domingo, 30 sep

Martes, 25 sep

I am completely content. It is likely that I am simply too exhausted to feel any of the rest of the spectrum of possible emotion; I am in a kind of default state of happy neutrality.

Good flats in Madrid are rented within the first nine hours they are on the market.

We have just returned to our hostel (el albergue juvenil Madrid, in downtown) after a tiring day of lugging luggage, feeling foreign, and getting lost. An all-day-self-inflicted-ass-kicking. I am content because I am taking the good with the bad. The bad, for example, was the ridiculous endeavor of getting to our hostel from the airport on the metro with three suitcases and a bookbag. The good, however, was not having to drop 30€ ($42 US, thank you lowest dollar-to-euro ever) on a taxi, and also the two pleasant middle-aged women who found us lost on the street and walked us to our hostel. One woman sarcastically referred to me as “el doble” because I hauled suitcases in each hand whereas Emily and Kevin were able to attach their luggage to pull with one hand. As I lagged behind, she ended up coming back to help me and she wheeled along one of my suitcases until we arrived at our destination.

The first thing we decided to do was go visit Emily’s school in the small town outside of Madrid called Alcalá de Henares, just to see how far away from downtown it really is. Answer: Freaking far. But doable. It’s about a 40 minute train ride followed by a 10 minute walk. And that’s if we live right next to the train station. But living in Alcalá doesn’t make much sense either and it didn’t seem to be the most happening of towns, so we are sticking with Plan A which is that we all try to live together in the city.

Some minor glitches today: we returned from Alcalá de Henares this evening geared for settling in and chilling out only to find our room at the hostel in a state of disaster from the previous tenants. Recepción had told us it would be cleaned before we got back. No big deal, we switched to a clean, bigger room. As we started to arrange our belongings, Kevin announced that our soap dispenser was broken. He went downstairs to request some and returned with a small bottle of shampoo. (In fairness, as Kevin pointed out, it is a shampoo/bodywash combination.) Then—all of this happened in succession within about 15 minutes—Kevin made the first attempt at using the funky European electricity. He plugged a couple of things into a surge protector which he plugged into an adapter which he plugged into a converter which plugged into the wall. Ten seconds later we heard that infamous what-the-hell-was-that-did-someone- just-get-shot “loud pop,” and we had no electricity. Luckily, the people working here at the hostel are incredibly kind, way nicer than hostel workers really have to be, and they helped us get our power working again right away. Oh, and we almost got stuck in the elevator.

Anyway, I’m fine, alive, and happy to be here but I’m falling asleep as I write this so hasta pronto chicos y chicas.

Domingo, 30 sep

This entire week as been dedicated to finding a place to live. Easier dicho than hecho, hombre. Spain has the lowest rental rate in the EU and, as we have been told, good pisos (flats)in Madrid usually get rented within nine hours of being on the market. Nine HOURS. We have basically spent every waking second looking for pisos for rent on the internet, in the newspaper, and by just walking around and looking for signs in windows.

On Thursday, discouraged and exhausted from our lack of success, we ended up meeting this dude named Mike who has a small business helping foreigners get housed in Madrid. Mike is English, but has been living in Madrid for 15 years. He is a portly fellow with greased-back hair and a squinty-eyed, car salesman smile. You might think by this description that he vibes something untrustworthy, but it is actually quite the opposite. He was refreshingly not “all-business.” He’s very anecdotal and always offering good advice and thorough explanations. He speaks English, Spanish, French and Dutch. His multilingualism and knowledge of the market have been an incredible asset (of course for a fee, though a relatively reasonable one). After meeting with him a few times I almost couldn’t imagine that we were going to try to navigate this system on our own. Since then, we have had much more success but also much more complication. It’s really not something anyone would ever want to hear about unless you are thinking of apartment searching in Madrid, but I already summarized it in an e-mail to my parents so I might as well throw it in here:

