We have arrived in Madrid

We have arrived in Madrid. We spent the first day doing our best to stay awake as long as possible to get our bodies on local time. So we walked and walked. We've had relative success with our Spanish on the simpliest of matters, but certainly recognize the need for language lessons pronto. We are incredibly fortunate to have a contact here who is helping a great deal. Today she went with us to four different government offices - two within walking range and the remaining two separate metro stops. We have decided to stay in the apartment - though Jack is slightly disappointed in it. I think it's fine. Pretty big. Absolutlely basic kitchen. But I think we can make it our home. Therefore, we have a hit list of things to accomplish. They all seem to depend of each other as a precursor, which makes it a bit confusing. Our visas say to go to the police station to register within the first 30 days to get a resident card. It seems that you need a resident card to do everything else - open a bank account, get utilities, phone, internet, etc. However, we can't open a bank account without a resident card. At the fourth stop today (bless Isabel's heart for taking us all over the city!) Isabel found someone who would give us a temporary something or other with which some banks will allow you to opening an account. We're to return to that location in 10 days, for something or other else, which should include proof that we have a bank account set up, which will allow us to apply for a resident card. Isabel also learned the following: we have to call from a land line to make an appointment (four actually, one for each of us - this sounds familiar) to apply for the resident card. Of course we don't have a land line. We were hoping to get a cell phone today. Isabel (again, bless her heart) said she will call and make the appointments for us. The bureaucrat told her that we will not be able to make appointments until October. Hard to see the logic behind all of this, but we're trying to laugh (or at least not cry) through it all.
Then we went to lunch where we met the restaurateur Filip who enjoyed swapping his bad English our bad Spanish with many laughs between. Again, we realize the necessity of language lessons.
The to-do list is LONG: get phones, keys, fans, a new bed, comfortable sheets, covers for two sofas and two chairs, a TV (part of the language learning plan), etc, etc. Get services set up, get a bank account, get a rental contract, etc. I fully appreciate now why our friend Wendy (also our renter) was about to strike when her husband wanted to bag their year in Spain just after she'd gotten everything set up. It's darn hard work and requires patience and fortitude. This we already know, and we haven't even hit the 48 hour mark yet.

So, we're fine. Tired. But fine. Alex seems to be digging watching Jack and me work at communicating in Spanish. It's pretty funny. I think Anna is in shock, probably because she knows the least Spanish and so shuts down in frustration.

Thursday July 29, 2009 Evening Update

This is what has been on our to-do list for the last two days:
Open bank account A
pply for resident card
Purchase cell phones
Get copies of apartment keys (5 total)
Get our names on the mail box
Get a fan
Get sheets, a new bed, various other items at IkeaT

This is what we’ve accomplished so far:
We have 2 new keys
We now have an appointment scheduled in November to apply for resident card
We have our names on the mailbox
We have spent hours and hours and miles and miles on our feet trying to accomplish the other items on our list.