Going Mad(rid)

Authored By:

Elizabeth N.

Going Mad(rid)

I have been in Madrid for over two weeks now.  Training has finished and I have time to explore in the city.  Classes are starting this week, so I will become very familiar with the metro soon.  After a tumultuous housing search, we may have finally found an apartment. 

                Now that I have been here for a bit, I feel that I can finally reflect on my experience.  It has been very exciting getting to know a new city.  There are a lot of aspects of Spanish culture that I appreciate.  There have been some struggles too.  I have heard someone describe living in Spain as a rollercoaster of emotions and I think that is accurate.  I think that living in Madrid is worth the struggle, but there are still times where I find myself wishing it was easier.

Here are some things I have struggled with so far:

Housing

This was the most frustrating part of moving here so far.  I was looking in September, which is once of the busiest times for housing in Madrid since so many students are returning for University.  Sometimes I would contact a listing only to find out the room or apartment had already been rented.  A lot of landlords wanted to rent without a contract which would mean that I would not be able to apply for my NIE card and would not be able to leave the country.  It’s a difficult market out there and a lot of people from my group chose to pay agency fees just to guarantee they would have housing.  Luckily, it seems like we will be able to extend our contact at our temporary housing.  It’s not ideal, we have a lot of roommates, but at least we will be living near a metro, which is a necessity for us since we will be traveling all over the city for our jobs.  Also, a lot of our roommates are Spanish, meaning we will have plenty of opportunities to practice.

The Heat and the Smoke

It has been consistently above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) since we got here.  Back home in Seattle, fall has started.  I’m not used to long summers, so this has taken a bit of adjusting.  It’s hard to leave our windows open because of all the smoke unfortunately.  Smoking is much more common here and it has taken some getting used to.  If we choose to sit outside at a restaurant, we always see ashtrays sitting on the table.  Sometimes, we must choose between overheating indoors and inhaling smoke outdoors.

The Bureaucracy

Before I came, I was warned about Spanish bureaucracy.  Now that I am here, I can confirm that it is very inefficient.  My company had set up bank accounts for us ahead of time, but when we arrived at the bank it turned out our cards were not ready yet.  It takes a lot of time for the smallest things to happen.  I take a deep breath and try to be patient, but it takes a lot of effort. 

Despite all of this, I am happy to be in Madrid.  I knew my lifestyle would change once I got here.  Some things are difficult, but overcoming those difficulties makes living here worth it.