Things that still make me crazy

Even though I get more and more used to the crazy things about Spain, there's a lot I'm still not used to.  Here are some things that still make me crazy.

• Cooking - I still have tons of frustration when it comes to my kitchen, and to eating more broadly.  I should say this is not because there isn't great food to be had here.  It's just that to eat good food when you go out, you need to pay a lot of money.  I've actually only had two sit-down, going-out meals since I got here.  Both of which were mediocre at best.  The pintxos are typically good, but one cannot live on pintxos alone (well, one probably could, but I can't).  There are also very few places that do take-out and even fewer (none?) that do delivery.  So, on crazy long work days (like yesterday where I was at work for 11 hours + commuting time), I need to cook when I get home.  This wouldn't be so bad if I had the proper equipment or ingredients to cook food that is tasty.  Part of the problem is that things go bad very, very quickly here (which probably means they aren't pumped with antibiotics and preservatives).  It doesn't make it any less frustrating though, when you open chicken from two days ago that looks a little yucky, you cook it anyhow, and it tastes, literally, like garbage.  Cooking itself is also frustrating.  It's really hard to control the temperature on the induction stovetop, and I still haven't bought any pots or pans that are safe for the oven.  I really need to spend some time in a grocery store really looking at ingredients and deciding what I can use to make things here, since a lot of my typical staples aren't available ... but this brings me to point #2.

• "Business" Hours - I honestly do not understand how anyone ever gets anything done here.  A typical store (including grocery store) is open:  9-2 and then 4-8.  That's if it's a store that's open a lot.  It isn't uncommon for stores to just be open 9-2.  Or whenever they feel like being open.  I tried to go to a store the other day that was supposed to re-open at 4 for the afternoon.  At 6, they were not open.  Weekends are even worse when almost nothing is open on Sunday and Saturday hours are nothing short of crazy (10-2?  10-12?  11-3?).  The only time you can really count on stores being open is 9-2 Monday through Friday.  Which is when I'm, you know, working.  Grocery shopping consists of running to the store as often as I can - it's not rare for me to go three to four times a week so I can have fresh food, but also because when you only have 30 minutes 'til the store closes, it's tough to do a week's worth of shopping.  It's hard to get anything done really.  This does mean that you have to spend your evenings and weekends doing things that aren't running errands and are more fun.  However, it's hard to have fun when you're worried about food in your fridge or when you have to do laundry since a lot of your clothing is wrinkled and you haven't been able to buy an iron since the electronics store is only open when you're working.  (Sub-point - I would solve this problem by buying things on Amazon UK which does free shipping to Spain, but the plugs are different ... so a vacuum and iron will have to wait for now).

• Language - This point is the biggest and most frustrating of all.  I am still stymied on a daily basis by not being able to say what I want to say.  I love language, it's what I do for my job, and anyone who knows me knows I love to talk.  But Spanish is hard and frustrating.  Let me clarify - Spanish in a classroom is fine.  I can conjugate verbs and do exercises.  I can read and write in the classroom.  But classroom language is not the language of the real world.  Carefully produced speech on recordings is no substitute for real world speech.  So, it's hard to understand what's being said.  Even harder is saying what you mean.  Even if I'm willing to make tons of mistakes (which I have to if I want to communicate the simplest things), even if I am willing to forego using the subjunctive for the sake of saying anything at all, I don't have the words to say what I want to say.  Vocabulary is far and away the hardest part for me.  I don't know how to get more vocabulary without studying a dictionary or vocabulary book.  And honestly, lists of nouns and verbs aren't going to do it.  Even if I know how to say the basic words around things, I don't know how to convey the specifics that make any good story worth telling.  When talking about my trip yesterday in class, I was trying to explain how frustrated I was by the fact that they announced to me that my ticket was canceled.  But I couldn't remember the word for frustrated ... and angry or sad don't really get the job done in the same way.  I need to figure out some way to improve at the language more quickly.  Because I've been here almost two months now, and I'm running out of patience for myself.

One bright note to end for now - the blanket I'm making is gorgeous.  I'm about 2/3 of the way through it  (not counting the border that will go on at the end).  It's big enough now that I can wrap up in when I'm cold and watching TV and it covers a whole person when sleeping.  I can't wait for it to be done, but I also need to have another (big) project lined up for when I finish it.  I love to have a big home project I can work on in the evenings or on weekends.  Then I have my commuting project (a knit cowl that is taking forever because I work on it in 5 minute bursts) and my travel project (a shawl that I only knit on the plane or in airports).  Then I might start a project that the knitting group around here is working on ... but I need to be able to get to the yarn shop when they're open.  But the blanket?  Fantastic.  I've made tons of mistakes and fixed them in stupid ways, but I love this blanket so, so, so much.

Music

Yesterday I played viola and sang in public at the bar where my friend's boyfriend runs a session every week.  I was terrified because I didn't know very many people there (and haven't played a viola in about a billion years), but it went okay.  Hopefully, I'll have some more chances to do this.  Unfortunately, this bar is probably closing down soon.  The location isn't great for generating customers, since it's far away from places where people normally go out, so you have to plan to go there - you won't just walk by and wander in.  I guess they're looking for a new place to open, but rent is really expensive, so it might not happen.  The guy who runs the session is looking at other bars to play in, which I think would be good.

