Single Mom Archives -

Relaxing With LUSH!

Soaking in a relaxing bath after a long day is one of life’s simple luxuries.

Although our apartment in Madrid is lovely, it doesn’t come equipped with a bathtub. We only have a shower, and after four months without soaking in a tub, I knew that one of the top amenities I wanted for our Paris hotel would be a bathtub. Scarlett and I were stoked to find out that there is a Lush Cosmetics store here in Madrid, Spain!

We bought enough bath bombs for both of us to use each night we were in Paris. Hey, it was Christmastime, and we both needed the treat.

When I was able to step into that relaxing tub and let the previous four months of stress literally wash away in Paris, it was so relaxing, yet so wonderfully simple. My favorite bathbomb from Lush is the Intergalactic. You can’t see the glitter or the other colors in the picture but when you first put it in the water there are swirls of blue, pink, and yellow. After using the Galaxy, I always have a nice sparkle from the glitter.

My Introduction to Lush: A few years ago a friend of mine was having a Christmas party and one of the gifts being exchanged in the White Elephant game was a box of Lush bath products. Having never heard of this wonderful place, I couldn´t understand why a small box of these amazingly fragrant concoctions would cost more than 30 dollars. I decided to pass on what would have been an amazing gift. It wasn´t until a year later when I decided to see what the fuss was all about. I soon realized that the cost was well worth it!

These colorful concoctions are an amazing burst of beauty and fragrance all wrapped into a nice little ball. It isn’t until the ball explodes in the bathtub, that you can truly smell the fragrance. After use, the bathroom will keep the fragrance well into the next day.

Lush Cosmetics first opened its doors in England, and have become a worldwide organization. One of the best things about Lush is that they are 100 percent cruelty free. They pride themselves on the fact that they don´t test on animals.

Do you like glitter? No problem! Glitter makes me happy, and I’m not bothered by the fact that you find it days and months after using it. I was thrilled when I learned that the glitter in the bath bombs is actually made from seaweed, which is a much healthier alternative than bathing with actual glitter.

My favorite LUSH bath bomb, Intergalactic

I have tried several low-cost bath bombs to “save money.” However, sometimes you do get what you pay for. The quality of Lush products versus any others I’ve tried is well worth the few extra dollars you might spend. Whether you try it once, or add these to your regular shopping list, I recommend treating yourself.

Christmas in Paris: A Dream Come True (Part 3: Cruise Down the Seine River, Christmas Day and Macarons Galore!)

As excited as I was to spend the Christmas holiday in Paris, I was a bit concerned that we might not find places open for business, but we were fortunate that this wasn’t the case.

Cruise down the Seine River

We purchased tickets for a scenic river cruise down the Seine River for only 11 Euros per person, and found out that the cruise was running every 30 minutes as usual on Christmas Day.

The cruise was about 45 minutes long, and we got to see Paris from a different angle. It was very windy and cold that day, so we stayed inside the boat most of the time looking out the windows. However, when the captain announced that we were passing Notre Dame, we ran upstairs to get a few photos! On my next visit, I want to tour the inside of the cathedral, but I was happy to see the outside this time around.

Photos of Notre Dame!

After the cruise ended, we went back to the hotel and got ready for Christmas dinner. We had gone up into the Eiffel Tower, but had not yet seen the view from Trocadero Park. We decided to head to the park and eat at a nearby restaurant.

Eating French food was one of the highlights of our trip. The first night we arrived we enjoyed a wonderful creperie just steps from our hotel, and went back for a late breakfast our last day after we checked out.

After our trip to the Louvre on Christmas Eve, we found an amazing little restaurant while walking around the city. We were able to enjoy escargot, French ravioli with duck, and creme brulee. The food in Paris was everything we dreamed it would be. Scarlett said she wants to move there but I quickly reminded her that if we lived in Paris we wouldn’t be able to eat out like this everyday as it would get very expensive.

Our last day in Paris

Check out time at the hotel was noon, but our flight didn’t leave until 8 p.m. the day after Christmas. Our hotel graciously offered to keep our bags locked up in order for us to use the extra time to look around Paris some more. There was one more thing we wanted to do before leaving. We wanted to visit Laduree, the famous macaron shop.

