It's that time of day: new blog post time! What is this maddness?!? Who knows... Put on some chill music (Spotify's "Soft Pop Hits" playlist is fab) and grab a bowl of ice cream and a glass of wine, not unlike my current snack off choice , and let's ride. So yesterday was my friend's birthday (her name is Sima and you can check her stellar blog here). Turns out it was another one of her (and Deena's) friends' birthday as well. We were going to have a surprise for Sima at Deena's place, but she ended up going to a bar to help set up with her same-birthday friend. They were having joint party at a bar called Veinti 7. They rented out the bar and were able to bring their own homemade tapas in so that people could snack throughout the night. The bartender even hooked them up with discounts on drinks for everyone if you mentioned one of their names. Sweeeet! Some of the girls at the party were kinda rude (in my opinion), but all in all it was pretty fun. At around 2:30am, we wanted to go out dancing so me, Deena, and Sima went around the corner to a bar called Space Monkey, but the line was INSANE. After standing in a non-moving for about 20minutes, we decided to call it quits and head home to prepare for the next night (tonight). We're supposed to be going to this HUUUUUUUGE club called Fabric, so I will keep ya posted on that! Also, totally an aside, but of late I can't get enough of Ed Sheeran. #latetothegame, I know, but seriously. Also, I keep remembering just how fantastic Jason Mraz is. I've always liked him and I love rediscovering his work, both old and new. Another new favorite is You+Me. The other day when we were booking our Bilbao trip, Sima turned me onto them and they are fantastic. Originally was going to be a one-time/one-song collaboration between Dallas Green and Alecia Moore (aka Pink), but ended up turning into a much larger project. They just recently released a full length album, which I highly recommend checking out. It's sweetly acoustic and soulful. I personally would prefer to enjoy this beachside with a glass of wine, but Madrid isn't too bad. Win some, lose some, right?!? ;) Thank goodness for Spotify!
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Ah, yes, familiar Fridays with menú del día. This one was from last week. I went a place called Aió (pronounced kinda like Ah-ee-OH, but really fast and smushed together). Its a stone's throw, if that, from Amargo. I had walked past it a couple of times and had always wanted to try it. Peep my journey below: The menu! I love that it changes daily (makes me believe more that a place cares about the food and the ingredients they are using). Most places have at least one meat option, one seafood or fish option, or one vegetarian option (though to be honest, Spain is a country where it's somewhat difficult to be a vegetarian and not eat the same thing over and over and over again. Props to my veggie friends!!) Also, one of the great things about menú del día is that if you aren't feeling super hungry, most places will let you get just one course, a drink, bread, and dessert or coffee for a slightly reduced cost. Let's carry on my wayward son, shall we? For my primero (first) course, I got "Pasta con crema de espinacas". It was penne pasta with a cream sauce and spinach and a healthy dose of cheese. Though I found this dish erring slightly on the side of too salty (slightly too much salt in the space plus the saltiness of parmesan cheese), I was really pleasantly surprised by the toasted pine nuts in the sauce. For my segundo (second) course, I got "Pollo a la cerveza con veduras". This was beer-braised chicken with veggies. The chicken was good and for the most part tender and juicy, but I found it somewhat lacking in flavor. I think it could've used a touch more salt (maybe from the previous dish) to help bring out some more of the flavors that were developing. My café (coffee)! I forgot to take a picture as soon as I got it because I was so excited for it. After eating all of that food and being out late the night before, I was quickly falling into a food coma and needed something to perk back up. I got café con leche AAAAAAAAND I asked the waitress to give me nata (cream, in this case whipped, as in whipped cream...) on top. I'm sure this is not a normal thing that Spaniards do, but I like my whipped cream, so I shot for the stars and was rightfully rewarded. After all of that, I was super stuffed and quite sleepy. I continued reading for a bit more before leaving to go home and nap. Also, apologies that these photos are slightly below my normal subpar photo taking abilities. I took these using an iPhone3, which sadly does not have the greatest camera. But, da igual, you get the picture. Also, I'm really unsure as to why I can't resize these pictures, so you're welcome for really large pics!
