Extraordinary Extrajeria Extravaganza

For those of you who have not been graced with the opportunity to have to deal with foreigners' offices around the globe, you are really missing out {/end sarcasm}

The ever dreadful mustard yellow building from your nightmares
(Source)

Jumping through hoops, getting papers stamped, paying fees, waiting in line, filling out more forms, signature here, date there, copy of this, staple that... it's endless. Coming into any country for a prolonged period of time comes at the cost of this bureaucratic madness. And of course, I've had my fair share since the beginning.

This year things were particularly messed up. In order to renew your student card you had to turn in the application, papers proving your finished the program this year and got renewed, accompanying fees, a document called empadronamiento (for census purposes and keeping track of where people live).

Well the empadron was the first hurdle in this heap of....manure. I went to the local office with everything signed and ready to go. The contract my roommate had for our apartment, copy of his ID and signature on the application, SHOULD be easy as pie. Unfortunately for me, my previous roommate who had left on not such a good note with the boys was previously registered with this contract. So.... it was HER signature and ID that I needed. And of course, to my incredible bad luck she was in California (of all places) at the time. I told them all this and they said there was nothing they could do. I went again, and explained the situation to another person. He told me to fill out a new application and check some different boxes and it should work. So I went home got the signature that I needed and went back for a third time. The girl was not really having it since of course I didn't have the signature fromk the person they say they need (even though she doesn't live in the country let alone our apartment anymore). After some begging and pleading and stating that this was my third time there they finally gave me the stamp that I needed.

(Source)

So all I needed to do was turn in my papers, wait for the letter of appointment for fingerprints, get fingerprinted and wait 40 days for my ID card in order to travel freely in the EU. No Problem! Turn in papers (check!) Wait, wait, wait for my letter (...in December Check!) Wait... my appointment to be fingerprinted is... May 9th! Add the 40 days to pick up the card and that puts me at June  18th for a card that is only going to be valid until the end of my contract which is June 30th. So... I have to live most of my second year in Madrid undocumented because there was a huge backup and apparently common sense isn't so common anymore.

Months passed and I accepted my fate for having to get an Authorización de Regreso (authorization to return) whenever I needed to travel this term.

As my appointment drew near I soon realized that my appointment May 9th from 4-6pm was not going to cut it because that was the opening night of the spring show I was in Steel Magnolias. I had made a plan to go the day before (as other auxiliares had mentioned they went in even without a letter and had been helped) and get it out of the way and everyone's happy (or so I thought).

I arrive bright and early Wednesday morning, and there is a line around the corner just to go through the metal detector. 20 minutes in I look for the line where they do the fingerprints when I overhear a police officer saying "let's cut off the fingerprint line" I quickly go up to him and with big eyes ask which line is for finger prints, and luckily he takes me in and makes me the cut off.

¿La fila para huellas?

In the twisting, turning, baby crying, sun scorching line, I waited for 5 HOURS. There is a person at the front of the building doing crowd control, taking as many people fit inside, and when there is room calling more in. I was finally about to get inside, when the crowd control person (a big angry man with a hat) asks to see the back of my appointment paper (with the date on it.... what the heck at least 50 people passed ahead of me and he didn't ask them to show!) So I showed him my paper, and he turned me away. Even after begging and pleading trying to state my case and being cut off. He insisted if my paper didn't have that date on it I wasn't getting inside. So I went to work, late and for nothing, and decided if I made an early enough attempt the next day I would still make it in time to save the show, and get what I need done.

Thursday rolls around I'm there at the beloved Aluche this time even earlier, that there isn't a line for the metal detector but there is still a curve to the line of people a million times worse than the DMV inside. I wait in that line again, for 5 HOURS and this time I make it into the building (GLORY!) I make it to the desk, the young man flips over my paper and says, you're scheduled to come in at 4, and it's only 1 o'clock I can't help you. I again I plead, and say there is no way I can get through that line in time, and with an apathetic face he just shrugs and calls the next person in line. 

My last option is to go upstairs and see if I could get my appointment changed. According to the other people in line, my chances of that happening were grim since they knew people were getting appointments for September... which would have done me no good. I trekked upstairs anyway in hope that I could not go home again empty handed. 

