There was an Italian, a Spaniard, a German, and an American living together....

No, this is not the start of a joke. It was almost my life. Finding a place in Cordoba proved harder than I thought. I was THIS close to renting a place with a Spanish guy, an Italian girl, and a German guy. I even gave them a holding fee to keep it for me until the next day. If I hadn´t, they were going to show it again in mere minutes. But, as soon as I left and thought about it more and talked it out something didn´t feel right about it. I can´t say exactly what didn´t sit right, but I do know my gut was telling me it wasn´t the place for me. And if there is anything I have learned in my short time here on earth, it is that my gut is usually right! So, I gave the keys back and went on my way. This is not to say that I was without worry and/or frustration. By this point I was super tired from sleeping in a different bed every night and traveling constantly. Then I had my orientation for work. I met people that had decided to live in the city and commute and I met people that were living in the small towns near their schools. I met an American that was looking for a roommate in Puente Genil. Again, I felt conflicted. Finding spanish people to live with is not that easy. Most live with their parents until they have finished University and then have families of their own. I do not want my spanish to suffer by living with an American, but I also don´t want to live in a box on the street! There were a few assistants at the orientation from the previous year that spoke about their experience. So, even in my sleepy haze, I knew that the only this that would help me figure this whole thing out is INFORMATION. I´m just that type of girl. So, I pulled one of the returning assistants aside and asked her what she thought given her experience. I basically asked her if she thought it would be better to commute and live with Spaniards (hopefully) or live in PG with an American. She felt it was very important to live near the school and in the village. You get to know the people you live near and become a part of the community. If you live in the city, you can´t attend after hours school events and you are always worried about the time and the bus or carpooling schedule. In the end, she thought it best to live with an American if necessary in the village and force myself to get out and interact with the community. After this, I decided to take a leap of faith and go to PG for a few days to find a place to live. The American girls that live here in PG have been a lot of help, but they are not the type I´d want to live with. They have been a little evasive in meeting up and joining together to look for apartments. That´s fine. I like knowing they are here, but I´d rather they not become my circle of friends that I see everyday. If that happens, I won´t get out and interact with the locals. But, luckily, one of the girls gave me the number of her new landlord saying that he had another apartment for rent. I put him on the list. Another bit of luck was that one of the assistants here was gone for the weekend and offered me his place to stay in while he is away! Super cool. I have an apartment to myself for a coule of days...and for FREE. I love free. Yesterday I called a bunch of numbers about apartments. An apartment search would normally be daunting, but add on the fact that I have to talk to these people on the phone, in spanish. I really hate speaking in spanish via the phone. But, it was a great test for me and I accomplished it. Unfortunately, everyone I called said they had already rented their places out. Argh. Today is Saturday and nearly everything shuts down over the weekend. That leaves me to wait until Monday and Tuesday to continue looking. Not good considering I don´t have a place to stay past tomorrow. But, I tried one last number that hadn´t answered. He then gave me another number. And that´s when the sun came out from behind the clouds and I heard the choir. (Or something like that.) What I am trying to say is...I HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE! I´m on the outskirts of the town in between the center and my school. I even have a terrace outside the backside of my house with a view of the countryside and the olive groves!! The owner is wonderful. She and her family live upstairs. She so warm and helpful. I think we both feel good about the situation. Her husband travels some and she wants to feel comfortable and safe with who is living in her house. Already, she has been very helpful, offering to show me where the market and closest stores are and said if I have to go to the far away big grocery store some time I can go with her in her car. For the month of October, I am going to share the house with another girl (I think she is Spanish). They already said she could stay there for a month while she looked for a place and neither of us mind sharing as it is a month´s time paying half of the rent. With how cautious my landlord is being, I am comfortable that it will be a good situation. The girl has a couple small dogs, so it should be nice having animals around. Hopefully they aren´t crazy or anything! Anyway, it is only a month and that frees up some money for me to get some basics things and get set up. I am SUPER excited. I move in tomorrow. I can breathe now. And I´ll have a washer!!!!! I desperately need to wash clothes. I thought I was only going to be gone from Granada for a few days, but it is turning into a week or longer. This Thursday or Friday I´ll be able to go back to Granada and get my stuff and bring it back to my HOME in Puente Genil!! So, all this said, I´ll have an address soon. And hopefully I can get internet in my HOME soon so I can write more often in smaller blocks! haha. This is looking like a novel. For now I have found an internet cafe and can communicate when I need to. That makes me (and my parents!) very happy.