Thursday 3rd September, 2009

The slightly over half an hour taxi ride from Madrid’s Airport (Barajas) to Getafe proved to be a smart decision. This is not only due the two suitcases, three hand bags and trench coat that I would have had to maneuver on a bus, throughout Madrid’s intricate Metro system and afterwards the train ride from Atocha Main Train Station to Las Margaritas and the 10 minute walk to Titulcia 15 from the train station. (Duly noted: I had no clue where I would have had to go nor did I print out any maps to guide me the way). No, the taxi ride was also a smart idea considering the notorious rumors of Madrid’s metro pickpockets and Roma street kids taking advantage of naive tourists. Though I don’t many valuable items with me, I didn’t want to lose my half my luggage on the first day on my exchange year.

The best and worst example I have heard so far was from my newly acquainted British friend George, George like George of the Jungle. George is a kind, helpful, Spanish-speaking and well-witted economic student. He is, more importantly, not a naïve tourist. Yet in his first weeks in central Madrid he had “lost” the following possessions: Three phones, his wallet(s), his laptop and an I-Pod. Hence logically concluding that he has had several encounters with un-agreeable inhabitants, George’s start in Madrid didn’t commence on his best foot. (You might, however, be relieved to know that George is now living in Getafe with two good-looking girls and has not been robbed since).

My first day in Madrid, however, started off on a very pleasant note. Not only did I take advantage of going with the taxi, I also made sure to negotiate the price before climbing in. (A normal ride to Getafe from the Airport is between 35 and 44 depending how often the taxi rider loses his way. Because the taxi-driver had a GPS system integrated in his cab, he only took two wrong turns. End Price: 42Euros). After we arrived he lent me his phone to call my proprietor, and as he had no clue how to use it, he let me do the dialing. After having a half-broken Spanish conversation with MariCarmen (the proprietor), I found out that she lives only minutes away, therefore I didn’t wait long before she arrived. During the wait I recollected my first few impression of Madrid, of better yet – Getafe. It was HOT, roughly around 33 degrees, which I found out later on to be rather “fresh” considering the intense summer of 40 degrees that they have endured. It is divided to two different parts: the more modern section with newly painted purple streetlamps, and the older parts of Getafe, where the buildings are closer together, the streetlamps yellow, people hang loose on the streets and go by the motto of “live and let live”. Also noticeable is the astonishing number of dog lovers on the streets and the corresponding doggy-trap (aka poo) that one should watch out for. (More insights on Getafe later on under Getafe – Warning! Not really exciting here…)

When MariCarmen came, she is a short woman with short blond hair and a large smile on her face, she greeted me warmly and helped carry my (not so light) things upstairs to the second floor. She asked me if I could speak Spanish, to which my reply “No hablo muy bien pero comprendo mucho”. This seemed to be her invitation to continue talking “muy rapido” in Spanish, explaining how I picked a great place to live in (the older parts of Getafe mind you) and told me that the neighborhood is really clean (with the exception of the few doggy-trap) and that the people are very kind and helpful (very true!). When we arrived on the second floor, Angela from Brazil (the cleaning lady) was happily singing in the kitchen, which distracted me from the shockingly Spanish apartment. The “Piso” screamed of tradition and everything that is ancient. The furniture dark, and almost every inch on the walls was nailed with pictures of Maria and flowers and sceneries and every board on the shelves with “krams” and statues (of dogs) or vases (with fake flowers). The room was muy grande with lots of Luz coming from the balcony door. Gewöhnungsbedürftig, aber doch schön, und vor allem gross.

As I was alone in the flat at the moment, Angela and MariCarmen made sure that I didn’t feel alone throughout the whole day and took me to the supermarket nearby, showed me around the university (which is only 2 minutes away!!!) and pretty much chatted about the weather and other things in Spanish that I didn’t fully understand. In the evening MariCarmen’s husband drove us to el Corte Ingles to help me get an adapter (which only took half an hour to explain what I was looking for) and batteries for my camera (only to find out that I forgot my recharger in Switzerland). Afterwards they stopped by the apartment to fix something in the bathroom where he took the liberty of smoking the whole time (ew!!) in the apartment itself (double ew!!!).

Safe to say I was more than happy to retreat to my room where I sat on my new bed … and broke it in half! This was fortunately fixed within the next two hours – without anyone smoking in my room. The next shock was when I unpacked my bags – to find out that the side pockets have been mugged! The culprits took one pair of sandals (out of the 3 pairs that were in there), shampoo (half empty) and other toiletries. They didn’t seem to be interested in my laptops or other more valuable products in the bag.  I wasn’t really sure how to react but was glad someone out there weren’t walking around barefooted and had nice smelling hair. Finanzkrise lässt grüssen.

After explaining how to use the shower (they were surprised to know that Swiss people actually did shower…) MariCarmen told me she would be back on the weekend with the contract and wished me a great stay in Madrid. And in all – A reasonably good start in Getafe.