous–I’m here for a year so there’s no rush.
September 18th
While I was apartment hunting until 5am again (which would be my normal bedtime back home) I booked an apartment tour in the area of the city that I wanted. It was near the University, beach, and metro I would take to work. I showed up for the tour and a girl from Hungary showed me the apartment. It was a very cute apartment but not the cleanest. After the showing I walked around the area and to the beach. It was then I realized I did not want to live there. While a safe neighborhood, it was largely under construction and many apartments were very rundown. I messaged the landlord that I was going to wait to sign (I had another tour the next day) because it was over my budget.
September 19th
The night of the 18th I was browsing the apartment website, when an apartment was posted in a different neighborhood. It was posted around 8pm, within the hour, so I replied immediately. Within 20 minutes I had a tour at 11:30amthe next day.
I showed up at 11:30 and the landlord, with his dog, were waiting for me. He gave me a quick tour of the apartment and asked if I would like to live here. I said yes, it was perfect, and he asked when I would like to move in.
“Well could you move in today?” he asked.
“Yea I could move in today,” I replied, realizing how perfect this was.
“Well actually tomorrow after 5pm would work better for me. I’m busy the rest of the day.” He continued. “Unless you have cash on you, then I could just give you the keys.”
I told him I had to leave the hostel by 11am the next morning, so we walked to a nearby ATM and I withdrew 450 EUR (this included 180 EUR rent for the remainder of the month, security deposit, and one time fee). I joked that I was going to cry at the ATM fee, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought–only $60 lol. So with the conversion and ATM fee I pulled about $580 (Remember kids, the Euro is stronger than the US dollar). It’s been an expensive week.
So he gave me the keys and I had to take 2 trips from my hostel to my new apartment to move all my stuff. I could’ve done it in one trip but bringing a lot of luggage on a city bus is frowned upon. I met two of my three roommates (its been a couple of days and I have yet to see a third) who are both very nice and clean. They are both Spanish speakers, so hopefully I learn a little from them.
September 20th-22nd
I’m writing this on the 22nd, which is the first day it’s below 80 degrees. The last couple of days have been so hot that I’ve done nothing during the day and then went out for a long walk at night (I’m still going to bed at 2-3am and waking up at 11am). My apartment doesn’t have AC, so I’ve just been chilling and sweating. I finally unpacked and have been trying to accomplish some things that are required for me to continue to live here, but there’s always something that prevents me doing them.
For example, I need a TIE card, but I can’t get one without an appointment–they currently have no available appointments. I also need to open a bank account, but I need a TIE card. yada yada yada…
So instead I’m writing this to feel a sense of accomplishment.
I also need to get a monthly bus pass (25EUR for unlimited; it’s 2EUR every trip so its been adding up), and I would like to get a gym membership. I’ll have to ask my roommate about gyms around the area but he speaks so fast I don’t understand him half the time.
And that is all I’ve got. I’ll write again when I have more to share (maybe another week)
If you have any questions/comments feel free to contact me 🙂
