I'm alone in Spain (with the kids)!!! Josh goes back to work...

Today I’m going to try to write my blog as my day happens rather than just a recap – this is my first day on my own so I have a feeling some monumental things will be happening. So keep in mind while you read this that it is a progressive account of my day as it happened…


I want to first and foremost give a shout out to Josh. He was here for three weeks on his own and did not complain once to me (maybe out of fear since we are doing this for his job and he’s afraid I’d hurt him or maybe because he really had nothing to complain about, I may never know why). Anyways, he was a superstar. He found stores and used ATM machines and took the metro to places unknown. Finding his way thru this strange city with a language he can’t understand. I think maybe if I didn’t have the kids with me I might feel more confident about braving this on my own but as of today, I’m not so sure how far I want to wander…yet. Plus it’s raining out so who wants to go anywhere in the rain? I have to say, he’s been great since we’ve been here too – taking charge as far as going out to get things we need to turn this flat into a home. Sure, I’ve done the majority of unpacking but if it were up to him it would all remain in boxes – I suppose each playing to our own strengths. But what’s surprised me is how much I’ve come to rely on him in the last few days. He’s been fixing things, he’s been using the kitchen that for some odd reason frightens me (most kitchens frighten me but this one more than most), he’s been taking care of the dogs… in short, he’s been doing all the things I normally do in everyday life except unpack. And this has all been fine. But today… Josh went back to work and I’m on my own.

As I said, Josh had to go back to work this AM. Oh and he is going out tonight so not only am I on my first day alone here, but my first night! I had grandiose plans of going for a run today but with my 1-2 hrs of sleep it just wasn’t happening. That and at 7AM, it was still pretty dark outside – like middle of the night dark. Hello?? It’s 7AM! I finally got out of bed around 8ish – boys are still sleeping. For those that know me, sleeping til 7 is a luxury, much less 8… but I’m still adjusting to time change AND a lack of sleep (reference back to children in our small bed every night since arrival).

On Tues night we realized that the heat didn’t work in the boys room. Tried in vain to see if it was just us being idiots and not knowing how to work the heat (the heat is turned on/off via remote control in each room). It was not. Tues night not so cold, we didn’t even use heat in our room. Last night cold. Tried to email the owner of the building on Wed but it being Three Kings Day and a high holiday, no response. Sent email to management company too just in case. In the end, as expected we did not hear back from either. Boys ended up sleeping on our double bed with us. Josh ended up on the couch and I in a weird contorted position at the foot of the bed. Another night with no sleep. So is it jet lag or just lack of good sleep? I must get the heat fixed today or suffer yet another sleepless night. But we are in Spain and the Spanish are different regarding their sense of urgency and their response time.

However, I am determined to make the most of Josh being away today. It’s raining, again (hello, 40 days of rain a year and we’re already on our 3rd day??? And I looked at accuweather – January must be the rainy month as it’s expected pretty much thru next week…grrrr) so we may be inside today. So I plan to finish any unpacking left to do (random clothes on everyone’s floors that need to be put away, office that still needs some organizing, etc etc) and come up with a game plan of things to accomplish. Like to put a note that I will translate on google translate on our door for the maid service. We had a cleaning lady at home 2x a month and since I will be spending significantly less here without target, baby gap and toys r us, I feel that I can still rationalize that expenditure. But if you recall my attempt to talk to Virginia (I did get her name) in my poor Spanish and her poor English, we may need to resort to note writing. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Yes, that is my goal today, a note to the maid. I tend to be an overachiever and in a normal day in the US, that one item on my to do list (aside from cleaning this place up), would normally go down as a day where I accomplished NOTHING. But here, it’s a huge accomplishment. If I can get out and go to an ATM (about 2 blocks away) AND be able to actually take money out of it, I will consider the day a success.

Another goal – work the TV. For those in the know, you know Josh and his gadgets. I can barely work our tv on the cape. This slingbox thing – probably hopeless for me! On a positive note, I haven’t watched ANY tv since we’ve been here. Josh put it on last night and I kind of listened. You can translate the US shows to English but the commercials are still in Spanish. Very interesting. We haven’t used the slingbox since we’ve been here. I’m about to try to turn on the TV before I wake the kids and see if I can get the dvd player to work. We shall see how it goes… pause for moment while I go to attempt… 3 mins later. YES, SUCCESS!!! I can work the DVD player. I don’t think you realize how big an achievement, not to mention sanity saver that will be for today!  However, I still have no clue how to work the slingbox (for those of you not in the know, the SlingBox is attached to our tv at home and the slingcatcher is here in Spain - once I learn how to work it, I can watch my tv at home here in Spain).

