Week 7

By Joni

Lost in Translation: On Monday, after living in our apartment for almost a week with no internet (and rapidly blasting through our month's allocation of mobile data), we decided to try and tackle the beast of getting internet for our apartment. The previous tenant had a router, and simply purchased a SIM card for internet connection. He left the router at the apartment, so we thought this should be a simple task. All we needed to do was buy a SIM card of our own, right? How hard can it be?  Well, I don't really know anything about setting up internet. I have been fortunate enough to have lived, at this point in my life, only in places that already had internet set up, and the price was included in the rent. 

We went to our local shop that had one employee who spoke no English, but I was feeling confident because I had a week of Spanish class behind me. Unfortunately, however, none of those classes covered all the different internet package options or vocabulary related to internet. After a lot of miming and repetition of phrases, we learned that that the SIM card option would only allow us to buy a limited amount of internet connection per month, and would quickly add up to be very expensive! Thus, we needed to explore other options. We left that place feeling a bit defeated, but remembered some helpful advice from Laurie (Aaron's mom). She told us while they were living in Puerto Rico she learned that everything takes three tries, and to expect the same in Spain. So far, this seems to be a pretty reliable piece of advice (although with apartment-hunting that number sky-rockets). 

This task did, indeed, take three tries in the end! (Well, I hope). That same night, we attempted try number two. We popped into a Vodafone store with the intention of signing up for a plan we found online, but we needed a NIE card to do so (a temporary Spanish identity card).  We have begun the process to obtain our NIEs, but we won't have them for about another month and a half. We would prefer not to wait a month and a half for internet access at home, especially while we are still in the midst of the job hunt. 

Luckily, however, they don't really care if the NIE card you use to sign up is yours or not. So once again, Cat and Ben came to our rescue! On Wednesday, Cat and Ben met us at Vodafone for try number three. Cat generously allowed Vodafone to copy her NIE, and she "cosigned" the internet contract with me. If our friendship wasn't already official, it is now. 

Now we wait for Saturday when Vodafone is scheduled to come to our apartment and set everything up...fingers crossed that it happens without a hitch!

Exploring the City:

Our favorite phrase when shopping at Aldi.

We finally made our first trip to Aldi!  Aldi was our go-to grocery store in the states. Its low prices, random snacks, and lack of choices were all the perfect characteristics for us frugal, snack-loving, indecisive people. While we were slightly disappointed not to find some of our Aldi favorites from the states, we still had a great time perusing the inventory and finding great buys. My favorite from the trip? A large container of sour Smurf-shaped gummies for only 1 Euro.

Our bounty.

A cool building nearby Aldi.

Memorable meal: After church on Sunday, Aaron and I walked around the Moncloa area in search of a place to eat lunch before returning home. We wandered past a place called Massart, and upon discovering they serve pizza, we promptly made our way inside. We were initially overwhelmed/excited by the wide variety of options for types of pizza, as they all sounded absolutely delicious, but ultimately we opted for the Chicken Curry Pizza. Wow. Even before I took a bite, I could tell I was going to love this pizza. Of the pizza we've had in Spain thus far, most are a bit dry; this curry pizza, however, had a bounty of sauce (both tomato and curry) and cheese, as well as other toppings (onions, chicken, and oregano). My non-meat-loving palate is getting a bit tired of the copius amounts of meat served at every meal (specifically jamón, or ham), so I was so excited to have a meal in which the meat is merely an accessory. As we were consuming this heavenly dish, we discussed that perhaps we should make this a weekly after-church excursion so we can try all of the (surely) phenomenal flavors of pizza offered by Massart. Although then this section of the blog may get a bit repetitive...

Who’s Coming to Dinner:
We had our first dinner guests in our new apartment! In attempt to thank Cat for her signature on our internet contract, we had Cat and Ben over for dinner. The meal was mediocre, but the company was fantastic. Aaron and I realized we haven't really cooked a true meal since we left DC three months ago. All summer we traveled and either ate out, or at the homes of friends and family where they usually provided the food and we maybe just helped a little bit. In August, of course, we lived with Marli and had breakfast and dinner provided for us daily. Our lunches have consisted of sandwiches and fruit, and occasionally eating out. In addition to being extremely out of practice, we also have not adjusted to the different selection of groceries available at Spanish grocery stores. As a result, we had some spaghetti with a rather bland sauce (despite accidentally mixing in what I now think was supposed to be salsa), a salad with a thick and creamy balsamic vinegar, bread, and of course ice cream. The ice cream was delicious, as always, so luckily we were able to end on a good note. We are happy to have polite friends who happily eat our food, even if it tastes like it came from a cafeteria.