I arrive upstairs to wait in the information line, and see the two people helping are a woman and the older man with a hat that threw me out the day before--cue feeling in the pit of my stomach. Waiting in line in front of me is an older woman who asked my situation and when I told her I'd waited 5 hours 2 days in a row she asks me if I'm pregnant -_- And when I reply no, she told me to tell them I was pregnant so that I could be helped. She gets up to the front of the line and she has to go with hat man, but she steps aside, and says I want to wait for the woman. I politely decline and no you go ahead. She still insists with her pushy older woman ways and I head over to hat man. So when he asks me how can I help you, in as sweet of a voice as I can muster I start to ramble on about how he may have recognized me from the day before and I needed to change my appointment, because I really couldn't be there that after noon. And he says.... "Can you come in tomorrow?" *sigh of relief* I say I can but if there is a way for him to make it on Monday it would be best. He looks at me confused and tells me Monday is the day with the most people, but then I told him it was my day off so he took his pen wrote the new date, stamped it, and I came in on Monday to wait another 5 HOURS (which really you can't avoid unless you get there at the break of dawn and I like sleep too much).

So I've survived!! For now... We'll see  how the Cáceres version of Aluche treats me come September.

Much Love!

@CathyArely

My Year Summed Up In A JPG

Although some people remind me that... it's actually the summary of my life. lol

<3CathyArely

P/S Check out our new Reader Spotlight

Summer Summer Summer Time

Hey Hey All!

Sorry for the blogging hiatus, as promised (many times) before I do plan on getting back into posting a little more regularly. I'm returned from adventures in summer camp, and now am almost finished with my au pair experience.

Summer definitely didn't kick off the way I expected. It all began the day I was supposed to go to camp... I didn't even end up in Albacete!! We all know I am not a stranger to OMG IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?! situations, well here is another one for the list. I was all packed and ready to head off for a month of summer camp activities, mingling with students and other native speakers of English, and all that jazz. Somehow a midst a pile of emails with different dates and times we had to be at places, I ended up getting a little mixed up, and thought we were set for take off at 4pm, when it was really 2pm (!!).

Last Resort jajaj

Much to my surprise, I arrived at the meeting point only to find hotel staff who had no idea about the group I was talking about. Total freak out moment, since this job was going to be my main source of income to keep me on my feet while still here during the summer, and I threw it all away because I was too cool to write down the time I was supposed to leave. With thoughts of ruin and despair in my head I frantically called the contact number I had for the summer camp. I honestly expected a "sucks for you, apply again next summer," but instead after a "Really, you missed the bus...lecture" the coordinator told me that they would send me to  the Tarragona campus instead, and gave me instructions to go by a train ticket. All was right in the world, I wasn't going to be forced to sing in the metro with a can in order to afford toast. 

I arrived at camp with the students, was mistaken for a student a few times (woo I can pass for 17!) and the fun began. 4 weeks of bonding with students, making raps, dances, shadow theater, playing capture the flag, swimming, making presentations, cross-dressing, talking about child labor, and mock interviews. All while trying to not get bitten by mosquitoes or spiders (fail) and going back to elementary school days with traditional games and cafeteria food. 

Week 1 Manic Monkeys!!

Week 3 Roomies!

Real Life Clue! The maid knows who done it! Even if she's had a few rum and cokes! ;)

As great as it was to have some structure to my days again, I learned a lot in Amposta, and had a select group of fantastic new buddies. Manic Monkeys, Wolf Pack, Amposta Shore, and Shakalaka were tight. I'm really glad to be back in Madrid, with potentially more scars on my legs that I had in Puerto Rico. Now I'm occupying my time with a 11 and 7 year old brother and sister pair, and rehearsing for my next performance "September Serenade" with Madrid Players. 

Thanks for reading! Until Next time loves!!

~@CathyArely

To Be Continued...

Well this posts title can be attached a number of ideas. The first being, I've left you all hanging for a while now without a REAL update on what's going on in La Vida de Cathy, so stay tuned...

