I am in utter disbelief that I have been in Madrid for just over one week. On the one hand, it feels like I just arrived here on four hours of sleep, determined to defeat jet lag; on the other hand, it feels like I have been acclimating for weeks. For example, I have actually memorized a decent part of the area outside of my Airbnb! (This is unheard of!) Nevertheless, the fact that I am currently very ill from eating too many churros y porras con chocolate tells me that despite the knowledge I have acquired since arriving last Saturday, I still have a lot of growing to do, such as figuring out my churro limits. While I am so excited to continue learning more about Madrid, my school, and my peers, I am going to quickly recount what has been happening before I forget.

Housing Search

This went from being the most overwhelming task I had to handle to a complete non-issue in a span of literally two days. Since the fellow Fulbrighter with whom I wanted to find a piso (apartment) arrived in Madrid a few days before me, the morning of my flight we were exchanging some listings from Idealista that we wanted to tour so that we could hit the ground running once I arrived. (In general, you only want to reach out a day or two in advance because during this time of the year, rooms go quick.) Between that initial collaboration and some independent research, we scheduled five tours for Sunday and three for Monday. (Yes, five tours in one day is an ambitious endeavor, especially when you are looking at apartments across various neighborhoods.) After Sunday, we were not totally sold on any particular place, but made a ranked list just in case.

On Monday, after our first tour of the day, we fell in love and decided to be spontaneous: we cancelled our remaining two tours of the day and reserved our rooms! Reserving our rooms was the step before signing the contract, and required us to put down 50 euros each. The next morning, on Tuesday, we carefully read and signed our contratos (contracts). We sent in our fianza (deposit) and first month’s rent once we received our stipends from the Fulbright Spain Commission later that week. I have moved a few things in so far and will be completely moved in by the time orientation starts. I feel incredibly fortunate that we found a place so quickly. I hope it turns out to be an enjoyable living situation. Me and my fellow Fulbrighter friend take up two bedrooms in a seven bedroom piso, and we get one bathroom to ourselves.

Phone and Bank Account Set-Up

I had a relatively seamless experience with respect to both. Right when I arrived to my Airbnb on Saturday, I walked to a Vodafone store and purchased a prepaid SIM card. I bought a plan for 15 euros that gives 20GB of data per month. Verizon phones are automatically unlocked if you have had it for more than 60 days, so I did not need to worry about incompatibility. This took about 15 minutes total.

Since banks are closed on the weekend, I had to wait until Monday to go. Luckily, people who had arrived before me gave banking advice on the Madrid Fulbright WhatsApp group chat, so I came in to my appointment with all the necessary documentation. The banker who helped me was also incredibly on top of it, which was glorious. To set up a cuenta joven (youth account) with Santander, I needed my passport, proof of U.S. residency (I printed a bank statement before I left), 50 euros to establish the account, my grant authorization, and my carta de nombramiento (the piece of paper that tells you which school you will be working at). Even though there were no hiccups, the appointment lasted one hour. It was worth it though, because my banker taught me how to navigate the app, ATMs, and everything.

Friends and Food

I have met so many lovely people since arriving, and they have all definitely made the transition easier. I cannot wait to go on trips with them and grow alongside them in general. I will say, though, that as a consequence of every Fulbrighter being so lovely and impressive, I have to remind myself every night that I deserve to be here–I refuse to let imposter syndrome win. (While I have a repertoire of tactics, if you have any additional tips on combatting imposter syndrome, let me know in the comments below!)

The main way I have gotten to know people is over food. And boy, Spain has not failed me so far in the food department. Aside from churros con chocolate, I have had tortilla de patatas (Spanish potato omelet), morcilla de arroz (I misread the menu and thought it said morcilla con arroz, so when I got sausage with literal grains of rice inside of it, I was surprised to say the least), patatas bravas (crispy and spicy potatoes), croquetas (croquettes), champiñones al ajillo (garlic mushrooms), bacalao al tomate (cod in tomato sauce), gnocchi, ramen, and poke. I have also cooked a few meals with friends. I plan to get more and more adventurous with time (pulpo, anyone?).

Alone Time

Since I found a place to live within a few days, I have been able to chill out more than I was expecting to in my first week. While college brought me out of my shell a good bit, I will always be an introvert, so this has been much appreciated. The good thing about having so much alone time is that after a few hours, social media and streaming services get boring, and you start to actually think about what is happening around you. This blog post is the product of my desire to concretize my thoughts, and hopefully I will be able to balance shareable and personal content between blogging and journaling going forward. Fingers crossed I can stay dedicated to journaling once my grant officially starts in a handful of days…

That’s all for now; ¡hasta luego!

Note: views are my own and do not reflect those of The Fulbright Program or La Comisión Fulbright de España.