Laduree

This place was exquisite! From the ornate decor to the scrumptious tasting macarons and variety of teas, it was a fabulous ending to our Paris trip.

We ordered four macarons, but the waitress accidentally gave us the wrong one in the original order and allowed us to keep the extra at no additional cost.

My favorite is the one pictured to the left, the Rose. The aroma of floral rose coupled with the flavor of rose petals and sweetness was just how I imagined a macaron from Paris, France to taste. The hazelnut, pistachio, vanilla and orange blossom were equally delicious.

Scarlett and I ordered tea for our goodbye Paris “tea party.” I ordered the Cherie and she ordered the Mathilda. The teas both had a light flavor and didn’t need any sugar whatsoever.

I’m unsure if it was the ambiance of this fantastic establishment, or the quality ingredients, but this was some of the best tea I have ever tasted. For some reason Scarlett really wanted an order of french fries, so we got those as well.

Laduree isn’t cheap. For five macarons, two orders of tea, and french fries, it cost a little more than 30 Euros. It was well worth it!

After our afternoon tea, we still had a little bit of time left before our taxi would arrive at the hotel to take us to the airport, so we decided to walk around the Seine and visit the Eiffel Tower one more time. I have no complaints for our first trip to Paris, and we are looking forward to a future visit in this beautiful city!

Christmas in Paris: A Dream Come True (Part 2: The Louvre)

Our visit to Paris, though short, was magical. There were several places we wanted to visit, and were determined to make this a reality. Three nights and four days? No problem!

The Louvre Museum

Since the Louvre would be closed on Christmas day as well as the day after, we knew that we would have to go on Christmas Eve. We didn’t have to wait long to get inside, and there was no line at all to get tickets. Children get in free, so I only had to purchase one ticket!

The Louvre originally opened on August 10, 1793 and at the time only housed 537 paintings. The Louvre Museum is now said to be the largest art museum in the world and has approximately 38,000 exhibits. It is said that even if someone were to go to the Louvre for 100 days straight, and only look at each exhibit for 30 seconds, that you still wouldn’t be able to see everything that this incredible place has to offer. Knowing this, I made a plan.

Our Map and Plan

After we got our tickets, I looked at the map, and we made a B-line to the The Mona Lisa exhibit. This is easily one of the most famous paintings in the world, and I knew I wanted to see the original and relish in the work. There was a guard at the foot of the steps and we weren’t allowed to go up. We were told that they were taking extra precautions because of an “unattended bag.” (I am learning very quickly that the United States isn’t the only country to take extra security precautions.)

At first, I was a bit disheartened, but we tried to find another way around. The entry way eventually opened up, and we were able to find The Mona Lisa. There was a crowd of people, but I took Scarlett’s hand and we gently maneuvered ourselves around the side and up to the front. I wasn’t going to leave without getting a decent photo.

I have to say that The Mona Lisa has never been one of my favorite paintings. However, there is something surreal and magical about seeing such a notorious work of art up close. The original is actually much more beautiful than any of the reprints I have seen, as they don’t do the painting justice.

My heart did that fluttering thing it always does whenever I see something majestic, or meet someone interesting. I couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that Leonardo da Vinci painted this with his own two hands! It was the same feeling I got when I was 20 years old and shook former President Bill Clinton’s hand. At first, I just wanted to meet him because he was the president; I wasn’t expecting to feel anything but a normal nice to meet you feeling. When it hit me that I was shaking the most powerful man in America’s hand, my stomach got butterflies. But, I digress. I relished in the fact that we had a wonderful view of The Mona Lisa and then I moved to the side in order to give others a better view. I now have another thing to check off of my bucket list. 🙂

This place is massive!

After perusing more exhibits, we realized that we couldn’t find our map, and were lost in a labyrinth of Greek sculptures. My bladder was not happy, and when we finally found one of the exhibit employees, he didn’t seem to find my dry American humor about being lost in a labyrinth of Greek artwork humorous. Oh well. I’m not here to make him laugh. Seriously though, at one point I thought we were going to run into David Bowie’s ghost and he was going to show us our dreams.