Life in Spain has been a roller coaster, countless times have I just sat and thought, "Is this really happening?" I've climbed social mountains, health mountains, housing mountains, and much to my surprise professional mountains as well. 

Just as I was on the rise of enthusiasm with my experience here, I was hit with an atomic bomb, that I was not wanted at my school for the upcoming year, just before having to super glue a smile to my face in front of 20 adolescents and keep them excited about their progress in English. I allowed myself the cry a river on the bus ride home, then put my game face on. Up until that moment, I had not been sure about my stay here since it had been so rocky, but in time it took for me to realize that staying might not be an option, my gut told me that's what I wanted to do. I went to talk to the people I needed to talk to, but to no reward, it was only in the hands of those who I work under. So after gathering a support team, highlighted all of the regulations I needed in my corner, I went and pleaded my case. Even if they didn't keep me at the same school, it was a death sentence (okay, so I'm a little dramatic) to keep me out of the entire program. Perseverance paid off and I was able to get the papers I needed in order to renew my contract here in Spain. In order to get what I wanted though I had to send everything to the office where you change regions, essentially meaning I wouldn't be in Madrid, in theory. I banked on the the inefficiency of the system, that because I had preferenced Madrid on my application, and it has the most positions in all of Spain that the odds were in my favor to stay, but I wouldn't know that for sure until I got my letter. And the waiting game begins. 

A few weeks after the deadline to turn in the application all of my auxiliar friends in Madrid had received their Madrid placement emails. My inbox was still empty. A bit disheartening, but not all hope lost. I continued to wait as the facebook wall of the Auxiliares group was filling with posts about placements. 

One afternoon as I got comfortable in my room after a long day of teaching, there it was, as sly and unexpected as can be, my email from the ministry of education. I held my breath and clicked on the link, and in that moment I saw my outsmarting had worked. I received a placement for MADRID for next school year!!! I didn't know what to do with myself. For what seems like soo long (2 months) my future was hanging by a thread and now the biggest weight was off my shoulders. I have something to work toward, a goal to upkeep.

This news brought me to looking for tickets home for the summer to go and see my family and friends who I miss incredibly (Yes, I miss you incredibly). Unfortunately, tickets to go home for summer are looking right around $1100 to $1500, a very depressing sight. And with nothing secure here in Spain, it was even more depressing. Too poor to live in Spain, and too poor to go home. AHH! Talk about between a rock and a hard place. The summer job I had sort of been counting on fell through, and I played around with applying at camps, and/or otherwise racking up massive credit card debt and be poor at home. 

Well today my email graced me once again with some good news. I got hired to teach at a summer camp for the month of July, with not a bad salary. Unfortunately, it's not enough to send me laughing all the way to the airline counter, but things should be a little easier for the beginning of next school year. Which brings me to why this news is bittersweet. It's the realization that I am probably not going to go home for the summer (never say never...but...). It is also the realization that it may well be until NEXT summer that I get to be home. I know what you're thinking... Cathy you're living your dream, stop complaining. I know this, I just can't help, but think about my parents, and my sister who is going to be getting married!!, and my babies back home,  and my friends. 2 years just seems like a really long time. Either way I know I am blessed to have such great opportunities and people around the globe, and I appreciate them all and know how fast any of them can not be an option. So ending the pity party, and wrapping up this post. 

Lots of things to look forward to, putting on that smile and doing it. Some great posts about trips and events around Madrid, as well as more writing of articles. For now you can go check out the poetry explosion on my other blog (videos soon to come). Thanks for reading, and sticking with me y'all. We're still on the ride. 

-@CathyArely 

Picture Source: Google.com 

Online Food Ordering

So...with the my whole back thing, and roomies/buddies gone for the weekend. I didn't have very many options for dinner tonight. 

I could either make a bowl of hungry jack mashed potatoes (which I already had for lunch), make some pasta (which would have taken longer than I am comfortable standing at the moment), or get delivery. 

I'll take door number 3, please.

With a quick google search I ended up on just-eat.es, which is essentially like Grubhub order online, and get food delivered to your door. After looking through my options, and seeing when things were open, how much was the minimum order/delivery fees. I went with a hamburger meal from an Italian/Argentine restaurant (the irony, I know). An hour later I was happily eating my mini meal for 8 euros delivered to my door. 

