Welcome to «A Year Abroad» – our big leap into a life in another culture, under the Spanish sun! We are swapping familiar surroundings and language with a year of new adventures, growth and everyday life in another country, following a big dream that has been hiding in the back of mom’s mind for ages!
We are slowly but surely getting our paperwork done, although it still takes time in the Spanish system. But our NIE numbers are in place, the cornerstone of the system! And with that we can now, little by little, fix everything from wifi and phone to banking and car! YEAH!! So happy this is done!
Yesterday was another day of local culture, with a carnival parade featuring The Queen and Ladies of Salt! Lots of people out in the streets, festive outfits on the parade participants, dancing and music. The parades are great to watch, the atmosphere is fantastic, and this is a summer symbol of Spanish culture.
Elaborate costumes, both small children, teenagers and adults. This year there was also a Star Wars themed section, with Jar Jar Binks, Stormtroopers, C-3PO and Chewbacca among the performers.
We are in the middle of another heat wave, with orange and red danger warnings from the authorities. Even though it is hot, my husband and I went for a walk in the local park. It was a well-organized and pleasant park, and I will probably return many times during the year. In the park, they have painted the trash cans and put up figures carved out of wood everywhere. There are several playgrounds and a training area with equipment. In the winter you can probably grill there too, but the grills were now blocked with police tape. Not so strange when there are many forest fires going on in Spain at the moment.
There are several places to go bowling, but we went back to the one my son and I tried our first week. When it is well above 40 °C, you need to do activities inside, so bowling and the arcade was what we did. Absolutely not alone in that choice, but it was a few hours of fun.
It’s fun to be a kid for a little while, and the arcade had lots of games that my husband and I remember from our youth. We collected tickets and traded them for candy when we were done.
Even though it’s too hot to do anything outside during the day right now, we watched a movie on the rooftop terrace after dark. How cool would it have been with a projector and a comfy couch up there?
We are still in the «holiday feeling» stage of our move, but everyday life is coming soon. The start of school is next week and then my husband is going home again. That is when we have to settle into a daily routine and figure out what our life in Spain is going to look like.
That’s the last of our Spanish everyday life. For more daily moments and glimpses behind the scenes, follow us on Instagram at @lifeandlove_thelittlethings. See you in the next update!