My first night out in Jaén

Another night in the hostel. Mom accidentally tried to call at 2:30am. Luckily when I sleep in hostels I keep the phone in my shirt so I can find my phone and turn it off quickly when my alarm goes off. Also one of the girls from our room came back at 6:30 and was really loud. Guess it just wasn’t meant to be a restful night.

I woke up, got ready and used the internet downstairs for awhile. After that I went to Ruiz Jimenez to meet with my coordinator Irene. She is going out of town this weekend but offered to get coffee with me later.

I spent the day wandering around town, looking at fliers with pisos para alquilar (apartments for rent), making phone calls and making appointments to look at apartments.

I had appointments at 6 and 7pm and was torn about what to do…keep making calls or wait to see if these appointments work out. I got lunch at a typical Spanish restaurant and ordered salmorejo and ensaladilla rusa. I tried salmorejo for the first time last year on my whale watching trip to Barbate. It’s a cold tomato soup with olive oil, garlic, cheese and bacon. It’s really good, but I liked the one I had in Barbate better than the one here. Ensaladilla rusa was one of my favorite things from Murcia. I ended up ordering way too much food. The servings were a lot bigger than expected and there was no way I could finish it. People have asked me lots of times about Spanish food so I’ll try to keep track of it in my blog so you can see what they eat over here…it’s not Mexican food!

La Quintana, where I had lunch

Salmorejo

Ensaladilla rusa and my other tapa (you get free tapas here when you order a drink!)

(the menu, if you want to see other typical Spanish stuff)

After lunch I headed to the tourism office (which is next to the cathedral) to get a map and ask some questions. Then I walked around for a bit and got something to drink at Deán. It had a nice outdoor area and I ordered an iced tea and a water. The waitress thought that someone was coming to meet me since I ordered two drinks, but I was just SO thirsty from walking around in the heat all day. It was a nice break.

(Fountain at Plaza de la Constitución)

I was supposed to meet the landlady for the first apartment in Plaza de la Constitución at 6. She called me at 6 to say she’d be there in 20 minutes or so. When she arrived I could tell it was her. She called and without answering walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned out to be Isa’s mom and her dad came too…the parents of the Spanish girl I’d been talking to almost all summer about her apartment. The first apartment she showed me was the guy’s apartment. They were a group of American men, and a French guy that was visiting them. The guys seemed really nice but I really wanted to live with Spanish speakers. Then they showed me the room across the hall which had an American girl and a girl from Scotland. Again, super nice…but English speaking. Isa’s parents were really nice, and the rooms were nice. The apartments fit all my needs except my desire to be with Spanish speakers.
I exchanged numbers with Chris, one of the guys in the first apartment, and then headed off to an appointment to look at another apartment, which happened to be just down the street.  This third apartment was decent. It was clean and there was a German girl and a Spanish girl. The landlord told me I could take my time to think about it, but he was showing the apartment to another girl at 8pm. I jumped in and said I would move in. Looking back I was a little rash, but it’s fine. I have a 4 month contract so if anything was really wrong at least I could move out in January if I needed to. It was a little funny though, as soon as I heard it was Spanish speakers and the room was decent I jumped in…but of the qualifications I had ahead of time this apartment doesn’t meet very many of my “must haves.” I wanted internet in my apartment. This apartment doesn’t. If there was more than 3 people, I wanted two bathrooms. 4 people…1 bathroom. Granted, one girl is moving out in a few days and we may or may not get someone new. Oh well…it’s in a good neighborhood, almost exactly in the middle of my two schools with the Spanish speakers. It’s hard to find an apartment with Spanish speakers because so often they already have their flats from the previous year, with their same roommates, etc. The landlord has a stutter so he talks really fast to avoid stuttering. That upped the feeling of being rushed to me, but I was really eager to have an apartment and not have to pay for more nights at the hostel. The landlord said he would come to the hostel in the morning to help me move my suitcases in his car.

