Today was an early morning…aka…a typical U.S. morning. Haha. I got up about 6:30am so I could make sure my paperwork was in order, do the dishes and get ready to go to Jaén with Inés. I met Inés on El Paseo at 8am. I was surprised at how many people were awake, and the café on the corner was open. I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised by this, but it was still dark so it seemed earlier than it was. In 2008 when I studied in Murcia it was spring and summer, so it was light most of the time. I haven’t really been in Spain when it stays dark this much.
It took 2 ½ hours to get to Jaén from Siles. Inés and I passed the time talking about medicine, politics, the environment, culture, music, traveling, etc, etc. We had been warned that it would be hard to find parking in Jaén but it was a lot worse than we expected. We drove around in circles trying to find the extranjería (where I needed to do my paperwork) and a parking space. We finally found what we thought was the extranjería so Inés dropped me off and continued her parking search. When I went in they told me that I was actually in the wrong spot. For being a boring, bureaucratic office they were actually quite nice and helpful. They gave me directions to where I really needed to go. I walked in that general direction until I asked the next person for further directions, and then another person to help me finish the trip. I got there and the line wasn’t too bad. I looked around the lobby and saw a group of American-looking people all holding the same green folder that I had been given. There were about half a dozen other Cultural Ambassadors there waiting to do the same paperwork. Only 2 of those appeared to be a couple, so when I got my number I went over to see if they were Ava and Ben. Sure enough, it was them. They were surprised that I was able to pick them out so quickly having not ever met them. Poor Ava and Ben had been there all morning and still hadn’t been seen. None of us were told that we had actual appointment times. Their appointment time wasn’t until 1pm. Luckily mine was 10:30 and since it was already 11:05 I was seen almost immediately. Not quite fair for them, but I was thankful for it! I went in and there was some initial confusion over my paperwork and appointment time. One guy said my appointment wasn’t until the next day, but the other guy had me on the list for today (This problem was because initially my appointment was supposed to be tomorrow but Victor changed it so I could be here the same time as Ava and Ben). Then I had been given the wrong application. He sent me back out to the lobby to fill out the new application (which was almost identical to the one I had already filled out). Luckily again for me I didn’t have to wait once I filled out the new application. They saw me right away and we were able to proceed with the rest of my NIE paperwork without problems.
I have to go back to Jaén again on November 9th to get my fingerprints taken. Then, 40 days after THAT I have to go back AGAIN just to pick up my residency card. Blaaaaaaah. So many unnecessary trips! Inés was really hoping that we could do the fingerprints as well today, and that they would mail me the card, but we had no such luck. Considering it takes so long to go there and back, it’s a general consensus amongst Inés, me, Victor and the other auxiliares that this process is a pain in the rear end. 5 hours of traveling for a 10 minute appointment? No thank you. The one nice thing is that they gave me the actual NIE number today. Supposedly that means I can open my bank account and such now and not have to wait until the actual card gets here. I’ll believe it when I see it, but I really hope that’s true. If not I could be waiting until the middle of December to get paid.
Ava and Ben were seen about the same time as me, so when we were all done we went to the café across the street for coffee and a snack. Thank goodness because we were all hungry and thirsty. One of our topics of conversation was my Washington accent. Yes, apparently I have an accent. When I talked to Ava on the phone yesterday she thought I had a bit of a southern accent. Then today when I mentioned that my mom’s side of the family was from Minnesota they said that’s what it was. I’m not sure if it’s really a Washington accent then or just Minnesota family influence. When I studied in Murcia my friends Brittany and Grace said I had a Washington accent too. The only times I’ve ever been told that I have an accent are by Americans while I’ve been in Spain.
After our snack we headed over to Movistar so I could get my Spanish phone working again. I had been told I had to change the sim card in my phone because I hadn’t added any money to my phone in more than 6 months. I went in and asked to do just that, but as part of the process they just gave me a new phone…no extra charge. Ok, whatever, do what you want. So, at the end of it all I had ANOTHER new functioning Spanish phone. This is the 3rd Spanish phone I’ve owned in 2 ½ years.
After that we headed back to the car for another 2 ½ hour car ride. I felt so bad for Inés. She doesn’t drive that far very often. This ride was especially hard because she’s pregnant and was so uncomfortable sitting that long. She said someone else (maybe from Ava and Ben’s school) will have to drive us next time because she just can’t.
We stopped for gas during our ride back. It was 1.11 euro/liter. There are 3.79 liters in a gallon. That makes gas 4.20 euro/gallon…about $5.84 a gallon. Yikes. I think I’ll stick with my $2.85 in the U.S.
I slept a little bit on the way back to Siles to make time go by faster. I woke up to Ava and Inés taking pictures of Ben and I sleeping in the backseat. We dropped Ben and Ava off in La Puerta and then Inés took me to my apartment in Siles. When I got there I had some lunch and debated taking a nap. I really wanted a nap, but at the same time wanted to be able to sleep tonight.
Taking a nap won.
The rest of the evening I chilled in the apartment and just made a pizza for dinner.
Tomorrow is my long day of work. I have 4 classes; 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th grade. All the normal Spanish teachers from surrounding towns also meet here in Siles on Wednesdays and Thursdays to learn English from 4:30-7:45. I will be working with this group at least 1 hour and 45 minutes each week. We haven’t figured out how we’re going to divide that time yet. Part of me would like to do it all on Wednesday. I don’t have any classes with the school on Thursday afternoon or Friday. This would give me a little extra free time on my long weekend to travel if I want. However, Javi and Inés were thinking maybe I should just do 50 minutes each day. Plus, it would make Wednesday really long if I did it all that day. We’ll see how that goes. I’m not too worried about it. I don’t think there are many buses that leave Siles on Thursday afternoon anyways.
I’ve seen comments about snow on Facebook lately, at least in the pass. I am SO glad that the snow hasn’t quite arrived here yet. I am looking forward to seeing how pretty it is here in the snow but I’m also in NO rush.
Buenas noches todos! I’m going back to bed.
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