More Work, Less Money!

With September, in America, comes football games, back-to-school commercials, the first fall leaves, and Halloween candy.

In Madrid, September seems to bring two things: erasmus students (that is, university students from other countries here for a semester or a full school year to study abroad) and auxiliares (me!). This also means THERE ARE NO SUITABLE APARTMENTS IN MADRID and it is a battle to death to find even one you can see, let alone live in.

Thus, I have found myself a place to live (thank god, no more hostel!) with a 40-something year old man (who's still in school, mind you) who rents out rooms for his income, and though he may change the bathroom rugs every two days (it's true, the Spanish like to keep a clean floor), not much else about the apartment is worth staying for. Dilapidated walls, doors that don't close properly, and a never-ending stream of people coming to check out rooms that will be rented out by the night, the week, the month, or the year.

The semi-permanent roommate has turned out not as bad as I expected, but this is not a place I want to stay. Which is why, nearly two weeks after arriving in Madrid, I am STILL looking for a suitable apartment. I will probably end up staying here at least through October, then bailing for something--anything--that seems better. I wanted roommates, not people just traveling through; I wanted Spanish people, not a series of young French girls taken in by this guy's "charm" (what?!?); I wanted a place to live, not a place to hole up. So yes, next month will also be spent scanning for apartments.

On the other hand, I've started working--not as the auxiliar that I was hired to be (that starts next Monday) but as a private English teacher, for a total of about 8 hours each week in the evenings, and maybe more once I know what my school schedule will be. Thus I am traveling to the far-flung corners of Madrid, entering into rather ritzy apartment buildings (ah, how the other half lives), and meeting girls ranging from ages 12 to 19 who all have rather impeccable English. Well, rather impressive English, I should say. When asked how long they've been studying English, the inevitable reply is "poufff...forever!" which usually means since about age 6.

I've garnered these classes through an English academy, which charges the family directly and then pays me 13 euros/hr at the end of each month, in cold hard cash. This Friday will mark the end of the month of September, so I'm looking at a good 65 euros coming my way--which will certainly keep me in cañas for the better part of the month, if nothing else.

See, the thing about moving to Spain is, you get paid at the end of each month. My last paycheck at my office job in LA was on September 9th. Then I wrapped up all my final details in LA (spending money!), flew to Madrid (with a verrrry long layover in D.C.--more money!), spent a weekend playing tourist (you can hear the euros flying out of my wallet), and a week in a hostel (at 20 ero/night--yeesh). Then I had to lay out money for an apartment. And not just any money, but a month and a month's guarantee. Not to be paid again until...Oct. 31st. So money is a little tight, and these classes already require significant time and money spent on the metro, as well as money spent on English newspapers to give some structure to my classes--not an easy thing to do for a woman counting her euro cents every morning.

The flip side is that at the end of October, if pay runs smoothly, I will be veritably rich, earning double what your average Spaniard does, and finally able to move into a decent apartment instead of this bus station of a place. That is, presuming all the erasmus and auxiliares have already found what they're looking for. Wish me luck!