One of my favorite sculptures of Hercules

This statue of the Sphinxes reminded us of The Neverending Story (I’m not quite sure why the Greek exhibits kept reminding us of 80’s fantasy movies)

After we found our way to the restroom, we looked around a bit more. After three and a half hours, we were exhausted, and we still didn’t make a dent! On our next visit, we will check out a different area that we didn’t get to. In the meantime, here are a few more photos for your enjoyment.

To skip the line or not

If you ever get the chance to visit the Louvre in the winter, the skip the line pass will most likely be unnecessary. I did some research, and several people said that the lines aren’t that long in the winter, so I opted to save the extra money. Don’t get me wrong, the museum was crowded, but from what I understand, not nearly as crowded as it can be. I imagine that if you choose to visit Paris and the Louvre in the spring or summer, the skip the line tickets would be a good investment. Either way, you should try to get there at least once in your life.

What Happens If You Get Sick in Madrid?

Being sick is never fun. If you happen to fall ill while in another country, and don’t speak the language that well, it can be a little frightening.

Typically, I am a very healthy person who hardly ever gets sick. Yes, I’m the person who rarely gets antibiotics or even goes to the doctor. Although I knew I would have health insurance coverage through BEDA, I never actually thought I would need to use it.

Getting Sick in Madrid

It happened. I could feel the tightening of my throat, and although it was uncomfortable I can generally fight through a small sniffle or cold. This occurred on a Friday, and by the end of the day I felt completely awful and barely had a voice to teach. Since I have insurance I tried to get a same day appointment to see the doctor on Friday, but was unable to get one. I was told that I could get in if I called back on Monday.

By Saturday morning, I couldn’t even make simple sounds with my voice, and on top of that I felt even worse than I had felt the day before. The idea of waiting for an appointment was something I wasn’t looking forward to. I googled what types of medicines one should purchase from the Farmacia in Spain, and found a few options. I picked up a couple of things including Ibuprofen, and hoped for the best. By Sunday I was still feeling terrible and there was no sign of getting my speaking voice back. My landlady needed to stop by to check out something going on in the apartment next door, and I really wasn’t in the mood for visitors. However, she ended up being my angel that day!

“Oh my goodness, you sound awful,” she said. I tried to agree with her using my minimal speaking voice, and that is when she asked if I had gone to the doctor yet. She said that waiting for an appointment was ridiculous. After calling the number on the back of my insurance card and waiting a few minutes, she had gotten me a home visit for that day from a doctor. Wow!

Doctor House Calls

I have to admit that although I was feeling horrible, it was kind of cool having a doctor come to our apartment with his little black bag and stethoscope. Scarlett said it was like something out of “Downton Abbey.” He prescribed antibiotics and told me to get three more days of rest without going to work. He didn’t speak that much English, but we communicated and he understood what was going on.

Using the Insurance Card and the Price of Medicine

It was so easy to use my insurance card and I didn’t even have a co-pay! One of the best parts was that I purchased antibiotics and the Spanish version of Tylenol for about 8 Euros. Since medicine isn’t covered through insurance, I wasn’t sure what to expect. When the pharmacist or “chemist” said 8 Euros, I was astounded! I’ll take it!

Spain is known for having a good health care system but I was having doubts when I couldn’t get an appointment on Friday. It ended up working out for the best though. Hopefully I won’t need to visit with a doctor again while in Spain, but if I do at least I know I have a few options.

How to Embrace the Holidays While Living Abroad

Christmas is my favorite holiday, and I love virtually everything about it.

I love the constant holiday music that can be heard at most retailers, and the vast array of decorations and lights that can be seen as soon as you step out on your front door and into your car. I never seem to tire of it. As soon as Thanksgiving day arrives, this marks the beginning of the Christmas season for me and my family. Some years we put the tree up Thanksgiving night, but we always aim to have our decorations put up by December 1st. This has been my experience pretty much every year except for this one.

