A new adventure!

Here we go again! My suitcases are packed and waiting downstairs, and I'm so proud of the fact that I have more than 12 hours until I leave and I will not have to rush around to finish packing (though I don't doubt I will be doing some last minute panicking tomorrow afternoon).

Though I've mentioned it to some, to those who don't know, I leave tomorrow to spend about nine months living in Madrid, Spain and working as an assistant English teacher.  I am going through the Spanish Ministry of Education, which hires about 2000  English speaking young adults per year to teach all around Spain, and 1000 of them, myself included, will be in Madrid.  I will be working at secondary school, 7th-12th graders, at a school about an hour commute from the city.

The adventure will begin immediately after I get off the plane, as I attempt to get to my hostel with my luggage, most likely using a combination of buses and taxis. Once I arrive, I will have to fit my luggage in my hostel locker (which most likely will not fit) and probably find somewhere else to store my stuff for the time being.  I'm hoping that I won't be too tired to get started on those real world things I haven't had to do yet, such as buying a new cell phone (and trying to decipher between different plans) and open a Spanish bank account, but we'll see how productive I will end up being. The day might just begin with a long siesta...

The rest of my week will most likely consist of looking for apartments.  I've searched a couple of websites and sent some emails, but most of it is hard to do without being there.  There is no way to be sure any apartment will still be available when I arrive, and I am not committing to anything without seeing it.  I have a feeling I will probably end up wandering up and down the streets i'm interested in living in, and seeing whether I can find things. I'm sure it won't be the most relaxing of experiences, but I will be excited when it is done. I'll be able to say I went apartment hunting in Spain...I haven't even done that here (unless you count the apartment on Wash Ave, but that wasn't necessarily hunting, more off a "let's look at one apartment and live here" kind of thing).

It's likely it will be a while before I update again, probably when I have an apartment, but that would mean I will have more stories and pictures! I will still be accessible by email (egshuster@gmail.com) or skype (emilyshuster) and would love to hear from you all! Thanks for reading!

Until next time, (in Madrid!)
Emily