Traveler In Time

The following takes place between July 31st and August 1st, 2008, on the day I move to Europe.

Oh the joys of flight travel.

The packing of the bags. The packing of the bags carefully so everything actually fits. The getting it to the airport. The waiting to check in, the ticket check. Then,(this is my favorite part) the weighing of the baggage. The finding out its overweight. The extra fees for having to pay for the baggage. The removal of items because even with the fees for overweight luggage it still can't exceed a certain amount. The arguing with the ticket agent. The running back and fourth to pay for the overweight luggage. The not having money to pay for the overweight luggage. The overcharging for the overweight luggage. The joy of almost missing my flight due to incompetence by the said ticket agent.

Then the actual plane ride. My single serving friend for this flight will be an 50+ Spanish gentlemen with no English skills. The children around me and no TV. Joys of coach.

The Arrival:
I pre-arranged a taxi service so I wouldn't get slaughtered with the meter fare. It took me to the area of Moncloa where the agency I used to find my apartment was located. Left with my luggage to some how get into this building. Two bags weighing in at 160 kilos combined, plus the carry on, plus the laptop, plus my purse.

The Nightmare continues:

The agency is less than friendly. They charge me extra because their bank took a comission off my deposit. Well guess what fellas, the bank charged me a $40 fee too. And now you want me to pay more? Not off to a good start. They then wanted me to pay the entire month right then, which I wasn't ready for, nor did I know about. At home, the rent is always paid the end of the month. Didn't have enough. I was able to bargin with them, pay half then and the rest at the end of month. So for the moment at least, the day wouldn't end with me having to sleep on the streets of Madrid. Yay! I was told I have two flatmates. They gave me the keys and sent me off even though I had no idea where the apartment was. They called a taxi for me which I had to pay for. Again. This took me up to the Santiago Bernabeu area, near the big football stadium.

I was at least pleasantly happy with the building. Well kept, elevator (although minute in size), which was able to fit 1 piece of luggage inside + me. Better than nothing right? No elevator at home makes me grateful for this small indulgence. Then, next phase of fun began as there were 2 doors on my floor. The guessing game began. Which door is mine? One way to find out right? Ring both bells. Well, an old lady on the right opened that door so I guess left it was! Mrs. Old Spanish Lady then continued to talk with me for the next 15 minutes in Spanish as I apologized and attempted to open the door. Which I could not open.

Well, as the wave of offensive language in my head steadily progressed toward the two men in the apartment agency for giving me the wrong keys and Mrs. Old Spanish Lady babbling in Spanish I nearly had a nervous breakdown. Couldn't get into the apartment, couldn't leave my luggage in the hall, didn't know where the metro was if I needed to go back to the agency, no money and no one who knew English. Really about ready to burst any second. Oh yeah, and since only Old Spanish Lady answered her door, that meant no one at my place was home. Huzzah! So spending 15 minutes playing with the door, hearing it click again and again I was befuddled - it seemed like the key unlocked something, yet why was the door not opening? Finally after manuvering some magically correct move, it opened.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! A moment of absolute happiness after a terrible night/day - what with the time difference...pff, who knew? It was 11a.m. here but still being on New York time, it was 5 a.m. and I still hadn't slept yet.

Enter the apartment:

Ok. Nice. Clean. Nothing out of order. Bright. Big. Two bathrooms. Two big bathrooms. Did I mention there's a terrace? Witness a happy face. All the doors closed. I had room 4. Since this apartment was from an agency, all the rooms had locks. Mine was no different. Insert key into lock and all is well. I will have a bed and sleep for the next 10 hours, right?

NO!

The powers that be have one more surpise for me. This time I do have the wrong key! And so, perfect happy moment: crushed like a cockroach by a subway car. Now I have to call the agency. Thank the friggin' stars I pre-emptively bought a phone in the States. More Spanish. Yay! Could it possibly be that the only English speaker there could have left? It would bring perfection to this day. I explain in my limited Spanish that the Key doesn't work. They tell me to wait for the cleaning lady who will be there in an hour. Oh great...an hour. OK, so what do I do for an hour?Computers are a blessing and a curse sometimes but relaxing and watching some Daria for an hour was definately the former after the day I had.

3 hours later...

Miss cleaning lady finally shows up. Thanks. I hope I didn't take up too much of your time. Even if I said that to her instead of just thinking it, she wouldn't have understood me. Finally, I enter my room with the proper keys sometime around 2 p.m. on August 1st. The room is fantastic. On a corner with two windows on each side. Lots of light. I open them to let in air. Nice Street view.

Sleep...for about 3 hours. Then the hunger kicks in and I realize I haven't eaten since the meal on the plane. Thank you Mom for making me remember to pack food.

Still I go out and quest for a Supermarket. It was a Friday though and aparently, things close early. Like 6p.m. early here. Hmm...Alright. Well, the spagetti I packed will have to do. Plain. Back I go to make spagetti and unpack. No wireless key so no internet. At least I brough DVDs.

Around 10 that night I met my first flatmate. A very pretty Spanish girl from the north of Spain doing an internship here for the summer. And her English was great.

At long last a good end to a terrible day.
Lesson learned: When moving to a foreign country, don't use an agency to find an apartment.
Find a hostal and look when you get there through the internet. You might not like staying at a hostal but it will save you time and money.
Tip: Always bring food with you when traveling long distances.

Next blog: What a 1 month TEFL will teach you.