I'm hanging out tonight with my Spanish friend and two of her friends.  The plan is to speak mostly in Spanish ... not sure how that will go!  If the weather is nice we might take a day trip to one of the towns nearby this weekend, which would be more Spanish time.  Since that's one of the points of coming here, I do feel like I need to practice more.  It's just still really hard to have a real conversation with people.

I'm starting to see how much easier things are and how much things have changed, though, since I arrived here.  I found a note in my bag the other day from my first day here, when I was jet-lagged and totally overwhelmed.  It was a list:  Find grocery store, find bus stop, buy food.  The note was simultaneously heartbreaking and hilarious.  I remember being so out of it that I thought "I need to write down that I need to buy food, or I might not have anything to eat today."  I moved here knowing nothing.  At all.  And on days that are stressful or where I have to figure out something new (Where do you buy pins?  How about bug repellent?), I remind myself how far I've come so far.  I came here and didn't know where the grocery store was, how to get to work, where to do laundry.  And now I know all of those things, and I figured them out mostly by myself.  So on a day when I have to figure out whether or not I need to pay taxes this year (answer - no, not yet), or figure out how to get to a street that is supposed to be parallel to the street I'm on according to the map (but is actually 7 stories above me and the buildings I'm standing by), I remind myself I've done harder things already.  I've been a little worried about coming back after Puerto Rico in a couple of weeks and about coming back after some time in Chicago and Michigan in July.  I'm sure coming back won't be easy, but it also won't be as hard as the first time I came.  And that's a huge relief.

Wednesdays are always late mornings because a lot of people go out for the live music at the bar on Tuesday nights.  So, in honor of my slow start, here is a little update.

I finally got my residence card yesterday, with a minimum of fuss.  Unless you count leaving work in the middle of the day to try to track down the Amazon package I was missing and then walking several miles to the Comisaria de Policia to pick up my residence card as being fussy.  I don't, since the payoff was getting the stuff from Amazon (I have tongs!  A whisk!  Measuring cups/spoons!  A Brita pitcher!) and my residence card.  However, when I tried to get my phone I ran into some problems because the company with the best rates requires that you have a utility bill in your name (a bit of a trick when you live in an apartment building and rent there).  Anyhow, we think we figured out what I need to do - and I'm going back on Thursday.  I had a big plan to get an iPhone, but the company that sells them has TERRIBLE rates compared to a company that sells a perfectly good Android phone (a minimum plan of over 3X as much for limited internet service and a small number of text and phone calls).  So, I'm getting an android phone so that I can still have wifi on my phone and internet when I don't have wifi - then I have a great per minute/per text rate, and I can text internationally for the same rate. Overall, it looks like my bill will be less than 20€ a month for essentially unlimited internet and a good number of minutes and texts.  After the phone situation, I sprinted back to my apartment, ate dinner very quickly (eating the leftovers I didn't have for lunch since I had a sandwich instead) and then running back downtown to meet my friends for a quick coffee before going to the live music night.  Overall, I didn't really sit down yesterday at all.  I slept pretty well though, since I completely exhausted myself during the day.  :)

Today, we have Spanish 'til 6 and then I have to run to meet my new language exchange partner (a friend of my Basque teacher in Chicago), so it will be more of a run around day.  Then tomorrow, I'm going to try to change my bank account from a foreigner's account to a regular account in the morning.  We have a visiting speaker at work until 6:15 or so, and then I have to run to meet my friend to get a cell phone before the shops close.  But!  Oncer I get my phone, my life will be easier in terms of making plans with people.  Plus, if I get the bank account settled too I'll be done with all of my crazy bureaucracy for a few months, at least!

Things I do not love ...

One thing I do not love is spending all day with customer service of various sorts.  I had to send a sassy e-mail to my management company for my apartment since they decided to bill me for my deposit/last months rent + this months rent even though I know both have been deposited into their account.  Plus, my oven has been out of commission for over a week now.  No word from them yet. 

Then it was on to Amazon UK.  I ordered a few things from them last week (a cookbook and a drying rack) but part of my order hadn't shipped with the rest (namely kitchen utensils and the Britta pitcher that will hopefully make my water taste like Not Garbage).  All of that was supposed to be delivered today, but I got a cryptic e-mail saying it was being returned.  So, back to the e-mail I went trying to ask WHY it was being returned.  I got a really nasty message back about how sometimes if you write the wrong address they can't deliver it.  I knew this was not my fault so I pressed the issue with them again.  And it turns out their delivery guy BROKE all of my stuff (dropped some other heavy box on it).  So they were refunding me.  But I don't really want a refund.  I want my Britta filter and a pair of tongs so I can turn over meat without having to stab it with a fork or scoop it between a ladle and a sieve.  Plus, all of the things I had ordered were on sale last week, but not anymore.  After some finagling, I got first class shipping on that package, plus they're refunding the difference in price.