This quick exchange, reminds me of not one of my best moments lol. 

Last year right before final exams, I was a big mess, boys were dumb, I had gotten the flu, sprained my ankle/knee at work, and the biggest assignments of my life were due. Again I was in the same predicament about food, and went with ordering and pasta and salad from Dominos.

So given the state that I was in I can tell you I was definitely not lookin' fine. The delivery guy came to door,  and gave me my order, the slip I had to sign for the purchase, and a gaze like whoa. He wasn't bad looking just like 5'4, and I my friends am 5'11 (refuse to believe I'm over 6 feet lol). So I went on to eat my food, and finish agonizing over my personal life and professional life if I didn't get my capstone paper done. 

Like an hour later there's another knock at the door, and it's the delivery guy. He comes back with the excuse saying he didn't remember if he brought me ranch for my salad, and then asked to use the restoom. I know, I know this is the big red flag, no don't ever let a stranger in your home, but alas I did. I think at the moment I thought the awkwardness of saying no, was worse than my personal safety (as I said, not one of my best moments)

So he comes out of the restoom, stands right in my living room, and just stares at me. Then here is the exchange we had:

Him- Can I tell you something?

Me- Umm...sure...

Him- You are very beautiful.

Me- Umm...Thank you.

(He still just stands there staring no movement, awkward silence)

Me- Algo mas? (anything else?)

Him- Oh you speak Spanish where are you from...

(A few more quick exchanges, now in Spanish and him telling me more how HERMOSA I am...and me telling him that I am awfully busy with lots of work to do)

Him- Can I give you a kiss here (points to his cheek)

Me- Okay, can you please leave?

And he leaves in peace...

I know, I know...stupid Cathy... I felt so guilty afterward thinking of what could have happened, what could have happened to my roommates because of my stupidity, but I guess I handled the situation the way I did because at the moment I thought, if I'm mean to him, he might snap, just go with it and ease him out...which is what I did. Totally got creeped out by every dominos car I saw whenever I waited for the bus for the next few weeks going to school.

Well there you have it folks another one of my (mis)adventures, I figured a good laugh was in order. I know most of you probably think I'm crazy for ordering online again after that lol but a girl with no paper and only plastic has only so many options...and no crazies tonight.

December's Reader Spotlight is up! Go check it out.

Hasta Pronto!

~Cat

The Nightmare before Hallween

     Today I cried twice, but before I tell you the trail of my tears, I need to start at the beginning. The beginning of a very windy roller coaster. Actually, as much as I allow you all to only see my life through rose colored glasses, the whole time I've been here has been full of so many ups and downs. I apologize in advance for the length of this post, just getting all the details out there for the peeps who really want to know what has been going on.

        So this post was about me finally moving into my apartment after a horrendous time piso hunting and a million doors slammed in my face. Needless to say that when I first got in here it seemed to be really great. The owner of the piso, Fina, is from Galicia, so she hired a lady from Chile, Carmen, and her son Alberto to man the fort while she's gone. When I first came into look at the apartment with my AArmy BFF Brittany, Carmen and Alberto said that Fina was hardly ever home. She would only be in the apartment maybe 1 day out of the month to collect the money, and then bounce. 

Well...it turns out that isn't the only piece of information wasn't the only half truth given during the quick check out the house then sign the contract encounter cause we know you're desperate encounter. 

You see, despite what this post, or what my blog may portray, I am a very non-complainer, non-confrontational person, as unhealthy as it may be...I'm just an avoider. So when all was said and done and I moved into the apt, which they said they would clean every week, when it wasn't prestine, I just kinda went with the flow. You know, scrub the shower quickly, jump in and jump out as quick as possible. The microwave and oven are disgusting? Well looks like cereal and sandwiches for me.... As Brittany reminded me when we came to look into the apartment, that we've lived in much worse living conditions...(cucarachas in PR) So I just went on dealing with it. 

