Well the heat wave goes on. Freddy, our dog, is definitely still feeling the heat although it doesn’t stop him from wanting his walks.
The air con is on and I await the electricity bill to see just how much keeping cool is costing us! Oh well, que sera.
It has taken nearly 8 months so far and we are still not completely there.
Left on the ‘to do’ list is registering on the Padron (which originally we were told that we would have assistance) and a medical.
The company that has been aiding us with the change over into complete residential status has lacked a bit now that the summer season is here and it is the busiest time for them.
We were told originally that one of them would come up to Alcudia from Magaluf and come along to register us on the Padron. No mention of that recently!
Also we were told that they would help us to find a doctor. Again, no assistance there.
Oh and the medical? Well Mick’s driving licence expires in 2017 and trafico want him to undergo a medical before they give him a Spanish driving licence. I said we don’t have a doctor yet and was told that any medical centre accepted by trafico would do it – for a fee of course. Recommended medical centres they suggested were in Palma or Palma Nova!
That doesn’t help very much as it is about 50 minutes from here. There has to be something closer.
Also on the to do list:
1. Find a dentist
2. Find a vet
So on we go with do it yourself because helping wee bit lacking during busy times…
A lot has happened since my last post and it is now time to update since we are in the UK at the moment.
Without going into detail we have returned on a visit to the UK on family matters. We had intended to visit toward the end of the year but circumstances brought our plans suddenly forward.
However with the help of our family we have accommodation to stay in and a car to drive.
Prior to leaving Mallorca I had been through a month of intense and stressful work. Coupled to that I had a new dog that decided he was the boss and an Internet connection that had been off at times up to 5 hours! I was in no mood for any more hiccups. During the month I had done my fair share of moaning and threatening to move back to UK!
The flights were booked and parking at Palma airport was both very reasonable and simple to do. Flying for the first time for about 7 years was certainly an eye opener (we had previously driven down each year).
The flight itself was quick but the palaver at airports (mainly Gatwick) was annoying and literally a pain for my husband with his bad back!
So here we are, back in the UK.
Within a very short space of time (literally minutes – actually at the airport) I could see with fresh eyes and remember all the reasons I had originally dreamed of living in Mallorca.
We are only here for 7 days and we return home on Monday. ‘Home’ now that is a word I had not used before because I was still not settled. But now I realise that I have changed over the past 7 months. Without realising it I had been settling into the Spanish way of life.
Sure I miss my family but this has proved that we are not too far away and it is possible to return at short notice. It is lovely to see everyone in the flesh and to have a hug but we all have our own lives to lead.
Within a short space of time I started finding myself comparing my life in Mallorca with the life I would lead here. Mallorca came out on top.
I still have a long way to go to integrate fully, to learn the language better, to make new friends and to learn to be ‘tranquilo’ but I will get there and hopefully as time moves on then family and friends will also be able to come and visit us and see why we love the island.
So, although it was a sad reason to return, it has hopefully settled me down a little and I can appreciate just what I have.
To my little dog, Freddy, I say hang on in there, I will be home soon – and I’m the pack leader 🙂
Six months have now gone by, unbelievable! So where are we now?
Well I have to admit that it hasn’t been the easiest six months and many times I would wake in the morning and wonder if we had done the right thing. The continual battle with paperwork, adjusting to leaving everyone behind and wondering how I fitted into this new and strange life often left me feeling confused and unsure. The confidence that I had felt prior to moving here had evaporated shortly after the struggle to continue working while getting legalised began!
Gradually things have come together. We now have our residencia, we have our house and we are just waiting for our new Spanish plates to arrive. There are still hurdles to jump as we get the final bits and pieces together but I feel we have come a long way.
My lack of confidence with speaking the language has faded as I find more and more people are beginning to understand my attempts at speaking their language and likewise their attempts to either speak my language or to find another way of saying something so that I understand them has been the boost that I needed.
My real turning point has been watching the UK news which served one morning to be the jolt that I needed. With all the struggles I had forgotten my reasons for wanting to live on this beautiful island and I once again looked at where I was with fresh eyes.
Ok so the dream had given me a bit of a reality check. After all I was not on holiday I was living here with all the bills, problems and annoyances that you get wherever you live. But the news items reminded me once again of all the good things that I love about Spain and I turned the corner.
Sure I miss my family and friends and my grandchildren are growing up without me being close by. But they are little people with their own lives to live and their own dreams to come true and they will do that without me being around. Perhaps by knowing their grandmother has succeeded in her dream will encourage them to make their dreams come true.
After five weeks in our house it is slowly becoming a home. I always say that a house does not become a home until you have memories in it. Slowly those memories are happening. Sure the memories of our old house can never be recreated as we have got older and our lives and situations are different but new memories will create their own home.
Already two friends have visited and two others have been to stay for a few days. Bookings have been made for August by another and her child and we have got the house repaired and how we like it and the garden has started to bloom with the new flowers we have bought.
My next challenge, and one that is putting down roots, is the opening of our home and hearts to a little rescue dog. A dog ‘sin hogar’ without a home. What his background is no one knows but for a youngster of about 18 months we can offer the stability, love and training that will hopefully make his life happy. It will also give me the much needed exercise that I need.
