Home Time

So, I’m sitting in Barajas Airport finally flying home after 6 months in Madrid. At times it definitely dragged but the last few weeks have flown by, mainly due to the need to submit my year abroad essays before I start work in London on Monday. It has been a bit of a slog to say the least. 

My last night didn't end in the best way, although the company and copious amounts of pizza made up for it!

My time in Madrid has definitely had its ups and downs, but overall it's been a great experience; the total opposite of Brazil in so many ways but just as valuable, if maybe not as enjoyable. The first month was tough, I felt pretty miserable after having spent just a week at home and still missing my life in Brazil a lot. It didn't help not being able to find anywhere decent to live and then having 3 jobs fall through, but luckily things only got better thereafter. 

I was so lucky to have my best friends in Madrid with me too!!

The Spanish education system does not rank well and the schools at which I worked as a language assistant definitely reinforced this. One of them, in particular, did not have a good reputation; it was situated in one of the city's most deprived areas and had an exam pass rate of just 30% (almost 10% below the Madrid average). However it wasn't the children who ever caused me problems. Sure they were difficult sometimes, I had a few pens chucked at me (more to see how I would react than out of hatred I hope!) and a brawl did break out in one class a few weeks ago which was an interesting experience, but ultimately children are children, I loved being with them and found them extremely welcoming. I often found myself siding with them and not the teachers, probably because I was only 3 years older than the top year students.

I was so lucky to have the best housemates!

It was actually the teachers and the school itself that I found the hardest to deal with. The standard of teaching was worse than I could have possibly imagined and made me realise just how lucky I was with my education. The majority seemed to simply have given up and couldn’t care less about anything. The school itself was a dump, no money for anything, no electronic boards, internet that never worked, no decorations in the classrooms, rusty desks and graffiti everywhere. I could go on and on, it just annoyed me so much that the very children that need all the help they can get in life are being failed by the state.

Favourite brunch destination with Greta

Rozzy and Olivia 

Although I found the job tough, it did mean that I focused on finding things that I enjoyed doing in my spare time, especially as I didn't get to speak as much Spanish as I would have wanted to at work. I joined a running club, took Spanish classes three times a week, taught private english classes to little kids twice a week, joined a great gym and found a Brazilian exchange to keep up my Portuguese. Let's just say it took my mind of things and meant that I definitely never got bored! 

An early start for the Madrid 10K

It was so sad saying goodbye to my favourite private class

Anyway, after almost a year away I am definitely ready to come home, even if it's only for a day!

Is it ever not a bank holiday?

My reward for one full week's work since the easter break has been 2 puentes in a row and I have another one in 2 weeks time, it's a tough life. Thursday was national worker's day (so naturally this meant no work!), yesterday (friday) was 'national day of the community', and in 2 weeks it will be the San Isidro holiday (the patron saint of Madrid). I also had a day off on Tuesday as all my classes had a national exam and then on Wednesday I left early as my last class was on a trip! I have had a lot more free time than usual... 

I ran the Madrid 10k! 

No idea what the capes were for, but I put mine on and looked like an idiot with everyone else!

Obviously I am not complaining about this but it has made me think that it really doesn't do much good for the economy (shops are constantly shut which is a pain) or for children's education. I also feel like the more bank holidays you have the more you need them, my four day week this week is going to be a struggle I feel! Copious amounts of spare time should mean I am getting a lot of work done but obviously this is not the case; the more time I have the less productive I seem to get. I have now had my second year abroad essay title 'approved', great news, apart from the fact it means I now need to write it...

Everything is seriously quiet in the flat, my Spanish flatmates are down south at their parents like usual and my Belgian flatmate left today for Uganda to do her microfinance dissertation research, very jealous! Yesterday I went to the mountains to visit the family I used to au pair for in the summer when I was 18 and 19. I had a great day spent playing lots of football and badminton with the children, a mountain walk and my first BBQ in Spain, it was so nice to catch up with all their news and see how much the children had grown up. Tomorrow I will be heading back to the mountains with a friend for some hiking, for me something that definitely makes up for Madrid not being near a beach. 

Sarah and Bruno 2011, aged 2 and a half and 6

Sara, Bruno and I yesterday... I feel old!