The final customer service nightmare was the worst.  Verzion Wireless, how I hate you.  Long story short, I'm trying to transfer my old phone number to a prepaid account - which I know you can do since my friend Neil did just that before he moved to Europe.  Well, of course it's not that easy because I had a smart phone in the US.  Apparently that ruins everything. This is literally the 10th time I have called Verizon about this.  I tried to resolve the issue via e-mail and I got a ridiculous reply telling me to use a link that does not work outside the US (a fact I said in my first e-mail to them).  I hope the guy gets in trouble because I complained about it when I called.  A lady insisted on transferring me, but I refused (and cried - which, let's be honest, always helps), and she finally fixed the problem.  Mostly.  Apparently, Pete has to call to make sure the number is transferred to my new non-smart phone in the US.  I actually told the lady at the beginning of the call "I am really, really mad at Verizon, but I am not mad at you because I know this isn't your fault personally, so I'm sorry if I sound like I'm mad at you."  She actually told me at the end of the call that she really appreciated me saying that.  She said she was also sorry that I had to call after a long day of work.  Which I was also sorry about.  I did not want to spend an hour and a half between 7:15 and 8:45 on the phone with Verizon Wireless.

In spite of all of this ridiculousness, I did manage to get work done today, which is a minor miracle.

This is all just foreshadowing the Spanish customer service I have to deal with in the next few weeks, picking up my resident card, changing my bank account from a foreigner account to a national account, and getting a cell phone here.  Hopefully there will be no crying and much less drama.

I also made two mistakes in the blanket I'm making but because the colors change every other row, I didn't have enough yarn left on the ends to go back and fix it.  So I made an improvisational fix.  I'm getting good at improvisation now, in crochet and knitting, in cooking, in shopping and in language.  Maybe I'll learn to be more spontaneous while I'm here.

Hah!

Finally, Pete said he sent me my camera cord, so in the next week or two there will be many (many) picture posts!  I can't wait to show my apartment and the town!

Cooking (again)

I had a really lovely relaxing day (aside from having to pull out a whole bunch of the knitting I did on a project because I dropped a stitch somewhere and couldn't find it).

I tried to cook a recipe tonight - I was missing a couple of ingredients and the whole thing was made harder without measuring devices.  The overall result - edible, but not delicious.  I need to figure out cooking here pronto because I am super tired of lemon-caper or lemon-olive sauce on everything I cook.  I'm actually tempted to go to a bookstore and buy a Spanish or Basque cook book. At least then I should (in theory) be able to find all of the ingredients I need.

Any advice or recipes for cooking tasty food with very limited ingredients would be greatly appreciated.

Success!

I left my house at around 8:30 this morning and made it to work before 10.  I walked about a mile and a half to the bank and spent the whole time practicing conversation for the bank.  I practiced saying, "The ATM took my card.  A woman at my job told me to come here and get a new one" in Spanish.  I practiced saying, "Also, I wrote the wrong signature on the website and I got locked out of my online account!  Can you unblock it for me?" 

I got there and everyone was pretty busy, but I finally got a guy to help me.  I asked if he (or anyone there) spoke English and told him my Spanish was terrible - but no luck there.  I launched into my spiel about the ATM card and he asked if it was a machine in that place that took my card. And here was the real test.  I had to say things I hadn't practiced.  I told him that the woman at my job had called them, and they told her that they would have the card for me.  So, he went into an office and voila!  My card!  It was the actual card that the ATM had eaten with my signature and everything.  We tested it to make sure it worked and it does.  The guy asked me if I needed the ATM translated to English, but then said my Spanish was good enough he thought I would be okay in Castellano.  So now I do all my transactions in Spanish ... I can always change it later if it's too hard. 

Then we moved on to the internet issue - he fixed everything for me there and we tested the key (though not the signature - so hopefully that works).  I had a good combination of Spanish I had practiced and improv Spanish, but he understood everything I needed and was very helpful.

I honestly feel like if I can do this, I can do almost any face to face interaction.  I think the phone would be way harder, because it's harder to understand in both directions.  Fortunately, they're not huge on phone based customer service here, so I should be able to survive.  Overall, I'm feeling so much better about the whole language barrier/culture shock issue.

I am not very good at patience or at making mistakes, and my time here so far has tested both of those things pretty substantially.  Today demonstrated to me that I need to be more patient with myself (a constant struggle) and to be willing to make mistakes.  In a weird way, if I hadn't totally misunderstood the entire banking system here, I wouldn't have had a chance to practice my Spanish today.  While I was practicing my Spanish, I know I made about 4 billion mistakes, but I survived.  No one yelled at me or laughed at me and the guy understood everything I needed.  So, the next time I need to practice, I'll be a little less scared.  And maybe I'll leave this whole experience actually speaking real Spanish - which was one of my big goals anyhow.

Between this excitement and all of the exciting things getting started at work, today is one of the days when I feel like "I can do this!"  I'm sure I'll have more "What am I DOING here?!?" days, but it's nice to feel like I might be able to succeed!

Like Magic

Today was magically much, much better than yesterday.  I had a great day at work and started to figure things out more in terms of logistics.  One of my new friends taught me how to load my bus card with tickets - I chose the monthly ticket since you only have to ride the bus 44 times to pay for it - and if I go to work and back every day for a month, I will ride it 40 times, so I think it's definitely going to be worth it.

I'm also planning to go to the bank tomorrow to pick up my replacement ATM card and hopefully get "unlocked" from my online bank account.  I have been practicing the things to say, though I'm pretty nervous about the whole ordeal.  I know I'll survive either way, and if I need to I can always drag a Spanish speaker with me on Monday.  It will be really good for me to at least try, I think.

Tomorrow's going to be a short work day:  a late morning due to the bank (they're only open 9-1:30), and an early afternoon since another postdoc is leaving and we're all going out for pintxos/drinks at around 6 downtown (and I want to go home and drop my things off before we run around town for who knows how many hours).