En la clase: 
Aaron and I are currently in the midst of our second week of intensive Spanish classes. We continue to be challenged and learn a lot every single day. This week we've even picked up a couple extra free classes! TtMadrid offers, in addition to the TEFL certification course, a Spanish teacher prep program. Just as we had to do teaching practices during our course, they need to do the same. Two of the Spanish students/teachers were actually our classmates last month during the TEFL course, so it's a lot of fun to be on the other side of the table now and get to learn from friends!

Final Notes: 
Now that the apartment search is behind us, we are on the hunt for jobs!  Or rather, jobs are on the hunt for us. There is such a high demand for English teachers in Madrid that our interviews feel more like we are interviewing the organization, rather than the organization interviewing us. TtMadrid sent out our resumes to their network, and they also send us a "Job Alerts" email almost daily with new job openings. Between having our CVs sent out and sending just a few applications through the Job Alerts, Aaron and I have received many phone calls and emails of interest from potential employers. In total, I've been to 9 different interviews, and Aaron has been to 7.

I have accepted one position so far with an organization called My Helping Shadow. Before my schedule is confirmed I will be teaching a few classes in order to find the best fit. The organization works solely with children, either at My Helping Shadow, or through in-home lessons in the afternoons/evenings. Once I have a solid schedule established at My Helping Shadow, I will look for another position to fill up the rest of my time, hopefully working with adults so I can experience working with all ages.

On another note, it rained!  Why am I so excited? Until Wednesday, I had seen maybe a total of 3 raindrops in my time here in Madrid. Wednesday was rainy, and I actually felt cold!  I haven't had that sensation in so long. It felt great to sleep with a comforter again, rather than on top of the blankets. Bring on fall, please!

This past Saturday we ventured out of Madrid for the first time to visit beautiful Segovia.  Aaron and I were delighted to be accompanied by our classmate Emily on the trip (about a one hour bus ride from Moncloa station in Madrid), and we met up with our classmate Jill and her boyfriend Jonathan. A small city northwest of Madrid, Segovia is perhaps best known for it's striking aqueduct.  Minutes after getting off the bus, we turned a corner and saw the ancient aqueduct presiding over the town. The juxtaposition of this historic structure with the bustling little town full of life struck us as representative of the Spain we've seen thus far - a place with a strong connection to traditions that is nonetheless very modern.  

Me, Emily, and Segovia.

After taking in the lovely views of the aqueduct with sky and

distant countryside in the background, we continued on to the town's main square.  Later in the afternoon on our return to the bus, we witnessed a bride and groom greeting guests from a balcony at a hotel in the square!  Adjacent to the square is the Segovia Cathedral. With sprawling spires that can be seen from several places in the city, the cathedral's grandiosity is a fitting compliment to the aqueduct.  We enjoyed walking through the cavernous interior and admiring the art that appropriately decorated each room. 

After the cathedral came a lunch break where we devoured yet another menú del día.  

All the food was good, but I think the highlight was the soft, fresh bread served to start the meal.  While we usually don't feel like moving after one of these massive meals, we were beckoned to continue the journey to the Segovia Castle.  

While it is yet another towering structure, the castle is at the edge of Segovia and sits atop a cliff that surveys the countryside.  This location is beautiful but also served a tactical purpose when the castle was still in use - without a drawbridge it would have been quite difficult for any enemy to cross the moat and scale the large stone walls! 

Now would be a good time to mention that we benefited from the insight of Jonathan, who effortlessly translated all of the Spanish signs and gave us digestible summaries of the history.  We were grateful to have Jonathan along and really enjoyed getting to know him better.

 Aaron, me, Emily, Jonathan, and Jill.

View from the castle's tower.

After exploring the castle, Emily, Aaron and I set off on a race

against the clock to catch our return bus home.  With approximately four minutes to spare, we handed the bus driver our tickets...and were told that we needed to see the clerk inside the station to officially re-book our return trip.  This meant we had to wait for the next bus, which was not a direct route, but

local with several stops, that departed an hour later.  Temporarily defeated, we perked up when we noticed a pastry shop across the street and decided to treat ourselves after a day filled with walking.

All in all, it was a really fun day, and we look forward to many more excursions in the year to come!

Fun fact: I learned this week that my Spanish teacher is from Segovia!

Instead of a horn, this car neighs like a horse.