Scenic bus journey back to Madrid, heading back to the mountains again on Sunday

Easter Down South

After a very busy few weeks juggling the job, the annoying year abroad essays and receiving guests, I am enjoying a week's holiday in Andalusia.

Mama Framboise Tea with the mother and Lucinda

I have travelled a lot around Spain; Galicia and the Basque country in the north, Barcelona and the Balearic Islands in the east and Salamanca in the west, but I have never made it down south. My flatmates are from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a small town near Jerez in the heart of Andalusia, so it seemed the right time to visit this part of the country, a region so different from the affluent north and cosmopolitan Madrid. It's also the first time I am travelling alone. This was met with a few strange looks when I told my flatmates; it seems that doing anything alone just isn't normal in Spain, from eating at restaurants to going shopping, everything is in groups. Obviously I would have preferred to go with someone else but my English friends have gone home for easter and it means I get to be selfish and visit exactly where I want. I have booked sociable-looking hostels so hopefully I will meet people! 

On Friday afternoon, once my flatmate had finished work, we piled into the car and began the journey to Seville. 6 hours later we arrived, dropped off one of my flatmates to meet a friend and collected another's dress for the Feria de Abril in a few weeks time. We then continued to my flatmates' parents house in Sanlúcar. The apartment was beautiful and right on the beach. After a delicious supper of salad and seafood we had a much needed early night(by Spanish standards).

I spent yesterday with my tourguides, flatmate Blanca and her boyfriend Carlos. Their tour was amazing, especially as it involved stopping for a Manzanilla(the traditional sherry wine made in Sanlúcar) at every site! In the evening we watched the first of the traditional easter parades that the south of Spain is so famous for, something I feel I am going to be seeing a lot of in the next week!

Blanca and I visiting the beautiful Palacio Posada

Palacio Duques de Medina Sidonia

Solear Manzanilla Sherry

Today, after a quick walk on the beach and goodbyes to my flatmates and their parents, I took the train to Cádiz where I am staying for the next few nights. 

More easter parades in Cádiz

South American art centre, Brazilian painting paying 'Homenagem a Santos Dumont'.

This artist's exhibition didn't grab me as much, all of his paintings were like this one!

Sunset beach run

Seeing the benefits

As I said before I have found it more difficult than I thought it would be settling in here. My lifestyle in Brazil was some kind of dream and I definitely had to come down to earth with a bump. 

However little by little I am seeing more and more positives to living here in Madrid. These are just a few of them...

1. Transport. Public transport that actually works. I have quite a long commute to work each morning. In Brazil this would have been exceedingly unpleasant, the buses were useless and the metro was often so packed that you had to elbow people to get off. The buses here are on time, never full and even have wifi. I can read my book or check the news quite happily with a coffee in hand and before I know it I have arrived at work. 

2. The food. Supermarket food especially is so much cheaper than it was in SP and generally much better quality. I am enjoying being adventurous with my cooking again, something I definitely missed in Brazil. 

3. The shopping. One thing I missed a lot in Brazil was high street shopping. Mainly due to security, shopping takes place within the confines of the shopping centre. I am not a fan of shopping centres, they rarely have any personality and always have the same shops. I love visiting the small shops in my neighbourhood in Madrid and then stopping for a coffee before strolling back home.

4. Visitors. Lastly and most importantly, people can come and visit me!! In Brazil people obviously couldn't just come for a weekend. Here in Madrid I have already had visitors, including my sister last weekend. Door to door from her house at Bristol Uni it was just 5 hours. It really is so nice to be able to show people my life here. In just over 2 weeks, my mum and youngest sister are coming too, It's fun being able to plan where we're going to eat and what I am going to show them...

Olivia arrives in Madrid!!

After dinner fro-yo followed by a walk in the park, not the best idea on my part, I didn't realise it shut at 10pm and we got locked in with a few other dog walkers and had to be rescued!

One of the best things about being here is that my two best friends from school and uni are here too!!!

Olivia and Rozzy; brunch time at the amazing Carmencita's

Obviously I am still missing Brazil tonnes and that's going to take a long time to fade, but I can't complain, life really is pretty good here!

Settling in

So since I last blogged things have got a lot lot better and I am finally starting to warm to Madrid again. 

Very much appreciated English treats from Sarah!

