Hey, ya’ll–don’t worry, I haven’t died, it’s just that things have been CRAZY this week, what with me moving to Spain and all!!…I am happy to say that I now find myself in the marvelous city of Zaragoza–though, admittedly, the way here was less-than-marvelous…
After a spending that weekend splurging on items to take along with me for my year-long adventure, I (and my Mother) managed to somehow pack my life away and keep it under the 50-lb. British Airways checked bag limit (natch!)…With that accomplished, I was all but ready to trek out to the Raleigh-Durham Airport that Sunday morning!!…
Thing is, I still had one thing to do, which was print out the bus ticket that would take me from Barajas to Delicias…That in itself was no problem–I got the job done right at Office Depot…But, 2/3rd of the way to the airport, I began to realize that something was wrong, something was missing–my cellphone, to be exact…
Yeah, apparently, while I was lost in thoughts/musings of my future life on the Iberian, I had accidentally left my beloved Galaxy at Office Depot…Thankfully, my Dad managed to get the # of that particular store, and one of the employees there retrieved it for me and allowed my parents to pick it up for me later, but because I only had an hour and some change before the flight, we couldn’t just turn back and get it then, so now I must wait to receive the package that holds my beloved 4G device!!…This also explains for the lack of pictures on my social media, because my phone is essentially my camera–and you know that I would have taken plenty of pics of my new city by now [Le Sigh]!!…
After saying goodbye to the folks, I boarded the flight from RDU to J.F.K., which wasn’t so bad (except for the extremely irritating group of brats who were flying with us)…However, the flight from J.F.K. went off to a rough start, considering that we were all on the tarmac for 1 hr 40 min….
Yeah, apparently somebody ended up not being able to fly with us, so the cargo people had to spend all that time removing their luggage from the bottom of the plane…All of this made us arrive to Barajas an hour late…
Speaking of Barajas, never use a suitcase with a short pulling-thing as your check bag kids, for it will be quite difficult to try to place your carry on on such a bag and try to lug everything through the airport (#LessonsLearned)…
Where was I???…Oh, yeah!!…So, I eventually made it to the bus and spent an uneventful 3 1/2 hours sleeping my way to ZGZ…Only, when I arrived, I didn’t see my tutora (mentor from the school) María José, who was supposed to meet me at the bus station when I got there…Well, it turns out, she wasn’t allowed to wait for me at the platform (plus, I had no idea what she looked like), so naturally, some confusion was to take place!!…
After about an hour of searching, waiting, and bursting into shedding tears of frustration, I asked Esmeralda, the nice lady at the desk, if there was any way to make some sort of announcement over the P.A. system…She said no, but asked if I had her address written down, which I did…Apparently, it must have slipped my mind that I had also written down María José’s #, and with that, Esmeralda managed to reach her and her husband (Ramón) and they picked me up and whisked me off to their apartment, where they’ve been kind enough to allow me to stay while I search for more permanent lodgings, :)…
I’m not going to lie, things are still a little stressful for me here, what with piso-hunting and trying to find out just where exactly in the city my phone is…The point is that, even when things seem to be really bad, and you don’t know if you’ll ever get where you’re supposed to be, because, eventually…
So, my fellow auxiliares/n00b expats–has your transition also been less-than-smooth/ideal???…
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The Pumpkin's Head 
U know evey thing IS alright,,,,,Never 4get WHO your HEAD is and WHOs IN CHARGE,,,Because U serve an ALSOME GOD!!!!!!!
…Thanks, Mommy!!…
Oh such stress! Good luck for the apartment hunt 🙂
…Thank you, dear, :-D!!…
When I moved to Spain 4 years ago for a study abroad, I left my passport on my printer at home so that I missed my flight and had to get on a different one (I didn’t notice its absence until I was 15 min from the airport). In the chaos that ensued, I left my newly purchased 100$ international phone in the car (I was a n00b for even buying one…). As if things could not get any worse, I then somehow managed to lose my wallet in the Barajas airport while waiting for my flight to Seville. So I spent my first 3 days in my new city trying to skype my bank in some plaza with terrible wifi (remember, no phone, no money!) to get a new debit card while all of my friends were off buying cute clothes at the rebajas. I feel your pain!
