La Real Vida Madrilena

Though Maureen and I have been here less than a week, it feels like much much longer. Being in Madrid is of course amazing, but the experience has definitely had its ups and downs, marked by moments both comic and tragic.

When last we talked Mo and I were just beginning our apartment search- what an ordeal that has been! As I mentioned, talking to people on the phone in Spanish and asking about things like utilities and security deposits is not easy when you're not fluent. This sometimes culminated in the person switching to English or, in one case, in Maureen frustratedly throwing the phone at me. Since most Spanish people cannot comprehend Gen or Genny and since they insist upon hispanisizing every name, I usually just referred to myself as Genoveva, the Spanish version of Genevieve. (My program director always called me this when I was abroad). While I realized that this was a little weird, I figured it was just easier. I didn't realize that this bothered Maureen until later when she was skyping with her best friend Courtney- a conversation I heard all of since we have been sharing a hostel room and spending 24/7 together this week- and she loudly complained "If I hear her say 'soy Genoveva' one more time I'm gonna go crazy." Well, nice to know how you really feel Mo.

In all serious though, it has been great to be here with Maureen and I don't really know how I would have survived this without her. We have both had to support each other in moments when one of us is "crashing." For example, when I can barely see straight because I'm exhausted from apartment searching and going out and starving because I've only eaten one piece of toast the whole day because we are poor and can't afford food, Maureen leads me around and makes up for my lack of social skills with her energy and wit. When we get kicked out of our hostel because we still haven't found an apartment and are only booked for three nights and we have to be out by noon and we wake up at 11:55 and have to lug our million pounds of luggage through Puerta del Sol and up to Gran Via- aka THE most crowded, touristy, pick-pocketed area of Madrid and perhaps all of Spain, where it is hard to walk even without suitcases- and I am charging up the hill as fast as I can to get it over with and I look back and Maureen is collapsed alongside the prostitutes that line the avenue, well then I help her along. You get the idea.

Searching for apartments has consumed much of our time and energy here and has been difficult and frustrating. We have looked at a lot of crappy places since those are the only things we can afford- a low point was standing in a windowless basement apartment with a man with one hand who assured us we would only have to pay one month of financing since we were such pretty ladies. But at last there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. We eventually realized that it is much easier to find a nice apartment within our price range with 3 people instead of 2, so we found a girl from our program, Patricia, who was also looking for a place to live. We found a really nice 3 bedroom apartment in the Delicias neighborhood- it's right near Deirdre and is a quiet, safe neighborhood not far from the heart of the city- that is much bigger than all the other places we looked at. We hung out with Patricia for a while today and she seems really nice and really chill. So we are hoping we will be able to sign the contract tomorrow and move in on Tuesday, but we still have not finalized all the details so we are really crossing our fingers that it will work out (as Farrells we cannot help but be a little pessimistic that something will go wrong at the last minute). We really just can't handle living in a hostel anymore.

Aside from dealing with the trying process of apartment searching,we have also been able to go out and have some fun. Last week we went out with Deirdre and a few of her friends, and this weekend we hung out with some kids from our program. We also spent a lot of time with Mary, who is Maureen's friend Courtney's cousin visiting from Granada, and Walther, a Peruvian who has been living in Madrid for 7 years and was Mary's boyfriend when she studied abroad here. They took us to a lot of cool insider places and showed us la real vida madrilena. On Saturday night we went to a jazz bar with Walther's artist friends, got the best croquetas in town at a little hole in the wall tapas place, got the best mojitos in town at a little hole in the wall Brazilian place, and then went back to Walther's apartment and watched some of his documentary films. We are so bohemian. Tonight we got a picnic dinner from the Museo del Jamon (not actually a museum) and ate by the Museo del Prado (actually a museum). We are so madrileno. Of course, Mary's expertise led Maureen to question why I am not as good a guide since I also studied abroad here. I reminded her that I have a horrible sense of direction and a bad memory, and am a follower not a leader. Oh well.

Anyway, I hope next time I write it will be from our fabulous new apartment (though it might be difficult since we might not have internet connection for a little while). This week will be crazy since we will be moving, starting our jobs, and finally settling in to our new life here in Madrid. I'll let you know how it goes.

(Happy, Ali?)