Madrid
Chocolate Con Churros Anyone?
Somewhere between babysitting kids on Park Ave and finishing a dissertation in Public Health, Priya and I decided it was time to ditch the regular for a something a little more adventurous. We weren’t sure what to do but after a lot of research we stumbled upon the Ministry of Education in Spain and their English teaching Assistant position. Priya was hesitant at first but once she finally got on board, our adventure began. We were both accepted into the program and we would be teaching at 2 different schools in Spain. Priya taught at a high school and a trade school for wine and cheese making. While I taught in two schools in Parla which is a province 20 minutes away from Madrid’s city center. Between teaching, traveling, and living together we had a crazy exciting year.
Peak
We arrived in Madrid with some extra time to get settled and explore our new home. After locking down our apartment and making a couple trips to Ikea, we felt really accomplished. The only thing missing was wifi, but who needs wifi when there are so many opportunities to get lost in a new city. We found our nearest train station, looked at a map, and chose a destination! This became our ritual, from Toledo to Barcelona to Dublin and Paris. Each city bringing a new adventure full of peaks, valleys, and appreciations. While traveling near and far was always fun, we also took the time to enjoy Madrid – we would use our days off to go to different parks, museums and neighborhoods. There is so much to see and do in this city and even though we had 10 months, it never seemed like enough time.
Valley
We were faced with the difficulty of trying to find an apartment in a foreign country. We weren’t familiar with rent prices or the cityscape. We carried our 6 suitcases up hills, on trains, and across cobblestone roads bouncing from hostel to motel, hoping that our new home was around the corner. We had a notebook of possibilities that we researched online, but everything we visited was very small, overpriced or just not up to Priya’s standards.
Eventually we saw an apartment that we absolutely loved! A cozy one bedroom on the top floor of a building with a lovely landlord. We expressed our interest, but he was hesitant because he wanted a long term tenant. We were disappointed but a day later we received a call that he reconsidered! The excitement was hard to contain as we danced around the room of our hostel. The wait was over ! We finally had a place to call home !
Appreciation
Our time in Madrid would have been nothing without the amazing friends, teachers and students that we met on this journey. Madrid went from a city on a map to a place that we could call home. Through them, we learned about Spain’s rich history and culture, perfected our Spanish, and indulged in traditional foods while sipping on glasses of Rioja. It is an experience we will never forget and we do our best to keep in touch through emails, whatsapp and instagram, but we know there will be many visits in the future. Gotta relive the golden days!
El que no sabe gozar de la ventura cuando le viene, no debe quejarse si se pasa.
He who doesn’t know how to enjoy good fortune when it comes shouldn’t complain when it passes him by.
-Miguel de Cervantes
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