Day 4- Saturday, August 25th 2007

The apartment search is not going well. So I am a little discouraged today. I looked at an apartment last night in a part of town that was too far to walk to, so I took the metro for the first time. The metro is Madrid’s subway system, and once you pick up a map of all the stops and stations, it’s pretty easy to navigate. However, once I got to the right part of town, I had a bit of trouble finding the apartment. I don’t think that Madrid has a ghetto, but if it did, that would have been it, and there I was hiking up and down the street. I had kind of already made up my mind about the place, and when I did finally arrive to the correct building and ring the buzzer to tell them I was there, I was panting for breath. What fun to realize that the apartment was on the 5th floor with no elevator! And when I say the fifth floor, I really mean the sixth floor, because they don’t count the ground floor. The second I saw the room they wanted to rent out, I was like, “Heck no!” Well, I actually thought something a little stronger, but my momma’s gonna read this so I will keep it to myself. There was no bed, just a mattress on the floor. The little wooden bookshelf looked like it would collapse if I put even my passport on it. And the bathroom and kitchen were worse. It was altogether massively depressing. So I politely told the guy that the location was too far from my work, and then I left.

When I came up out of the metro station at the Puerta del Sol, I saw a crowd gathered around some people playing some very familiar-sounding music, so I walked over to check it out. There was an Andean musical group there performing and selling CDs! They were very good and the music made me happy. This was at about 11:00pm, and the streets were completely full of people. This is the latest I have been out so far, and it astonished me to see so many people out that late. And it wasn’t just young people or teenagers. There were nicely-dressed older couples, middle-aged businessmen in suits, and even families with their kids! In the States, if you are in the streets that late, people assume you are looking for trouble. So, pushing my way through the crowds, I made it back to my hostal and did the American thing. I went to bed.

This morning, I got up, packed everything, and went down the street to a new hostal that is 12 euros cheaper per night than I have been paying. It is a small place and seems to be run by a family in their apartment. I don’t have my own bathroom this time, but I don’t care. It is cheap enough for me to stay until I find an apartment, and I am tired of carrying my luggage around! The next time I move it will be into a taxi and to my new permanent room.

I have made a lot of calls to people, trying to set up some apartment-viewings, but only two have come though so far, partially because it is so hard for me to understand Spanish people, especially over the phone. The first was last night, and the second was this afternoon, in a nicer part of town that was really pretty. The apartment was cute-ish, though the room was really really small. The people who already live there seem nice and clean. However, it is also up six flights of stairs with no elevator, and won’t be available until the 1st of September. So heck. I’ll keep on looking. When I was walking to the apartment this afternoon, a car passed by me blasting “Atrevete” at full volume and it made me smile. I know that seems really lame, but I associate that song with my friends back home, so it made me think of them.

I hope my new friend Megan from Denver calls me today so we can hang out tonight. She is also gonna be taking the TEFL course with me, and we met at the orientation yesterday. I also met Rick from Boston, and we three chatted a lot. They are both a lot like me, recently out of college and teaching English for an excuse to live in Madrid.

I am back in an Internet café because I couldn’t pick up any wireless network from my new hostal. Hopefully, I can get my living situation worked out soon because this is really stressing me out. I may seek help from the wise ones at Canterbury, who can help me make phone calls and should be able to understand what people are freakin saying. Tomorrow I am going to the Prado because it is free public museum day. And I am gonna sit on my butt and look at some paintings for awhile. That should make me feel better. I miss everyone at home so much! Love ya’ll!