…Oh, WOW…But, I mean, everything turned out good for you, right???…
Oh, yes of course! It was a great lesson in keeping my wits about me and staying cool under pressure. My bank was actually fantastic and sent me a card in 48 hours to my address in Spain. Very impressive. And not having a phone was ok because I just bought a mega cheap one at Phone House with the sim card and some saldo for about 15 euros I think. So if you’re really pressed for communication you could just splurge and get one of those for now!
…True that, true that!!…Thanks, Blayne, :-)…
Omg – I thought i was the only one… Currently I’m in Madrid and just spent all day piso-hunting in Toledo where they assigned me. Problem is, I’m teaching at a school 20min away. The town is much smaller with less things to do but so much more convenient for me… I’ve found two pisos that are great! One in the town i’m teaching in and one in Toledo (which i’m now head over heels in love with). So, I’m ranting a bit because I feel like fellow auxiliaries will understand me. I have until tonight – or a few hours ago – to decide which piso I want because my dad is dropping all of my things off tomorrow. Currently, i’m in a state of panic and anxiety because I don’t know which decision to make. HELP. CRYING. I UNDERSTAND YOUR PAIN.
…Don’t worry–things will turn out FINE, dear!!…
I had to laugh at this, not least because it reminded me of my own moving abroad mishaps. Four years ago, I was sitting on a plane to Portugal ready for my first academic year abroad. I was totally congratulating myself on having packed everything I needed to… and then it dawned on me that I’d forgotten to pack any adaptor plugs. (Quick! Turn the plane around!) Which meant that I couldn’t charge my phone, my laptop or my camera. And I couldn’t use my hair-dryer or hair straighteners.
FYI finding adaptor plugs for the country you’re in is near-on impossible. I ended up shelling out around €110 (US$140) on new leads with European plugs attached for my phone, laptop and camera. I couldn’t use my hair stuff till a friend came up two months later and brought an adaptor plug over from the UK!
Hope the apartment hunt goes well, and that you get your phone back ASAP. If by chance any auxiliares in Madrid do the same thing, let me know cos I have a couple of spare handsets.
…Thanks, Briona!!…
You wouldn’t have awesome stories if it were easy! I literally toppled over because of my overpacked bags, and I love to tell it!
…Hahaha–you’re right!!…Thanks, Cat, :-)…
You’re moving to Spain? that’s so cool! When we decided to move to Ireland in 2007 everything went very smoothly with selling the house etc, but a few days before departure I got the flu. I had high fevers, fatigue and cough and wasn’t able to do anything to prepare, it’s a wonder I could pack my bag! And when we came over, we stayed in a hostel for a few days that was cold as freak, without heating….I remember we went to the cinema to defrost. 🙂
I also remember walking to a job interview at the other side of town, with a cough, and it was raining mad. I was soaked when I got there, and on the way back I actually bought new clothes and got changed in a (warm) pub. So…. the move wasn’t really smooth. But after we got organised we had a good time, most of it anyway.
…Wow–that sounds ROUGH!!…I hope everything else went O.K.!!…
It wouldn’t be an adventure without these setbacks! Sounds like you’ve survived them well, though, and I’m sure good things lie ahead!
…Thanks, Kirstie!!…
Oh gosh, it sounds like you had quite the ordeal! What a relief that the staff members found your phone and you are able to get it sent to you, although I can only imagine how much stress that added to your journey!
…Most def!!…
I had a view from Zaragoza and got WAY majorly excited for you!! ‘she’s there! she’s there!’ ha what an adventurous week – I mean, you had to lose your phone….because it wasn’t crazy enough for you! heh have fun exploring!!
…Hahaha–thanks, Annie!!…
OMG. No cellphone?! I would have died. Congrats on the move! Excitinggg!!!
…It’s all good, now–I’ve got my baby back!!!!…
Thanks, Alexandra!!…
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Glad you made it 🙂 The only way is up?
Love the inserts!
…Thank you, Jo–it HAS gotten better, :-)!!…
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