Un Día de Mierda

After getting to bed much later than usual I woke myself up at five a.m. this morning when I knocked a pillow off the bed and shattered my water glass all over the floor. If I had known that this was a sign the day to come, I would not have gotten out of bed.

Typically my first cup of morning coffee motivates me enough to begin my morning chores: clean the kitchen, make breakfast, pack the kids’ bags, etc. After the second cup of coffee I actually start to feel excited about the day and I am likely to greet my family cheerfully as they emerge from their bedrooms. Today, however, I had four cups of coffee and barely struggled to get the kids fed and out the door to school, let alone ‘cheerfully’. For me, the combination of lack of sleep and an immune system that isn’t 100%  is never a good time to push my body physically (i.e. 2 hours of paddling in cool weather) so I decided to pass on surf/SUP class that I usually look forward to on Tuesdays. (I know, I know…#firstworldproblems).

I decided, therefore, to take care of some ‘spanish’ business (which usually involves lots of sitting and waiting).

Backstory:

In an earlier blog post I mentioned that spanish families whose children attend public schools pay for their school textbooks. We ordered our kid’s books through the one store in Javea that  is able to order them and the last ones arrived just last week (finally!!!). Despite our worries, tt all worked out in the end and meanwhile I learned new legislation passed in Spain where families would be reimbursed for the cost of their kids’ textbooks. Sweet! I have to admit I was skeptical of this, especially since it was new program, but decided to be optimistic and try anyway.

Reimbursement Process:

This past week the kids each came home with a handout explaining how to get reimbursed for books; they even had a new student ID cards. I spent some time translating the instructions and determined that between December 1-15 I needed original or photocopy receipts for the books and the student IDs which I was to bring to the ayuntamiento (town hall). I drove up to the town hall and saw it was already packed at 9:10 a.m. so I snagged a prime parking spot and hurried in to get my ticket to queue. A couple women were directing traffic and making sure people had the correct documents. I was confident I had what I needed because I had done my homework, but I handed it over to her anyway just to make sure. Of course it turns out I didn’t have what was needed. I thought I had learned to ‘roll’ with this in Spain but today it really got to me. The woman kept repeating to me in really fast spanish “factura, something something factura, something…factura factura” and repeating it over and over wasn’t working. I could feel myself getting angry because I was struggling to understand the concept of ‘factura’ (which I thought was a bill/receipt) and I couldn’t ask the right questions. Eventually I deduced that I needed to go back to the bookstore and have them print some information (not sure what) on the receipts. As I walked up to the store I pondered ‘Why didn’t they just print this really important information on the receipts the first time?’. This is typical Spain though- tons of paper pushing and endless documents for even the most basic business transactions- and only during limited time periods in the week.

At least the bookstore was open this time of day so I walked up there and got the ‘factura’. It was so weird. The employee asked me for the kid’s NIE (like social security) numbers and our address. I gave it to her and she simply printed this information on the same receipt that I already had. WHY?  Why did her printing it make it more valid than me writing it? How was it not a ‘factura’ or ‘receipt’ before? I could have made up all the information for all she knew. Anyway... it was done and that was a small miracle.

We could only purchase Declan’s math books from an online vendor. This means that if I wanted to be reimbursed for these I would have to email the company and request a hard copy of this ‘factura’ thing to be sent to me. I knew that this would take forever (if the company even decided to get back to me) and I decided to eat the cost of those books and head back to the town hall where I would now join a really, really, long line.

Back at Town Hall

Before I took my ticket number to queue up, I found the woman who had helped me before. I showed her my newly printed ‘factura’ receipts and she organized them and said “good”. Then,speaking over a noisy crowded room, and of course in spanish, she began to explain all the other information I was missing. What now?! Well now I need to bring a photocopy of my bank account and a copy of my passport with my NIE number (which of course I didn’t have on me) (at least I think that’s what she said). My frustration at this moment is peaking. I am still struggling to understand, I’m extremely frustrated that I can’t take care of this today, and I’m exhausted. I took a deep breath and decided to ‘accept’ the reality that this was not going to happen today. Time to go home.

I made my way through the crowd, pulled my keys out of my purse only to look up and see that three Xabia Policia are surrounding my car which is being lifted onto a tow truck from my ‘prime’ parking spot. ¡Joder!

Yes, I parked in a no-park zone, not clearly marked in my opinion, but definitely a no park zone.  Now I lose my shit. All composure elludes me and I start balling like that stereotypical pathetic female who cries when SHE breaks the law. But I couldn’t help it. My emotions building up to this point got the best of me and erupted into tears where I could hardly speak in english let alone spanish. I was embarrassed that I parked there. I was embarrassed that everyone in the town hall was watching. I was embarrassed I didn’t understand the officer. I was embarrassed that I couldn’t respond to him. I was embarrassed that I was crying. All I could get out was “lo siento”. All I understood was “tienes que pagar!!!” I didn’t know where I had to pay, how much, or where my car was going. I thought he said 300 some euros at first and I started having a panic attack. Another officer appeared and told me in broken english that I had to go to the police station and pay €121 in cash right now so they wouldn’t take my car to the impound.

Davin just had the biggest sales day he’s ever had and is neck deep in work at home. I called him five times as I hurried up to the police station (still balling like a baby) and got no answer. I don’t have enough cash and can’t get money out at the bank because it’s rejecting my card. I don’t know how long the tow truck will stay parked in front of the police station waiting for me to pay. I’m so depressed that we have to pay this fine to begin with, then to be unable to get cash- ¡hostia! I’m wracking my brain with what to do. Eventually I get to the police station and the man behind the counter starts asking me 20 questions: who owns the car? what is his NIE number? etc, which makes me worried that we’re in even more trouble (since we don’t have our residency cards yet and I didn’t have my passport on me while driving). He gives me paperwork to go pay the fee at the bank (in spain you have to pay everything at the bank apparently- more paperwork). Davin eventually answers his phone and says he’s on his way. Thank God. I get to the bank just as Davin arrives in full sprint with cash and all our documents. We walk up to the counter at the bank Davin announces to the teller “Estoy con la criminal!” as he hands over the police paperwork and cash. The teller got a good laugh at that. I was still too upset to appreciate it. (These are moments I’m so grateful to have Davin in my life).

The drama starts to fade as we get back to the police station with our receipt of payment. The tow truck and car are still there. We have paid. They give us our car back. Nobody has been hurt or jailed. The irony is that now I REALLY need the cash back on those books. ¡Madre Mia!

Thank God for new days and fresh starts. I was able to reconnect with peace and gratitude when I woke up the next day to this: