It takes at least four attempts to accomplish anything

I didn't realize it at the time, but Adventures with the Spanish Consulate should have taught us about dealing with perhaps more than just the Spanish government. Perhaps it takes at least four rounds to get anything done.

There was one exception today. Ysabel went to the bank with us and we successfully opened an account in one visit. Well, there was the other stop at the bank on the first day we were here...

Keys - llaves
We had one set of keys on arrival. Two keys are needed to get home - one for entry into the building, and the other to get into the apartment (piso). Yesterday we split up for a bit while Jack and Alex rushed home so Alex could go to the bathroom while Anna and I shopped for dinner. By the time we were headed home, I was in dire need of the bathroom. But we hadn't really figured the bell system yet. At the outside door the bells are marked by the floor, then either D for derecha (right apartment) or I for Izquierda (left apartment). The question is, do you determine left and right from the top of the stairs or from exiting the elevator? I was pretty sure it was the elevator, and I needed the boys to unlock the door for me QUICK. But no one answered. And no one answered when I buzzed D. I buzzed several times, and since our neighbors were not very happy to see us move in, I didn't want to bother them. Alas, I was ready to charge into the quiet bar across the street in despiration when a delivery man (THANK GOD) buzzed someone else and got in. So we slipped inside and I ran up the stairs.

Thus, we decided getting a second set of keys moved up in importance on the to-do list. We also decide to figure out how the buzzer system works. Turns out that ours is I – izquerda – because it is to the left at the top of the stairs. Score, we figured that one out. Every little victory counts!

So Jack and I headed out to get keys made. Our fabulous porter Benito sent us to the hardware store (ferretaria) around the corner. We got one key made and found that the outside key required a special key maker. (round 1) Closed by the time we found it.(round 1.5) So first thing this morning the kids and I headed out to the keyshop (round 3). The keymaker had a rough time with this unusual key, only to finally throw in the towel. “No puedo!” Remarkably, I understood that. “I can’t.” Not only did he ruin the duplicate, he ruined our only copy of the key to get into the building. Good God, how do we deal with THIS? If Benito isn’t there, we’re in big trouble. The apartment owners 1) only speak Spanish and 2) are Reno, Nevada right now.

To our immense relief, Benito was there when we arrived, so the front door was open. And even more to our relief, he said he would go get copies made for us. Otherwise, we would have had to leave someone home all the time until we got a new key. So round 4 was in Benito’s court. When he came up to our apartment he delivered the message that the keys (we asked for 3) would not arrive until next week because they had to be ordered from another town. Lucky for us and after some effort to figure out the Spanish, we came to realize that he was able to secure one key today. Fabuloso. We are to pick up the others next Tuesday. Round 5 awaits.

So – Bank, Keys, Phones. The next hurdle to tackle. Phones. We have visited several cell phone shops briefly so far. Here’s the upshot – it required six trips to the Phone House today to get phones and get taken for a ride and return to get the phones working and get half the money returned to us and then again to correct the type of coverage, and then finally to learn the sad truth that every cell phone call includes a 18 cent charge just to connect, even if you are calling Happy to Happy plan (or Blau to Blau). Nonetheless, 6 trips to the store later, we finally have working cell phones. They aren’t flawless, but better than none.

It’s our 16 anniversary today. We’re in Spain, figuring out how to live here, and exhausted.

All said, it was a good day. Bank account opened. Key crisis partially fixed. Phones up and running. Not a bad day for non-Spanish speakers. But this evening when I was cooking a crappy meal in our less than well appointed kitchen, I didn’t want to hear a word of Spanish. I just wanted English.

Es bueno. Really. Life is good. I guess we’re pretty much living in Spain now. Even though absolutely everything is a mystery.

