So Friday was the official last day of summer but I’ve been back to work for a few weeks now. My work schedule is pretty much completely full and I’m back to starting Spanish classes! In the next few weeks I’ll also be starting the process of renewing my visa so I’m sure that’s going to be stressful. Adding to the stress is the fact that I may have to move because my landlady may sell the flat I’m living in…boo to moving and apartment hunting. Rent in Madrid have gone up a lot the last year and even though I’m not sure when I have to move, I’ve been keeping an eye out and it is slim pickings in the city center (I now hate airbnb for limiting the amount of flats I can choose from).

The weather in Madrid is still pretty warm (in the afternoons, or as I like to call it, F you weather….cold in the morning, hot in the afternoon, cool in the evenings), but I spent the summer preparing for fall/winter. One of my goals for the summer was to learn to crochet. It took me a while, but once I got the hang of it it’s been quite easy. So far I’ve made a baby beanie and 4 adult beanies (3 that I gifted already). I’ve also started watching This is Us because it’s easy to crochet and watch at the same time. There have been a lot of tears while watching and I’m only on episode 7 (no spoilers please).

This year I also decided to work for myself rather than at a school/academy. While you can make better money teaching private classes, it’s not as stable as getting a set salary every month and I have to plan for cancellations and holidays (which happen a lot here). I’ve been trying to be a bit more conservative about my spending, but luckily I work a lot which means less time to go shopping. I’m quite lucky since most of my students are close to home and fun to work with. It can be really tiring at times, especially since I teach a lot of kids and they have so much more energy than me.

I’ve also spent the last few weeks eating out a little more than normal. I usually cook at home in order to save money and I actually really enjoy cooking. We went out for lunch at a vegetarian restaurant for Michelle’s birthday a few weeks ago which was really nice. I haven’t seen some of Michelle’s friends since Christmas so it was good catching up! A few of my classes are in the north of Madrid so sometimes I stop at this Tender Greens copycat place called Honest Greens. It’s pretty affordable despite being hip and healthy. It’s probably a good thing it’s not closer to my house because I’d go all the time. The arrival of cooler weather also means I can go to some other places by my house like Kagura Ramen which serves up yummy ramen and chashudon. There’s usually a line out the door but I went the other day and it was a short wait.

Last but not least, on the way back from ramen I saw that a new boba place called Zen Zoo had opened in Madrid! There is one place that I tried last year called Wobble but it was absolutely horrible. I haven’t had boba in over a year (since my last trip to LA last summer!) so I was pretty excited to try it. I didn’t go the other night because I was so full from dinner but one of my friends had it in Barcelona today and said it was good so I decided to go try it out too….and it’s good! It’s €3.50 for a normal cup and €4 for a large cup, which isn’t so bad considering how expensive Asian food is here. I was even able to choose how much sugar I wanted! I tried the classic tea but I will definitely be back to try some other things on the menu. I am so happy to finally have a boba place here but I don’t think this will be good for my diet/wallet. I’m hoping to start practicing yoga again so I’ll have to set some limits (once a week? once every 2 weeks??).