First Week in Spain: Jet Lag, Taking the Metro, and Walking in Circles

Bienvenidos! It’s been one full week living in Spain, and as you can imagine, it has been one hell of a rollercoaster. I spent almost a week in Barcelona on vacation last year, but I am quickly learning that vacationing somewhere and living somewhere are not the same thing. During vacation, we are living at an unsustainable high – eating tapas all day and drinking cervezas all night with little regard for our lives back home. As I am trying to understand this concept, I have been on a rollercoaster of emotion: excitement, exhaustion, adventure, homesickness, fomo, and the recurring question “What the f**k am I doing?!?”

It’s the challenge and adventure I was hoping for, but completely different at the same time. I still say yes to tapas and cervezas, but there is a whole lot more living I need to figure out. So here’s the run-down of what’s happened through week 1.

Before the Move

For those of you that shared heartbreak in the thought of me selling my beautiful 4Runner…I didn’t!!! It’s safe and sound at my sister and brother-in-law’s house (HUGE thank you Aly and Darrell). I did, however, have to give up my beautiful beach shack apartment in San Clemente (you’re welcome Logan).

Deciding what to bring was the hard part. I ended up with two suitcases and a carryon. This basically just includes clothes, shoes, toiletries, and a few other essentials. No furniture or any of that nonsense. And man, it still feels like I brought too much (granted, I don’t have a permanent location yet to unpack it all)!

Housing was another question everyone kept asking me about. No, I did not sign a lease prior to moving. Do I look like a fool?! Talk about a way to get SCAMMED. I joined a Facebook group and was able to find a temporary housing situation (1-4 weeks) that would let me stay while I search for long-term housing.

Traveling

I got to leave from the Redding airport! It was super worth the extra cash to fly from Redding, so no one had to drive me to SF. Sat next to Kate, 50s, who was extremely chatty for a 6:00am flight, but exuded the best kind of ignorance – being unapologetically positive and excited about her travels. I then flew from SF to Toronto, where I had dinner with Maggie, 30s, a professional sailor from Canada who was training in Barcelona. I for sure need to check out a team sailing competition soon. 

I then took an overnight flight to Barcelona. I flew Air Canada, which was super nice. Much nicer than the international airline Iberia that I took last year. Since my mother still hasn’t hit the lottery jackpot, I didn’t ball out on first class (but damn, looked SO nice). I was able to sleep around 3 hours total.

Day 1

I landed in Barcelona a little before 11:00am local time (9 hour time difference from California). I then took a taxi to my “temporary home”, about 20 min from the airport. My new roommate, Laia, is super cool and speaks both English and Spanish. The room is on the third floor of an old Spanish building (I would call it fourth floor, but I guess they don’t count the retail floor as the first level). It’s a cool set up and solid location. My only critique is not having a window in my room.

Showing up exhausted, I wanted to sleep SO BAD. Attempting to avoid jet lag, I allowed myself to take a one hour nap, but then forced myself to wake up despite hating myself for it. Talk about self-discipline. I then wandered around aimlessly for hours like a zombie, unpacked some clothes, and found an American bar to watch football. I drank some beers with Dan from Australia (30s, traveling nomad hopping around Europe for two months) and Matt from the US (30s, aspiring entrepreneur). After that, you would think I would be ready for sleep….but absolutely not. Insomia with a solid mix of anxiety kicked in, and I found myself wide awake until around 4:30am. Talk about first day jitters.

The Rest of Week 1

The first few days were challenging. I didn’t feel 100% because of the jet lag, my back was killing me from the plane ride, and I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. Once I got over that hump, things have been on the up and up! I’ve met tons of random people (still working on making actual friends though) and explored tons of cool streets, restaurants, bars, and architecture.

On Day 4, I went to this “Language Exchange” event I found on Facebook. It was at a bar called Space Cowboy and was surprisingly not lame at all! Everyone had a name tag that included what languages they spoke and what languages they would like to learn. I talked with a bunch a cool people including Mirjam (20s, law student from Sweden) and Ryan (20s, travel dude from Persia). On Day 7, I attended the Brava Festival with my roommate and some of her friends. Not sure which one I had more of….potatoes or beer.

Despite utter confusion in many situations, here is what I needed to get done week 1 (and did):

Using My Phone

I cancelled my American plan, but ported my phone number to Google Voice so I can use it when I return to the States. That being said, I can only view texts/voicemails to that number but cannot respond to anything. I bought a prepaid sim card that comes with a Spanish phone number. To reach me, you can message or call me on WhatsApp (texting/calling internationally is not included right now). You can also reach me on Instagram, email, or on here!

Long-Term Housing

Laia’s apartment is temporary, so I immediately started looking for a long-term place. Although I’ve lived alone for the last several years, I decided renting a room in a shared apartment is the way to go. After viewing several options all over the city, I picked a beautiful spot 15 minutes away from the downtown scene. Nick (30s, originally from Brazil), you better not disappoint!

Getting Around Town

As an American, it’s weird not having a car. In Barcelona, it’s weird to have a car. Everyone uses public transportation or rides bikes, mopeds, or scooters. Thankfully, I have successfully figured out and embraced the Metro system. What is the Metro? For all my non-City friends and family, the Metro is an underground rail system that goes all over the City (like a subway). The train comes every few minutes, so you’re rarely waiting around. It’s generally faster than a taxi and has numerous stops all over the City. I was able to buy a monthly pass for roughly $20. It’s awesome.

Speaking Spanish

I had my first full conversation in Spanish on Day 3 with the neighbor that lives above me! She even complimented me on how well I did. Talk about a RUSH…heck yeah. I don’t start my Spanish course until Week 2, so the little learning I did prior was clutch. I’ve been able to get by at cafes, stores, etc. but I have a lot to learn, for sure.

 

Next Up

• • Start my language course

• • Get my empadronamiento and NIE (official residency card)

• • Decide on a long-term phone option

• • Open a bank account