I don't have plans for this weekend after tomorrow night, but hopefully, I can make some!  Otherwise, I might just try to get lots of work done.  I'm submitting to two conferences, and would like to have some new data to present!  I do need to go to the big grocery store as well as go to the "home" store to try to buy some sheets and something not beige for my place.

Better day already ...

It's only 8:20 but I know today is going to be a better day - I feel more awake already than I did all day yesterday.  The weather is supposed to be clearer 'til the evening.  I'm going to get home in time to go to the grocery store.  A friend of mine is showing me how to put money on the bus pass.  And I won't suck in Spanish today, since I've already practiced some this morning.  :)  Plus, I'm wearing pink which always means I have a good day.  I do, however, feel like I need to find some good music to work to - if you have any suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments (click on the "0 comment" link below and it should let you comment)!

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Once again, I forgot to hit "post".  But it's okay because I had something else to say!

The busses here have televisions on them which show ads, where the next stop is, relevant information about the town ... they show where the "farmacias de guardia" are (all pharmacies keep Spanish time - except for one or two in each town which stay open for 24 hour.  This responsibility rotates among the pharmacies - and it's posted on all the closed pharmacies where the nearest open one is.  This is important since you can't even buy tylenol outside of a pharmacy here - and all medicine is behind the counter).  Anyhow, I can't believe I didn't mention my favorite thing, which is that the bus televisions have birth announcements for all of the babies born in the last 24 hours.  How cool is that?  Yesterday four kids were born, so far as I could tell on the tv - two Xabiers among them (pronounced "shah-bee-air").  I feel like every little boy I see here is called Xabier, which I sort of love because the nickname is "Xabi" (Shah-bee).  Too cute.

Here's the part where I feel like a stupid foreigner.

So.  The first time I tried to use my ATM card (last week) it got eaten by the ATM.  When I got my bank account they gave me a PIN (4 numbers) and a Signature (8 letters).  We used a computer to change my PIN and my Signature, so I assumed that what worked to access my account online, would work to access my account at the ATM.  No such luck.  Apparently, I didn't really change the PIN ... or didn't change the right PIN ... or something.

THEN, I got my bus card today and I saw online that you could transfer funds online and then just go to the ATM to activate the bus card.  This was preferable because I have a dictionary and translation software at home and no Spaniards looking at me like a crazy person poking around on the ATM.  In order to do this you need to use your Signature.  So, I tried both the Signature I thought I was using and the Signature they gave me ... and got locked out of my online account.  Awesome.

So now, I have to go to "my" branch (you can't just go to any branch - you have to go to the one the assign you to) to pick up a new ATM card and to get my online account unlocked.  I'm scared to even try to load the bus card at an ATM because I don't want that to get eaten to - but I am super anxious to be able to pay way less for my bus rides.  I'm also anxious because I have no clue where to put my card when I get on the bus.  There are 3 different machines for 3 different types of cards.  I think I know which one mine goes to, but who knows.  I also thought I had changed my PIN and apparently I didn't.

This is the most frustrating part of the move.  The hardest part is leaving my friends and family behind.  But the combination of the language barrier and the culture barrier is the most frustrating.  It's not like I can just call up customer service (not that they'd be open anyhow) and say "Here's what happened, what's going on?"  I could do that, but then I'd have to deal with banking Spanish that would be very, very fast.  So, I had to crawl with my tail between my legs to the administrative assistant, who surely thinks I'm an idiot by now.

I was also totally not in the mood for Spanish class today (even before all the bank business).  We started class at 5, an hour later than yesterday, and I was sleepy and ready for a break, not for more mental exercise.  I literally could not think of things to say in English, let alone Spanish.

To top all of this off, I forgot my tupperware, my arugula, and my apple in the fridge at work.  I guess this means I have greens and fruit for tomorrow - and that I'll have to bring home two tupperwares tomorrow (that is, if I can figure out something to cook tonight that can also be reheated tomorrow).

Oh well, tomorrow is another day full of opportunities to make more mistakes.  Maybe I should just start thinking of these as "learning opportunities" instead of mistakes.

I'm scared of the grocery store

Okay, here's the thing about the BIG supermarket.  It's super scary.

American grocery stores can go in, get what you want, and get out.  Plus I can read the labels.  Plus I know where things are and what things are.  Here, not so much.

But, I needed food before the town shuts down tomorrow.  So I ventured down Big Hill 2 (less steep, but much longer path) to the Super Amara.  So, the Super Amara is in the basement of this mall, and right above it is a fancier market with fancier meat counters, fish counters, fruit counters, etc.  The Super Amara also has these things, and it was PACKED.  Apparently, everyone had the same "stock up before Easter" idea I did.

