I recently realized that my last entry was rather depressing to say the least. Luckily, I'm returning to blog on a much happier note and bearing good news. However, I will start with the part where I stayed at a friends flat for a week.
After my dramatic "step down" from being an au pair, I have to admit, I hadn't really done much thinking about the "what next" part of my adventure. Luckily, I have a really great and secure circle of friends here who have really helped me so much throughout this less than awesome situation. Throughout this week, I searched for flats high and low and finally landed one. It's on a street called Calle Reyes Catolicós and it's a super cute two bed, one bath flat. Furthermore, it's only a five or so minute walk from Casco Viejo which is the old town.
My living room area/part of the kitchen
The kitchen!
I am very, very excited to be here. For a while, I was pretty depressed about the situation because obviously, this is not where I thought I was going to be four months into my gap year. I thought I was going to be in Barcelona, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Instead, I'm in Vitoria, sitting at a café with three layers of clothes on, one including my coat, jeans and boots, as it rains and blows cold wind in my face. I had no idea that I was going to be living on my own in a foreign country, just barely scraping by. But instead of looking at the negative side of it, I'm in Spain, living on my own, making my own luck. And that's pretty cool. I guess it's just funny how things never work out the way one thinks they will. One small move and it changes everything. Of course I assumed that taking a gap year would change me here and there. However, I really never thought this is the hand I would be dealt and how fast I would have to really grow up. You college kids have it easy.
On Sunday, I made new friends. Two are from the states (California and Texas) and the other two are from England and France. They are all English teachers and teach at academies in Vitoria (except the French one teaches French I believe). Their names are Erika, Laura, Jess and Adele. It's funny how I met them actually. Sunday I was very depressed seeing as everything was fresh-- I had just quit, I didn't know what I was going to do with my life and I was on the phone with my mom telling her just how conflicted I was. There was a girl sitting at a cafe in front of me and I remember looking at her and thinking how much she reminded me of my aunt. When I got up to leave, a group of friends had joined her and I heard them all speaking English. So of course, when I hear English in Vitoria, my attention perks up much like this:
Yup. That's basically me. I then turned around and asked them "….English?" and they were all "Yeah! You?" and that's where our friendship began. I told them my sob story about my confused life and they ended up inviting me to go see this short film at a bar where we had drinks. The film was made in a city about 45 minutes north of Vitoria called Bilboa and it was a thriller. It was interesting. It was filled with people you typically see stereotyped in movies that go to these small short films and act all proud and intellectual. But it was actually really awesome to attend.
Tuesday came around, and as most of you know, or don't know maybe, Tuesday was my birthday. I'm not going to lie, Tuesday was not a very awesome day. It didn't feel like my birthday at all. I searched for flats basically all day with Erika which was extremely exhausting. However, before that, I met with Sofie and Melanie who surprised me with a cute cake, coffee and party hat. I couldn't meet with them for very long unfortunately. But, it felt very special to know at least two girls who cared enough and put effort into making my birthday noticed. That night, I was invited to eat dinner with Erika, Jess and Jess' flatmates, who happen to be a couple with a very, very cute dog. Stephanie is one of their names and the other one…. I don't remember. Don't kill me if you read this. I'm sorry!! Anyway, Stephanie is also from the United States and is from Rome, Georgia. COME ON! That's like a hop, skip and jump away from Gadsden where I used to live. So that was crazy to hear.
The food ended up being absolutely delicious thanks to Jess' amazing cooking skills. I was very grateful to have been invited to dinner, and now I have some nice friends due to it.
On Wednesday, I attended an event at a bar called the Pub Quiz. It's basically a trivia game where you create teams and answer trivia questions. The winner gets a bottle of wine. I went with Erika and Jess and coincidentally, bumped into some couchsurfing friends. We didn't win, unfortunately. But it was still very fun.
Thursday, I attended Pintxo Pote (pronounced peen-cho po-tay) which takes place every Thursday. Bars supply pintxos which are basically tapas, and specialize in one for the night. You go with a group of friends and everyone puts money into a "pot" let's say. About five euros. Then you just go from bar to bar eating pintxos and the alcoholic beverage (or non-alcoholic beverage) of your choosing. Thursday is also the night that most of the University students around here go out, much like back home. So I made my way to the popular street Kutxi (pronounced cu-chee). There is where I met up with Melanie.
Ah! I forgot to mention, Thursday was also Halloween. Being born only three days before Halloween, I have taken a strong liking toward the celebration. In Vitoria, not so many people celebrate it. Some kids do, but it is very rare to catch an adult dressed up. That didn't stop me. I painted my face like a cat and hit the streets. Granted I did get a lot of funny looks for wearing tiger ears and a cat face, but it was self-satisfying to know that my Halloween spirit follows me everywhere.
Some other fellow Halloweenies
Me and Melanie dressed up as kitty cats. MEOW.
Those are the only updates I have to report as of now. Hopefully I will find some conversational English lessons to help pay for the rest of my time here. If not, maybe all of you will be seeing me a lot sooner than planned. Who knows? But at this moment, it's very cold outside and I feel as if my hands and nose are going to freeze off if I stay out here a minute longer. So I guess it's time to say hasta luego.
Cheers my fellow readers.
XX
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