Aside from cleanliness, there was the also lack of privacy. Remember when I said Carmen and Alberto said Fina wouldn't be there hardly at all? Well The month that I was there she was there all day everyday for about 2 weeks. Carmen and Fina themselves pop in whenever they like, supposedly coming to clean or fix things (which in turn would take an hour or so, but they are there like 5 hours just hanging out, and Alberto smokes).  Not only are they coming over, but all of their friends/relatives, at whatever hour they wish. So what do I do if I don't want to interact with people in my own house? Just stay in my room until the coast is clear, again I'm not one really to speak up if it's uncomfortable, so to avoid conflict...just deal with it....

So even though things weren't ideal I was getting by, going back and forth to work, sleeping, and checking out things in the city. Then 4 more people moved into the piso (my first thought-YAY FRIENDS!!) and this is where things really were looking up. 4 of us clicked really well. It was me, 2 guys from Mexico and a girl from a different part of Spain. We went out to different things, improv shows, dinner, a soccer game. So at that point in time I was really happy, what was seeming like a very solid group of friends with similar interests, and a good atmosphere at home...well that was only that week. 

The roommates started talking, and we were all sort of in agreement that the conditions in the apartment were pretty gross (despite having someone who "cleans" once a week).  So we compiled a list of things that we wanted to talk to Fina and Carmen about including, the cleaning, putting chairs at the table in the living room since we all have some kind of work/studying to do, and the chairs in our rooms (aka foot stools), our privacy...etc. 

Before we were able to have this meeting one of the Mexican guy roommates decided to leave because he was just fed up with the bedbug problem we had. (Yes bedbugs... :-/). The thing is the ladies wouldn't believe us there were any problems. When I told them I was getting bit, they said let me see. The thing was that my bites were not in places I felt comfortable disclosing to just anyone...especially creeper Chilean son. AND the principle was that if I was saying that I was bitten I shouldn't have to prove to them it's happening, I'm not just going to make up stuff for no reason...

Well these two ladies come out with their claws saying that we didn't have any right to do this, that they left everything clean for us and it is up to us to maintain it (which we were fine with if they gave it to us clean), that  the chairs didn't matter because you can't eat that the dinner table (yes, you read that right....) Then they started putting all of these other rules that we can't bring people over to our place, especially not for lunch since she pays the water and the gas (umm... no I pay 420 euro for a cube....you pay that with my money...) That if we bring someone to spend the night that it's 20 euro a night (yes you read that right again...) so for my sister, cousins, hermanas, or other auxiliar friends who are counting on me to have a place to stay for them, I can't really open my house to them graciously, I have to charge them 20 euro for this place which we can now call barely tolerable.) 

Then they came out with well, if you wanted to have your own rules, then you should have rented an entire apt for yourselves, but here you rented a room and that's all you have the right to govern over. So I told them, well if it's my room, and that's what I'm paying for If I want someone to come stay with me, IN MY ROOM, and sleep on the same bed, then that shouldn't be a problem. And they said no...that bed is too small for two people. And I said, well if that person and myself make the decision to sleep uncomfortably on that bed, then that is no concern of theirs....so they retorted with fine,decide if you  to do that, they can't use the restroom or eat breakfast here because that uses water and gas (REALLY?!) On top of it all they wouldn't really let us chime in a word. Sonia (the Spanish roomie) was kind of the voice for us, even though we all agreed with what she was saying. The argument ended with them saying that the guys were coming to fumigate the place tomorrow so we couldn't be in the house between 11am-3pm

So the next day roomies and I decided we were moving out, and began piso hunting, which was a lot easier as a group then solo. We found a perfect spot, and we were ready to go. We were confident together we would be able to get our deposit back, and even if we had to sue. 

The next day which was the beginning of the long weekend here in Spain, my friend Marii from CSUN who is studying in Granada, came to Madrid, then we went to Leon together, and back to Madrid....Well with the atmosphere that my house was in I felt soo guilty having Marii stay in a hostel which would have been the same cost and wayy nicer than my place. I met up with after she got off of her bus ride, and hung out for a while (also dealing with her roomie being pickpocketed), and headed home to find my room had been sealed off due to fumigation...(remember they said only 11-3?) Well we went to talk to the landlady, Fina, to get our deposit back, and she said that she's never given a deposit back in her life (even though we know she gave it back to our first roomie who moved out), then she moved her story that we have to give her atleast a month to get the money together, when we accepted that and asked for it in writing she said she wouldn't that her word has value...THEN she came out with we'll only get our deposit back when we rent out our room to someone else...and when we asked for that in writing, no go either...then I asked her to undo my room since my computer was inside She said too bad, I would have to wait until tomorrow...