Al final Total cost: €9.50. Thoughts: Would definitely return again. Loved the ambience and the service. The food was good, though I found the first dish a little too salty and the second dish lacking in salt. I loved that the waitress managed to get me cafe with whipped cream on top even though the bartender gave her such a confused look as to why anyone would order that. It's Friday, so y ou know what that means: MENU DEL DIA!!! Today's menu, courtesy of my fave: Cafe Amargo. Buen provecho (good eating/enjoy)!Second Course: hamburger with goat cheese and fried berenjena (eggplant) slices and fries. The goat cheese was not overpowering as it tends to be. It was balanced with the eggplant and the meat as well. The fries definitely tasted homemade. I loved the varying sizes of the potato and they had a slight hint of garlic added to them as well. I ate most of the burger, but not all of it because I was saving room for........... DESSERT!!! My favorite meal of the day! This is arroz con leche (rice pudding) and it's one of my favorites when made well. Margo makes it well. Soft and creamy with a slight hint of vanilla. It's drizzled with sweet honey-esque sauce that hardens and turns into a thin candy. The white/pale yellow jelly near the front of the plate was a lemon jelly that perfectly complimented the sweetness of the dish. It was almost like a refreshing sorbet in the fact that it was more tart than sweet. Thank goodness I got some pictures up. This blog was starting to get reeeeeealllll dry. The meal was delicious. normally I like to go home to power nap and prepare for the evening (especially tonight as it's my friend's birthday), but I have decided to stay and try to write at least one more post and maybe play around with the layout/theme of this thing. Now to order another glass of wine!
Hasta pronto! 😘😘😘😘 Le sigh, where to start? As of now, I can officially stay in Spain until mid December, thanks to my temporary visa. My NIE card will allow me to stay in the country for 1 year, but it's a struggle to get. SIDENOTE: links to come because if I spend all my time figuring out which links I used etc. I will never actually get anything written because the internet will quite easily distract me "Why there's no better place to begin than the beginning of course!" --Someone. (I'm fairly certain this a quote I've heard before but I can't remember where or when. If this hasn't been so eloquently stated before, then I'm copywriting it to myself and claiming all the glory that is to come from it) Shall we commence? I'm staying in Spain for one year on a student visa. I'm taking a class online to obtain my Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certificate. The teaching that I am doing in schools is part of my practicas (internship/practical application). I'm receiving a stipend (aka my teeny tiny income) that should not be taxed because it is considered my scholarship, but vamos a ver.
The application for the visa was for the most part straight-forward, but there were definitely some things that confused me. For starters, you have to send the application to the embassy or consulate that serves your region/grouping of states. I spent the past year living and working at Disney World in Orlando, FL, but I retained my Maryland residency (best state flag, most state pride, general amazingness, also I'm so not a fan of Florida). Because I have legal MD residence, I had to go directly to the embassy. I also had to complete all of my other paperwork etc. at offices in Maryland, which is quite difficult to do from FL. From my knowledge of it, at some point during the application process, either in dropping off the forms or picking them, you have to go in person. I turned in my visa application during the first week or so of July upon my return and had more than enough time to pick it up before I left for Spain because it was ready exactly 4 weeks later. The general form you need to fill out is available on the website. Also, if you email every single address on the website you can find because no one answers you in a timely manner, someone is bound to send one to you (works from experience). The website should tell you all of the documents you need to have (things such as: acceptance letter to a student program, proof of financial means, health insurance, etc). If you're staying for longer than 6 months in Spain, you need a couple additional supporting documents. You need to have medical clearance from the doctor. I'm not sure why seeing as how no one here actually cares that I have a letter signed from the doctor. Also, I'm really unsure as to why you can be of poor health and travel for 6 months because you don't need clearance, but you have to be deemed "OK" for anything longer than that. Yo no sé (IDK). I digress. I went to the doctors and it was a horrifying experience (ask the padre to tell you tales if you really want to know). Secondly, you need a criminal background check. The background check has to be completed by the state in which you legally resided for the last year. While I am legally a resident of Maryland, I was also legally on a Florida lease, so I was quite confused as to where I should've registered. I went with Maryland because that was where my ID was from. For me in FL it meant that I had to go on the MD Criminal Justice Dept (I think I googled "how to get fingerprinted in Maryland". I just love google and I have no clue how I would survive without it...) and figure out who to contact to get a fingerprinting form. Apparently the forms differ from state to state (obnoxious and annoying because why aren't fingerprints the same?). So I had to call the MD office and have them send me fingerprint forms to my address in FL. Then