WARNING: This post is slightly sappy, sorry.
It was bound to happen sometime...
Upon rereading most of my blog entries it occurred to me that I forgot to talk about one of the most important people in my journey to Spain, MariCarmen. I can honestly say that her enthusiasm towards my semester abroad directly influenced me to apply to this Auxiliares program. She constantly reminded us one of the most important things we have in life is our proverbial box of memories, and encouraged us to fill that box with only the best. I never thought I'd move to a new country, I always saw myself as a traveler. But when I looked back on the memories I had collected from a little over 3 months in Spain I couldn't pass up the chance to triple them.
Along with her duties as the director of all of American University's Spain programs, MariCarmen helps the surprising number of AU students who couldn't get enough Spain while in school and now are finding ways to go back. So far MC has helped Melanie and me secure an apartment but she closed her email with, "I can't wait to give you and Melanie a very big hug. Please let me know if you need anything else." I know she means both parts, and a thought like that is super comforting when I start to think, "Holy Shit, I'm actually moving to Spain! WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!!!?"
MariCarmen is the nicest person alive. Nice is not really a good word for her, there really aren't any words to describe MariCarmen. In reality, "nice" is how people describe someone they don't really know, but don't particularly hate. In this case, nice is general enough to cover the range of MariCarmen's fabulousness. If you are a reader who has never been on an American University abroad program with MariCarmen you probably won't get just how fantastic she is, sorry.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Documentos!
Finally I have received some kind of documents from Madrid. Yes, they are PDFs and count for nothing when trying to fill out a visa application, but at least I now have some information!
First, dates. There is some sort of orientation from September 23rd to the 30th. I guess that means I'll be leaving sometime between the 15th and the 22nd. More to come on that front... Additionally, the documents say that my commitment to the school goes from October 1st to June 30th. I'm not sure how solid that 30th thing is since Jen's friend Molly was back in the states around the 20th when we had lunch in Brooklyn....
Second, the school. I have been placed in what would be the equivalent of an elementary school. Lord help me (or them?). For those of you who don't know, I spent two summers as a day camp counselor at a camp that served kids out of 1st grade through out of 6th grade. Lets just say there was a reason I requested to have the 5th/6th grade group. I just don't get small children, let alone little Spanish ones. I hope it goes alright, I mean what is the worst I could do? Curse at them in English? They wouldn't know the difference, would they?
After I found out where my school is located I looked up on the Spanish public transportation system how to get there and it looks like it should only take 45 minutes, which is much better than the hour and half horror stories I've heard about. I know if I looked around I could find a room for rent super close to my school, but I'd rather go with the place that is furnished and comes with an awesome roommate.
Along with getting these documents from Madrid, I have started the quest of collecting all the documents I need for my Visa. You might notice the addition of a "Cost of Getting a Spanish Visa" box on the left there. I added this because I'm a little astonished at how many incidental costs there are with getting this visa. I know it seems like $10 here and $7 there, but they start to add up! But I guess it will be worth it in the end, for I will be living in Spain and I love Spain.
First, dates. There is some sort of orientation from September 23rd to the 30th. I guess that means I'll be leaving sometime between the 15th and the 22nd. More to come on that front... Additionally, the documents say that my commitment to the school goes from October 1st to June 30th. I'm not sure how solid that 30th thing is since Jen's friend Molly was back in the states around the 20th when we had lunch in Brooklyn....
Second, the school. I have been placed in what would be the equivalent of an elementary school. Lord help me (or them?). For those of you who don't know, I spent two summers as a day camp counselor at a camp that served kids out of 1st grade through out of 6th grade. Lets just say there was a reason I requested to have the 5th/6th grade group. I just don't get small children, let alone little Spanish ones. I hope it goes alright, I mean what is the worst I could do? Curse at them in English? They wouldn't know the difference, would they?
After I found out where my school is located I looked up on the Spanish public transportation system how to get there and it looks like it should only take 45 minutes, which is much better than the hour and half horror stories I've heard about. I know if I looked around I could find a room for rent super close to my school, but I'd rather go with the place that is furnished and comes with an awesome roommate.
Along with getting these documents from Madrid, I have started the quest of collecting all the documents I need for my Visa. You might notice the addition of a "Cost of Getting a Spanish Visa" box on the left there. I added this because I'm a little astonished at how many incidental costs there are with getting this visa. I know it seems like $10 here and $7 there, but they start to add up! But I guess it will be worth it in the end, for I will be living in Spain and I love Spain.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Organized Chaos
It seems that moving to Spain has turned into what I like to call organized chaos. Things are happening, some at a frantic pace others at a glacial pace. Some things are going really easily, while others couldn't be more difficult...
A friend who will also be in Madrid with the Auxiliares program has found an apartment through the mother of one of the program staff from our Fall '06 semester in Spain. She has also found a second apartment and offered myself and another friend the inside scoop on it. This place is in a good neighborhood, comes fully furnished down to towels and dishes and is a reasonable price. Looks like housing is falling into place.
I am still waiting on those documents from the autonomous community so that I can start the visa application. Even without the documents, I decided to go ahead and make an appointment with the Spanish Consulate in San Francisco about getting a visa. When i got to the website the first available appointment was August 18th. Lets think back to last time, and how my visa for my semester abroad arrived less than 36 hours before i took off for Spain, and that was after 6 or 7 weeks of processing time. I don't know if August 18th is enough time, but I guess it will have to be.
I also need to by airfare, as the prices just go up and up and up the closer I get to the September. I don't know what date I need to be in Spain by, that information is in these mysterious documents I'm told should be arriving soon... grrr.
I emailed the people who wrote to tell us that we would be getting documents soon to ask for things like dates and assignment info so that I could start planning. I'm still waiting on a reply. At this point, I don't hold my breath when it comes to communication from Spain...
A friend who will also be in Madrid with the Auxiliares program has found an apartment through the mother of one of the program staff from our Fall '06 semester in Spain. She has also found a second apartment and offered myself and another friend the inside scoop on it. This place is in a good neighborhood, comes fully furnished down to towels and dishes and is a reasonable price. Looks like housing is falling into place.
I am still waiting on those documents from the autonomous community so that I can start the visa application. Even without the documents, I decided to go ahead and make an appointment with the Spanish Consulate in San Francisco about getting a visa. When i got to the website the first available appointment was August 18th. Lets think back to last time, and how my visa for my semester abroad arrived less than 36 hours before i took off for Spain, and that was after 6 or 7 weeks of processing time. I don't know if August 18th is enough time, but I guess it will have to be.
I also need to by airfare, as the prices just go up and up and up the closer I get to the September. I don't know what date I need to be in Spain by, that information is in these mysterious documents I'm told should be arriving soon... grrr.
I emailed the people who wrote to tell us that we would be getting documents soon to ask for things like dates and assignment info so that I could start planning. I'm still waiting on a reply. At this point, I don't hold my breath when it comes to communication from Spain...
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