Well...the next day I had to go to Leon, without my own toothbrush, shampoo, deodorant, socks and shoes. All I had to take with my was the clothes I had started to back in my backpack to go and the going out flats I had on my feet. So I bought socks at the bus station and hoped for the best. Just as I expected I ended up with a bad blister from the shoes, which made my trying to enjoy my mini vacation very difficult. Luckily at the pharmacy they had some band-aids that made it better. 

Also during the trip I made a phone call to Sonia to check to see how things were going and it turns out that things made another turn for the worst, another drop. Her dad had called her to say that her grandpa was sick and that she had to return home, leaving the new apt we had already picked out and such for a loss, and we were still there with las brujas. 

So when I came back from Leon, Sonia left with her father and her deposit, and the battle still continues for me. In an effort to compromise I talked to Fina and told her I'd stay the month of November and that would be my deposit, so when I leave she doesn't have to give me anything, and that was no-go as well. Then she started to tell me that I can leave as I please but if I do she'll just go to the embassy to complain, because we can't just sign contracts and then not finish them. She called me an idiot to my face for "following the lead of that rebelious girl" who was only trying to take advantage of me and called us idiots in front of our faces. When I told her that's not what she said, she told me, well maybe it's because you're not from here, and you don't understand things so clearly, but I am from here and that's exactly what she said....

So we left it off as if I find someone to replace me then I get my money back, their deposit, is my deposit...even though it's hard for me to think to subject someone to these people....but as my friend Jessica said, you gotta be looking out for yourself and not for others all the time, cause there isn't someone looking out for you." So despite my conscience eating at me, I posted an online ad for the room. 

I got a few hits for it, and one guy came to see it was really interested and said he was moving in. This was on Wednesday, and I had to work on Thursday, so I told him to come on Friday and they'll make his contract, and he can move in then.... On Thursday night I was freaking out because all of the hostels I was looking at were all full, but again Jess to the rescue and I found the place that I am currently pouring out my mini novela. Friday Morning I get a text message from the guy saying if it was fine if he moved in at 3 pm, I told him that was perfect, and I got to work moving ALL my stuff to the hostel, and after 3 trips I did it. 3pm I was at the place waiting for the guy, gave him a call (no answer), 4pm, another call and a text (no response), 530, & 7pm, no response either.

   So back to round one, putting up the ad again and getting it filled. Now the thing is I have to find another apt, and another deposit, and just like how I said in a previous post....I wish my problems were Mo' Money. So that's when I called my mom today to tell her I'd most likely need to borrow more money from her. That's when the first tears started, I know we're not in the best shape and my lack of judgement and falling for a crappy illusion of a place has effected other people. Throughout all of this turmoil I hadn't cried, but today I couldn't stop the tears they just came out of me like a broken levee. 

I had to pull myself together, and call the places I'd found online, and start the vicious piso hunting process all over again. Much like i expected, half of the people either didn't answer or didn't take down the ad when they rented it. I found one that was right across the street from my first auxiliar friend I made, right around the corner from a metro stop, and a few stops closer to work. After making some calls, I finally got through and made an appointment to see the place its a 5bedroom 2 bath rented by people my age who 4 friends who found a better deal with 5 rooms. They kind of interviewed me to see if they wanted me to live with them, and said they'd be calling me back if I got it....well... I DID!! Tears of joy came out flowing from me as things slowly get back into place.

So after all the turmoil, there is a mini breath of fresh air, I'm still battling for my deposit, but like my tia told me, it's another life lesson to but in my backpack for life. Hopefully now I can stop being so worried and actually start enjoying this life I've been given.

If you've made it this far along with me, THANK YOU. I wanted to share these things with you all sooner, but I also don't want to worry my loves that are so far away either. 

Leave the love <3

~Cathy