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.