So here after six months we have turned the corner and moved on and we live in a beautiful country with friendly people and on the whole good weather.
Life is interesting, different but good.
While taking my lunch break from my online job I like to sit on the terrace and watch the birds swooping over our garden catching all the bugs.
At first I thought they were Swifts but on closer examination I believe they are House Martins.
Nests on building opposite
House Martin
Then to top it all I looked at the waste ground behind us and we had some new visitors.
Thinks our waste ground is a pond!
He even bought his mate with him.
After a bit of a hiccup with the residencia (two days before we arrived they changed the rules and wanted the Social Services – if that’s the lot that do the health cards – to rubber stamp our S1 application). My husband is a pensioner and I get health care as a dependant.
Mallorca Solutions who are undertaking all the paperwork for us asked the rather nice guy at the Oficina de Extranjeros to mark our forms as recognised so we would not have to travel to Palma again. He kindly did that and therefore after Tamara at Mallorca Solutions went and got the said ‘stamp’ on our S1 forms we were granted our residencia.
I have seen on forums mention of paper ‘residencias’ with expiry dates but Louise scanned our residencias so we could see that they had got them at their office. I was pleased to see that they are in fact proper credit card sized residencia cards with no expiry date on them!
Yay, that’s another step on.
Happy Easter everyone, enjoy your holidays.
Once again it is a beautiful day here. Already the temperatures are into the twenties with sun shining and a clear blue sky.
Unfortunately these days off are spent doing nothing instead of moving into our new home but hopefully that will all be sorted next week.
The wind is blowing quite strongly today – funny how whenever blossom is on the trees you get a few windy days to ensure the blossom is blown everywhere!
It has certainly got busier on the island and there are a lot more tourists already. Yesterday the beach was fairly busy and although it was a lovely day I wasn’t ready to get into a bikini yet – not like some enjoying the sun!
Wherever you are:
Felices Pascuas, Happy Easter!
After this last week of chaos and stress while we have watched perhaps our dream slipping away I have been left pondering.
As feelings have been in turmoil and the focus has been on what other people have been doing to affect our future I am taking stock today.
I went for a stroll down to the beach and walked passed the places we have known and loved for over 25 years. The past 14 weeks have blurred our memories and caused disappointment and resentment in place of the happiness and joy we have experienced in all those years.
But on my stroll I realised that all we love is still here. Why should I let the actions of one group of people forever mar my memories.
I sat on the wall and looked out at the sea; I looked at our favourite places and remembered. So many years and so many memories.
Twenty five years cannot be wiped out by 14 weeks.
For to fail at this venture would mean never to return here again. Financially it would no longer be possible to holiday on a pension and one wage.
However our future is no longer in our hands – only fate holds the key (and the greedy estate agents).
There reaches a point where you have to draw the line. To decide that to lose much more money would mean financial catastrophe. Therefore I have a deadline. A point in time by which we succeed here or fail. At the end of that deadline we will have no choice than to leave.
But we would have tried.
An expensive experiment perhaps but far better to look back with no ‘what ifs’.
This week our future is decided by which way the hammer will fall. But my memories on this island I love will not be ruined – just stained a little perhaps.
Saw nature in action today when downstairs’ cat caught a salamander. It ejected its tail which carried on wiggling frantically.
Luckily the cat’s owner rescued the salamander and picked it up and put it somewhere safe but it only showed how nature has it all worked out. After all if the salamander is in trouble and it drops its tail then the predator chases the wriggling tail while the salamander remains motionless. Once the predators attention is on the tail it then gives the salamander the opportunity to run to safety. Clever hey!
But even better than that is the fact that it grows a new tail. Bet we wish we could grow new parts of our anatomy!
Yesterday was a beautiful day, so was the day before and this morning at 8.30 in the morning it is 22 C and again the sun is shining. It just makes you feel good.
Even though we are still waiting for the outcome of our proposed house purchase the lovely weather just makes you feel that this is what all the hassle is for.
To wake up and see blue skies instead of grey, to be able to open windows and doors in March you feel that Spring and summer is on its way.
The car passed its ITV on Thursday but of course there is a minor hitch. The car although on UK plates was originally an American import and there is no sign of the VIN number on the chassis. So now we have to get one stamped on it and return to show the engineers and get it signed off so we can get Spanish plates on it.
Nothing is easy!
But slowly we are getting there…
The estate agent told us yesterday that they are still waiting for a reply from the sellers bank. They were expecting a reply on Thursday or Friday but nothing. Now it is the weekend so nothing will be heard until Monday. Hopefully next week then?
It was my OH birthday on Thursday and the same as for mine only a trickle of cards managed to get here on time. Oh well we are getting too old for them now anyway 🙂
Saturday there is no post delivered so it will be Monday now – how everything stops for weekends 🙂
But ‘when in Rome’ or rather in our case ‘Mallorca’ I have just got to learn to lose the manic pace of life I left behind and learn to chill. It might take a while but I will get there – eventually.
Living In Mallorca 