Christmas in a different culture

I knew that the traditions would be different while abroad, but I wasn’t expecting to miss the Christmas traditions in America as much as I have these past few days. After all, I wanted to experience the different cultures of Europe, and get away from some of the commercialism that has taken hold of Christmas.

What can you do to get in the Christmas spirit when living overseas?

In order to combat some of those homesick feelings for Christmas, Scarlett and I decided to visit one of the famous Christmas markets in Madrid at Plaza de Mayor.

As you can see, the market opened a couple of days prior to the advertised November 27th date. There were already several people looking around at the Christmas ornaments, nativity scenes, and array of Christmas hats and gag gifts that were for sale in the red Christmas themed shops that have been set up for the season.

Watching favorite Christmas movies

Another way we have tried to keep our traditions somewhat normal is by watching a couple of Christmas favorites on Netflix and Amazon. Isn’t technology great?

The best thing to do is to embrace the experience and opportunity you have and immerse yourself in a wonderful new experience of colors, language and food.

Aside from maintaining a certain familiarity with your normal traditions, venturing out to see how other cultures experience the holiday season is the best way to get involved. It is easy to get sucked into the gloom of being homesick and apart from what you are normally accustomed to, especially during the holidays. The best thing to do is to embrace the experience and opportunity that you have and immerse yourself in a wonderful new experience of colors, language and food. Tis the season!

Christmas lights on the streets of Madrid, Spain

How We Get Around In Madrid

Before we left the United States to come to Madrid, I can’t tell you how many people asked me what I was going to do with my van, and if I was going to either rent or purchase a vehicle when we arrive in Spain.

The short answer to this question is that my middle son is currently driving/taking care of my van (at least I hope he is taking care of it), and we of course are not renting or purchasing a vehicle. Since Europe is notorious for their fabulous public transportation system, I knew that we would be utilizing this form of transport in Madrid.

Taxis and Uber: I have only taken a taxi once so far since our arrival in Madrid, and that was from the airport. I downloaded the Uber app (no, I had never used Uber in the states) when I wanted a slightly less expensive option of transportation after we left our AirBnb for our apartment. I didn’t want to take the Metro when we had heavy bags with us, and at this time I was still fairly green when trying to get around the city.

The Metro: We are on the Metro almost two hours a day five days a week with our commute to work and school. This has taken some getting used to, but for the most part it is the cheapest and most convenient way to travel around Madrid if you don’t have a personal vehicle.

There are mornings when I get fairly aggravated with taking the Metro everyday. The morning rush hour is typically the worst. During the morning rush hour, we are literally bumping into strangers and getting bumped into while trying to find a post to grab onto. Since I typically like my space, this caused me some slight anxiety at first. I figured I needed to just suck it up and deal, and that is what I do. 🙂 It is almost impossible to get a seat in the morning for the first seven stops. After we switch trains, we can usually find a seat because this particular train isn’t usually as crowded for some reason. You take the good with the bad, and there are times when the Metro can even be fun!

Public Transport Card (Abono): Scarlett and I were able to get a public transport card or Abono, for the Metro. The process for getting the card was fairly simple. I went to the website and made an appointment at the nearest Metro station that offers this service. We had to bring a copy of our passports plus the original. They asked a few questions, and we were on our way. Scarlett’s card is only 20 Euros a month, and mine is about 54 Euros a month since I am over the age of 26. I suppose 74 Euros a month isn’t that bad for transportation fees. I usually paid more than that for gas in the United States, and that didn’t include any maintenance on the vehicle.

Buses: There is also the option to take the bus, and the public transportation card can be used for this as well. We haven’t taken the bus yet, but I have spoken to people who like the bus better. We may try the bus one of these days, but at the moment we have our route down and it is working for us.

Walking: We definitely walk more here in Madrid compared to when we were in America. Personally, I think this is a wonderful thing. When we get off of a stop, we typically have to walk anywhere from five to ten minutes to reach the final destination. Of course there are times when we opt to take the “scenic route” and skip the train altogether!

