I’m not gonna lie; I was getting a little nervous that my carta de nombramiento wouldn’t arrive in time for my visa appointment in the beginning of July. It had already been four weeks since my regional placement in Madrid, and I was beginning to assume that it would never come. Lo and behold, I was wrong!
One of the first things I do when I wake up is check my email on my phone. It’s probably a really bad habit that stresses me out, but I like knowing if anything important’s happened overnight. I scrolled through a bunch of sales ads and there, right in the middle, was an email with an official-looking sender and subject line! I opened it up right away and scanned through it… nothing. Then I realized there was an attachment, and I opened that up, and right up top is a little section with my name and the name of an elementary school in Getafe. Whoohoo!
My first reaction was something along the lines of this:
My second reaction was: Getafe! I’ve heard of that. It’s not Aranjuez, which is the farthest point from the Madrid city center as it’s possible to get!
My third reaction: … Where exactly is Getafe?
(Fun coincidence: I was curious yesterday about the most central point in Spain, and I found out that it’s a place called Cerro de los Ángeles, just south of Madrid. I looked again today, and Cerro de los Ángeles is actually part of Getafe.)
After a bit of ninjaing and Kung Fu (okay, more like googing and Wikipedia), I can say for certain that Getafe is just a tiny bit south of Madrid, with about 170,000 people. It’s home to an air force base, and it’s on both the Madrid Metro as well as the Cercanías commuter train line (zone B1 – second cheapest!). Both living in Getafe and in Madrid proper sound like doable options, and I have no idea what I’m going to end up doing. It may be a case of figuring out what I prefer once I get there. I’ve emailed the contact person at the school to see if I can get contact information for current/former auxiliares, so here’s hoping I get a response soon.
The only thing I’m not positive about after all of my Google-fu is where exactly the school is located. Placing the address I was given and the name of the school into Google Maps give me two locations at the opposite end of a mile-long street, and Bing Maps gives me a location somewhere in between the two from Google. The school’s website has photos, but it doesn’t have directions. I think the Bing Maps location is actually correct, but it will be good to confirm it with someone if I get a response to my email.
What I do know about the school, however, is that it’s a bilingual school and its bilingual program has been around for several years. Subjects taught in English are Science and Arts & Crafts. I can’t wait!
Jessica Teaches English 
My school is in a small village called villalbilla. But I think I am going to live in Alcala de Henares. Madrid center is 30 min from Alcala, My school is 20 min from Alcala by bus. Or maybe I’ll wind up living in the center and commuting. But I like the looks of Alcala so far….
My best friend studied in Alcalá in college, and she loved it there. It’s got some cool history, and I definitely plan on visiting next year! If I were facing a 50 minute commute, living in the center probably wouldn’t even be on my mind, but I think you’ve got two good options. Congrats on your placement!
Congrats on your placement too! I’m glad she loved Alcala. I think it will be my Spanish home this year.
Congrats! Getafe sounds like a great placement! I’ll be at an elementary school in Spain too and am really looking forward to it. I got a very fast response from my school’s contact person, but I know some are not so lucky. Good luck!
Thanks! Elementary school kids are awesome, and I’m really happy with my placement. I didn’t hear back from the woman at my school yet, but I’m not too concerned. No pasa nada, right?
Haha right! I honestly did not expect a response at all.
Congrats! It’s so exciting to know exactly where you’ll be. I’ll be in Bailen, Jaen, teaching elementary school as well, same subjects!
Thanks! It’s such a relief to have a better idea about where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing next year. I can’t imagine how frustrating it would have been to know I was in a place as large as Andalucía without knowing more details!
Hi Jessica! Found your blog and I’m glad I did, as I just received my placement email this morning. I had a quick inquiry… The “Desc_Centro” means what exactly? I am placed in Valencia and was wondering if they are able to tell you more about your location before the five natural days are up. I sent an email but knowing Spain and their big rush to respond… I thought I’d inquire with you to see if you could shed any light on the issue. I found numerous people asking what this “Desc_Centro” means across online threads, but no answer thus far.
Thanks, and good luck with your Visa.
Amanda
Congrats on your placement! Desc_Centro means desconocido centro – basically, they haven’t given you a school placement yet. It’s something weird from their mail merge, I think. You won’t hear back from them about your city/school until a week or more after you accept the placement. Also, congrats on getting Valencia – I thought they weren’t participating in the program this year, so you’re really lucky to have gotten it!
Oh, good to know, I will definitely not get an email back then hehe. Thanks so much for the response! Best of luck with your next journey.
Commuting from Madrid is a totally doable option! I currently live in central Madrid and commute out to zone B2 and takes just under an hour which is a normal commute for a capital city. No stress. I also have a friend here in Madrid who lived in Getafe a couple of years ago and she really like it too. So you have two good options, depending on how easy it would be to commute.
It’s great to hear that both are good options! It might make it easier if one was horrible though. 😉 I think I’ll be waiting until I get there to see exactly what it’s like before deciding.
Honestly I think it depends on personal preference. Would you rather live close to work and be in a medium sized town? Or would you rather live in the capital city and have everything and more on your doorstop and have to commute.
Madrid is a fantastic city and you’d definitely make the most of your year by living central! But Getafe is supposed be pretty good too 🙂 I guess you’re right and you’ll just have to wait until you get here to decide. Good luck!
Hi I just stumbled on your blog and wanted to let you know I lived in Madrid right off Gran Via this past year and commuted to the university Carlos III in Getafe and it was an easy commute. You are going from one zone to another and with your abono (monthly train pass) you do pay a little more because of it but it’s fine. I loved living in Madrid and having everything there because Getafe is beautiful but there’s less to do
That’s great to hear! I’m definitely planning on living in Madrid itself at this point, and it’s good to hear that it makes sense to do!