I got downstairs and saw the line of registers, but no entrance.  One of my best techniques for figuring out how things are done is watching other people.  So I watched a lady grab one of the wheeled baskets (I saw no one with full-size shopping carts, but lots of people with the kinds of bags and carts people use to take groceries home - and a lot of people with large baskets on wheels).  She headed around the corner, down the hall, and into the grocery store.  The store is laid out very strangely and is sprawling, but doesn't actually have a large selection of practical things.  I got to the fruit/veggie section and noticed everyone weighing and labeling their food.  Of course, the labeling machine is in Spanish, so I used my watch other people technique and figured it out.  I got almost everything on my list, besides meat and fish.  The lines at the meat and fish counters were HUGE, so I decided to buy stuff in a package instead of having them carve it.  I need to study up on my cuts of meat, parts of a chicken and fish names in Spanish before I'm brave enough.  Maybe I'll go on a week day afternoon so I don't get too scared by being rushed.  I managed okay until I got to the check out line.  You have to bag your own stuff - and they are not good helpers.  This is true even at the small markets, but then I'm typically not buying as much stuff as I did tonight.  I was feeling rushed and the woman was sort of sassy, but I survived.  I even managed to ask in Spanish if I could pay with a credit card (yes, but she's not happy about it was the basic response I got).  Overall, it was a success.  I have to see if the other Super Amara's are any closer/easier to deal with as far as buses go.  I took a bus home today with all of my loot, but it is a bit of a walk from the grocery store.

I also really, really wish that the store had my favorite things in easier to find packages. I haven't been able to find broth (either packaged liquid or cubes) which is one of my favorite things to cook with.  I also haven't found any shallots (though onions and garlic will suffice).  There are also no fresh herbs as far as I can tell in the shops (even the small fruits/veggies markets).  I'm considering growing a few things out on my terrace since I have both shady and sunny spots, but (a) I'm terrible at growing things and (b) I'm not sure where to buy pots, soil, seeds, etc.  We'll see if I can figure that one out!

I had my first American food craving today.  Seeing everyone on Facebook talk about Easter (and hearing all about it here) made me crave jelly beans, which are nowhere to be found.  There's actually a decent bulk candy section at the Super Amara ... unfortunately, no jelly beans.  However there are gummy things shaped like toes.  Which is creepy.  And lots of gumdrops.

In other news, I currently have a Spanish keyboard and a PC at work.  Apparently, a Mac was supposed to be available for me, but someone else claimed it when I had visa troubles.  I guess they're working on getting another one, but it's sort of hard to justify given that they have perfectly nice PCs.  Unfortunately, a PC sort of messes me up.  As does the Spanish keyboard.  I think I discussed my issues with the @ symbol earlier, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.  The left shift key (a.k.a. the only shift key I use) is moved over slightly to the left, so I end up hitting the < key which is next to the left shift key.  Basically all punctuation, besides commas and periods are in different places.  There are also keys for ñ and ç which are jammed in and I hit all the time by mistake.  I'm getting more used to it though and I'm sure soon enough it won't be a problem.

I got my office key only one day after I asked for it.  I also got my new debit/credit card in the mail today (less than 48 hours after opening my bank account).  It's good to know I can officially bank in Spain, though I'm having trouble understanding the "young people's benefits" my card comes with - especially because the website is a combination of crazy financial Spanish and young people's slang.  I THINK I get discounts on trains and buses within Spain and around Europe, which would be great. I'll have one of my more proficient friends parse it for me.

I also got my two pairs of shoes that I ordered.  I got a great pair of shorter boots with a cute chunky heel that are cute and SUPER comfortable.  I also got a little pair of black mary janes since I forgot all of my black shoes at home.  I'm really happy I have them.  I still have a few other things I forgot or would like in my wardrobe (long sleeved shirts to sleep in since it's cold at night, cute scarves to accessorize since it's cold and everyone has them and thinks I'm sort of crazy not to, more layering pieces).

It sprinkled today for about 10 seconds at two different times, as far as I could tell.  Not bad considering it was supposed to rain from noon to midnight.  Tomorrow is supposed to be very warm, and sunny.  That should be nice considering it's now supposed to rain Friday through Monday.

I'm feeling unusually exhausted for 9 pm.  I'm starting to think it's a good thing I have a few days off.  I'm going to go in to work tomorrow, but I don't anticipate putting in a full day since I only know of one other person going in.  I have plenty of work to keep me busy - but I might prefer to do it sitting on my sofa. :)

So Much Bureaucracy

Today was the day that the administrative assistant at work was going to take me around to get all the various cards and things I need to be legal here (and to get paid, get healthcare, etc.).

I was supposed to meet her at 9:30.  So, at 9:30 I headed downstairs.  The woman who is sort of in charge here came out to tell me that my contact from work (E.) was running late and would be there in 15 minutes.  I asked the woman if she had my contract (lease) signed for me to take with me.  She said, "yes", which apparently meant "not really."  So about 15 minutes later E pulled up on her scooter.  And I realized I was going to be riding around on the back of the scooter all day.  She came in and asked the woman for the contract.  The woman's "si" to me turns into 5 minutes of a rapid fire Spanish conversation.  I understood things like "on it's way" and "the guy has to follow a path."   I turns out that of course they did NOT have the signed contract, but were messengering it over - from the building we were about to go to (ugh).  So we waited.  And waited.  It's 10:30, 10:45.  We got coffee from the vending machine in the communal living room here [side note:  the coffee from this little machine is dirt cheap and they have plenty of decaf options.  You also get to choose how sweet your coffee is on the machine.  Unfortunately, the least sweet coffee tastes like you're drinking super sweet coffee flavored milk - you get what you pay for, I guess). Finally, the woman came in with a FAXED copy of contract - not the original.  The original wouldn't be there 'til the afternoon.  Keep in mind, I asked them for this copy 5 days ago.  I thought E was going to kill the woman.  But she didn't and we headed out to the scooter.  She said on the way that she was pretty worried they wouldn't accept the copy of the lease, but it was worth a try.  So, she laid out what we were going to do today:  register with the census, register for my resident card, open a bank account, register at my health center, get my bus card, and get a cell phone. She said "we might be lucky and finish everything today."

