Things Fall into Place!

In most of my previous posts I basically complained about how nothing is working out exactly the way I wanted, while recognizing the need to just chill and trust the universe to sort itself out in my favor. Looks like that has happened!

Lets go though a check-list:

• Program that pays me to be in Spain- Check!
• Furnished apartment- Check!
• Ticket to Madrid- Check!
• 3rd Roommate in the Apartment- Check!
• Visa back from the consulate- Check!

By this measure I am all set to move to Spain. I have my basic material and economic needs satisfied. I will have a place to live and a way to pay for it.

Now that I have pretty much solved for that set of needs I now spend my time having mini-panic attacks over the fact that I am moving to a new country. Usually these fits are prompted by an ad for a TV show or movie coming out after September 19th. When I hear them my gut reaction is "oh shit, that comes out once I'm in Madrid!" While the thought of being back in my favorite world capital thrills me, it is also terrifying.

Terrifying because I have some notion of what it is like to be separated from my friends and family for long periods of time. I went to university 3000 miles away from my hometown, which gave me the same mix of thrills and fears. I know what it is like not to see the people you want to see when you want to see them, I can deal with that (I hope!). I think the main difference between this time and all the other times I left home is the amount of communication. Lets face it people, constant calls home or texting funny things to friends are practically free from DC but ridiculously expensive from Madrid. Aside from cost, there is the 9 hour time difference between my apartment and my parents home in Oregon. Yes, thanks to the internet I can send emails and keep you updated with this blog, but there is a certain level of isolation that comes with crossing an ocean...

I'm sure this is the transatlantic version of cold feet, and once I touch down at Barajas Airport things will certainly look different. I'll probably end up having so much fun I won't have time to be homesick, at least that is what I am going to tell myself for now!

Mid-Month Update

We are now about a month away from my departure to Madrid. To be honest, it still does not feel real. I guess most of that has to do with the virtual nature of the process. I have all kinds of emails that tell me I will be moving to Spain, but I don't have a physical ticket or keys to an apartment or my passport back for that matter. Maybe when my passport comes back in the mail the reality will start to settle in....

I have sent my documents and passport to California, but I am way nervous about this. I am glad I don't have to pay the money to fly down to California. At the same time, I think I would have liked to have the appearance of control that comes with handing over my documents and talking to a real person. Oh well, I guess I just have to get over that.

The new battle in the process of moving to Spain is finding a 3rd person to live with Melanie and me. I've placed ads with a Yahoo group for Auxiliares in Madrid and as a discussion topic on a Facebook group for us. From this 5 people have responded so far, but it seems that everyday more people pop up. Sadly, while there is a ton of interest in the place, I don't know how to pick someone.

How much can you learn about a person from a few paragraphs of email? I would like to meet people and really get to know them, but it would be silly/near impossible. I would love for one of them to come with some kind of chorus of angels singing how they would make the perfect roommate... somehow i doubt that it going to happen. For now Melanie and I are taking in all the information and trying to sift through it.


I think this decision feels much more important than it should because we found this apartment through MariCarmen. Since she is so amazing to us I want to find someone I can trust not to destroy the place. I would just feel awful if Melanie and I chose the wrong person and they damaged something. We don't have to pay a deposit because MC knows us, and I want to make sure everything in the apartment stays well maintained so that it doesn't reflect poorly on her.

It is starting to seem that I end every post with this, but it will all work out and I will move to Spain.

Plane Tickets

I am now the proud owner of one round-trip, economy class ticket to Madrid, Spain.

Thursday my mom and I went online and finally bought my ticket to Spain. I leave the States on September 18th and arrive in Madrid the 19th.

This makes me nervous, because I haven't applied for a visa yet. I'm still waiting on the "certificate of good health" from my doctor on the East Coast. I asked her a few weeks ago to send one, and she said it was sent with the results of the blood tests I had done. Sadly, it was not in that envelope and I had to request it, again. That was about 5 days ago. I am still waiting...

Like all the other waiting I have done in the past months, the only thing I can do to make myself feel any better is think "it will work out... I am moving to Spain!"