Well, I made it here 3 weeks ago last night. It was a very funny feeling at first, leaving behind many good friends yet excited too at the prospect of what was ahead. Scary as well as it was and still is so unknown. Kevin Bartlett picked me up from the airport and I was able to stay with him and the rest of his family (his wife Ness and 3 kids Megan, Will and Jonny) until I found my own flat to share. They were very gracious to me and have helped me to settle in better.
The first few days were a bit of a culture shock, learning that I knew nothing lol. The language was quite a barrier and the different way of life took a lot of time to get used to! However, the people here are immensely friendly and try to help you with everything! As a man who likes routine, it was difficult to suddenly not have one and not to have everything sorted when I wanted it :-) so for me, finding my own place to live, finding a job, getting friends, knowing the language perfectly, finding a football team and gym, getting a bank account, etc were quite high and still are high on the list. However, I've had to learn to do things the Spanish way which is ridiculously slower and I've realized that these things will not happen as quickly as I'd like but I've gotta keep trying and hoping and they'll all work out at some time :-)
So although I've been here for over 3 weeks now, sometimes not a lot has actually been going on!! Very strange. I did meet up with a mutual friend and some of her friends the first Friday night I was here which was great as it made me feel settled that much quicker. I found a flat and moved in as of Tuesday night which was brilliant! Photos of the flat are below:
In regards to work, it's a little difficult here but not too bad I think. I had a job interview with this company that teaches business English where Kevin was wanting to work however they were very unimpressed with my grammar (ha ha!) and, eventually, told Kevin to tell me that they had enough teachers and didn't need me. was a bit disappointing but to be honest I didn't really like them so am actually glad. Sadly, though, they told Kevin that their contract with this company fell through so he wasn't needed either. So he's still looking for work just as I am. I advertised myself to teach English privately and have had a ridiculous amount of feedback -- it seems like every single family in Madrid wants their kids to be bilingual! So that's really good and I'm hoping to turn some of them into regular lessons as of next week. Apart from that, there are a few numbers floating around to contact who are looking to enploy people to teach English so I'll see how that goes but would be great if you could pray for this please! I haven't worked now since the end of July and am actually missing it!! Plus it will help me to get into more of a routine which will help but most importantly I need the money!!!
Oh yeah and church-wise, I've been visiting a few these past weeks, another one this Sunday called Amistad lead by a woman!!!! Shock horror. Doubt I will end up going to that one but it's good to see what's going on in regards to the state of the church and try and make some contacts perhaps. There is a church I went to last week called Betel which I really liked so I may end up getting plugged into that for a while at least and get to know people there. Just in case I'm confusing any of you, we are out here to start a church ourselves, but right now is all about getting to know people and building up friendships. Over here at the moment are only the Bartletts, another family called the Whiteheads (Al and Sal and their kids Ellie and Jo) and myself. It's still too early for us as a group to be starting a church essentially although we are meeting together weekly now but our idea is to get stuck into a church nearby, doesn't have to be the same one, and be a part of them for a while. Then when we start increasing in friendships and maybe others being called out here, we'll start meeting together properly. There is another family called the Capes from Yeovil who are trying to get out here too so prayers for them would be appreciated as they really would like to be here now but at the moment coz of trying to sell the house and other stuff doesn't look like they'll make it here until the new year...
On that note, Nigel Capes came over last Monday as he had a job interview on the Tuesday. After that, he didn't really have much else planned so I got to hang out with him and do a bit of the touristy stuff with him which was cool as I haven't really done that yet! He walked my legs off but it was great fun to be able to hang out with such a quality guy and made me realize just how essential he is to this and that he and his family really need to get out here as quick as they can. Anyways, I acted as his semi-interpreter for the few days we hung out. I say semi as my Spanish isn't brilliant when it comes to food especially so had no idea what half the stuff was on the menus lol. We ended up ordering a starter that looked like this:
Well, that will probably have to do for now! I'm sorry it has taken me so long to start this blog but I will try to keep it updated as much as I can. Oh yeah and if anyone is ever interested, my address here is: Plaza de Pena Horcajo 11, Bloque B 3B, Madrid, 28035. Oh and I bought a Spanish phone so if you want that too it's +34622835809. Also, please feel free to skype me anytime you want! Until I have a proper routine I'm normally about whenever :-) take care all of you! Love you all and miss you!
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