Sunday, September 28, 2008

Apartment Searching

My search for a place to live has begun. I left Granada yesterday to come to Cordoba to check things out. Unfortunately, it rained all day yesterday and wasn't exactly conducive to walking around to look for apartments. So, I buried myself in my room at the hostel and did some footwork on the internet. It is amazing how much better connected I am this trip. I have even set up an online phone system so I can call anywhere in the US for free. All I need is an internet connection and a headset. One very cool thing about this system is that my friends and family (that would be you!) in the US can call me for free, too. I now have a local Cheboygan, MI phone number that you can call and it will ring on my computer where ever I am in the world! If you would like that number, you can get it from any of my parents or send me a comment, email, etc. so I can send it to you. It came in handy the last couple of days. As my last post said, I got a spanish cell phone (in the future I may refer to this as a mobile - they use a lot of British English translation here). I also brought my American cell phone with me to use for the first week during my settling in period. Well, when leaving Granada, I had the lovely experience of getting pickpocketed. Argh.... I knew the guy tried, but I checked the pocket and didn't think he got anything. Wrong. He managed to grab my American cell phone. Before I left home I told myself I should write down my numbers in case I ever lost the phone. I got through the letter 'C'. Oops, that isn't very far. So this wasn't a welcomed experience, but it wasn't anything to get too worked up about. I suspended my service temporarily and I still have a Spanish cell phone...right? Wrong. Once I got to the hostel I went to use it and forgot that I need a pin to unlock it after it has been turned off. The pin was in Granada. The planets weren't exactly aligning in my favor. Thankfully I was able to call my cell phone company, my parents, and eventually my friends in Granada to let them know all was well.

I had to turn my focus to the apartment search despite the cell phone debacle. The hostel gave me a map and an idea of where to start looking. Today started out a little less wet, but the flyers posted were all a bit soggy. After a long walk I collected quite a few possibilities. Then I hopped on a bus to Puente Genil to see the town for the first time. It seems like a nice place. Not too sleepy, not to busy. It's too bad I didn't find a single posting looking for roommates. I talked with one local girl and she said there isn't much for shared apartments. I can't tell you how many times I've gone back and forth trying to decide whether to live in P.G. or Cordoba. Finally, I have decided (maybe :-) ). I had to think about it from a different point of view. The most important thing for me to accomplish here in Spain is to speak spanish as much as possible. My job requires me to speak English, so it won't happen much there. If I rent an apartment in P.G. and live by myself, I won't have access to the language and culture there, either. I don't want to end up spending all of my time watching Spanish television! (I am finding that their games show will be good learning tools.) So, for this moment, I've decided to live in Cordoba and make the commute to P.G. I have sent several emails out already inquiring about postings. Tomorrow when I get to Granada I'll have Juanmi and Toñy to help me make phone calls to those without email contacts.

I am taking each challenge one at a time. Once or twice I have caught myself wishing I had been placed in Granada because it would be so much easier. But, if I was looking for easy, I wouldn't be here. I am here for the adventure and the challenge. It will be good for me to learn a new place and meet new friends on my own.

For the next week I'll go between Granada and Cordoba. I have an orientation in Cordoba on Thursday and will probably start work in P.G. on Monday. I was supposed to start on Wednesday, but they told me it wasn't necessary because they don't have my class schedule finalized yet. My contact there said someone would pick me up from the bus station when ever I decided to arrive - whether that be Wednesay, Friday, or next week. Details, details. I love it. We'll see if I say the same thing when I am trying to get my resident paperwork processed! haha.

Friday, September 26, 2008

I made it!!!!!

Hey everyone! I made it safely to Spain. I am in Granada with my friends Juanmi and Toñy. Tomorrow I am going to Cordoba to look for a place to live. I wish I could stay here in Granada longer, but I can come back any time I want to visit. Juanmi and Toñy have been a HUGE help. Today, Toñy and I went around town. To my benefit she is sick and didn't go to work, but not so sick as to stay in the house all day. Now I have a spanish cell phone! I wasn't looking forward to figuring all of that out in Spanish. I'm still a bit rusty when it comes to communicating. It gets easier all the time, though. We had breakfast at a local cafe where I had my FAVORITE thing... toast with tomato. It is way better than you are thinking. It is fresh baguette bread toasted with tomato that is prepared more like applesauce. Put some olive oil and salt on top and there you go. Mmmmmmmmmm. After breakfast we even bought the tool for me to try to make it myself. Granada is the same as I remember. I love turning a corner and remembering something from one of my visits. So far I don't feel overwhelmed in the least. How wonderful to have a support system already in place. I'll be living a couple hours away, but I'll never be alone. They have already invited me back for Christmas so I won't be by myself. Yea!

Tomorrow I'll catch a bus to Cordoba and stay in a hostel for a couple days. I can go to Puente Genil from there. I still haven't decided which city to live in. For now I'll walk around to check out different neighborhoods and collect some numbers. Like buying a cell phone, I haven't been looking forward to making phone calls about housing. It is hard for me to understand Spanish on the phone. But I'm in luck! My friends are going to help me with this, too. Hopefully by Wednesday, when I start my job, I will have figured it out and will have a place to live. For now I'm going to leave the majority of my luggage here in Granada. This is great because I have everything I could fit on the plane with me. I'm sure it was a sight to see me lug it all from the airport baggage claim to the bus and then down the street to a taxi and into the apartment. Ay!

It is amazing how quickly my brain is switching over to Spanish. After two days here it is hard to think in and write in English. So, bear with me if I throw in some Spanish words once in a while or get creative with the grammer and spelling. I'll try to explain as I go. If you have ANY questions along the way, ASK! It is hard for me know what to tell you. Email me, leave a comment, whatever. I haven't quite figured out my phone system yet, but as soon as I know, you will know.

Hasta luego! (literally, 'until later' or See ya later)

Haley