Spain

It's been about a week since orientation has gone by and about a week and a half since I've updated this blog. The main reason is that I've been running around like crazy looking for a place to live. With the advent of the internet, it's very easy to search for places to live. The problem is, however, that everyone has access to that information! So instead of five people looking at an apartment, sometimes 50 show up to look at one room. That makes you just one person on a list, a name without a face. It also doesn't help that I really want internet and really really really don't want to live with smokers. And in Spain, not smoking makes you the odd man out.

Let me give you some examples:
A bottom floor (in the US this would be the first floor except in Spain the first floor is the second floor) dormitory style apartment with smokers for 350 euros gastos no incluidos (expenses not included)
A nice roomy apartment with three French guys and one american but with 25 people on a list to get the last room.
A lovely apartment to be shared with a quiet twenty-something woman but no internet or guests and 425 euros a month.
Do you get the picture?

Nonetheless, I am persevering. Unlike others in my state, I at least have a great place to stay for the time being. In fact, I would even stay here except that my friends (Kerbin and Yerson) live so far from my job. The two times that I've been there it has taken me 1.5 hours and 2.5 hours, depending on the metro. And of course, in the process I have met a ton of people! In fact, it's been quite a great experience to see the inside of so many different buildings and explore different neighborhoods.

If you're interested in checking out the world of apartment hunting in Madrid, take a look at the following websites:
www.loquo.com(select shared flats)
www.segundamano.es(select inmobiliaria, then pisos compartidos)
www.craigslist.com(select Madrid)