I arrived in Cádiz and hit the ground running because I had so much to figure out. I needed a new phone number, a bank account, an apartment, an appointment for my Tarjeta de Identidad Extranjero (TIE), and all of the documents necessary to obtain my TIE.
The program I’m a part of doesn’t help participants with these things directly. There were a few webinars in Spanish and (thankfully) a guidebook in English. I used those and harnessed the power of social media and blogs to figure out everything else. Where there’s a will there’s a way and all that jazz.
Not So SIMple
Before arriving, I researched plenty of options for phone service and decided to settle on Vodafone. I found the location nearest me and walked up to a counter to ask for a SIM. Lucky me…I managed to pick a location that doesn’t deal with SIM cards. I changed up the plans and found a competitor, Orange, and was in and out in 10 minutes or less – Spanish number in hand! My first major task was out of the way. I decided to celebrate with gelato.
Bank On It
I researched banks before arriving as well, and my neighbor in Dallas – who was conveniently from Madrid – recommended Santander. I mapped out the nearest location, grabbed my passport and proof of work, and headed in when they opened one morning. You’re probably wondering how you open a bank account if you don’t speak the language. Ahhh…the power of Google Translate. I took a number and headed to a desk when my number showed up on the screen.
“Hola, lo siento, mi Español es malo pero necesito abrir una cuenta bancaria. Soy un nuevo profesora de inglés.” I told the bank employee that I’m sorry my Spanish is bad but I need to open a bank account. I’m a new English teacher. Before I could pull out any paperwork, he was off to Google Translate on his computer. He typed out every single question, concern, you name it. The entire process took around 30 minutes, but the most memorable part came as I was preparing to leave. He spent an extra 15 minutes typing out everything he recommend I see in Southern Spain. I attempted to show my appreciation, but I don’t think that man will ever really know how much that extra bit of time and kindness meant to me during my first week in a new country.
A Home Away From Home
Next up was apartment hunting. I used the website Idealista to look for apartments within my price range. After staying at my hostel a few nights, I knew I wanted to live within walking distance of the city center, but not right in the thick of it all because I like to sleep. I found an apartment I was interested in and the listing mentioned they were looking for another teacher. I took a deep breath, called from my new Spanish number, and again apologized in Spanish for my lack of Spanish before asking if I could view the apartment. I lucked out! The sweet voice on the other end quickly let me know that she spoke English and I could come by that afternoon.
The location was perfect – a 15-minute walk from my school, a 15-minute walk to the beach, 20 minutes to the city center, and located near all the major shopping I could need. I had a chance to look around before my second future flatmate would arrive. I found out she spoke no English and was worried she may not feel comfortable with me. My fears quickly disappeared when we all started making jokes about how living together would improve her English and my Spanish.
Finding available apartments in the area can be quite a challenge, but I’d been warned by other people not to take the first place I saw. Intuition kicked in though and as I walked back to my hostel, I knew I’d just found my new home. I decided to end the apartment search and instead started all the necessary bank account transfers and worked on planning my move-in date.
I LOVE my flatmates. The language barrier matters less than I ever imagined and I felt at home immediately.
Holy Paperwork, Batman!
A few days after moving in, the landlord came into town so we could all sign the contract together. Once that was complete, I needed to head to the Ayuntamiento, or town hall. In order to get a TIE, you need to register in the city. This was the first time I encountered anyone that didn’t exactly appreciate my Spanish efforts. It was the least pleasant experience I’ve had, but she found another employee who spoke English and he was incredibly kind. It all worked out in the end. One step closer to my TIE appointment!
After that, I had to fill out two more forms online and go to a bank to pay a small fee for one of them. I also made A LOT of trips to a print/copy shop because of all the necessary paperwork. The woman in the shop recognized me after my first two trips and told me my Spanish was improving. Highlight of my week!
Finally, after about three weeks of attempting to translate every form, paying fees, making copies, and more, I arrived at my TIE appointment 30 minutes early. Clearly, I have not adopted the “no pasa nada” way of life yet! I stood outside and waited for my turn with a few other foreigners. I was so nervous something would be incorrect or missing. I’d heard plenty of stories about people having to go back because of errors. I’m happy to report that everything went great and I got my TIE on the first try! I’m waiting on my official card to arrive in another four weeks or so.
I really like to knock out the hard stuff before I enjoy “‘play time,” so it was a huge relief to get all of this done as early as I did. Moving to a new country is no easy feat, but if you want something bad enough it helps to keep the end goal in mind. I had to get over the fear of using my terrible Spanish and feeling quite stupid at times to get to the end goal of remaining in Spain legally once my 90-day Visa expires. Now that the worst is over, I’m more focused on my work, my new friends, and the beach.
Casey L. Conway 