Listening to Mike FM as I clean up and organize my office. Feels like home already! I’ve got my American music, my desk, my laptop… all I need is a printer. Maybe a task for tomorrow unless it stops raining. My office is now ready other than the printer part. Feels good to feel that as soon as I have that I can say that I am completely up and running. Hoping to be back to work pretty much full time as of Monday.

And because I’ve got 6 hrs ahead on the US, I’m going to actually go and play with my kids!!! Something I feel like I don’t do enough of at home but hope to do more of here with the time difference playing in my favor.

Tackled dishwasher. Yes, you would think it would be easy. But while I found the booklet had an English section, there is this whole schpeil about salt and water hardness. Afraid that I might break the dishwasher, I followed the instructions and still have no clue – I’m hoping for the best at this point. Will let you know in an hr when the dishes are done. If this doesn’t work we may be handwashing for the next 2 years.

Tomorrow I’m going to get my NIE number. I’m going with 2 of Josh’s co-workers that he has not met and Josh can’t go with me. Supposedly the place where I do this is about 15 mins from me but I need to switch trains on the way. I will tell you – I’m terrified to do this by myself!! Ok, I won’t be by myself, I’ll have my children with me who I’m guessing will be no help! If I can get thru this tomorrow, I can do anything. Just thinking about this endeavor is making my heart race.

While my heart is racing, it makes me think that I haven’t figured out the heat issue yet. Since I had no response from our building owner or her management company, I’m trying to call our realtor, Mele, from my Spanish phone. But I can’t do it and I’m almost in tears with frustration and fear. Am I supposed to dial something before the number? I keep getting an automated sounding message in Spanish so I don’t know what to do. I’ve got to get the heat fixed for the kids and I’m hitting a desperate moment here. It’s not going to be pretty. I can feel the tears coming. All I want to do is fix the heat. If I can’t make a phone call how am I going to do things like find a doctor (Liam was rubbing his ear a lot during the night, I probably should do that soon), a vet, make an appt and honestly, fix the stupid heat!!! I’ve tried IM’ing Josh and he’s not responding. Yet he’s responding to my emails about NIE stuff so I know he’s at his desk. Josh??? Josh are you there???? I’m going back to the US – day 4 and I’m already toasty!! See you in 2 years!

Ok, fast forward about an hour… I’ve sent Josh a desperate note to please contact Eva, the building owner. I do not have her phone number (or I would call her) and to please just take care of things. And you know what? He did! In all the time we’ve been prepping for this move, I kept complaining that Josh needed to step up to the plate and participate in the details. This is his moment to shine and I am thankful to have him – he is a rock when I needed him to be and this moment makes up for all those times when I was complaining he wasn’t doing enough. This is stepping up Josh…thanks! So tonight we are supposed to have someone come between 6-7 to do the repair AND he arranged for the dryer install for Tuesday. I can postpone laundry til then… I think. So no need to tackle that today. I did the dishwasher, delegated the heat issue to Josh (still accomplished something) and have been slowly making my way thru the pile of clothes to be put away – somewhere to be determined.

Josh did note to me that he believes Eva, our landlord is on vacation. Just a side note here but when the Spanish vacation, they vacation. There is no work on vacation. A definite difference than in the US. If you were on vacation in the US and your tenant emailed you to say they had no heat – you would have received that message via email, blackberry, home phone and cell phone – AND you would have stopped what you are doing and fixed the problem (mainly if it were urgent – if they were looking for you to mow the lawn or something you might tell them to shove it and I wouldn’t blame you).

So I’ve decided to postpone my laundry day til either this weekend or if I can make it – Tues when the dryer gets installed. Why air dry in 50 degree cold (or inside hanging off a chair) when I can use a dryer. I would also like to note that my dishes came out clean! Oddly, the Spanish silverware didn’t clean as nicely as the US in the Spanish dishwasher and I ended up doing those by hand. Hmmm… wonder why that is?

My children are still alive after being together for many many days straight now. At least over the last 2 weeks I had Josh to play intermediary with them when needed. So far I’ve only had to take away the DS today. I think the jetlag has gotten to Aidan – he wasn’t happy I woke him today and he’s had some majorly grumpy moments. His approach to me is rather entitled and it’s a bit on the annoying side. He’s very demanding. I don’t think he seems to get the whole “tone of your voice” thing. Liam is taking a nap so I’m hoping that gets him back on schedule or close to. However, Aidan is the loudest child on this earth and I think he gets pleasure from seeing me cringe each time he makes a very loud noise that I fear will wake his brother… Yup Liam is up but since it’s almost 4 it’s about that time. They are now playing whack-a-martian together. Nothing like hitting something to bring out the brotherly love!

