New Homebase: Motril
Welcome to Motril! My new home and place of work for the duration of my time in Spain.
My time since landing in Spain has been spent meeting my new roommates, trying to catch up on sleep, and exploring my new town. It already feels like I've been here forever and it's only been six days!
I flew into Madrid on Tuesday, September 26th and took a bus from the airport to the city of Granada. I was exhausted from getting very little sleep on the flight over, thanks to an obscene amount of turbulence, so I spent most of the bus ride in a half-awake state.
Upon arriving in my favorite city, I taxied to my hotel and very ungracefully began my Spanish conversation journey. Thankfully, the man at the check-in desk was very patient and let me stumble along until he showed me to my room.
After crashing hard for a couple of hours, I met up with a friend from Granada to have dinner. It had been over a year since Ada and I last saw each other in person and it was so nice to catch up! Like we always do, we spoke for half the time in Spanish and the other half in English. It was a really nice confidence builder to talk with her again and get some solid speaking time under my belt.
The next day I woke up and went for a jog/walk along the river that I used to frequent when I was studying abroad. It felt so good to be out and about in such familiar, nostalgic territory. I had my favorite Spanish breakfast, pan con tomate, at the café attached to my hotel and then went out to do some errands.
After buying a Spanish SIM card and wandering through some of the classic Spanish brand stores (Zara, Pull and Bear, and Mango), I taxied back to the bus station to take the one hour long ride to Motril. When the bus pulled into Motril, Sophie, my future housemate, and her sister Chloe were already waiting for me. We made it to our AirBnB and after a scavenger hunt to find the keys and the apartment, we were finally able to get out of the heat and rest up a bit.
We regrouped and went to an early dinner at a crepêrie where we met the friendliest local man who gave us reward cards! Just nine more to go till our free crepe. After dinner we wandered around the sanctuary that surrounds the largest church in Motril and we got our first photo taken as roommates.
The next day I woke up early and went for a run to check out our walking route down to the beach for later that afternoon. Just as I was headed back for breakfast, the sun came up over the mountains and I had a "oh-my-god-I-live-here-now" moment for the first time since I landed.
We grabbed a quick bite to eat (toast and orange juice, of course, since we're in Spain) on our way to view an apartment that someone at Sophie's school recommended to her. The place was very cute and a decent price but a little further away from the downtown center than we were looking to stay.
After our house hunting, we went grocery shopping and made lunch before starting our two mile trek to the beach. Swimming in the Mediterranean and laying on the sand made the walk more than worth it and it felt so nice to spend a siesta at the beach!
We endured the walk back to town (felt a lot longer going this way) and all showered before going out to a local tapas bar to meet the rest of the conversation assistants in our town. It was lovely to drink tinto de verano (red wine + lemon Fanta) again and get to know everyone! Some of us finished the night off with a much needed gelato stop which was the perfect way to cap off our first full day in our new city.
Friday began with Sophie and me running more errands in our never ending search and collection of paperwork. We need to apply for a TIE, Tarjeta de Identidad de Extranjero, and receive the physical card before our 90 day student visa expires. We have appointments with the local police station this upcoming week so we have a lot of documents to get organized before then.
Our first accomplishment of the morning was finding a photocopy/printing shop and successfully conveying what we needed copied and printed. A small task in English but it was very encouraging to speak fully in Spanish and be understood. The second accomplishment, and big step towards being full-time Spanish residents, was opening a checking account. We went to the bank together and worked with such a nice employee who walked us through every step. Our Banco Santander debit cards are on their way to us and then we will be official!
I had to leave Sophie with our new friend at the bank to hurry home for a snack before walking to my school to meet with my coordinator and a few other teachers. As I approached the building, I realized that a street I had commented on the day before as having beautiful flowers, was actually the side of my school! Kinda felt like fate...
After finally figuring out how to buzz in and get through the gate, I met my coordinator; Ana, the director of my school; Miguel, and some of the other teachers and staff. We had a bilingual meeting where we all got to know each other and I got answers to my many questions. Everyone was so lovely and I am beyond excited to work with this inspiring and energetic team throughout this school year! I got to spend a lot of time speaking in Spanish with the secretary (he is also the French teacher but he speaks no English) and we had a lot of fun joking around while getting my contract set up.
Sophie, Chloe, one of my other future housemates Lauren, and I debriefed my school visit and had some lunch before settling in for a relaxing siesta. Lauren had to leave to check into new accommodations and the three of us headed out to get some churros! Chloe is only in Spain for a short visit so we are trying to fit in all the classic food experiences.
We then met up with the other assistants to take a tour of the Museo Preindustrial de la Caña de Azucar (Preindustrial Sugar Cane Museum). Motril and some of the other coastal cities nearby were hotspots for sugarloaf production back in the day. We were guided around by the museum curator and learned all about the dangers and riches of the sugar industry.
After the museum we stopped by my school so everyone could take a peek and waited for the 6th member of our group to meet up with us. We headed to dinner at one of the hundreds of to-go pizza places this town has. Seriously it feels like there is a different one on every block. Sophie, Chloe, and I booked a quick trip to Salobreña for the following day when we got back home from dinner and then called it a night.
Saturday morning started with Sophie and me returning to our photocopy place and trying not to get the same clerk so they wouldn't recognize us (we were successful). We then headed over to check out our new apartment with two other conversation assistants Lauren and Liz. The two of them had toured the place previously but we wanted to see it in person before we signed the lease. We met our ADORABLE landlady Maru and her husband Placido (our new "land-parents") and walked around town with them to write up the contract and copy our keys.
Sophie and I had to hurry back to eat lunch and change into bathing suits before walking with Chloe to catch the bus to Salobreña. We made it with a few minutes to spare and got to cool off in the AC for just 15 minutes on our way to visit another coastal town. The three of us spent the afternoon sunbathing and cooling down in the ocean (much needed under the hot, hot sun). We also randomly ran into my host brother from the family I lived with when I studied abroad in Granada! Small world...
After we had our fill of sand and saltwater, we hiked up a short but steep hill to visit the Castillo de Salobreña. These castle ruins are situated perfectly with views of both the ocean and the mountains, offering a stunning contrast of the two landscapes. The curator told us a legend of three sisters who were once locked inside the castle by their father. Apparently, if you spot a butterfly among the grounds it is a message from the sisters and you should take it as a good sign. We sadly did not see any butterflies on our tour but maybe another day!
We walked back down the hill and after striking out three times on spots for dinner, we found a bar owned by an English ex-pat. He served us some very tasty, but strong, tinto de verano and we each got a tapa.
When we got back to Motril we had a second dinner and all showered before meeting back up with the group for ice cream round two. It was really nice to see everyone and share some funny and less fortunate stories from the transition so far. On our way back to the house Sophie, Chloe, and I bumped into Maru, our new landlady, and her friends having a night out on the town. They were dressed to the nines and absolutely put our jeans and early bedtime plans to shame!
This morning the three of us woke up and headed to 10am mass at the church we discovered our first night in Motril. The service was held all in Spanish and I surprisingly understood most of it without ever having attended mass before.
So far my time in Motril has been pretty filled with getting my life set up here, but we have definitely made time for fun. I am really looking forward to starting school tomorrow and meeting the students I will be working with!
Si pan de azúcar, en Motril te encajo.
Everything is so beautiful! So glad you're getting settled and meeting new people. Your experience sounds wonderful so far!
sounds awesome, hope the next entry is all about the first discoteca night
Sounds so exciting! Think I am little jealous. I love adventure but don’t have the time. .