So, we got on the scooter (I have known this woman for all of 5 days and we've talked for maybe 5 minutes before this - but modesty isn't a thing in Spain I guess - on the scooter we went).  We zipped down the hill to the area where all the offices were.  I needed 6 passport photos (taken in a photo booth) and some photocopies before I could fill out all my paper work.  So, we got the photos and the copies.  Then we went to the comisario (police station, basically), where we grabbed a number from a machine.  We saw there were about 14 people ahead of us, so we ran over to the padron's office (essentially the social security office) to register.  This was where we needed the lease we didn't have - and one copy of it was on the 4th floor of the building we were going into.  So ... we took a number again (2 people ahead of us) and E got on the phone with the people upstairs.  They were completely unhelpful and we our number was called.  We sat down with the guy behind the desk, who was not to happy we had a copy.  E explained to him the situation and he finally agreed to fill out the paper work.  She said after that she knew him from doing this with other researchers, or he might not have been so helpful.  I was registered with the census, and we sprinted back to the comisario.

We got there, and there were only 3 people ahead of us.  As we were waiting they cut off the line for people taking numbers - it was 12 and everyone who didn't already have a number had to come back tomorrow.  We got in, and filed the paper work for my resident card.  E explained to me that after 40 days, I'd come back to get my card ... this is sort of cutting it close since I can't leave the country and get back in without it - and I'm going to puerto rico in ~ 44 days.  Fortunately, she said that it is often ready earlier since they get shipped in batches.  So, then we had to run to a local branch of the bank to make a transfer from my employer's bank account to the comisario to pay for my resident card.  We took a number (again) at the bank, got the paper work for our transfer, and went back to the comasario, where we took another number (they make exceptions on the whole "no new number" thing for people making the bank transfer).  It took FOREVER to get in this time.  We got yelled at once for being impatient and trying to sneak in early.  We finally got in and gave them the transfer paperwork.  They took fingerprints (because obviously the set I sent the FBI and the Spanish government earlier are not sufficient).  Then we decided to go get my bank account before the bank closed (even though my health center is in the same neighborhood as the comisario, etc.).

So, we sprinted back to the bike, and went into El Centro and went to the main branch of the bank.  We ran into the bank and ... took a number!  Fortunately, no one was ahead of us in line this time.  We sat down with the woman and she determined that I would get a "young person's account" since I'm under 30.  I also had to open a foreigner's account since I don't have my resident card yet. Once I get it, I get to go to the bank and they will not charge me any more fees (it's 14 € every six months for the foreigner account).   With the youth account account I get discounts on group tours and other "young person's events", apparently.  The bank is also where you apply for a bus card, so I got a bus card application to fill out as well.  After more than an hour there, we left with all my bank account information, and the promise that my bus card would come "after Easter."  Then we went to a computer to change my PIN and password to sign into my account online.  A guy also showed us that I have a "virtual credit card" I can use online.  I have no idea when I'd ever use it, but it's nice to know it's there, I guess.  Then E decided it was time for lunch - we'd already been at this for over 4 hours and we were both starved.  So we went to a little pintxos bar and had a couple of sandwiches and she had coffee.  Everyone around us was enjoying some wine, which made me want some, but we still had a lot to do.

After lunch, it was back to the scooter, and back to Amara where the health center is located.  The health center looks really new and convenient.  After taking yet another number, we talked to a lady who got my account set up.  She assigned me a doctor who "speaks more or less the English," who is in every afternoon.  If I need an appointment, I call or go online, show up and go to the office number I'm given online.  The health center is completely free and covers everything except for dentistry, chiropractic and a few other miscellaneous things.  Hopefully, I won't have to visit them often (if at all), but it's good to know they're there.  I get my permanent health care card in 2.5-3 months.

After the health center, we went back downtown to get my phone.  E decided I should get a phone with a contract, because they give you the phone free (or cheap), whereas a pre-paid phone you have to pay for the phone and the plans are more expensive.  So, we asked the woman at the store who insisted that I need my official residence card to open this kind of account.  I decided to just wait on the phone until I get my resident card - it's not like I'm calling tons of people in Spain and I have a phone I can use for emergencies here.

So then it was almost 4 o'clock (6.5 hours after we started all of this), so rather than going into work, we headed home.  We decided we WERE really lucky because we didn't have to wait too long for anyone or anything.  Now I have to wait 40(ish) days for my resident card to arrive to the comisario.  We'll call in a month or so and see if it's there.  When I get it, E and I go back to the comisario to retrieve it, then we'll get my phone and change my bank account to a non-foreigner's account.  Now, I just have to wait for my ATM card, my bus pass, and my permanent health card to show up in the mail!

I'm pretty relieved all of this is done - though I wish the resident card would come sooner!  I'm ready to finish these other things now!  I also have to say I am SO lucky to have an employer who helped me take care of all of this.  Bureaucracy is hard enough in your own language and country, let alone a new country with a new language.  I would have been totally lost today and it would have been way, way more stressful than it was.

I managed to get some grocery shopping done this afternoon.  I know I still have at least one more big trip to make before this weekend to make sure I have enough food - my local market is totally closed from Wednesday at 9 until Tuesday at 9.