Do I Miss Driving?: Yes! We have been here for two and a half months, and this is the longest I have gone without driving in a very long time! I don’t miss sitting in rush hour traffic, but I do miss driving. In fact, that is one of the main things I miss about the U.S. However, I think that the Metro is a very efficient way to travel, and I think that it would be worthwhile for most metropolitan cities in the U.S. to implement such a system.

Keeping Up With Your Favorite TV Shows While Abroad!

One of the thrills of traveling overseas is immersing yourself in a completely different culture. However, there are times when you just want to curl up on the couch or in bed and watch a familiar television series from home.

Before we left, I purchased a VPN called Ipvanish for 10 dollars a month, but discontinued it after only being in Madrid for two weeks. The main reason for discontinuing my VPN subscription was because it didn’t always work. There were several times in the first two weeks when I would try to log into my Netflix account using a U.S. server that the VPN had provided, only to receive a lovely message stating that “It looks as though you are using a proxy server to view this program. Please correct this in order to continue viewing this particular program.” This was beyond frustrating, but luckily Netflix in Madrid has several television shows and movies to choose from. While I may not be able to get my dose of “The Office” humor every now and then, I am still able to enjoy “The Gilmore Girls,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” “Modern Family,” “Stranger Things,”and several others. I use the same Netflix login I use in America. The difference is that the internet server tracks the location as Madrid and we have a different line up of shows in our queue.

I’m unsure why there are different shows available to stream in Madrid, but we have become accustomed to it. The American shows and movies that are available are all in English. “Zootopia” is available, and it is in English, but the title is changed to “Zootropolis.” There are a few small differences that we noticed while watching it in Spain such as the printing on the mayor’s coffee mug. In America it is in English, and the print is in Spanish here in Madrid. I found that interesting especially since the dialogue is still in English. 🙂

Here are two photos to show the differences in the coffee mugs in the movie “Zootopia.” The English text is from a YouTube clip, and the Spanish text is from my Netflix account here in Madrid.

These differences are so interesting to me because both movies are shown in English, but they have these subtle differences. You have to admit, this is kind of cool!

I am a member of Amazon Prime, and although I am unable to stream the free Prime television shows that are offered due to my “geographical location,” I am able to purchase episodes of television shows that are currently airing in America. I also have the option to purchase the full series should I choose to do so.

We have caught up on our guilty pleasure show “Survivor” and the current season was only around $25. It is actually pretty cool because once you purchase the season, you can watch the latest episode the day after it airs. This is very similar to how Hulu works in the states, but unfortunately it is a bit more expensive. There is also an option to purchase individual episodes for about $1.99 to $2.99 an episode. The next series I plan to purchase is the newest season of “The Walking Dead,” but I have not yet done so since it is priced at around $42 for the season. I love the show, and I’m looking forward to seeing it, but that seems a bit pricey to me. I may wait until it the newest season comes out on Netflix, but who knows?

Between Netflix and Amazon we have our Television basics covered. Although we don’t binge watch shows 24/7, it is comforting to have that option. After all, it is getting colder and cuddling up underneath a blanket and watching something familiar is sometimes needed after a long day.

3 Weeks In Madrid! Apartment Hunts, School and More!

Finding Our Apartment: I have been promising a blog with the details about our apartment hunt, and here it is.

Apparently finding an apartment in Madrid is very similar to finding an apartment while living in New York City. While I have personally never lived in NYC, I have a few friends who have shared their experiences, and there are a couple of people here in Madrid from NYC who have agreed that the Madrid apartment hunt is very similar. Yikes!

When I applied for the Beda program, I knew that I would have to find living accommodations for both myself and Scarlett on my own, and was told that it would be rather easy upon arrival. I was told to “just use the several apartment listing services such as idealista.com, fotocasa.com, etc,, and you will have no problem!” While there are several listings, I found that it is virtually impossible to get anyone to get back in touch with you.