I went back to the hostel, changed and Eda was there. We chatted for a while and I offered to help her find an apartment because she can’t speak Spanish very well. She was extremely grateful and gave me some gifts. I forget what she called them but it was a keychain and a bracelet that are meant to protect the people they are given to. She is so extremely sweet. I invited her to come with me, Chris and his friends and go out that night. We were going to do something simple like tapas, but ended up meeting at Chris’ apartment and actually going out instead. We went to two bars…Tijuana and Truvador. Both are apparently typical hang out spots. I had fun and was really thankful to have people to go out with. I was really tempted to live in the Americans’ apartment because of that instant community, but I’m glad I waited. Now I can live with Spanish speakers and still just be down the road from all of these guys that I can be friends with. We finally got back to the hostel around 5am. Luckily we were the only girls in our room that night so we didn’t have to worry about waking anyone up.

Kristin, from Texas, with the bartenders...you have to work to get shirts from them...took her a whole year

Me and Eda (Turkey)

Eda (Turkey), Kristin (Texas) and Minti (Chicago)

Me, Eda (Turkey), Kristin (Texas)

Jaén: The First Day Part 2

That was one of the longest bus rides of my life. After sitting at the bus station for 4 hours we finally left at 1:30pm. I kept drifting in and out of sleep for the first hour and a half or so. I was really paranoid that I would sleep through my stop, so I took very short power naps. By the last 45 minutes of the trip I was at that exhausted, I can’t take it anymore, almost emotional breakdown stage. Finally we got there.

This is Jaén...

(I didn't take these pictures.)

I grabbed a taxi and the taxi drivers were all very good natured and fun. They were giving me a hard time about how much stuff I had and one of them joked around that I must have brought my boyfriend in the large suitcase so I wouldn’t have to buy him a ticket. The other taxi driver got me to the hostel, I got checked in and dropped my stuff off. I really, REALLY wanted a shower, but if I wanted to have any chance at all of seeing any apartments I needed to get going. I just changed my clothes, slapped on a little deodorant and perfume and hit the road. I had brought a Jaén map with me, so as I strolled through town I would jot down numbers on the map of possible apartments that I saw on flyers. I called one, but the guy said he wouldn’t be able to show it to me today and the girls currently living there would be out on Saturday. I called another but it was already taken. It was hard to keep track of who I’d called and who I hadn’t. If I didn’t mind living with other Americans or Brits I could already have an apartment. I’m torn because I really just want to have a place to live so I don’t have to pay for additional days in the hostel.

(my hostel...Albergue Interjoven and Spa)

By the end of the day I was really tired and a little discouraged (although there really isn’t reason for that yet…I’ve only been here a few hours). This first few days are always just a jumble of emotions…excited for being here, sad at being alone, overwhelmed trying to get settled, etc. I sat down for “dinner” at a dessert shop and had a crepe with bananas and chocolate. The weather here is really nice right now, and actually warmer than I had imagined, so I sat on the patio. I mentally debated whether I should just live with the other Americans. It would be instant friends, instant community and the apartment is located in a really good location in between my two schools…but will I regret it once I have time to feel settled…that I’m not totally surrounded by the language like I was last year? I really want to keep improving my ability to speak Spanish.

I went back to the hostel, showered, met the girls I’m rooming with at the hostel one from Italy and one from Turkey) and relaxed.

I think there’s a party here at the hostel tonight. There’s loud Spanish music, laughing, clapping and I think dancing coming from one of the lower floors. I would go…I feel like I should go…but after traveling for 28 hours I’m kind of beat. That’s alright…there’s 9 months of parting and friends to be met ahead of me.

