Homeless to Embajadores

Mi habitación

Yesterday (Thursday, September 13, year of our Lord 2012) marked the one week anniversary of my arrival to Spain! I know some of you are asking what I did to celebrate this momentous occasion...or not.
Either way, I unpacked in my new apartment and slept! Though seemingly anticlimactic, this is major. I am now the proud renter of a room the size of a walk-in closet in a pretty eclectic neighborhood in the southern part of el centro ciudad (the city center) known as Embajadores (literal translation: Ambassadors). I live with two Spaniards and a Romanian, which is great since I wanted to mix and mingle with a diverse population here; after all, if I only wanted to hang with Americans, I could have just stayed home and denied the world a glimpse of my dry wit via this blog. Apartment hunting was pretty painless; this was the first place I saw, conveniently located so that I have the advantage of living in a semi-quiet residential area while still being close to social/cultural places, affordable, and an easy commute to my school each day. The only thing that sold me more was that rent, utilities, and maid service were included in the price, which was on the lower side of my desired price range. I actually found the place my third day in the city, but was unable to move in until yesterday because of Fulbright orientation.

Quick blurb about orientation: it was okay. We were tossed a ton of information in two and a half days. The topics spanned from how to find housing (because that was really convenient for those of us who arrived before orientation to do just that) to ways in which to be an effective ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. What I will do with this overabundance of information, I do not know. I'm sure a great deal of it will prove useful as time goes on, but right now I'm on sensory overload. 

In any event, after three days of non-stop orientation as only Americans can do (because Spaniards would surely have allotted for a coffee break, a little siesta, or something), I was finally able to move my luggage into my room! Seven days of living out of suitcases and desperately missing my iron all ended after about three hours of maniacal cleaning and unpacking.

My neighborhood is pretty unique. It's a residential area that boasts many different nationalities. Since I've been here for all of 36 hours, I can't really go into much detail, but word on the street is there's some good food around here and there are places to get my hair done. I do know that my building has some interesting people, if their taste in music is any indication. I didn't think I'd travel across an ocean and hear rap blasting from upstairs but, hey, whatever floats their boat.

So, I'm very proud to say that I now have a bank account and I'm no longer homeless. Look at me being productive!

Side note: I start teaching on Monday. Let us pray...

Ari.