¡Éxito!

As my friend Sara tells me from her experience studying in Córdoba two years ago, “¡Éxito!” (“Success!”) isn’t exactly a phrase Spaniards say (Sara’s friends said “¡Toma!” is a better alternative), but I still like to use it anyway.

I’ve found that the little things in Spain feel like huge accomplishments. Things like:

• Buying a phone and getting a Spanish phone number
• Waiting in line for ~4 hours to get an NIE (número de identificación de extranjeros, or foreigner identification number), so I can now go through a few more steps (appointments at the police station, etc.) to be here legitimately after 90 days
• Finding a place to make photocopies of my passport/visa for the NIE
• Making friends (fellow American auxiliares so far, but, as much as I’d like to meet Spaniards, I think it’s important to have American friends abroad too)
• Finding an apartment (okay, that’s not so much a little thing)
• Discovering, with the help of a fellow auxiliar, a fabulous place where I got a huge bocadillo de tortilla (tortilla española sandwich, chips (ham flavored, because Spain can never get enough jamón), and soda for 2€
• Not getting lost

Party at the Oficina de Extranjeros. At least I had fellow auxiliares to make the wait more bearable.

So, hey, look at me totally #winning Charlie Sheen-style (ugh, I can’t believe I just made a Charlie Sheen joke — those stopped being funny months ago).

I’m particularly excited about my apartment, which I move into tomorrow! I’ll be sure to post photos of it after I move in!