We have arrived in Madrid

We have arrived in Madrid. We spent the first day doing our best to stay awake as long as possible to get our bodies on local time. So we walked and walked. We've had relative success with our Spanish on the simpliest of matters, but certainly recognize the need for language lessons pronto. We are incredibly fortunate to have a contact here who is helping a great deal. Today she went with us to four different government offices - two within walking range and the remaining two separate metro stops. We have decided to stay in the apartment - though Jack is slightly disappointed in it. I think it's fine. Pretty big. Absolutlely basic kitchen. But I think we can make it our home. Therefore, we have a hit list of things to accomplish. They all seem to depend of each other as a precursor, which makes it a bit confusing. Our visas say to go to the police station to register within the first 30 days to get a resident card. It seems that you need a resident card to do everything else - open a bank account, get utilities, phone, internet, etc. However, we can't open a bank account without a resident card. At the fourth stop today (bless Isabel's heart for taking us all over the city!) Isabel found someone who would give us a temporary something or other with which some banks will allow you to opening an account. We're to return to that location in 10 days, for something or other else, which should include proof that we have a bank account set up, which will allow us to apply for a resident card. Isabel also learned the following: we have to call from a land line to make an appointment (four actually, one for each of us - this sounds familiar) to apply for the resident card. Of course we don't have a land line. We were hoping to get a cell phone today. Isabel (again, bless her heart) said she will call and make the appointments for us. The bureaucrat told her that we will not be able to make appointments until October. Hard to see the logic behind all of this, but we're trying to laugh (or at least not cry) through it all.
Then we went to lunch where we met the restaurateur Filip who enjoyed swapping his bad English our bad Spanish with many laughs between. Again, we realize the necessity of language lessons.
The to-do list is LONG: get phones, keys, fans, a new bed, comfortable sheets, covers for two sofas and two chairs, a TV (part of the language learning plan), etc, etc. Get services set up, get a bank account, get a rental contract, etc. I fully appreciate now why our friend Wendy (also our renter) was about to strike when her husband wanted to bag their year in Spain just after she'd gotten everything set up. It's darn hard work and requires patience and fortitude. This we already know, and we haven't even hit the 48 hour mark yet.

So, we're fine. Tired. But fine. Alex seems to be digging watching Jack and me work at communicating in Spanish. It's pretty funny. I think Anna is in shock, probably because she knows the least Spanish and so shuts down in frustration.

Thursday July 29, 2009 Evening Update

This is what has been on our to-do list for the last two days:
Open bank account A
pply for resident card
Purchase cell phones
Get copies of apartment keys (5 total)
Get our names on the mail box
Get a fan
Get sheets, a new bed, various other items at IkeaT

This is what we’ve accomplished so far:
We have 2 new keys
We now have an appointment scheduled in November to apply for resident card
We have our names on the mailbox
We have spent hours and hours and miles and miles on our feet trying to accomplish the other items on our list.

Passports, visas, bedbugs and shingles

We landed in New York on Monday night and Jack checked his Blackberry for messages before we even got off the plane to find a message letting us know that our passports along with visas (FOUR VISAS!!!) left California the same day we left Nevada. On Tuesday, John and Ann brought us our beloved passports. What a relief to have those in our hands. And all with student visas. We’re still baffled by that, but we’re going with it.

On Sunday night before we left Reno I noticed spider bites on my neck, and wondered if I should try to get in to see my doc before we left on our noon flight on Monday. I had a swollen lymph node that was very sensitive that concerned me. But we were too frantic on Monday morning, so I decided that I could survive a spider bite, and could go to a doc in NY if needed. On Monday in NY I realized that the bite situation was worse and I needed to do a little surfing to find out what kind of spider bite I had. A little time on the net and I was convinced that it wasn’t actually spider bites, but worse – bed bug bites. So Jack, Tom, Sharon and I started surfing and were pretty much all convinced that we had a potential problem on our hands. I was horrified – thinking that I’d brought bed bugs home from the hotel we stayed at on one of our Adventures with the Spanish Consulate trips. Horrified, I couldn’t sleep all night – thinking that I now had to resolve infestations in Reno and potentially in Tom’s house in New York since we brought 11 bags with us.
So this morning we trundled off to the doctor here in NY. At the same time our friend Tia was on the job in Reno heading over to our house to check for evidence of a bed bug infestation in Reno while all of our baggage was quarantined at Tom’s house. The doc in the box listened to my tales of woe and delivered a wholly unexpected diagnosis of shingles. We trundled off to a dermatologist for confirmation. Shingles is it. Fortunately, if you get it before 50, it’s often not even treated. Currently it’s uncomfortable, but not too painful. I have drugs to reduce the potency and duration and pain killers in case it becomes painful.
So, it’s been an exciting couple of days. We’re off on a most excellent adventure. We realized today, Jack and I did, that this is really the biggest adventure we’ve ever struck out on – really sticking our necks out more than all other adventures before. Generally, I think we’re pretty calm. Quite frankly, I really didn’t feel very stressed, so I’m shocked at the shingles situation. (Funny thing was, a couple months ago someone suggested getting a vaccination against shingles that I ignored. You might want to consider it yourselves….)