I'm struggling a little with cooking here (especially with coming up with stuff to take to work for lunch ... I'm hopeful I'll have decent leftovers tonight, but we'll see).  It's hard to cook for one person, especially with limited ingredients since I have yet to go to the real supermarket!  Hopefully, I'll be brave enough to go this weekend. I'm also hoping I can get ahold of one of those great carts that everyone here has, so I don't have to haul my stuff by myself.  My supervisor and I are both working on Thursday - apparently we can get into the building.  So I'm feeling pretty good about that - I'll only have 4 days to fill instead of the dreaded 5. I'm trying to look at these days as an opportunity to relax a little and be really refreshed to start work in earnest next week.

Saving the best news for last, I managed to go a whole day yesterday with NO tears.  I knew it would happen eventually, but looking back to last Tuesday (it's hard to believe I've been here almost a week), I thought it wouldn't.  I remember saying to someone "I wish I could just see a week or a month from now and know I'm okay."  And I am.  Okay, that is.  It's not easy.  And it's still not particularly fun (especially at night, and especially being away from Pete).  But it's okay - and that's all I'm asking for right now.

Congratulations if you made it through this novel.  I'm happy to have this as a chronicle of my time here, and I'm sure I'll be glad I have it to look back on in the future.  Hopefully, it's not too tedious to read!

Ay yi yi ...

Stay tuned this evening for the tale of So Much Bureaucracy - it is almost too good to be true.  Unfortunately, I have to abandon my apartment so the workers can install the curtains (hopefully this actually occurs - they dropped the curtains off, so I'm hopeful)!

The rest of the day

I was so worried that today would be awful, and I think it's been one of the best days yet, in terms of adjustment.  I read outside on my terrace for a lot of the late afternoon - though I managed to bruise the crap out of my elbow carrying a chair out there.  I also managed to watch some stuff I rented on my iPad before I came.  I cooked dinner, caught up with friends + Pete + my parents.

I'm starting to reach for things and know where they are (particularly in the kitchen).  I put away a bunch of stuff that was still in my carry on bags.  I hung up most of the stuff that needs hanging up (although a lot of it is doubled or tripled on hangers because I have so few right now).  So I'm officially unpacked and moved in.  I only have a few more things I need (and a few more things I want) to make things more manageable.

One thing I want is color.  I have a beige couch, a beige rug, white entertainment center, white + stainless steel kitchen, white sheets, white chairs, brown (ooooh) dining table,  three coffee tables (2 brown + 1 white), white closets with brown interiors.  Grey floors, grey and white bathroom, etc.  I need something pink.  Or green.  Or blue.  Or any color.  I'm thinking about getting some pillows/cushions that I can then take out on the patio to sit on instead of the chair (which is too hard and also too tall - my feet don't touch the ground.  Even my two turquoise dish towels help with the color problem.  It just feels a little more sterile.  Hopefully either this or next weekend I can get out to do a little shopping in the 'burbs or at least with a car.  I also need to figure out how to cook for one person - anyone have any tips about Europe friendly recipes for one person??

Tomorrow is supposed to be Spanish Bureaucracy day (when I get register for the census, get my resident card, get my health card, possibly open a bank account, possibly get my bus card - after which the bus will be <70 cents per ride!!).  We'll see if it actually happens since I need a signed copy of my lease and my rental company is operating on Spanish time.  Worst case scenario - I go next week to get it.  It's weird, though, because my visa is only good for 30 days and then I need to have my residence card, or I'm here illegally.  I also NEED my residence card to open a bank account and to get paid.  Additionally, once I have my residence card, I get free wifi in my apartment (and most places in the city).  So, hopefully it will all work out soon!

Things are looking up ...

After the conference today, I set off with the aim of getting to the electronics store when they re-opened after the 3 hour lunch break/siesta all the stores take every day.  I had a lovely walk, but unfortunately, once I got to the store, I realized they (like many other stores) close at 1 pm on Saturday - and don't reopen 'til Monday.  That's right - closed Saturday afternoon, and all day Sunday.  I am already imagining that this will make running errands tricky when I have to get everything done after work or Saturday mornings!  Anyhow, I decided to console myself with some gelato (there are great, plentiful gelato shops all over the city, particularly in El Centro and Parte Vieja).  On my way to the gelato shop, I happened upon one of the fabled Chinese shops - the best way I can describe this is a combination between a dollar store and a very, very small Walmart.  Basically, they have everything you could ever want for your home, for really, really cheap.  Of course the quality is also terrible, but if you need a few things, it doesn't matter so much.  My haul today:  two trash cans (kitchen + bathroom), broom, dustpan, garbage bags, dish soap, hand soap (X2), storage for my silverware (my apartment has no drawers in the kitchen - design oversight, but now I have a place to put them on the counter), another storage container for the rest of my kitchen utensils (cooking spoons, grater, kitchen shears, etc.), a hamper, 12 regular hangers and 2 pant hangers that hold 4 pairs of pants each (not nearly enough, but makes my closet slightly more organized), a basket with suction cups for the shower, two dish towels, a cheap hairdryer (I'll get a real one once I can get to the electronics shop) and a cutting board.  The apartment was supposed to come with a cutting board, but didn't - and I couldn't deal any more without vegetables or being able to cut meat (plus since the counters are brand new, I didn't want to destroy them by cutting stuff up on them).  Overall, I feel better about my place.  I was able to actually put things away which makes me feel a little bit more like I live here.