in FL I had to go to the Corrections Dept/Sherrif's Office to get fingerprinted, but that was also an ordeal because they at first refused to give me fingerprints on a MD form because we were in FL. It honestly made no sense to me because all I needed was someone that was certified to roll my fingers in ink. Eventually after much pleading and telling the office that I was willing to pay even if the forms were returned and it was not considered valid, they let me. Hallaeluh. They forgot to add their unique office code of authorization on the form, so thanks to Google, I was able to find that out. I then had to mail my fingerprint forms (technically it only had to be one, but I took 3 sets of fingerprints in case they deemed one illegible or inaccurate) to the office in MD. The website said my fingerprints had to have some sort of seal on them, so on the fingerprint background request form, I checked the box for a Gold Seal. I mailed the forms, a check, and a desperately begging note to an unknown officer in MD and thankfully they took pity on me (or maybe my form was actually filled out correctly, ha!) and sent my background check to my house in MD. Having obtained all of the documents (or so I thought), it was now officially time to turn in my visa. I went down to the consulate office within the embassy with a hopeful smile only face. First of all, the consulate is only open/available Mon-Thurs from 9am or so until 1pm (or maybe 2pm). Second, there is a really nice Spanish boy who works there who is also incredibly hot. He's one of the few people I know (okay, so I don't actually know him) who can rock a polo well. Moving on. Turns out, I didn't have all of the documents I needed. The seal that the embassy required had to be administered by a separate state department that verified my identity. Not sure why all of the rest of my info on my background check plus the fact that it was consistent with every other piece of evidence I provided was not enough, but SPAIN. Luckily, the folks at the consulate were super nice about it and let me turn in my visa application with the copies of the documents without having my identity verification so that my visa could start processing. I was initially going to have my visa mailed back to me (and I purchased a $20 non-refundable stamp for that purpose, bitter: party of one), but I had to go pick it up in person (during their open hours) and present my identity verification document to them. To get my identity verified with the seal, I had to go to the Secretary of State office in Annapolis. It's basically a piece of paper that you pay $5 for that says you are who you claim to be. I had just gotten back from Chicago hours earlier and had subsequently spent all of money on that trip. $10 was the credit card minimum, but luckily I was able to scrounge together some change (I think I had two actual dollar bills and the rest was pennies, nickels, and dimes....) to pay for it. Document in hand, I went to pick up my visa 4 weeks later and show my identity verification. All was well and I had a visa! Cut to Spain. My visa is only valid for a few months. If you are staying in Spain for longer than 6 months, you have to apply for a NIE, as previously mentioned. So as of now, my visa is good until mid-December. Now begins the struggle to get my NIE. My NIE number was technically listed on my passport, so I have the number, but I need the official card. To get your NIE in Spain, you have to register for an appointment. At that appointment, you have to have:
The coordinator of my program sent my visa number to some other coordinator company that makes NIE appts for American students. After a couple emails, he (the director) said the coordinator would contact me with further details. So I was patient (~ish, for a change) and waited. After stressing that I needed to get this document within 30 days of my arrival to Spain, the coordinator final contacted me 23 days after I had been in the country. She sent this incredibly curt email (on a Wednesday) detailing that I had an appt the following Tuesday at 11am. She sent this email at 4:45pm (aka almost close of business). On Mondays and Wednesdays, I teach until 5:15pm (I would hate to be those poor children in school until that long...), so I didn't see the email until I was done with class. I sent an email immediately back detailing that I couldn't make the appointment because I had class and was teaching, I mentioned that I was free at a later time that day or on Friday (3 day weekends para siempre (forever)!!!) and had she contacted me beforehand, we could have worked something out. No response. Neither did I get responses to the subsequent 4 EMAILS I sent. #WHAAAAATTTT She told me to contact her if I had any questions or concerns, which I did!! Ayyyyyy. So, I did what I do best, and googled the company that was included in her email signature and emailed everyone I could find on the website. No response. So I decided to skip the appointment she made and try to figure things out on my own. Finally ONE WEEK LATER someone answered me... AT 10:45PM. Are you kidding me?? So you're going to ignore all of my emails during normal business hours and answer me well into the night?? UGH. Whatever. Someone sent me an email saying that they couldn't guarantee the days the Foreigner's Office has available but they "would see what they could do". Surprise, surprise, they were able to coordinate an appt on Friday (two days later) at 10am at some office in the middle of nowhere. Great. So I show up to this appointment with all the documents necessary in had, minus the empadronamiento. It took forever for me to actually sign the lease, which was frustrating, and it officially happened the night