Let me back up a bit. We arrived in Madrid on August 28th and had an Airbnb for a week. When I first rented the Airbnb while we were still in Nashville, I was told that if we liked the room we would be able to extend our rental. After only being in Madrid for one day, and virtually no contact from any of the landlords I had contacted, I contacted the owner of the Airbnb via the message app, and told her we would probably need to extend for at least a week. Her reply, “We have clients checking in the day you check out.” Okay….so much for seeing if I like the room. It was time to get serious. Since I had my daughter with me, I didn’t really feel up to going from one Airbnb to the next for nine months, not knowing who the hell is going to be coming and going. Yes, the title of my blog is titled Free Spirited Single Mom, but free-spirited or not, I am a very responsible and good mother.

My contact at the school was helping by calling some of the apartments since she speaks both English and Spanish, but she was finding a lot of people who weren’t answering. I decided to try a different route and put search for “apartments in Madrid” on Google. A few Craigslist ads came up. I figured I would give it a try, and I saw one in the city center that was beautifully decorated with the colors that Scarlett and I adore! It didn’t have a bathtub or an extra bedroom; it was a studio with a sectioned off area. At this point I was thinking a beautifully decorated studio in the city center was much better than a random room somewhere every other week, so I messaged the landlord. She got back to me within a day, and as luck would have it, she spoke English! She was very apprehensive about Scarlett and I sharing a studio, but I told her the same thing about it being much better than sharing ONE ROOM in some random place with strangers coming and going every couple of weeks. To make a long story short, we went to see the place, LOVED it, and have been living here for two weeks! Studio or not, it is actually very comfortable, and we are getting very used to living in the city! It is kind of a nuisance taking the metro about 35 to 40 minutes to our schools in the mornings, but we are adapting.

Enrolling my daughter in school: Once we got the apartment situation worked out, I was feeling a bit of relief. Perhaps this wasn’t some horrible idea to move to Europe after all. We have a place to live and Scarlett will be going to the same school where I will be teaching. WRONG! The moment I started to feel more relaxed, I received a message from my contact at the school asking for Scarlett’s birthdate. I gave her the information, (I am certain I conveyed her age when we were contacting one another when I was still in Nashville, but whatever.) She got back to me and told me that Scarlett wouldn’t be able to go to the school that I am going to be teaching because she is “too old to go into 6th grade in Spain.” I have mentioned the pain of bureaucracy here in Spain before, right? We were getting schooled on it big time within our first two weeks. I was ready to scream and cry, but I am happy to say, I didn’t do either. I was told that I might have to enroll her in a public high school. Yeah, I wasn’t going to do that. For starters, she is not ready for high school. She would be going into the 6th grade in the United States. In Spain, High School, or Secondary School starts with 7th grade. If it were a bilingual school, and they thought she was ready for 7th grade, I might consider it, but I was not going to enroll her in a public high school in Spain that had no bilingual program at all. I was ready to use my round trip ticket and fly back to the U.S. I wanted to begin a life in Europe, but not at the expense of my daughter’s well-being.

I decided to see what was offered before making any rash decisions: I had to go to a place called the SAE Instituto Simancas which is a school that has a government building next door. This is where you have to go if you change residency, want to change your child’s school, etc. Since I don’t speak fluent Spanish, and apparently have forgotten everything I thought I knew upon arriving here, trying to follow directions when you have no idea what you are doing is pretty daunting.

As luck would have it, the assistant head mistress of the school connected to the SAE speaks fluent English and was a wonderful help. I was told that since Scarlett doesn’t speak any Spanish, she would need to enroll in a school that has a “welcoming class.” From what I have gathered, this type of class is similar to those in the United States that assist non-English speaking students. Yes, it is interesting being on the other side of the spectrum. I was told that I could ask for her to be placed near my work, but it is not guaranteed.

After waiting in line at the SAE office with several other parents, I found out I was able to bypass this line since I had a paper with an appointment time on it. There were several angry parents that didn’t like to wait in line, but the gentleman in charge explained that anyone that has an appointment needs to come inside. Apparently most people dislike waiting in lines no matter what culture you happen to find yourself in.

She was assigned a school: We finally got a school officially assigned to her, and I am so grateful that it is literally about a two to three minute walk from where I will be teaching! It is a semi-private Catholic school, and she seems happy with it so far. Interestingly enough, after she tested, they are keeping her in 6th grade (I know what is best for my child), and it is another school that participates in the BEDA program as well.