Kids now playing hullabaloo. Haven’t played that since Liam was born I don’t think. I will say, he loves it. Any excuse to jump around. Of course mid jump he let one go… Liam Marcus!!! Must have been all that jumping that shook things up a bit ;)

On to my note to Virginia – if I can do this, I can call it a successful day. This is my English and Spanish version of my letter. Yes, it is very simplistic, but A. I get the point across, B. Google translate can only do so much and C. I don’t speak Spanish so it’s my only alternative. I will post it on my flat door tonight!

Dear Virginia,


I apologize for our communication issues the other day. While we are currently studying Spanish, we are not yet fluent. We are definitely going to be in need of house cleaning services. Can you please let me know how much money we would pay you if you cleaned one time every two weeks? Do you have a key to the flat in case we are not here? We have dogs but they are friendly. If you don’t like dogs, I can put them outside when you are here. Please let me know at your convenience.


Thank you!


Julie

Estimado Virginia,


Pido disculpas por nuestros problemas de comunicación, el otro día. Si bien actualmente estamos estudiando español, aún no estamos con fluidez. Estamos definitivamente va a estar en necesidad de servicios de limpieza de la casa. ¿Puedes por favor hágamelo saber cuánto dinero pagaría usted si usted limpiarse una vez cada dos semanas? ¿Tiene la llave de la vivienda en caso de que no están aquí? Tenemos perros, pero son amistosos. Si no te gustan los perros, me puede poner fuera de cuando usted está aquí. Por favor, hágamelo saber a su conveniencia.


Gracias!


Julie

I’ll keep you posted on her response! I’m sure she’ll think I’m an idiot… but at least I’m a resourceful idiot! Now to find the tape to post to door… did I ship tape???? Ah… tape.

So I just received a note from HR at Vistaprint for the procedure for the NIE number (equivalent of a social security number for foreigners). I have to say I am completely and totally freaked out by this process. As cowardly as this is, I’m not ready to do this on my own. To go into a state office and ask somehow in broken Spanish for my ID # and then go to another office across town to get that number approved by the appropriate people and filed away. Especially with two children in tow. I’m considering doing this on Tues when Aidan is at school and I only have one child that I can strap into a stroller so that I can focus. Anyone with children will understand where I am coming from. Two children in a government office while I’m trying to focus on something I don’t understand spells DISASTER! Maybe I can psyche myself up for it tonight… we shall see.

It’s 7PM and I have yet to see the guy to fix the heat in the boys’ room. Do I take this as a Spanish, everything more relaxed kind of thing or should I be in a panic that once again my kids will be without heat for the night meaning they are bunking in with us again???

It’s just after 8 and I got a call from the owner of the building. She was super nice (and spoke great English – bonus!) and said that they can’t fix the heat until Mon or Tues. I told her that really doesn’t work for me and she actually agreed and said that she is going to bring over a space heater tomorrow. I’m a little freaked out about the space heater / fire hazard thing especially since as I’ve mentioned, there are NO fire alarms in our flat (yet it’s new construction so it’s even more surprising). But if it gets the kids out of my bed for the weekend, I can deal with it for a few days.

Well Josh is out and the kids are in bed (my bed) so I’m off to re-install my Rosetta Stone on my new computer so that I can get on the ball again with my Spanish… but before I go, a quick summary…

To recap accomplishments of today:

1. Got up before 10! Yes!!! Actually showered, dressed, woke kids, dressed and fed kids… all before 10!

2. Swept floors – easy peasy…

3. Did I mention that “I” fed the kids today and not Josh? I feed them at home but it felt different doing it here.

4. Tried to get kids on a schedule which meant waking kids before noon and having Liam take a nap today. Check and check…

5. Washed dishes via the Spanish dishwasher… dishes are now clean!

6. Delegated the fixing of the kids’ heater to Josh. Heat is supposed to be repaired tonight (fingers crossed). Heat not fixed tonight but not Josh’s fault…

7. Wrote letter to potential cleaning lady.

8. Reinstall my Rosetta Stone so I can hablo español sometime in the next 2 years…

Hasta la vista amigos!!

Julie