View from my apartment terrace.
It’s hard to believe I’ve already been in Spain for 10 days! Thankfully, the existential “what-am-I-doing-why-did-I-think-this-was-a-good-idea” phase seems to have passed for the time being, and I’m really enjoying life right now. Whether it’s café con leche every morning (or when I wake up, which uhhh, isn’t always the morning) and shopping for things I need to feel at home, it’s exciting to have a fresh start in a new place. And while I’ve visited Spain as a tourist before, living here is totally different. Here are some of the things I’ve learned in my first 10 days living in Madrid.
1. Finding a great apartment in under 48 hours was a #blessing
Before I arrived in Spain, I was prepared for an exhausting battle to find housing. Apparently, the average amount of time it takes to find a piso (apartment) in September in Madrid is 3 weeks. To add to the already-difficult search most people experience at any time of year, September’s influx of students makes piso-hunting a tall task.
10 days before I arrived, I reached out to a few places I’d found on Idealista.com, one of Spain’s apartment-search websites. Amazingly, my favorite place was still available when I arrived. Three hours after landing in Madrid, I was visiting the piso and meeting the current tenants – though I was informed that I was only one of many to see the place, and they’d make a decision the next day. Twenty-four hours later, my new roommate Pablo texted me to share the good news. I was in! And check out that view from the terraza (pictured above).
2. Outside the city center, you won’t hear much English
Last time I visited Spain, I noticed that the level of English proficiency in general was a lot lower than most of the places I’ve visited. For the most part, I stayed in tourist areas like Sol, Buen Retiro, and the museums. But in my new neighborhood of Prosperidad, and at the IKEA in Vallecas, practically no one speaks English – because they don’t need to. In these residential communities, there aren’t many tourists or expats that need to speak English. I like it, though. I’m here because I want to be fully immersed in Spanish so I can become fluent! It’s not as easy if someone replies to you in English every time you try to speak Spanish.
3. Air conditioning is rare
It’s not common for apartments to have air conditioning in Madrid, and this is hands-down the most difficult part about living in Spain so far. I guess the week before I arrived, the temperature was in the 90s every day. Since I’ve been here, it’s stayed in the 80s, which is still pretty hot in my opinion. I don’t do well in hot weather and I looooooove air conditioning. Thankfully, humidity is pretty much non-existent, but I still don’t understand how people can go about their days wearing pants and long sleeves. (If wearing shorts makes me look like a tourist, so be it.) Anyway, as much as I love my new piso, there is no air conditioning. My windows open all the way, which is nice, but buying a fan at the store down the street was a high priority for me. Sometimes it still isn’t enough, though.
4. You gotta dry clothes the old-fashioned way
Though I do have a washing machine in my piso – which is technically an upgrade from my last apartment in KC – there is no dryer. Not to worry: there are four clotheslines that stretch outside my window across the interior of the apartment building. I actually think it’s fun, leaning out the window and clipping my underwear to the line with a bag of colorful clothespins I found in my closet. Or, I thought it was fun until I realized I’d washed all my towels at the same time, and they weren’t going to be dry before I needed to shower. And then I dropped one of them off the line and down four stories into the courtyard below. Still haven’t figured out how to get it back.
5. Clothing is really affordable
I’ve met a few other people who just moved to Madrid. Some of them told stories of packing three 50-lb suitcases, which is unthinkable to me. I packed one big suitcase, figuring I would just buy additional clothing once I arrived. Yesterday I got tired of wearing the same things over and over, so I went shopping. I was able to find lots of great dresses and tops, and I didn’t pay more than 10€ for any single item. When I moved to London 5 years ago, I tried to employ the same tactic of just buying clothes when I got there. It didn’t work because everything in London is SO EXPENSIVE. I’d usually just spend a whole day shopping and return to my dorm frustrated because I couldn’t bring myself to buy anything. I think I’ve already bought more things here than I did in a whole semester there.
6. There’s not a great replacement for LaCroix
I’ve been drinking more water than I normally did in my regular life (I guess that’s what happens when you walk 7 miles a day), and I really miss LaCroix. There does not seem to be a good alternative. Grocery shopping is overwhelming enough as it is – who knew there were SO MANY different kinds of milk? And why are none of them refrigerated? – but I took a chance on a sparkling water brand that seemed to have an orange flavor. Nope. It was just orange soda. Then I decided to see how much it costs to get LaCroix delivered by Amazon Prime Spain. It was a casual 52€ for a 12-pack… I guess I’ll have to keep looking.
7. Jamón Ibérico is life
I wrote in my last post about how hard it was feeding myself in the first few days. I’m happy to report that I’ve improved on that front, at least a little bit. I would like to thank bocadillos (sandwiches) for being my sole sustenance for a solid 3 days. I started out with premade sandwiches from the grocery store down the street, eventually graduating to making my own bocadillos. The grocery store also sells jamón ibérico – which is similar to what you probably know as the Italian prosciutto – in packs of 8 slices for 1€. Add some cheese and a 29-cent piece of bread, and you’ve got a bocadillo that rivals the ones at Museo del Jamón. It’s safe to say that I’m addicted now. (But there are worse things than being addicted to cured meats, am I right?)
Does anything surprise you about Madrid, or do you have any questions? I’m also planning to write about what I learn in 10 weeks and in 10 months, so stay tuned! As always, feel free to leave me a comment below.
-Cathy
Originally Published on September 15, 2018.
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