This three weeks has proven a bit challenging, but I think we are finally getting settled. I start my job this week. Stay tuned for updates on my teaching adventures!

Holy Cow! We Are Flying to Madrid!

After all of the planning, packing, and stress, the day is finally here! We are flying to Madrid!

Savings: I purchased our airline tickets a couple of months ago, and chose to fly out of Atlanta instead of Nashville since I ended up saving well over $1,000 for both Scarlett and I to fly. The flights from Nashville to Madrid were between $2000 and $2400, and I was able to purchase the flight from Atlanta to Madrid for $400. Including travel insurance, it was about $1000 for the purchase of the tickets for both of us.

I played around with different dates and times leaving from both cities until I found a rate I was happy with. I called American Airlines to ensure that I didn’t get a basic economy with no checked bags by accident, but the agent assured me that it was a normal ticket and added that it was indeed a wonderful rate for an international flight. He said he didn’t remember ever seeing such a good rate before. Yes! Things were starting to fall into place.

Realization: It was such a surreal feeling driving through both the downtown areas of Nashville and Atlanta, and saying goodbye, at least for awhile, to the city skylines that I have come to know for so many years. I grew up in the Atlanta area, and although I have lived in several different states, Nashville has been the city I have called home for a large majority of my life. I wasn’t expecting to feel anything but excitement since I was finally accomplishing a bucket list goal of mine and moving to Europe. I suppose even with the love/hate relationship I have come to have with the Southeast, the pleasant memories I have of friends and family overcome the negative. That twinge of sadness mixed with the realization that I am actually going to miss things about my “home” set in for a few minutes. This feeling was most likely elevated by the fact that I was going on about five hours of sleep within the span of two days. We had just finished packing up our apartment, loading the storage unit, and cleaning/clearing the apartment in order to turn in our keys.

Flight Day: This morning we left my mom’s house at 6 a.m. Eastern time to catch a 10 a.m. flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia. My ex-husband and middle son drove Scarlett and I to the airport in my van. (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I am allowing my middle son to use my van while we are gone.)

I receive flight rewards via American Airlines, and I have used this airline ever since I flew to Costa Rica a few years ago. Why not continue to add up the miles, right? I decided to check out the Admirals Club after our arrival in Philadelphia since we had a six hour layover. I have never utilized this service because I always assumed it was for those who were already members, and that the price was astronomical. I was so wrong.

It is only $59 for a day pass! This is per person, but since Scarlett is under the age of 18, she gets to come in for free. They have complimentary snacks and drinks, including wine. The seating is more comfortable, they provide you with a free wifi password, and it is overall a much better experience. By the time I would have paid for coffee and food in the regular waiting area, the cost would have most likely been around $59 anyway, so I am very happy that we had this option!

We are scheduled to arrive in Madrid in a few hours. I have never been on an overnight flight, so the plan is to sleep if at all possible, in order to (hopefully) trick my body’s schedule into thinking we are magically on Madrid time by the time we arrive tomorrow morning. Hey, one can hope! 🙂

Considering all of the mixed emotions, I can say that I am both exhilarated and nervous about the start of this new adventure for both myself and my daughter!

We Got Our Visas! (A Step By Step Guide to the Visa Application Process)

After receiving the news that I was accepted as a language assistant in Madrid, I knew that both my daughter and I would have to apply for visas. Thinking that this would be about as painless as obtaining a United States Passport, I soon realized that this was not the case.

Tip: If you are planning on traveling to Europe, a passport will only suffice for the first 90 days. After that, you will need to obtain a visa. Since we will be in Madrid for at least nine months, we had to go through the entire visa application process.

The Visa Application Process: Since I had to get several documents together for both myself and my daughter, this ended up turning into quite the endeavor. Hopefully this step by step process will help those who have questions about obtaining a dependent visa for their children.

When applying for a visa for Spain, it is important to first find out which particular consulate you will need to visit for the state in which you reside. Since I am in Tennessee, I had to go to Houston, Texas. Yep, you read that correctly. I had to drive 12 hours from Nashville, TN to Houston, TX in order to get my visa. (I checked into flying, but since I had to bring Scarlett with me in order to apply for her dependent visa, it was more cost efficient to drive.) The Spanish Consulate in Houston services the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas.