I have now done two weeks working as a language assistant - I was super lucky to get on the programme half way through the year due to someone dropping out. After a few days on the job I was definitely craving my comparatively relaxing office job, but have now come round to the idea and I see it as an opportunity to gain a completely different skill set. I have been given two schools; one in the north west of the city and one in the south east! A slight logistical nightmare but it is doable and am looking at the commute as an opportunity to read lots of novels that I have been meaning to get round to for ages. 

The two schools couldn't really be more different. The first is in the north of the city, which on the whole tends to be better off than the south. It's very small, I am the only language assistant and although it's not by any means an academic hothouse, it seems a happy place and the children, in general, are well behaved!

The school in the south is a different story (maybe it is why the girl before me dropped out?!)... It is situated in an area called Vallecas, the neighbourhood with the lowest average income in Madrid and since the credit crunch unemployment has soared. Many of the kids come from broken homes and have all sorts of behavioural problems. There are also a large number of gypsy children, often who are practically illiterate and only attend school as it is the condition for their parents to receive benefits. There is an armed guard at the gate, the school is so covered with graffiti that you can't even see out of the windows and during my first class a boy lobbed a pencil at me!! The school is tough and, without wanting to sound dramatic, I find it quite emotionally draining. The teaching I have witnessed in the school is some of the worst I have ever seen, it seems like most of the teachers have completely given up which is so sad for the children that do want to learn. It's going to be a challenge but I am determined to show them that learning english can be fun if taught well! It's going to be a long 5 months I feel!

Apart from the job situation nothing has really changed here... I went to my best school friend, Rozzy's, 21st birthday last weekend which was so much fun. I have finally signed up to a gym which has definitely cheered me up, I'm looking forward to my first spin class in this amazing room with 300 bikes. Also still enjoying running club, last night we all went in carnival themed fancy dress which was fun, if not the most comfortable experience! Am also going to attempt a 10k this weekend in preparation for the race in April which I signed up for in a moment of craziness. 

The spin room at the gym

Apart from that not much else to report really, think I am going to start to do some blogs on specific topics as my life is pretty uninteresting here and I feel doesn't make great blogging material! 

Better head off to my Spanish class, have a great weekend, Helena x

The 21st birthday girl, Rozzy!!

Meticulous creation of the all important gin and tonics by DJ Jaime!

Things haven't quite gone to plan...

After a more extended hiatus than intended I am back!

I have now been in Madrid for 5 weeks, although it feels like a lot longer, having been a rather challenging month...

To be completely honest I wasn't really looking forward to coming here, I would have very happily gone back to Brazil for the rest of the year. The lifestyle was amazing; I travelled almost every weekend, made the most of the brilliant weather, didn't once think about the dreaded year abroad essay and most importantly made the most amazing friends who I was sad to leave so suddenly and continue to miss so much. But Brazil wasn't real life, and I had to come back to reality with a bump!

Los Reyes parade

However, without wanting to sound overdramatic, the events of my first month here, have made it even harder to adjust. I arrived on the 3rd of January and booked myself into a hostel for 2 nights. I had planned to view flats over the weekend and early the next week, with a view to being settled in time for starting work on Wednesday 8th. It hadn't really crossed my mind that it was Los Reyes Magos and that no one was in Madrid to show me their apartment over the weekend. After staying for much longer than intended in cheaper and cheaper hostels (my bank balance was decreasing rapidly), Rozzy, my best friend from school who is also in Madrid for the year, returned and I was so relieved to be able to crash on her sofa. I was feeling more positive, I had lots of house viewings booked and was excited to start my new job...

Fellipe makes a flying visit to Madrid!

Dinner at Naif with Fellipe

When I arrived for my first day of work on Wednesday I was faced with my second problem... Without going into all the boring details, the small wealth management firm I was meant to be interning at was basically being bought out. I was told that there would be none of the everyday work to do and that they couldn't pay me as they were starting legal action! They said I should stay on until they knew what would happen with the court case that they would be facing and that they could give me some project work and teach me the basics of fund management...I was then told to "write a report on the Spanish economy between 2008-2013". I sat in the office on my own for 2 days trying to write the report but unable to think about anything apart from how I was going cope with sitting alone for 5 months and receiving no money to do so!

La Tabacalera with Rozzy

At the end of day 2 I quit, they had completely messed me around, and by making me quit, knew that they could not be held accountable by the university. They were businessmen that knew exactly what they were doing and I felt so angry that the placement I had been so looking forward to turned out to be such a disappointment.