Here we go again! The beginning of my stay in Jaen

Right now I’m sitting in the Mendez Alvaro Estación Sur de Autobuses (the bus station) in Madrid. Everything up until this point has gone pretty darn well. Hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself. Yesterday my mom and I ran around running errands trying to get ready for my trip (finding a hostel for my first night in Jaén, getting my parents and my bank accounts linked in case I get pressed for cash and need help, dropping off my back-up work photos at the hospital, Costco, etc) and I finished packing. This is the first time I haven’t had to stay up all night finishing packing. I actually got it done ahead of time. I wasn’t too concerned about my bags being a little overweight until I saw a news clip the other day that said some airlines are charging around $450 now for baggage fees, and they listed United as one of the airlines doing so. Lucky me, I’m flying United. I pulled up their website and looked at their fees list, then I called 2 customer support reps over the following 2 days and this is basically what it boils down to:

-One 50lb. bag is allowed on United Airlines international flights for free.

-If you go overweight on that one bag it will cost you $200. ($200!!!)

-If you add an additional bag and it goes overweight (so you have one under 50lb bag and one over 50lb bag) it will cost $400!! $400!!!

-However, after the last call I had with customer support they finally said, well, if you divide your one overweight suitcase into 2 suitcases under 50lbs each it will only cost you $70.

Problem solved. I don’t like it, but I can fork out $70 to have an extra suitcase. It’s hard to pack for a year in one under 50 lb suitcase!
So after I was packed mom and I tried to use the home scale to get an idea of how much the suitcases weighed. I was positive that they were overweight but wasn’t sure by how much. We decided to go over to Evergreen and use their freight scales so we knew for sure when we went to the airport the next morning the suitcases would be perfect. I made sure everything was packed (even the stuff I would need to get ready in the morning) and we headed off to Evergreen after our other errands. The scale sat in front of her office with my 2 open suitcases sprawled out on her office floor…me frantically trying to figure out what I could live without for the next 9 months. My mom’s co-workers took turns giving me their advice on how to make this embarrassing quantity of stuff fit, follow all the rules and be underweight. It certainly wasn’t easy, but we finally got it down to 50lbs exactly on one suitcase, and 50.6 lbs. on the other. I figured if they gave me crap at the airport about that 0.6lbs I would take one shirt out and be fine. (Later I realized that the jeans I was wearing needed to go in the suitcase…dang it! Almost perfect).

Funny side note: I’ve started to read the New Testament a little each day. One of the parts that I read in the midst of this packing craziness was “Do not pack a bag with clothes. Do not take sandals or a walking stick. You must embody simplicity.” Haha. Oops. I think I failed.

After we got done at Evergreen we headed off to get my 2nd mocha of the day, pick up Laura and meet my dad down at the Mariner’s game. They were playing the Oakland Athletics and absolutely got their butts kicked, but it was a fantastic night and a great last Seattle/family thing to do before I leave for Spain. I got home and had high hopes of getting a couple other things done, but finally decided they weren’t crucial and went to bed. I really wanted at least one last small nap in MY bed before going to Spain and being in whatever random rental apartment bed I find.
Mom woke me up at 3 (since I didn’t wake up to my alarm) and I got ready so we could head towards the airport at 4:15am. We got coffee, got the the airport and mom came in to help me with my bags and make sure I didn’t have any problems with checking my bags. I weighed the first bag and it was 52.5. The lady told me I need to get rid of a few extra pounds. Dang it! Then she said, “Well, put the other one on the scale” and it was exactly 50lbs. She told me nevermind, don’t worry about it. Heck yes!
We got money exchanged (the one thing I forgot to do ahead of time) and then I headed through security. Mom and I exchanged looks and waves while I waited in line, then she stuck around until I’d gotten through security. It’s been harder to say goodbye this time. It’s for a mixture of reasons, but one of which I’d say is because not much time has passed in between my Siles trip and this one. I planned for SO long in advance for my Murcia trip, then a couple years had passed by the time I got accepted for my Siles trip, but now I’ve only been home for a couple months and there wasn’t any waiting and wondering about whether or not I would get to go. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and I really haven’t been away from Spain long enough to truly miss it. A few tears escaped as I headed through security, then a few more when I read the card my parents had snuck into my backpack, but I tried hard to hold it together. At least I’ll be home for Christmas, so it’s only 3 months until I will see my family again.

