Trying to live a normal life in Madrid is eerily reminiscent of my first summer in Beijing. You want to feel normal, you want to feel like an adult, but truth-be-told you have very little idea about how things work in the environment you find yourself in. It’s possible to continue trying new things with reckless abandon, but eventually you grow tired of being out on a limb and looking foolish because you don’t understand the system, or the language, etc. In fact, for me, I can only try so many new things before I simply wear out, grow tired, and need to recharge with some normalcy. That’s where I find myself now, struggling to be self-sufficient, and wanting to stay within the paths that I’ve already learned because it’s simply easier than blazing new trails. Moving into the new house has complicated this because I want to be normal, but I have to rely solely on walking and public transit to get around. In general, Madrid’s public transportation is very good. I didn’t consider this too much when we chose a house in a suburb of Madrid, but living in this location has a profound affect on how I operate each day. I assumed that if you could get to a bus or a subway station, I was golden. For the past few days, I find myself spending a lot of time walking … and waiting.

(The upside of our house’s location is that the kids are less than 1km from school and should be able to walk everyday. That will be great for Jess and the kids.)

Today, I took note of the timing from my commute:

To work:

7:14 Left the house. Walked the 1.36 km in 15 minutes.
7:29 After buying my ticket and running down the escalator I just barely miss the Line 10 train to Tres Olivos. Next train is 6 minutes. Sit and wait.
7:35 On the train and heading for Tres Olivos.
7:47 At Tres Olivos, switch from MetroNorte train (Zone B1) to regular Metro train (Zone A). Wait for next train (3 min).
7:51 Continue south towards Chamartin.
7:59 At Chamartin, get off train and walk to Line 1. Next train 2 minutes.
8:02 Board train towards Pinar de Chamartin.
8:06 At Pinar de Chamartin, switch to Line 4. Next train 3 minutes.
8:10 Board train towards San Lorenzo.
8:19 At San Lorenzo, get off train and walk 1.07 km to the office.
8:29 Arrive at the office.

To home:

9:47pm Left office.
9:57pm Arrived at San Lorenzo station. Purchase ticket.
9:59pm Boarded train towards Pinar de Chamartin.
10:07pm Arrive at Pinar de Chamartin and walk to Line 1. Next train in
6 minutes.
10:13pm Board train towards Chamartin.
10:17pm Depart train and walk to Line 10.
10:18pm Arrived at Line 10. Next train is in 5 minutes.
10:23pm Boarded train towards Tres Olivos.
10:30pm Switched trains to MetroNorte train towards Hospital Infanta Sofia.
10:44pm Arrived at La Moraleja station. Walk home.
11:01pm Arrived at home.

Total cost is 6 euros for my metro tickets and 2 hours and 29 minutes of my time. According to Google Maps, our house is 11.7 km from my office, so why not just drive? Well, at the moment, we are car-less.

As part of my contract, my company will arrange for a car for us, but they will not allow me to take possession of the car until I have a Spanish drivers license. Hmmm. As an American tourist, I can rent a car and legally drive in Spain. So I try again with HR.

How about using my Colorado drivers license? No
How about using my international drivers license? No
How about using my Chinese drivers license? :) No

Apparently they have had problems in the past with employees not getting a proper license. By Spanish law, you can only drive on your foreign license for 6 months after you obtain your residence permit. I applied for my residence permit on June 14, 2013, so my time is ticking. Also, I’ve been told that insurance won’t cover any accidents if you’re using the wrong type of license, and police can impound the car if they pick you up using the incorrect license. In all, it looks pretty unlikely that my company will give me a car without the Spanish license.

I see a lot of buses driving around, unfortunately I have not figured out the bus system yet although I have learned that La Moraleja runs a separate bus system from the rest of Madrid. Jess and the kids will have the same good/bad reliance on public transit until I can get my Spanish license. I’ve heard rumors about what I need to do to get my license, but I haven’t dug deep and found out the facts yet. However, I’ve heard it’s not trivial.

One upside of not having a car is that I am able to get through many, many podcasts. And my Fitbit step counter tells me I’m doing a good job. In fact, I’m averaging over 46 miles of walking per week.

Unfortunately, most of those miles are in my dress shoes and they look like they could use some love. I have a feeling they were not designed for such abuse.