Over the next 3 weeks, I sent CVs and cover letters to everywhere I could possibly think of, probably around 30 companies in total. I cold called all the big finance/management/PR companies, I applied for NGO programmes in South America, I even went to the local job centre. There was nothing, the Spanish job situation really is as dire as reported. The only position I an offer for was volunteering for an NGO in Argentina, which sounded amazing but I had the small issue of not being able to afford the flight and also would have had to pay the erasmus grant back, difficult when I had almost already spent it all on my deposit and rent even though it was meant to last for 4 months!

Late night run in the Retiro with new housemates, from left to right: Belén, Blanca, Chio and Sophie

I was not having the best time, not having a lot to do is not something I find easy or relaxing. The thing I found hardest was having no structure or routine to the day. Everyday I would get up to write cover letter after cover letter whilst receiving intermittent emails saying, how sorry they felt for me in my position but that they had filled their internships spaces in December. Again, without wanting to sound overdramatic, I gained a new respect of the awfulness that is being unemployed, it must be the most unrelaxing feeling ever. If I felt stressed and found it hard to sleep, I cannot imagine how someone would feel with real responsibilities such as a family to feed or a mortgage to pay. If the situation didn't change for me I knew that I could ultimately get on a plane home or ask my parents to help out, something that being fiercely independent I didn't want to do, but in the back of my mind I knew that it was always an option.

On the Friday afternoon of my third week of being jobless, when I was beginning to despair and on the verge of giving up, I received two emails at the same time. One from the British Chamber of Commerce and one from the Madrid Council asking me to be a teaching assistant. After, answering some challenging written questions on the Spanish economy, I had an phone interview with the chamber that evening and due to my work experience in a similar area in Brazil, was told I pretty much definitely had the job and just needed to come to the office on Monday for a face to face chat. Great, phew, panic over, stressful couple of weeks but it will all be fine...

My apartment in Brazil also had a sofa made from crates, it must just be the taste of the type of people I get on with!

I went to the office on Monday, in a great location, 5 min walk from my apartment. I met Laura who I would be working with, she gave me another interview which I hadn't been expecting but said that I had the job and that she just needed to discuss my start day with her boss and that she would get back to me soon. Certain that everything was settled, I declined the teaching job that I had been delaying giving an answer to and headed home. In the middle of making lunch, I received a phone call from Laura's boss, the director of the British Chamber, based in Barcelona. She also interviewed me, and though she was not very friendly, and actually was pretty aggressive, I thought I dealt with the questions well and she seemed satisfied. Just before she hung up she asked me to clarify that I was available till the end of July. I said, no, I discussed the dates with Laura and explained that I had an internship in London starting 3rd week of June and and that she had said this was fine. She replied, err no, we have to have someone until the end of July, the contract is for 6 months, sorry. So that was that I had rejected the teaching job and now didn't have a job with the chamber either! In hindsight I am glad that the chamber job didn't work out, the hours were horrendous, they were paying appallingly and there seemed to be lots of issues among the team.

Sightseeing with Greta

I called up the teaching woman, said there had been a misunderstanding and begged for the job again. She was so sweet and completely understood and said it was fine but that there had been a misunderstanding on her side too and that I couldn't start until the 17th February. Great... another month of rent to pay from the barely existent erasmus grant and another month of nothing to do except the omnipresent essay. Why is it that you are least productive when you have nothing to do?!

Anyway, the saga continues, that week I was contacted by the British Embassy about a job I had applied for a few weeks previously. I had heard nothing back so assumed I had been unsuccessful. However they said that they wanted to interview me but not until the end of the next week. I was so relieved, something that I was really interested in and that was decently paid too, by this point I was seriously running out of money! I went to the interview which was one of the toughest I have had, an intimidating boardroom, interviewed by a panel, swapping from Spanish to English every couple of questions. Competency questions in Spanish are more of a challenge than I thought! I wasn't hopeful but late afternoon on friday I got a call saying I had got the job. It was a huge relief, I had a brilliant weekend, I ate out, did a big food shop and even bought some clothes for work knowing that it would not be long before I was paid.

Great find Greta, the best Brazilian food in Madrid.

