Welcome to Logroño

I made it to Logroño! I finished CELTA on Thursday and ran to get my bags and barely made it to the bus. I then spent 4 hours on the bus, getting into Logroño at 10:45.
I then discovered (don’t do this to yourself) that not only was I out of credit on my sim card but that I had no cash and I couldn’t find a single taxi.

 All I had was the map I had printed (what luck) that showed where my hostel was relative to the bus station. So I gritted my teeth, got my sh*t together, and began the 2 mile walk with my (now) 60lb/28kg suitcase, small carry on, and overloaded backpack to the hostel. In the dark. At 11pm. What an entrance to the city. ;)
All went fine though and I was in bed by midnight at the hostel, albeit with lashes and bruises on my arms from hauling my %$*#ing heavy as #$@* bag up stairs, over curves, and down cobblestone sidewalks. I really should have planned ahead (insert face palm here). Oh well, I survived. I had to stay at a hostel for a night because I needed to be in Logroño on Friday morning and my new roommate wasn’t coming into town until Friday evening. It all worked out though and she seems like a great gal!

I spent Friday morning making the initial rounds with Spanish bureaucracy, since I had until 12 to checkout and the extranjeria office closed at 1. They were very helpful though and made it clear that it was better to have started everything in Logroño than in Madrid. So for 4 hours I ran around getting sternly spoken to by officials for going over my 30 day period, finding printing & photocopying shops, going through metal detectors, figuring out the city bus system, and receiving several compliments on my Spanish... so it worked out. ;) Monday and Tuesday I’ll continue the bureaucratic process and we’ll see where I get after that. I'm also going to do a separate post for fellow Auxiliares on how it all went for me with this specific extranjeria. 
Side note: I'm reminded that I am here willingly, have all my documentation, and speak the language fluently-- not everyone in the office Friday morning had those privileges. 
 
Now, for having spent only two days in Logroño, I really love it!  Madrid was fun, I enjoyed it- but I can already tell Logroño is so much more my style and pace. Some things I love: 
1. It’s basically in the foothills of the mountains  <3 
2. Cooler (thank the universe--I’m so done with Madrid heat)
3. Mountains 
4. Smaller (200,000) city/town atmosphere where people greet each other on the street
5. Mountains
6. Humidity (nothing like Iowa but I’ll take it ---- it was SO dry in Madrid)
7. Mountains :) :) :)
 
I was able to get into my apartment with my roommate yesterday. It’s really cute and I’m excited to live here. I'm currently at a café/tapas bar nearby doing some people watching. We won't have wifi until next week sometime, so until then (re: until I get more credit on my sim) I may be hard to contact, but I'll be popping in and out of cafés to check in. 
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I have no clue why my photos keep turning sideways/upside down when I upload them- will try to figure this out...