Madrid

September 6, 2016 – July 15, 2017 | It feels pretty amazing to be back in one of our favorite cities. Madrid will be home base for the next 10 months as we work as “auxiliares de conversación” (English teaching assistants) in local public schools. 

Welp, we did it!

We each packed up 4 bags, said “hasta luego!” to family and friends, hopped on a plane, and ended up in Madrid about 22 hours later. Upon arrival, we headed to our home for the next week or so, an AirBnB in Fuente del Berro neighborhood. Our host, Leo, was a lively Argentinean who works at a classy hair salon and spends much of his time traveling internationally with his wife, Silvia. He met us at the front door and gave us a quick tour of the piso (and the awesome garden courtyard pictured above), before heading to dinner with his mother-in-law.

Over the next several days, we bought groceries at the supermarket, went on a run through Fuente del Berro park, ate a glorious lunch at the home of Tim’s host mom, Carmen, searched for permanent lodging through Idealista, and planned a trip to Sevilla.

And guess what? Right before departing for Sevilla, we locked down an apartment! From starting the search to signing the reservation paperwork, the process took us about 6 days. This is somewhat of a wild time of year to search for apartments since many people are trying to secure accommodations for the new school year, so we were both excited and relieved to find a place that we liked a lot.

We found a two-bedroom piso (flat) situated within walking distance of both of our schools and just a short metro ride away from Retiro Park. As is common throughout Madrid, our residential area features several parks, supermarkets, chinos (Chinese dollar stores), restaurants, panaderías (bakeries), and an assortment of other shops.

We’re settling into our long-term stay in Madrid and look forward to sharing more stories with you as the weeks go by!

– J