One Loco Beginning

      Well folks, I created this blog to recount my adventures for you all and sort of keep something for the future as well. Also, maybe this will help any of you that are reading this and will be an assistant next year. Anywho, I suppose I might as well dive right into it and start from the beginning.

--Disclaimer, this first post covers a lot so it is a little bit long.--

      Anyways, the whole process of actually getting to Spain has been quite the ordeal. After about a half-year application process full of background checks, doctor's notes, recommendations, and trips to the Chicago Consulate of Spain, I was ready to go to Seville. However, it would seem that Seville was not ready for me. I boarded the plane, which was echoing with elevator music, and found my seat. After about an hour wait because of problems with the "lavatory," we got onto the runway. Comically, right before the plane was about to take off, the elevator music turned back on with a dramatic piano piece. As moving as the music was though, there was another problem with the airplane and we began to head back to the gate. After sitting on our intended flight from Boston to Madrid for almost 3 hours, we were escorted off the plane for about another 2-3 hours in the Airport. It turns out that there was a problem with the plane that could not be fixed in time to take us to Spain that night, so we all ended up being sent to a hotel about 45 minutes away with taxi cabs because no buses were available at that time in the night/morning. Of course, food, transportation and stay were on the airline's tab.

      Not only was it a hotel though, but it was a water-park hotel! Exciting right? Well, the water-park just happened to be closed until about a day after we were there...Anyways, it was a nice hotel and it actually turned out to be a cool experience. I met about 10-15 other people who were doing the same program, or something similar to it, that were located all throughout Spain. So I spent most of the time at the hotel with them and met some cool people. Additionally, I got a chance to surf the internet and look at some prospective homes/pisos that I would live in. This being said, I sent a particular e-mail the next morning and received a speedy reply that it was still available. After e-mailing back and forth at the hotel and later at the airport, I found out that he was working around the time that I was arriving in Seville. Luckily though, upon checking my e-mail when I arrived at the next airport in Madrid, the owner told me that his roommate would be available and I could still come over after my flight.

 

       This was great news to me, and I formulated the plan of arriving at the airport of Seville, getting his address, then looking at the piso. I thought that there would be coffee shops or likewise in the city of Seville where I could get internet and look up other pisos if this one didn't work out. So when I arrived, I got the address of the first piso, boarded the bus, and took a taxi there with all my stuff from the airport.
      This is where things began to get fun...With the terrible exchange rate at airports, I figured I would just mostly use my credit card. I didn't quite think about how buses and taxis aren't going to accept credit cards though. Luckily, my sister Colleen gave me some Euro for my Birthday and my friend Greg also gave me some of his Euro coins from his piggy bank, because I think both me and the taxi driver didn't think I was going to scrap up enough money when we arrived at the piso. Regardless, I had enough, and I had a good feeling about this piso. So the taxi driver drove off, and I walked up to the main door to push the button for 1A...but there was no reply.
      I was about a half hour late due to the bus and taxi situation, but I figured that the roommate was still there; so I kept pushing the button. After 10 minutes, I admitted defeat. Sort of. When somebody was walking by, I asked them where the nearest public telephone was. After walking away, my desperation sort of led me to turn around and follow him into the building. After lugging both of my suitcases that were at least 60 lbs each up a flight of stairs, I knocked on the door. No reply again. But to make matters worse, I tried to leave the building afterward and the main door would not open from the inside. So I basically went from being locked out, to being locked in lol. Not knowing what to do, I waited around for a little bit, then knocked on the two doors on the main floor. One of the ladies showed me that there is a button you have to press before leaving. Feeling like a fool, I scooted my suitcases through the door and began walking in whatever direction.
     I found a public telephone, but since I didn't really plan on nobody being there, and because of the brief messages I was having with the owner in-between different airports, I had not written his phone number down. All over the phone structure was people who were renting out apartments though. With the few coins I had, I kept trying to use my credit card in the credit card slot with no luck. All the while, everybody passing by was staring at me with all my luggage on the corner of this street. Even better, there was a vendor roasting chestnuts over an open fire right next to me watching me the whole time...and that is completely true lol. So I went through all my coinage calling people, found an atm to get some more, and eventually ran out of numbers to call. I asked Mr. Chestnut where the closest place to find internet service was, and it wasn't looking good. So I kept walking aimlessly, looking for more advertisements for pisos. About 2 miles later, the only thing I received was two arms that were about to fall off and a bunch of strange looks. With the little luck I was having in the area, I decided it was time to switch location, so I hopped on a bus. I broke some of the money I got out of the atm, and headed toward a more central location of seville.

