Life as a Bum

The other morning we woke up at 10 am and gave each other high-fives and fist pumps.  We really couldn't believe it.  The normally loud and boisterous street below was quiet and the dogs were still snoring.  I'm not even sure the sun was up :).  Most of Madrid was still snoozing.

All the rumors you hear about Madrid and Spain are true.  How these guys have been able to keep their siesta alive and well, stay up til all ungodly hours, seemingly eat a different meal 6-7 times a day, and party like rockstars only to get up and go to work the next morning (albeit in the late morning) still has me so confused.

Most days we stumble out of bed at noon, having gone to sleep somewhere between 1 and 3 am.  And before you ask, yes, we're the early bird party-poopers.

Before I decided to quit my job, leave my house and car, leave all semblance of the life I've known for 14 years (I do enjoy repeating that line...not sure why), I often wondered what the hell I would do to occupy my time in a foreign country with no responsibilities sans eating, sleeping, and movements of the biological kind.  Well, I'm here to tell you that ... I've accepted life as a bum.  Well, that's close to being true, not completely.

As you all likely know, dealing with financial matters from a foreign country can be costly.  Buying stuff and taking money out comes with all sorts of fun fees and charges.  So getting a bank account, something that is surprisingly difficult here, was on our to-do list.

This was also key to getting a longer term apartment.  Remember that we only got this vacation rental for a month with the idea that we could decide from here what part of town to live in.  Another big ticket item.

Also, most services in Spain require a form of residency or ID called a DNI (Denomination Number of Identification, directly translated).  Getting a DNI requires a litany of other forms and certificates including domicile, birth, and passport.  Our list is growing.

There is some core stuff here that anyone in a similar position would need to do.  In the US I think the order would be residence, SSN, driver's license or something like that.  I looked around US websites (e.g., new phone at AT&T, lease applications) and I was surprised how many need SSN or DL#.  Similar to here I guess.  The ID that most have asked for is the DNI.

If you had a US passport and nothing else and moved to the US, I wonder how long it would take to get everything you need to find a job, apartment, and mobile phone.  For me here in Spain, it took 24 days.  Not bad I say.  I'll be getting two of those three, definitely not the third :).  Don't dare to impact my status as a bum.

-Sergio