CADA DÍA ES UNA AVENTURA

EVERY DAY IS AN ADVENTURE

“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” – Bill Bryson

In the past week and a half, we’ve found that every little thing truly is an adventure! Every day we set off on foot to accomplish some goal (of basic living needs) and have made all sorts of discoveries on the way. Davin pointed out that, initially, the whole experience felt like going backward on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Where do we get food? How can we conserve water? How do these appliances in our apartment work? Is it safe for the kids to play over there? Can we get sleep in this heat? How can we get Davin set up with an office so he can work? etc…

There is something extremely refreshing and invigorating about getting back to the basics! The kids have walked more than they ever have in their lives because it is the only option. When we’d get too hot, tired, and/or famished we would dip into a cafe to find delicious tostadas and often a server willing to let us practice Spanish. In those moments it was just us. There was nothing to distract us from simply being with each other and processing all the ‘new’ that we were seeing and hearing all around us.

Each day we’ve had a few hours together with Davin before he has to be to work, so our first weekend was a great time to relax and enjoy our new town. A couple of highlights included an afternoon playing on the giant AquaFun inflatable in the Port. Afterward, we found new restaurant ‘Curry Palace’. The kids were so happy to get curry after a day of playing in the ocean. The wait staff was smitten with them and started bringing us appetizers and desserts on the house. Even a British couple in the restaurant made a point to come over and say how well behaved the kids were. We’ve also befriended a British family that lives below us in our urbanización. The kids have become good friends already, spending hours in the pool together.

While Spain is everything that we hoped it to be thus far, starting a life from scratch in a new country doesn’t come without challenges. Below I give you an idea of some other ‘adventures’ we’ve had thus far. I share this because I find it entertaining and interesting (not because I’m complaining).

SPANISH RED TAPE

What comes first wifi, bank account, or car insurance?  Joke’s on us.

Our experience the first few days in Spain went something like this:

Johnsons walk to Blu (telecommunications) store

Johnsons: Hi! We are new to town and really excited to get wifi and mobile plans and we are picking YOU to provide this service!

Blu: We can install wifi maybe in a week, but you need a bank account first. Do you have a residency card yet?

Johnsons: No. But we have NIE (Foreigner) numbers.

Blu: Well you need a bank account and there is one bank, Caixa, that will open an account for you if you don’t have residency cards.

Johnsons go to Caixa Bank

Johnsons: Hola! We want to open a bank account por favor!

Caixa employee: What for?

Johnsons: So we can store our money, pay our bills, and get wifi. (You know the usual…)

Caixa employee:  Sorry we cannot open you an account.

Johnsons: ???? Por favor, porque…?

Caixa employee: Well do you have a car? If you want to buy car insurance we can open an account for you.  

Johnsons: We don’t have a car. So clearly we cannot open an account. (p.s. How do we buy a car without a bank account?)

Johnsons leave Caixa bank.  

We decided to give another bank (BBVA) a try. The employee was much more friendly but said he could not let us open an account without a residency card. Clearly, the residency card needs to be a priority.  

Johnsons seek information on obtaining residency cards:

The Spanish Consulate website said that we had 30 days from our arrival in Spain to “go to the local police station with all of our documents and passports to register for our residency cards.”  Seemed simple enough. But when we started asking around about where to go we got a different answer from each person.  

Cafe employee: “You need to go to Denia”.  

Cafe patron: “No, no Americans need to go to Alicante.”

Other Cafe patron: “You don’t need a residency card if you already have your NIE numbers in your passport.”

British neighbors:  We had to go to Denia. To get an appointment in Denia (which is a 25-minute drive… IF you have a car), you have to go in person on a Friday morning and queue up with everyone to simply make your appointment for later in the week. But if you don’t get there early enough and are still queued up at 2pm they will close regardless.

Then we heard of a business that helps extranjeros with this so I set out on a mission to get help from some professionals. After a lot of walking and sweating I tracked the place down. The woman in charge said she was leaving on holiday for two weeks but could help us when she returned. This wasn’t good news considering our time constraints, but I thought perhaps waiting is worth it if she could deliver. So I asked her the price and she said “€300 per person.” PER PERSON. Frankly, this information pissed me off. There is no reason we should have to pay $1200 to get our visas after all the time and expense we paid in the states. Back to square one.

OTRAS NOTICIAS

• At 8am I wake up and go for a run the same time the disco goers are walking home from the club - making me feel old and underdressed.
• For the first time in their lives, our kids have no TV limit. But it’s in only in Spanish. (And their British friends better not tell them about the English language setting!)
• My deodorant may be strong enough for a man but it gives up by noon in Spain.
• Volly has started to adopt a British accent like her new friend.“Mummy, may I please have a lolly?”
• Topless is completely acceptable at the beach (FYI for those of you coming considering a visit)
• Our region has an abnormal amount of jellyfish right now and people are pulling bucketfuls out of the sea.
• We DID eventually get a bank account, internet, cell phones, and are using WhatsApp for texting. I think the BBVA bank employee felt sorry for us and finally gave in.
• There are stages being set up all over town for the final fiesta of the summer “FESTES PATRONALS MARE DE DÉU DE LORETO” which begins tonight and lasts until September 8th. Therefore my next blog entry should be good!