On Monday morning, I received an email asking for about 10 different documents in order to sign the contract, almost none of which I had. I spent 3 crazy days running around Madrid, getting special police forms from remote suburbs, required to work at an embassy, buying my travel card, and opening a Spanish bank account, difficult without the equivalent of a National Insurance number and also not cheap... I sent all the forms to HR who were were impressed, as like anyone who lives in Spain knows, the bureaucracy is not the easiest. The next day (Thursday) I was going to be sent the contract and on Friday and the weekend I had planned to enjoy my last few days relaxing before the hard work started... On Thursday morning, the unthinkable happened, I received a call saying that the man, who I was replacing's operation had been postponed until March and that I would now not be needed until then. I couldn't believe it... I explained my situation, that I was a student with no income and that I had spent a lot of money to get everything prepared for Monday. The woman from HR was sweet and said that she understood and that she would speak to my manager to see if there was any way of me working part time during February and that she would get back to me on Friday.

Hmmm, I did take one, and it hasn't come true yet...

I was unable to think about anything apart from how bored I would be during another month in Madrid and also about how poor I would be! Friday morning came and I heard nothing. I emailed asking for news and still nothing...Mid-afternoon I received a call saying that there was no budget for me to work part-time and that my job could not even be guaranteed in March as the operation may be postponed again. I couldn't believe it. This was the British Embassy, meant to be setting an example for other British employers and they had effectively dumped me on the Friday evening before starting work on the Monday. I called and asked to speak to the manager and was told she was out of office and couldn't speak to me. What had frustrated me most was that she hadn't even had the politeness to talk to me herself and had made the junior HR staff do her dirty work for her. 

That was yesterday. I am pretty fed up at this point but am determined to stay positive. Obviously everything could be a lot lot worse and it sounds pathetic complaining. I am so lucky in so many ways; I am living with the sweetest housemates, 3 sisters from Jerez (their accent is impossible!) and a lovely Belgian girl who is studying at IE business school. Yesterday when I was feeling tired and fed up we went for supper in IKEA which definitely cheered me up! Food is always the solution! It's been a crazy month but I keep telling myself that it's character building and part of the year abroad experience! My cynical side is thinking how much easier it will make answering competency questions such as 'describe a challenging time and how you overcame it?' in future job interviews, very sad that that's what I think of I know!

Anyway, I don't know what I am going to do next, I am going to see if the embassy makes any attempt to contact me/reimburse me and then guess I will try and beg for my teaching job back AGAIN! It is funny how things have worked out so differently than I imagined. I had envisaged Brazil being the challenging part of my year abroad, and thought Madrid, a city which I already knew well, would be a much easier place to settle. In reality it has been the total opposite, and I am still in the stage of wanting to return to Brazil everyday at the moment.

I am not a very reflective person but I think my year abroad has already changed this a bit, whether it's a good or bad thing. First Brazil, and now the last month, have really reinforced that friends and family are everything. This month would have been so much harder, if I hadn't had the support of my two best friends who I am so lucky to have out here too. My mum's signature tough love whatsapps also continually remind me to look at the bigger picture when it seems everything is going wrong, even though the lack of sympathy annoys me at the time!

The benefit of living with a Belgian

Anyway rambling over, I can guarantee this will be the longest blog post I ever write so thanks for reading and sorry that it's not as interesting as the stuff I got up to in Brazil. However, obviously as well as trying to find something to do during my 5 months, I have had plenty of time to enjoy myself!

A few of the many highlights have included: the Los Reyes parade, a visit from my Brazilian friend Fellipe, cultural stuff with Rozzy, dog walks with Greta and Teki (her new sausage dog!), and Sunday night suppers with and Ger and Rozzy.

I am managing to keep myself as busy as possible, I have a Spanish class three times per week, meet with a sweet Brazilian exchange to keep my Portuguese going (challengingly just before my Spanish class!), have joined a running club, have actually read some good novels, and am giving english classes twice a week to a group of four year olds and to three boys with 'behavioural difficulties'! Got to earn some money somehow! And obviously the world count for the year abroad essay is still 0, and I have the added challenge of writing it in Portuguese while in Spain, not the smartest move! Being jobless doesn't change some things!

Gourmet supper in IKEA on a Friday night, nothing beats it.

Anyway, I will definitely try to post on here more frequently from now on, it was good to get it off my chest and who knows what I will be doing in two weeks time!!