I made it to my first flight without any problems. Security didn’t even hassle me like I thought they would (all my camera gear, external hard drives, etc, usually makes them suspicious). When I got to my gate they needed volunteers to check their carry-on bags. I took a few things from my carry on, stuff it into my “personal item” (aka backpack) and let them check it all the way to Madrid. One less thing to deal with. Yay! I was a little worried that it wouldn’t get all the way to Madrid, since it was separated from the others, but I ended up having no problems. There were only 10 empty seats on the whole flight, and one of them was right next to me! I enjoyed the extra space and slept the entire flight.

I landed in DC, updated my family and Facebook to let them know I’d survived the first leg of the trip, got some food and my final Starbucks for awhile (so long salted caramel mochas!) and met another auxiliar…Lindsey. Lindsey and I were on the same flight and it’s her first time doing the program and being in Spain so we chatted about everything auxiliares-related. She is from Portland and has never really been abroad. Her placement is in Madrid, so I assured her that her experiences would be vastly different than mine last year. The second flight was not crowded at all. Too bad on this one there WAS someone next to me. The flight attendant said one of us could move and have a row to ourselves, but I was already on the inside next to the window, and he apparently didn’t feel like moving (I think he liked having someone to chat with). I would have moved but I liked being next to the window to rest my head on and sleep. I slept through majority of this flight as well, and only woke up to have dinner and breakfast, and for the last hour and a half of the flight.

As I was getting off the flight I was introduced to Chris, another auxilar that was on our flight and had been seated next to Lindsey. He’s from Nebraska and will be teaching in Palencia (north of Madrid). We all got our bags (I combined my checked “carry-on” into the already checked bag) and headed out. Lindsey is staying with a host family so her host dad was there to meet her and pick her up. Chris and I debated taking a taxi, but it was going to be like 30 euro, so I decided to brave the metro again. Chris and I parted ways, but he has a friend in Jaén, so he’s going to come visit. I headed through the airport to the metro station and when I was on the metro I had a weird realization…the lines between “cultural shock” and “reverse culture shock” are becoming a lot blurrier. This time it was weird knowing where to go, the metro routes to take, the language comes more naturally…that everything seems so much the same, but so different at the same time because of how I’ve changed…what they usually tell you about normal culture shock. I’ve bounced back and forth between Spain and the US enough times now, that I feel relatively “at home” (in very different ways) in both places.

By the time I made it to the bus station it was 9:15am. I found the company with a route to Jaen and I had missed the bus by 15 minutes. So close! The next bus is at 1:30….so here I am…chilling in the bus station for the next 4 hours. I was hoping to find an apartment today, but it looks like I’ll probably have to book one more night in the hostel since I won’t even get to Jaen until 4 or 5. I stopped at one locutorio to call my parents and let them know that I arrived, and chatted with the two women working there. One commented on my giant suitcases, and then they tried to help me figure out if there was a train I could take that leaves sooner (There isn’t). After that I went to another locutorio to use the internet. I was able to interpret for a British guy that was there and I asked the lady working there if she would mind watching my things for a few minutes so I could go use the restroom, brush my teeth and throw some deodorant on. I also grabbed something to drink and set to blogging. I’m getting better at this whole blogging thing every time I come over here. My Murcia blog lasted a couple postings. My Siles blog lasted about half my stay. Now my goal is to blog my entire stay in Jaén. It’s not just for you…I’ve realized my memory kind of sucks and this is my way to remember all the fun, quirky things that happen too. So, enjoy! Hopefully blogging with stick with me this time!

One more random side note: I lost 25 pounds last year living in Siles. This summer I gained all of it back. Saaaaaaaad day. My mom and I are in a competition with each other to see who can lose the most before I get back for Christmas. Help keep us accountable and on track! Jaén is basically one giant hill, so at least I have that going “in my favor.” :)