Becoming expats

My pink eye has finally cleared up so I've decided to celebrate by writing on the blog today.  For those who have been following my parade of illnesses, yes, of course, I got a nasty case of pink eye over the weekend which required yet another trip to the pharmacy to beg for a prescription medication without a prescription.  The pharmacist saw my red, inflamed, oozing eye and took pity and quickly got me a bottle of drops.  I'm glad I checked the bottle because there was a picture of an ear on it and after pointing that out, she switched it out for the EYE drops.  At least I can laugh about it now.   

It's been a great week otherwise with my mother and sister visiting. The weather has cooled significantly and I was able to wear in my new boots as I led them all around the city showing them all the things I find beautiful and interesting.  During our outings I began to realize how much has changed since our first few weeks here.  I no longer need a map. This is a huge accomplishment when you consider how complex the old city center is with its meandering streets, some filled with cars and buses and some pedestrian.  All the streets change names numerous times and most are of religious origin.  Not easy!

Tourist:  "Excuse me, I am looking for Calle Jesus.... something.  Can you help me?"

Me:  "Sure!  Is it Jesus de la Pasion, Jesus del Gran Poder, or Jesus de las Tres Caidas?"

I have also gotten skilled at avoiding the dog and horse excrement everywhere.  And the noise and pollution have sort of become a background annoyance.  I have come to accept the fact that Spanish people as a whole are just not the friendliest or most patient people.  These small changes have allowed me to start to enjoy the beauty of the city.   Dave and I have our favorite spots to eat, our favorite wines, our favorite streets to walk.  We have found great parks for the girls and Camila has stopped asking to go back to "my Tampa."  They seem to thoroughly enjoy school and they are speaking more and more Spanish everyday.  Dave is also doing very well with his Spanish and has had a great opportunity of speaking a lot of it with my family here in town.  So as I walked around town with my mom and my sister I realized that I finally feel more like I live here, and less like I struggle here.  

I know Dave mentioned it in an earlier blog, but I want to say again what an awesome time we had with Tony and Raquel who were in town last weekend for the music festival.  It was definitely an emotional boost for me.  Last month we also had another fantastically fun evening with Deborah and Scott who were here from St. Louis.  These visits from friends and family have simultaneously helped soothe the homesick feelings and allowed us to enjoy the city through visitors eyes.  

 Out with my mom and sister.  It was a wet day, but we still had fun!

View from the very top of the Metropol parasol.

Presidential elections were held this past Sunday and there have been many protests leading up to it.  We've seen a few while out and about, but this past Friday night we were lucky enough to have one march right outside our front door!  We heard a lot of police sirens at first and ran and opened our french doors to see what was going on.  The police cleared the street of all traffic for the protesters (and it's a very busy five lane street) and we had a prime view from our balcony.  It seemed to me there were like a thousand people marching and when the very first ones reached outside our building they suddenly stopped and sat down!  They stayed for ten minutes or so in that position, chanting and singing and blocking all the traffic.  It was surreal.  Camila was frightened but Isa was very intrigued by all the commotion.

Here's a picture and a video clip...

I just learned from the news today that unemployment in Spain is expected to hit 23% in the next quarter!! That is unbelievable and the frustration of the people is felt everywhere.  They have elected a new president so hopefully the new leadership will work harder to stabilize this dire situation.

~ Ali