      After seeing an advertisement for a piso around there for 600 euro a month, I threw in the towel and figured I just needed to get a hotel/hostel. I got directions to an area with cheaper hotels and began heading down more cobblestone with my luggage. By now, it was about 6:30 p.m. and it felt like almost everybody in Seville had seen/stared at me lugging around these huge suitcases down the skinny sidewalks. Then this one guy stopped me and told me that he knew of a place to stay for cheap. I didn't really like the situation, but I knew there was no immediate danger because all of the people around us. After following him for a bit, we ended up at this alleyway between the buildings where a few people where heading down. At this point I was like, dude, I've seen the movie "Taken," I'm not heading down there with you. So I said no gracias, and continued on to look for hotels.
      Being that it was after noon  o' clock my time (the 22nd) with no real sleep since the night of the 20th, I was starting to freak out a little bit. Especially, since the 5 or 6 hotels/hostels that I visited were all completely booked, and the 2 hotels that were open were each the equivalent of about $200.00 for one night. It seems that the hostel that the one guy was trying to take me to was a legitimate hostel (and not a people-taking business) because a few people told me to try and see if they had availability, but I didn't really feel like talking to that guy again so I continued on. This is when things started looking up though. After I walked out of another hostel that was full, a taxi driver sitting in the street told me that he was pretty sure that there is room in a hostel that I just passed and didn't even see. So I went, and sure enough there was availability. I had to rent out a double with no bathroom since that was the only thing available, but I was easily game for that $40.00 over $200.00 at the other hotels. After being able to drop my bags and know that I had a place to sleep, I was able to open my eyes and see how nice Sevilla really is.

 

 

 

 

  

 

      I walked out onto to the streets after joking around with the owner and taxi driver and thought to myself, I guess this day really isn't that bad. I had internet service there so I found another piso, called them with my new cheap prepaid cellphone, and headed off with my hand drawn map. This place was a little cheaper, so I was excited. But after seeing it I knew I wasn't going to live there. The tenants were kids in school that were a bit younger than me, learning English, and pretty cool. Ironically though, their advertisement stated that they only like to go to a few parties but not that often; which I sort of thought meant that they didn't really party at all. After touring the house though, I realized that they had some plants on the balcony. I didn't think too much of it since marijuana seemed pretty legal in the part of Spain where I studied abroad a few years ago with people smoking in the bar and all; but after asking them about the laws and everything, it didn't seem quite legal at all. And furthermore, one of them said that he didn't really think it will ever be legal in Spain. So I was sort of like, hmmm yeaaahh, I don't really know the laws here and I've seen the t.v. show locked up abroad. So I walked home and got a great deal on a cheeseburger, fries, and beer combo for dinner.

      I returned to the hotel/hostel and got onto the internet, planning to talk to my girlfriend Amanda in about an hour. I saw that I received an e-mail from the original piso that I went to, apologizing for the mix-up. He gave me his number and we planned on meeting up sometime the next day. So I was excited that I could go see it the next morning, and began surfing my Facebook.

      I opened my eyes, and did not know where I was.

      It was sort of like when you spend the night in somebody else's house, but amplified by 10 because of the extreme unfamiliarity of the room's set up and decor. I saw my computer next to me and the light above shining bright, and realized then that I had fallen asleep. I quick brushed my teeth (shout-out to my sister who is becoming a dentist), wrote an apology to Amanda on Facebook, then went back to bed.

      The next morning, I had set my alarm early so I could wake up and look at more pisos online (this time I was going to remember to write all the phone numbers down, especially since I had a phone). Little did I know, the internet was not going to work in the morning, and I didn't even write the original piso's number down because I read the e-mail right before falling asleep. Dangit!! I did remember how to get back to it though, so I figured I would just try to go there again without calling. The receptionist let me keep the bags there, thank goodness, and I continued on. As though it were deja vu, I rang the door bell again once I had arrived and still, there was no answer.

      After leaving and deciding that I was going to take the bus back to the airport (the only place I knew I could get internet), I heard a yell from behind me about 2 blocks from the piso. It ended up being Andres, the guy I had been talking to through e-mail. As far as my first desire in what I was looking for in a piso, to have nice roommates, this guy made the cut. He was super nice and we walked up to the piso as he explained that the buzzer isn't very loud. I walked in and met the second roommate, who was also very nice, and looked around the piso. It was perfect. Two cool Spanish roommates, a room with space for all my stuff, a great price, and a pool as an added bonus! At that moment I think there were sort of surprised at my quick decision, but I basically said I'll take it. To make matters better, I didn't even realize how cool my one roommate was. Not only is he literally one of the best guitar players I personally have ever met, but he likes Dave Matthews Band and actually a lot of other American bands that I know about that aren't necessarily main stream. Additionally, my other roommate helped me out so much with his car to go get my suitcases so I didn't have to drag them another few miles and on and off a bus again. It was cool talking to him on the way there. He was talking about how he lived in Ireland and knows how it is to be in another country, so he was glad to help out.

 

 

      Oh yeah by the way, having drove a moped in the United States for a little bit, the thought sort of crossed my mind for a hot second about buying one here, as opposed to paying the train cost, when somebody was joking about it in the U.S.. Honestly though, even if I would have gotten the international driving permit or whatever you need, I do not think I would be brave enough to drive around here. It is crazy! And with all of the mopeds, I can't believe I haven't seen an accident yet. Also, I saw the craziest moped today with a roof extending from the back to the front with a windshield and everything. I wish I would have taken a picture but I didn't have the chance. I'll be on the look out for it though and post it if I find it again.
     To wrap things up, I basically moved everything in, payed some bills online, then went out and took some pictures for you guys to put some images to the story. I Stopped by the grocery store to get some supplies for grilled cheese and ran into Mr. Chestnut on the way home. Needless to say I had to buy some. There not too bad, a little bit dry for my liking though. I continued on home, cooked a couple of grilled cheeses, and here I sit. Hope you aren't sleeping by the time you get to this sentence since it was so long, I just had so much to pack in. Until the next post, hasta luego.

-Jimmy