I also took out the trash and the recycling (thrilling, I know), but it's very easy and on the way to my bus stop.  Basically, there are four dumpsters - glass, plastic/metal, paper/cardboard/styrofoam, and regular trash.  The only thing that needs to be bagged is your regular trash - so I carried all the cardboard from the boxes that all my pots in pans came in when I moved in, and dragged them out to the recycling.  Not having a closet of trash also helps with the whole "feeling lived in" thing.

I think one thing that's daunting about this place is the sheer quantity of storage space I have.  I have never lived in a place where I have so little stuff and so much room to put it!  I have a whole closet that is nearly empty - more than half of my entryway "cupboard" is empty - though I might move my shoes in there.  I have whole cabinets in the kitchen that are empty, as is the entire entertainment system.  I need to either start accumulating things or find cheap/easy ways to decorate ASAP.  The empty, white space is part of what makes me crazy.

After I got home from the shopping/trash adventure, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself.  I had several hours to fill before an acceptable bedtime, and the time 'til I start work on Monday seemed never ending. I also found out that my direct supervisor will be out of the center Tuesday and Wednesday.  Since I'm going to get my residence card Monday (fingers crossed my rental company comes through with the lease!), I probably won't be at the office 'til late afternoon, if I go up at all.  This means I probably won't be starting new work 'til after the holiday.  I have plenty of old work to finish up, but I was hoping to have something new to throw myself into for the 5 day holiday break.  I know I already described how much everything shuts down, but what I didn't realize is that EVERYONE leaves town.  Everyone I had talked to in the past few days talked about the trips they were going on, and my supervisor told me today that most everyone is taking off the whole week at work. So anyhow, between this news that I was going to have a quiet week, and worrying about the cat (who is slightly better today, yay!), and feeling homesick for Pete ... I was pretty worried about what I was going to do to occupy myself not just 'til Monday morning, but also next weekend.

After being totally pathetic for a while (and having Pete call me on it - one of the reasons he's the best husband ever), I decided to try to make some plans for next weekend.  I e-mailed the girl I met last night (who will be out of town for some of the weekend, to see if she wanted to get together this or next week).  I e-mailed my Basque teacher from Chicago who is in town for the holiday to see if she might be available.  Then I e-mailed two other post-docs.  One of them is going out of town for the holiday - but said she'd like to hang out some time.  The other said she is going to be around and will be sure to include me in some of her plans - AND she invited me out for drinks tonight.  So, even though I'm a little bit sleepy, I think I'm going to go.  Hopefully, it'll be fun, and I won't go too crazy being alone next weekend!

Finally, I think I'm going to be in awesome shape with all the walking I'm doing.  I know I won't walk quite as much once I'm working more or less full time, but I've been walking over 5 miles a day, most of which is in hills.  I need to get a mat so I can add Pilates and yoga to that list and I'll be all set.  :)

I promise my posts will shift more toward life here and less about my whiny adjustment as the time goes on!  It's been really interesting to observe differences here in how things are done!

In San Sebastián

It probably would have been better to separate the whole "moving into a new place" part of this from the "traveling overseas and not sleeping for a whole day" part because I am exhausted and super emotional.  I got to my apartment building to find that the reception person (who presumably speaks some English) was not there and the only person available was a security guard who speaks mostly Basque, some Spanish, and zero English.  So she was trying to explain to me all sorts of things about my apartment, etc. but couldn't actually come to show it to me.

Instead I arrived to find a cute studio apartment with boxes of unopened cookware, sheets and towels that have been freshly laundered, a little terrace, a TV that is basically on the floor, a huge entertainment center, a couch that may pull out into a sleeper sofa (still to be determined), a DISHWASHER (hallelujah!!), and a fridge that took me a long time to figure out how to work. Also, I apparently will have free wireless access (possibly in the whole town?) once I get my residence card.  For now I'm stuck with a wired connection, meaning my iPad is not so much fun (until I figure out if it's possible to have a cellular connection here with the 3G feature).

What I do not have is toilet paper, hangers, or a trash can.  And I'm not totally sure where to buy such things.  Nor do I have any idea where to take garbage once I have a trash can.  Or where/how I get mail.  Or what the big phone on my wall with only four buttons (one of which has a cup of coffee/tea on it and one of which has a key on it).

I said this was going to be an adventure, right?  I'm doing a little unpacking and then it's time for some survival shopping for things I need (e.g., toilet paper, food for tonight/tomorrow morning).  I'm trying to prioritize by telling myself I don't need hangers immediately, but the stack of increasingly wrinkly clothing in my suitcases begs to differ.  I probably don't NEED a trash can today if I can get some plastic bags to put things in for now.  I might also do a little exploring.

In other news, Google Voice is awesome.  I made FREE phone calls from my computer to Pete and my parents, which was great and helped me calm down a lot from my initial panic walking in the apartment thinking "what the hell have I gotten myself into."  I still mostly think that, I've just dialed down the panic a bit.  I know I'm just overwhelmed (and exhausted) which makes all of this way crazier.

I'm hoping I can stay up for 5 or so hours today and go to bed at 9 (or later!) so I can be a normal human being tomorrow, since I'm probably going into the office at least for part of the day.