My Arrival!

An 8 hour flight quickly turned into a 15 hour traveling experience. I had 3 flight delays and had to change my flight twice. I got to sleep a little bit on the flight thanks to my friend botella de Vino (bottle of wine). Finally I arrived at Barajas Aureopuerto at 8:00 AM and of course my luggage is no where to be found. All I had was my small carry on with my ipod, phone, and computer and all of them were on low battery from the long fight. It would have made sense to pack my chargers but that would take planning. I found Customer Service and I filled out some paperwork with baggage claims. After 20 minutes of struggling to communicate my problem in Spanish, I got on the metro and I was on my way to the hostel.

I booked a hostel called Hostelone in Puerta Del Sol for 3 nights hoping to find a permanent Apartment during that time. The hostel was right in the Center of Madrid. The other thing that was right in the center of Madrid was The “Huelga General”. This was the General strike that shut down Public Transportation in and out of Madrid and some other cities. It seemed like a pretty calm rally, (probably not as calm as Glenn Beck's) and I didn't see and cars on fire unfortunately. Apartment hunting would have to wait for another day.

The first thing I should have bought was a toothbrush and some deodorant but the bar under my hostel took my first Euro toward a Mahuo Beer and Tortilla. When I went back to the Hostel to sleep it was pretty early but I was exhausted. I shared a room with 6 other people and one girl had the worst foot odor I have ever smelt. It was Beyond foot odor. It smelt like she was traveling for weeks then walked though a swamp, then stepped in dog poo. I guess this is why hostels are only 15 Euro!

Carranque is the town where I will be teaching. It looked a lot closer to Madrid on a map then it is in real life. I left Madrid at 7:00AM and got to my school at 10:00AM. I was planning on living in Madrid and commuting everyday but a 3 hour commute didnt quite fit my schedule. The night before was my my last night in the hostel so technically I was homeless at this point.

I got to the school and I found the Director of the program “Nacho” and he introduced me to all of the other teachers. The school has about 600 students and I am assisting in 2 classes with 12-13 years old and another with 15-16 year olds. It was weird how no has ever heard of New Hampshire.. Nacho told me that one of the other teachers named Alberto was looking for a Companero de cuarto (roommate) so I told Nacho I would do it. I had to go back to madrid to get my luggage that finally came. then back to Carranque to meet my new roommie. Things just always seem to workout for me.

I had no idea what to expect on this blind roommate setup. I had a picture in my mind of an older, heavier set hombre probably with a mustache. He was actually young and very normal looking. The Flat is really nice and it is in a new development.

I literally was living with Alberto for less than 24 hours when he came up to me and told me I cant live with him anymore. He said it all happened so fast and it “wasnt me it was him”. He said he preferred to live alone but I could stay as long as I wanted and he would help me find a place. At least I think this is what happened he was speaking muy rapido (very fast). Luckly he changed his mind AGAIN and decided that it was fine for me to live with him.

So the first 2 weeks didnt go as planned but it is definately more exciting that way. Now im settled in my new place and ready to start educating some spanards about American culture. Stay tunned to hear about how I try to manage a classroom full of kids.