Hi Mom and Dad, How are you? I hope things aren't too hectic around the house. I have been thinking about you a lot and want to hear from you, but I also needed to write because we ran into a roadblock in our apartment search. It's a long story so bear with me. Mike, the English guy who runs a business housing foreigners here (I mentioned him in my last e-mail), has been incredibly helpful--he really took a lot of the stress off of looking for apartments and dealing with landlords, etc. Anyway, we got a description yesterday of an apartment that is in the most perfect location possible. This is really hard to come by but really important because it is close to the train Emily has to get on and ride for 40 minutes out to her school making her commute way more pleasant. Same with me and Kevin--it is really close to metro stations that we can use to get to school. It is also an amazing neighborhood to be in, a lot of famous things in the area, cool shops and restaurants, big squares with statues, etc. The apartment itself also sounds perfect: It is on the lower end of our preferred price range, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a large living room, balconies, exterior windows, furnished, etc. Unfortunately, when Mike called the landlord, she said that the current tenants weren't giving her the keys until Monday, so we couldn't see it until Tuesday. But it really sucks to wait that long…especially when, like I said, this time of year flats go off the market in a matter of hours. (One of the places we went to see the other day got signed as we were waiting to see it.) We decided to go look at the building today and walk around the area even though we wouldn't be able to see the actual apartment. We were in love with everything...nothing we have seen has been close at all to what we had hoped for until now. So, we got Mike's assistant, Eliana, to call the landlord and say we were super interested and would probably sign if we could just be the first ones to see the apartment, so she moved our appointment up to Monday, right after she gets the keys from the previous tenants. So, we will be the first people to see it and, presuming we do like the inside, we can say right then and there that we want it and give her some money to hold it for us, for which she will give us a receipt. That money will then go towards the first month's rent after a contract is signed. So...the catch. She only wants tenants who can provide a 16,000€ bank guarantee when the contract is signed. A bank guarantee is very similar to having good credit in the U.S. Only here's how it works for the typical Spaniard: You work, you have a Spanish bank account that handles your money and sees that you deposit regularly and don't overdraft etc. So, when you go to rent an apartment, they are willing to sign a certificate saying that if you default on your rent, that the landlord can come to them for the money ( i.e. 16,000€). In this case, the bank pays the landlord and then you are basically in deep shit with the bank. But, since we are foreign, and don't have a Spanish bank account (yet), what we have to do instead is deposit 16,000€ in a bank account under one of our names. Then the bank "freezes" the amount needed for the guarantee, and gives us a certificate to give to the landlord which says we have done this. The money stays in our account, under our name (probably Emily's), only we can't touch it for the whole year, and neither can the landlord, unless we don't pay rent. It cannot be used for damages or anything else. Mike tried really hard to negotiate with the landlord and tell her our situation and explain how difficult it is for us to get a bank guarantee, but she was adamant about it.  Mike said she was really very nice but she said that in the past she had tenants who she trusted and who she believes really wanted to pay rent but "things came up" and they just could not pay her. It was a huge pain and she does not want to go through it again. Landlords in Spain have very few rights compared to the tenants and compared to other countries. Mike also informed us that to evict someone in Spain can take anywhere from 3-9 months, not like in the U.S. You have to prove all of this stuff to the government to go through with the eviction. So, if a tenant stops paying after living in the apartment for 1 month, the landlord could be getting nothing while she takes care of the eviction. Anyway, all understandable reasons why this lady wants a bank guarantee. Emily's parents have been in touch with us a lot throughout today as this has been going on because they have free texting and a cheap calling rate to Spain. Jim actually talked to Mike for a long time on the phone while we were at his office tonight. Em's parents have been really helpful in investigating this and helping us think it through. They said they would be more than happy to talk to you about it if you want, but I wanted to e-mail you first to summarize what the deal is. Basically, as I'm sure you've caught on by now, Emily, Kevin, and I each need 5,333€ to put in the bank account to freeze for the year. (About $7,420US with the crappy exchange rate.) And we need it as soon as possible. I know that is a lot to ask, and I already feel sort of uncomfortable that I have been taking so much money from you lately. I don't even know if you have that amount available for this. I know this is not at all ideal, but we also know that if we get this taken care of, and have an apartment that makes us happy, that the rest of our time here will be much more stress free, enjoyable, and memorable. Obviously, we are going to pay our rent every month and you will get all of the money back when our contract is up. Emily and I were talking today about how much of a learning experience this is, and while it really sucks right now, that part of why we are here right now is to have experiences like this. If you are able to call me Sat or Sun that would be great. You could even call the Lowrys and go there to call. Or you can just get in touch with them and then e-mail me. I miss you all already and I really do want to hear the latest news from home when you get a chance. Talk to you soon, ok? Love,

Kate

As things stand right now, we are still staying in the hostel, and basically stuck in a waiting game until tomorrow when we see the piso we think we want and meet with the landlord. We are really crossing our fingers that we can move in by Tuesday.

The hostel is actually really pleasant, highly recommended for you future European trekkers. It’s on the cheaper end at 18€ a night, but it’s clean and stylish, there is free internet and wifi, free breakfast (cereal, toast and pastries, a.k.a bread, bread and bread), lockers in the rooms, nice staff, and the beds are pretty comfy. Though I’ve about nose-dived out of the top bunk every morning since my legs are all spaghetti-like when I first wake up. It’s funny too because they let senior citizens (las personas de tercera edad which means persons of the third age) stay here. So you either have to be pretty young or pretty old which makes for an interesting dynamic.

The three of us our sharing our dorm here with three other people. Two of them, Sasha and Gannette are from Toronto and are backpacking around Spain for a bit before they return to Barcelona to live for 6 months. Keeping in mind that they are from Canada, you might appreciate that when they asked Kevin where he was from he said “North America.” Oh, nubbyking, you do not cease to amaze me. We also have a cute Italian boy named Antonio staying in our room, and I love listening to him drop words in Italian, French, English, and Spanish all in one sentence.

Some of this week’s highlights:

-Some dude in the subway with a bright yellow beater, stone-washed jeans, and a hell of a gap between his two front teeth singing “I Swear” by All 4 One. Then later “The first cut is the deepest…” by Sheryl Crow or some shit.

-Tiny food and tapas. I got the world’s smallest quesadilla for lunch the other day.

-Finally letting loose a little last night. (Finding a piso is a full time job.) Drinking wine in a box with our roommates and then going out with some other people from the hostel for cerveza, tapas, and some baila.

Overall, I’m happy with my experience so far. People have been shockingly kind to us here as we have struggled through the complications of buying cell phones and monthly transportation passes, etc. Plus the weather is perfectly autumn, sunny but brisk. Tomorrow I have to wake up early so I can go to my school to get orientated and we can continue our quest for a place to call home.