I was fairly salty that Chicago is only an eight our drive from me, yet I couldn’t go there to apply for our visa. Oh well, bureaucracy is everywhere I suppose.

Getting the Paperwork In Order: There are several items you will need in order to apply for a visa. Depending on the type of visa you need, these items can vary slightly. The two visas that Scarlett and I applied for were a student and a dependent visa.

Student Visa: First, I had to get a state background check and get it apostille sealed from the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office. You will also need to show a valid passport, driver’s license or state ID, two recent, passport sized photos, an acceptance letter from your program, proof that you will be getting paid, proof of medical insurance in Spain, and a medical certificate from your doctor stating that you are free and clear of all contagious and communicable diseases.

Your medical certificate must include the following: The patient has been examined and found free of any contagious or infectious diseases according to the International Health Regulation 2005. Otherwise it will not be accepted. Getting the correct medical certificate was one of the biggest headaches I ran into, which was surprising since I have a clean bill of health. However, when I realized the wording wasn’t exact on the first certificate I received, I got a lot of push back from the doctor to edit the letter. I’m still not certain why she was so weird about it, but to make a long story short, I ended up going to an entirely different doctor and getting my medical records transferred. Luckily, they expedited this process, but what a headache!

Dependent Visa: If you are bringing children with you on your move overseas, you will need to get a dependent visa for them. If you are traveling solo with your child, there are a few extra documents you will need in order to get everything organized. If both parents are going to accompany the child, then it will be a bit easier, but it isn’t unthinkable if you are a single parent household.

Since I’m divorced, I had to get a power of attorney that both my ex-husband and I signed while in front of a notary public. This basically stated the country we will be living in, along with the dates, and any other countries we might be traveling to. It is essentially a “permission slip” from her dad stating that I have permission to take her out of the country. This sounds a little inconvenient, but it is a good thing to have even if you are only traveling out of the country alone with your child for a short period of time.

I also had to apply for a new birth certificate for my daughter since it has to be dated within three months of the visa appointment, and I had to get this apostille sealed. Along with these documents, I also had to get a letter from the insurance company stating that she will be covered while in Spain, and she had to get a medical certificate clearing her of all infectious diseases with the same wording listed above. Along with all of these documents, I also had to get her birth certificate with the apostille seal and the power of attorney translated in Spanish by a certified translator. I used The Spanish Group, and they were fast, courteous, and got me the certified translations I needed.

The Appointment: The Houston Consulate doesn’t accept walk in appointments, so it is imperative that you make an appointment on their website. I had to make two separate appointments for myself and my daughter. The payment for the student visa is $160, and the dependent visa for a child is $140. They don’t accept debit or credit cards, so you will need a money order to process this payment.

Everything seemed to go well until we were called back up to the window and I was informed that my daughter’s proof of medical insurance wasn’t going to be sufficient. The letter stated that she would be covered “overseas,” but they wanted it to clearly state that she will be covered “in Spain.” Remember that part I mentioned before about bureaucracy? My heart sunk knowing that I wouldn’t be able to complete this trip to Houston again due to financial restraints and timing. Luckily, if you need to amend a document, they give you about 10 days and the option to fax it. After several dead end phone calls to get this corrected, I was finally able to get in touch with someone who was able to get me the correct wording on the proof of insurance letter!

Visa Arrival: If you are not able to physically go back to the Consulate to pick up your visas when they are ready, you will need to bring a pre-paid, self addressed, stamped, priority or express USPS mail flat envelope and take it with you to your appointment. They will use this envelope to mail the visas back to you. They will keep your passport, and attach the visa to the passport.

Leaving our passports in Houston was a little disconcerting, but we didn’t have a choice if we wanted to get our visas. I received an email on Monday from the consulate letting me know that the visas had been approved, and we received them in the mail along with all of our original documentation, on Thursday. Now that we have them in hand, I can breathe a little easier and concentrate on finishing up all of this packing!