Las Chinas

Somehow, I haven't really talked about "las chinas." "Las chinas" would be referring to the two Chinese girls that have been living in my flat for the past 2 months. I would say their names but the fact is my other roommates and I don't know them because they only introduced themselves once and we couldn't decipher anything, so they are "las chinas." They share a room (the big one the gay Italian guy used to live in) and never talk to the rest of us besides an occasional "hola." They never change out of their pajamas, or leave the flat besides to go to school.

When they first arrived they put a portable hot plate/stove in the kitchen. Why they didn't want to use the stove we already have I'm not sure. About a month ago I came into the kitchen and they hadn't cleaned up after themselves. There were raw vegetables and meat on the counter as well as tons of dirty plates. Sometimes I don't have a chance to wash my dishes so I leave them in the sink to do the next day, but leaving out RAW FOOD is a BIG NO NO in this piso. I knocked on their door and there was a long pause and then I came in and told them that if they don't clean up after themselves "las cucarachas van a venir." Their guy friend (who is also always in their room) followed me back to the kitchen and cleaned up their mess. The next day I woke up and there were maybe 9 full garbage bags on the kitchen floor... TAKE IT OUTSIDE!

Anyway I feel like Mr. G from Summer Heights High because after this event I started putting up signs all over the kitchen like, "POR FAVOR TIRA LA BASURA" to remind them to clean up after themselves. As Mr. G says, "We have to work together, but I'm not going to live in your filth." After this sign went up they no longer even cook in the kitchen. They moved the hot plate into their room and cook in there! EW!!

New room!

One of my italian roomies moved out this week which was pretty sad, but on the up side I moved into his bigger and nicer room!I have a lot more space and a nice big window.

And then there was heat

After hanging out in my living room today and witnessing my Italian roomie repeatedly blow hot air into his hands and then rub them together I decided today HAD to be the day. I went to Corte Ingles and FINALLY bought a space heater. It not only provides heat, but also functions as a fan which will be perfect for when it starts to actually feel like I live on the Costa del Sol. Although I will be using it for personal use in my bedroom I currently have it placed in our living room and everyone is extremely thankful.

You know there is something seriously wrong when...

• You are wearing gloves, a sweatshirt, sweatpants, a scarf and socks to sleep

• You find yourself turning on the toaster not to make food, but to keep the feeling in your hands

• You are petrified of getting out of the shower

• You think there is a chance it is warmer outside

• You want to go to bed at 9pm just so you don't have to be awake anymore

• You squat every time you pee because the mere thought of not doing so sends shivers down your spine

• You think about which item of furniture could be sacrificed for a fire and not be noticed during the end of year inventory check

Alternate title for this post: You know it's winter in Málaga when...

Thank you Facebook

I had not been out in Málaga for a while until this past weekend. Last weekend I was in Madrid and the two weekends before I was with my mom in the hotel or traveling. Here is a brief sequence of events from Saturday night after I came home:

2am: I call it a night and think I am totally not "aprovechar"-ing the nightlife here (this is generally the time people in Spain leave their flats to go out for the night, not the other way around.) Oh well.

5am: I would have to be half dead not to hear my French roomie and his friend who was visiting for the weekend return to our flat. They immediately head to the kitchen. Normally you'd think I would be lucky to have my room situated next to the kitchen, but in this case no. I can hear absolutely everything that goes on in there from the turning on of the gas to the running of the water to him opening a box of Pringles.

5:05am: I realize falling back asleep is not an option and am seriously cursing myself for not having already learned French. At least in that case I could eaves drop and see how their night was.

5:15am: Someone is banging on the front door incessantly.

5:16am: French roomie opens the door. Italian roomie has forgotten his keys. Italian roomie has THE deepest Italian voice ever, and I realize that when he's drunk it sounds like I am listening to a really bad opera.

5:17am: Italian roomie joins French roomie and friend in kitchen for some late night grub.

5:19am: I realize there are now 4 voices. Italian roomie has also brought home a friend with him.

5:22am: There is the most peculiar noise coming from the hallway. It sounds like they have spread newspapers all over the floor and are skating around on it. I think it will probably stop very soon

5:26am: The noise is just getting louder and I am starting to wonder if I should pull myself out of bed to make sure that my apartment will not be a graffiti covered, newspaper flooded alleyway.

