Last week I began my homestay experience. Now, I’m going to say something that you’ll probably hear me saying a lot: There is nothing quite as surreal and daunting as standing in front of a person who’s speaking to you, and having absolutely no clue what they are saying. You stare at the other person, with this stupid, dumbfounded look on your face, as your brain frantically tries to come up with some sort of intelligent sounding vocabulary. What instead comes out is a “Si” and a weak smile, as you internally hope that they didn’t just ask you a question, and that you haven’t insulted them. It’s truly an extremely humbling experience not having the ‘upper hand’ so to speak–but it’s an upper hand that I never even thought twice about having before I came here.

That being said, my host mom, or, as she calls herself my “madre Española”, has been a lifesaver this past week. I don’t know how I would’ve done half the things I’ve done without her, starting with signing the contract for my apartment–which, if you hadn’t figured out already, was written entirely in Spanish, and sent to me by this very nice, but excited, Asian guy, that didn’t speak a word of English. Mi madre read over the four pages, informed me of specific rules, and proceeded to message him on my phone about various legal matters. She also called the town hall to set up an appointment for me to prove that I have a permanent address in Spain.

Not only did my madre Española make sure that I didn’t sign over my first born child to a sketchy landlord, but she also took me to get copies done of some important documents I need for my TIE appointment (Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero or Foreigner’s Identity card), and took me to the Farmacia for medicine when I’d been feeling ill for four days. Fun fact about Spain’s medical care: The pharmacists have almost the same qualifications as doctors, so in most cases, you can just walk in, tell them your symptoms (or have your mom do it), and they’ll give you medicine without any prescriptions. You only really need to see a doctor here if you’re very ill for an extended period of time or need prescription meds. I felt like a 10 year old all over again, standing in front of the counter with my mother explaining my symptoms, the pharmacist asking me questions, and my mother answering them. Anyway, I was given some sort of powder for colds/flu, and by the end of the day I was feeling like myself again. All for only 8 Euros!

Searching for an apartment in a new country has been, without a doubt, the most stressful thing I’ve ever done. The first apartment I looked at seemed perfect and I was ready to jump on it; but, a mere 12 hours after seeing it, and I was informed that it had already been rented. Fortunately, just a couple of hours later, I found another apartment, with a landlord who wanted me to see it that same day. I was able to meet a couple of the roommates, both of whom are Spanish girls, and I got a much better vibe as whole from the apartment (also, it has a beautiful terrace. Winning!). I get the keys on Sunday, and officially move in on Monday. It’s in a great neighborhood, Delicias, very close to the metro, and walking distance to the Cercanias, which I will need to take to get to school. I try to use these experiences as examples of “if something doesn’t work out, it was for a reason, and something better will come along”. Cliche, maybe, but there seems to be some truth to it…

In addition to finding and securing an apartment, getting my Abono Joven card (my metro card that allows me to travel throughout Madrid on all lines for 20 Euros a month), spending hours on the phone with my small-town bank that is incapable of doing wired transfers to international countries, eating delicious homemade Spanish food, and getting caught in a massive thunderstorm, I’ve been taking Spanish classes every day, three hours a day. I’m in the beginner course, and classes are taught entirely in Spanish. I often leave with a headache because my brain is trying to contain so much foreign knowledge. But, I’ve found myself being able to understand more than I realized, and slowly but surely communicating in class.

Wow, if all this happened in just one week, I wonder where I’ll be in a month?!

Hasta luego…