¿Dónde vamos a vivir? Now that is the question...

"Fun fact: The post Airbnb boom of Vigo during the summer of 2018 coupled with the largest incoming class of students at the University of Vigo currently make it 'quite impossible' to find a reasonably priced 3 person apartment in the city." —Every Vigo realtor in a 10 square mile radius

Those of you who didn’t know, upon arriving to Vigo I had been in contact with a private renter for about two-and-a-half weeks who was willing to rent out his apartment to me for a wonderful price right next to my school. How lucky was I! All utilities were included, it was fully furnished, and I could move in the same day I was scheduled to arrive. Upon landing in Porto, I contacted the owner to let him know that I was another three hours out to if he was still available to meet me when I arrived in Vigo that afternoon. Knowing that he worked at a hospital and was not available to answer his phone during all hours of the day, I hopped on my final leg to Vigo expecting a response by the time I landed. Needless to say, I never heard from him again.

WELCOME TO SPAIN

While my first hours and days upon arrival in Vigo were filled with panic and utter confusion, I left the airport in search of a hostel, shower, and clean sheets. While I spent most of that first afternoon on my laptop searching for new places to live and attempting to scrub the “travel grime” off myself, I was able to meet other travelers within my eight person dormitory. Most of those staying in the hostel were all peregrinos hiking the Camino a Santiago. I chatted with hikers from Spain, France, Italy, Germany, and Switzerland, all of whom were so very close to completing their camino to Catedral de Santiago de Compostela.

That night I was invited to explore Vigo for the first time with a peregrina from Málaga located in southern Spain. Noe and I walked down towards the port but stopped short in a square named Dinoseto—featuring two large bush sculptures of mini-dinosaurs—to grab a coke and tapas. I shared my hosing woes with her while she told me about her time on the camino. While it was her third time hiking to Santiago, she said that each time she finds something new. A new city, new people, new parts of herself. Since she had to continue walking the next morning, we cut the evening short and headed back to the hostel. Meeting Noe my first night turned out to be such a special experience for my first time in Spain. Not only did she inspire my to one day hike my own camino, but she helped to set me back on course of a positive mindset for the days to come. Now, I have a home anytime that I am traveling in the south.

I spent the next four days staying at the Kaps Hostel near the Fonte dos Cabalos calling, emailing, and messaging every apartment listing I could get my hands on. The staff at the hostel were all very kind and considerate of my situation. They asked family and friends if they had places to stay, they helped me call certain owners whom only spoke Gallego, and they even cooked me lunch. In the evenings I would walk down the the Casco Vello where I met other auxiliars to grab a drink, share some tapas, and mourn my lost apartment.

Not long after, I came back into contact with Jennie—another girl in the aux program—who I had contacted earlier in the year about rooming together. As it turned out, Jennie and another girl Lindsey had a change of plans and wanted instead to find a place for all three of us. Finally, I was no longer alone! Together, we were the Homeless Roommates of Vigo. Furthermore, during our search for apartments, another aux named Emily and her boyfriend Thomas took me in and allowed me to stay with them in their apartment. Everyone here was so very kind and understanding of my situation. I feel very blessed and lucky to have made such wonderful friends so quickly here in Vigo. Things were finally starting to come together…all we needed was to find an apartment. So, after two weeks of combing the internet, walking the streets of Vigo in search of “Alquilar” signs, making calls, sending emails, searching Facebook, asking anyone and everyone if they had an apartment to rent, viewing expensive apartment after expensive apartment, we finally found a place!!!

While still a little expensive on our limited budget, our new apartment is located right downtown in Casco Urbano with a three minute walk to the port. An incredible location for nightlife, we are also in one of the more beautiful parts of the city. We were incredibly lucky the owner had changed his mind and allowed us to rent it for the nine months of our stay—as opposed to the usual year-long contract. The process in itself to attain the cash needed as our downpayment was a nightmare in itself, but that will be discussed on another post (this post is stressful in itself!). I am so happy to finally have my own place I can start to make feel like home. Now, as I sit in a sunny spot on our couch writing this post and glancing out on the bustling Calle Rosalía de Castro I can begin to relax.

Here's a few videos of our new place so you can get a better idea! (Featuring the drying rack of laundry in my room because apparently Spaniards do not believe in dryers...)