5:27am: I decide to stay in bed. Since I can't decipher the foreign tongues coming from outside my room I am getting paranoid that they are discussing a strategy to make enough noise that it would be impossible for me not to wake up and open my door... or worse, barge into my room and pour cold water on me.

5:30am: Everyone must be too drunk and tired to continue the late night antics because the voices and sounds stop.

10:30am: I open my door. The newspaper covered floors were not there. There is no graffiti. The furniture is all in the same place.

10:31am: I notice the following new additions to our flat:

No one else is awake so I text Emily, laugh and forget about it.

5pm: I get a notification on my blackberry that the Italian roomie's friend has tagged me in a photo on facebook. I think it's probably an accident...

5:01pm: I check the picture...

My room is the door at the right. Until I can comprehend French and Italian I will have to rely on Facebook and its photographic evidence to help me piece together what goes on in my multi-cultural flat while I am sleeping.

My room

Okay so I finally think my room is presentable. I still need to do a major cleaning but here are pictures of my room and the bathroom 1, living room and kitchen in our apartment.
Above is the closet I bought at Corte Ingles. I love it! I want to get one when i get home to New York. You can fit so much stuff and it's so much easier to browse and find outfits you want to wear. I almost feel like I am in a clothing store starring me!


Above is the desk and closet that came with my room. I bought the white clothing rack dryer when I got here. Our kitchen. Notice the gas tank on the right and how there is no oven.

Living room where I use the internet. Bathroom 1. No hot water. Enough said.

Mi piso

Today I moved into my apartment! Everything about it is great besides that my chair is broken and the bar in the closet that you put your hangers on (is there a name for this?) broke as I was hanging up my leather jacket soooo looks like I am living out of a suitcase for another week or so. Hopefully tomorrow I will go to EPS and give them back the inventory checklist and they will replace these crucial items for me. My roommates seem really nice so far. Here are two pictures, one of the street that I live on and another of the outside of our building. I will post some pictures of my room once it is presentable.

"Se Alquila"

The past two days have been devoted to apartment hunting. Before I came here I knew no matter who I met during orientation I wanted to live with Spaniards (or Europeans). Even though I came here with Clay and Emily and also met several very good friends during orientation, once we got to Málaga I stuck to my initial goal. I was determined to find a free room in an apartment where I will be able to speak Spanish on a daily basis and hopefully make some European friends. So while it was definitely not the easy way to do things, I am hoping that my two days stressed out running all over the city will pay off. The picture below is from a bulletin board at the University that we went to to find phone numbers to call.

There are several websites that are helpful for finding an apartment in Spain such as Loquo, Idealista and Easypiso. However, the easier way to find an apartment is to look for signs that say "se alquila." This means that someone is advertising a "piso" or "habitación" (a room, which is what I was looking for) that is for rent. I called dozens of phone numbers that I found on signs near the main plaza on c/ larios and several near the University. Unfortunately none of these worked out. Many of the numbers I called were actually to rent offices or apartments with multiple bedrooms, whereas I just wanted to move in to a free room where other people were already living.

Luckily I did receive several messages on Easypiso and one of them was from an agency called EPS Malaga. My friend Emily had already put a deposit down for an apartment through this company to move in with four europeans so I was very interested. A young woman working for the company took me to the apartment on c/ Atarazanas which is a great location. It is five minutes from the bus that I need to take to get to work and very close to a huge outdoor supermarket/grocery store as well as c/ larios. There are four european boys living in the apartment. At first this made me a little bit nervous because if they were anything like my guy friends who had houses together in college it was going to be pretty unlivable for a girl. However, the apartment was actually spotless. I could not believe it. I would have my own room and there are two bathrooms, a decent kitchen and living room. There is even a "cleaning schedule" in the kitchen that says who cleans what room what day. I only met one of the guys, a student from France, but there are two Italians and a guy from England.

After my unsuccessful day searching today I went back to EPS and told them I wanted the apartment!!! I am going to move in October 1 (after my first day of teaching). I am very excited and hope that it will be a great experience. I had to sign a lease until at least January, but if I am really unhappy I can always leave (but will lose my security deposit).