before my appt on Thursday. Unfortunately, but maybe fortunately should I have to break the lease, my name is written in ballpoint pen. It looks so sketch, especially considering my other 3 roommates have their names and ID numbers typed into the document and mine is just added with a pen. But whatever. I knew I was going to get denied for my NIE because I didn't have all of the proper forms, but I decided to check it out to see what the process was like anyways. First, though I had an appointment number, I had to wait in a general line. It's basically set up like MVA where you wait until the next person available can help you. If this is the case, why do I have to have an appt number?? I made an appt to wait in line??? But apparently this is the custom because you don't get helped unless you have an appt. STUPID. So I waited in line until it was finally my turn. My NIE app got denied (shocker), but luckily I was able to ask what I needed to do for next time. The lady told me that I had to have my empadronamiento and also bring a bank form that showed proof of payment (which the email lady neglected to tell me) that she gave me. 11am and I have no NIE. Sooooo I decided to try to get my empadronamiento. Empadronamiento is basically a form saying that you legally reside in Spain. To get your empadronamiento in Madrid, you just have to have to form filled out (which you can download online), a copy of your lease, and a copy of an official document (aka a passport). You can take it to any office in the city, regardless of where your empadron zone is. I took my passport and copy of my lease to an office in the center and was told that I could could not get empadroned. For one thing, I didn't make an appt (THOUGH I WAITED IN LINE). For another thing, my name was written in ballpoint pen and looked so sketch. Sooooo, the lady at the office made me an appointment for 2 weeks later and told me to return with all of the document I had, plus a photocopy of the passport of one of my roommates who was actually typed onto the document and their authorizing signature. So I left the building empty-handed. I went home and requested the passport of one of my roommates (they're all French and EU citizens so this entire process is WAAAAAAY easier for them) to make a photocopy of it. My date to empadron in the city center, which is my region of the city, was in two weeks. As you all know, I am not that patient. Luckily, it's incredibly easy to make appointments online. I made an appointment for a Tuesday at 2pm, directly following my classes for the day. I was able to make an appt an office that was in the same district as my school. so it only took 10 minutes to get there. I showed up early (by 20min) and was told to wait (SHOCKER). There were not many people in the office, so they allowed me to go early. When it was my turn, the lady that I talked to was incredibly nice. She was a little skeptical of the lease I provided (because, ballpoint...), but she appreciated that I had the photocopy of my roommate's passport. Normally, she said they wouldn't validate that because she wanted my roommate to be there in person, but she filled out all of the information in her computer online anyway and told me to wait a second. She quickly passed all of my documents I had presented to me and told me to put them away and then called her boss. She told her boss that she just needed a signature and that I was super nice and that she had already checked everything. Her boss was okay with it, so the lady printed my form and her boss signed it, and there you have it. I'm empadroned! Moral of the story: be nice and try to speak Spanish. Though I talked around myself in circles, she appreciated the effort I made. Also, the empadronamiento is super fácil (easy) to get. It's one of the smoothest processes I've been through here. And with that, I am done for now. Phew. I think this post stopped making sense at the end because I got tired of writing. Also because the owner of the bar overpoured my wine (which I'm not complaining about) and then gave me a free glass of wine because I've been here for forever... Oops. More later. As always, xoooxxxx I'm officially on my weekend and to my knowledge, I have no responsibilities. Well, perhaps this weekend I will plan my classes (lol okay, games) in my free time instead of doing it at 11pm/12am the night before. Vamos a ver (we shall see). At any rate, I have a ton of updating to do, so we shall see how much I get done. I will probably make a few separate posts to organize them all. Also, I will add pictures later, though I don't recall having taken many pictures. I should start carrying my camera around more often given that my iPhone from home works like an iPod (aka only on WiFi) and the camera on the iPhone 3s is less than stellar. I digress. Currently, I'm sitting at my new favorite cafe/bar. It's called Amargo: place to be (I'm not really sure if that last part is part of their name or a slogan or what...). This is my third time and counting having been here this week and I love it. Yes, I know, you may be thinking "How can you say that you're broke when you're constantly spending money all the time??". To that I reply, first and foremost, thank goodness for credit cards. Without a credit card, there is no way I would have been able to buy groceries, sheets, towels, my hostels/AirBnB stay, a gym membership, or running shoes (all necessities in my opinion). I'm all about smart credit card use (shockingly so considering how absolutely horrible I am at money management), but that's another post for another time. Anyhow, one of the reasons I am able to go out frequently is because certain things are quite cheap here. Namely, coffee and alcohol.
What else have I done? Oh! I officially joined a gym. Granted yesterday was my first day, but so far, so good. It's called Urban Fitness and it's maybe a 5 minute (at most) walk from my apt. For 6 months, my membership was €209, including the typical gym equipment/machines (obvi), all of the classes the gym offers (kickboxing, yoga, pilates, TRX, among many others), and personal training. Heaven! Especially considering the amount of weight I've gained and how steadily my health levels have declined since my arrival in this country. Last night I ran a 5k (though was slightly more with warm up and cool down) and it was shockingly easy considering I haven't run since the 10k in Chicago over the summer (side note: I totally meant to write a post about how awesome Chicago was and I forgot until just now). Quizás (maybe) I will run in the Rock & Roll 10k like I did last year. I'm thinking of checking out a yoga class later on tonight, so I will let ya know how that goes!
What else? Teaching is going to be a separate post. Apartment updates and legal things will be separate as well. Also, Barcelona things and some weekend things. Sooooooooooooo I believe that is all for now! Ta! xxxx Alright, so it's no secret that I am insanely, incredibly bored. I mean, that will probably change once the school year starts and I have little Spanish children to pretend to not understand unless they're speaking my language on a daily basis, but as for now, I have nada que tengo que hacer. Also, I'm mad broke and while wandering around Barcelona is fantastic, I can't do that because I have no self control and I don't have near enough money to even begin to think about making it rain. Sooooo, I came up with this great idea: I review things!! Why not combine a few things I'm good at (specifically, giving my unsolicited opinion, pretending I know what I'm talking about, and drinking alcohol) and share my gift with the world?! LET US COMMENCE. What we (hah!, okay, I) have here today is lovely bottle of red wine. It's name is obvi in the title, but I will repeat that here for all of you lovelies. The company (brand? maker? vineyard? bottler?) is Marqués de Taute. The wine is a crianza, a deep red wine bottled in 2011. It's from La Rioja, known worldwide as the wine country in northern Spain. Learn more about wines from La Rioja here and check this graphic about them taken from the same website (Wine Folly). THE BOTTLE SAYS: "Wine made from selected grapes of the indigenous varieties of the area: Tempranillo, Red Grenache and Mazuelo. Once the malolactic fermentation is completed, the wine ages for 12 months in French and American oak barrels, then rests in bottles for at least 6 months to complete its maturing process and roundness. Wine with an intense, brilliant ruby red color with slight purplish hues." I SAY: First things first, the smell. You know how some wines smell super vinegary as soon as you open the bottle? Ugh, I hate that. Not this one! It was really smooth with the faintest hint of fruit. Oddly enough, it also smelled faintly like caramel. Now, guess how much I paid?? €5,85 (that's $7.83 US dolla dolla bills and change). I decided to class it up more than my €1,85 bottle from yesterday because that was beyond awful. I mean, I drank it, of course, but blegggh. Also another reason to write reviews: now I can go back and see what I like/don't/want to try again because I know for sure all of this stuff is going to blur together. Staying at a hostel, probably (yet to be determined) overpacked my luggage, and living on a super budget leads me to drink out of only the most respectable receptacles (how clever am I for coming up with that?!!?!) aka today's cup is fun-sized, party polka-dot plastic cup. Where there are polka dots, there's a party. Kudos to me for not just drinking straight out of the bottle as per usual, but the night is still plenty young. Taste: Deliciosa. Not sweet, and not too sour/vinegar tasting. I don't taste anything resembling the caramel I smelled, so I was probably on crack earlier (JK mom and everyone else, I don't do crack, promise). It's pretty mellow and feels like it would pair well with a lot things on the Thanksgiving table.
Mouth feel: It didn't make my mouth super dry after taking a sip. Also, it's not exactly light, not exactly medium. I would say on the lighter side of medium. I should probably taste something medium and heavy though to be more sure.. Drinkable: Super. Another round or five and I'm fine with that. Hangover factor: TBD. I've paced myself during the writing of this article and haven't even finished the glass, though don't praise me for my restraint just yet, it's mostly due to my inability to multitask. My grade: B. Solid and middle of the road. Not supremely memorable and OMG fantastic, but something I would drink again and buy if I'm feeling kinda classy on a date (side note: take me on a date and provide me with better wine than this and I will definitely call you again). |