Europe

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There’s a Time to Tourist and a Time to Type

I was going to head into Almería today, but found work waiting this morning if I wanted it. I took enough to get me through the weekend. Saturday isn’t great to go exploring here anyway (lots of things are closed or close early, plus the bus schedule is erratic). Might as well keep working on replenishing the coffers! They are back to levels that let me sleep well at night (that was said tongue firmly in cheek!) and now they’re building back up beyond that. My big client is in the process of paying me a non-insignificant retainer to secure a few hours of my time a week for the next couple of months, which feels like a major career milestone, so it’s good to know I have work incoming for a bit!

Late morning, I realised that I was almost out of drinking water (!!!) and relieved that the shop is open till 2:00 on Saturdays. I headed out around noon. The shopkeeper greeted me warmly and told me I looked really nice today, which surprised me since I was in what I felt was lounging clothes (my trousers from Bulgaria with my Tieks and my pink hoodie, but I do have to say I had a really nice head scarf!). Anyway, that was really sweet of her!

I got what I needed at the deli/produce/bakery counter, or so I thought. I realised after getting a few other things that I’d missed something. So I went back and said, “I’m sorry, I forgot bread, please.” I’m still working on the past tense and when I use it, I go home and double check that I was correct, which I was this time. Phew! The bread is a baguette and after handing it to me, the clerk slyly told me that their crème de Brie was on sale (oferta). So I got a tub of that! I love Brie, but not the rind, so finding it in that format was fantastic. By the way, have you ever thought of how amazing milk is in the infinite number of ways it can be transformed into yummy things?

I came in and worked through the afternoon. My jobs were super easy and went fast. I love days like that! The cat spent most of the time snuggled against me, as she does whenever I plop myself down somewhere. I’d been told she was aloof so I’m starting to wonder if she’s the cat I’m actually supposed to be minding! 🙂

I quit around 5:00 and went for a long walk. I’m definitely starting to orientate myself in this maze of a neighbourhood. Then, I came in and had my first beer at home since I got here!

Tomorrow will be a similar day, but I’ll probably go out for a beer if the bar is open. 🙂

So, no, I’m not bummed about not “being able” to go to town today. I’ve been working on a 2016 travel recap that will really show how much fun I’ve had this year, more than I could have dreamt of working a traditional 9 to 5 job with three weeks of vacation, and I’m just happy to be so well situated that I can be productive with work, but also not feel claustrophobic. This sit is everything I hoped it would be!

In other news, it’s looking more and more certain that I’ll be in Yorkshire by about January 7th! I’ll be flying into Manchester. So now, I’m working on how I’ll fill the days between December 17th and my arrival in England. I could easily go to England straight away and get a sit over the holidays, but that’s a last resort option. I’m still hoping another sit nearby opens up…

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A Chess Game

I don’t play chess, but I have some vague notions of how masters play, that they are always several moves ahead in their minds, anticipating a number of scenarios. That’s rather how my life is. I’m always thinking far ahead, planning for what ifs, allowing for contingencies, and always doing my best to have an end game.

There are some bloggers who like to lay out their whole game plan ahead of times, with all its possible twists, for their readers to pick apart and dissect and give advice on. That’s just not me.

So that’s my mindset in answering here a couple of comments I got last night. I’m doing so in a post because I can imagine that other people are thinking things along the same line.

But before I start, let me digress for a moment and comment on an astute observation:

“I wonder if life is easier in Spain in the areas that have more tourists.”

Exactly. One of the reasons that Almería so appealed to me is that it is not on the tourist track and could show me the real Spain. One month here has taught me more about what this country is really like than any number of visits friends and family have made. This is why I want to travel, to see how people live in other places, not to play tourist.

Now, back to the chess game:

“No matter what happens you always have the option to fly back to Canada”

That has never been an option at this time of year! When I left, it was knowing I would be on this side of the pond till the spring and I had a loose plan to get me there, depending on what opportunities presented themselves.

First of all, I don’t have a home to go back to in the winter season. Power’s off completely, there’s no water, I don’t have any windbreaks set up, and I have no internet etc. Moreover, the cost of going back to North America is not cheap and once I get there, travel within the continent is even more expensive. The plan was always to maximise my initial ticket to get to this side of the pond and only return to North America when I absolutely have to.

Which brings me to another comment:

“However, this is not the time to fly back to Canada; it is like trading one cold country for another cold country, i.e., the UK. ”

I was always going to end up in the UK in early 2017. I’ll be a few months earlier than I planned, but it was always going to be my end point. One reason is that it’s the cheapest country to fly back from. A second reason is that it is where there are the most housesitting gigs. But the most important reason is that I can stay six months. This gives me a lot of options I didn’t have in the Balkans and in the Schengen area in that I can bounce around at my leisure and take longer sits if I want to. The climate won’t be great, but spring will come much earlier than it would in most parts of Canada.

“But, if you could find cheap transportation to and lodgings in Mexico for your remaining time”

And here is where we get back to my initial point about not giving my readers all the information. I will just say that Mexico is not an option right now for reasons that will become clear in the next couple of months…

So all that to say, I’m right where I need to be, albeit a few months earlier than planned. But that might end up working well if what I think is going to happen in March does happen. And even more so if what happens in May comes to fruition.

All this boils down to three scenarios for my return to North America. The only one I’m ready to discuss right now is my plan A that I left with last year — at some point in June, I’ll fly back from the UK to Regina with funds I’ve been keeping aside for that and spend the summer at Haven, riding the high of an amazing adventure!

Or maybe not… *evil cackle*

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So This Is What Culture Shock Feels Like

I’ve been in Spain a month now and, as some of you have surmised, adapting to life here has not been as easy as in other countries. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am very happy with my housesitting gig (especially the ball of fur currently curled up against me) and have zero regrets with coming here. I’m getting used to getting up later so that if I want to go out one evening, I’m fine with waiting till 8PM to be able to get food with my beer. I don’t mind the limited hours at the local shop. I’m grateful to be walking distance to a full service grocery store open all day. And, of course, I can communicate with people.

But I cannot get over the very rigid Spanish schedule that controls life here.

I went to La Cañada today to have lunch. Surprise, the restaurant decided to close today! That happened all the time in Mexico, but it wasn’t a huge deal as I’d have access to other options. But here, unless I wanted some variation of tomato toast, I was out of luck for lunch at 1:45 because heaven forbid someone wants a real meal at that time! So that’s three times out of three now that I’ve failed to get lunch at what is supposed to be the time that Spaniards eat their largest meal. I guess people in Almería don’t go out for lunch. I’m just grateful that I have easier access to grocery stores here, so a better variety of food than in Bulgaria, and am able to cook for myself a wide variety of meals.

So that was quite a hike for nothing (the restaurant is fully 4KM away), but I figured I’d make the best of it and pop into the produce store. Oh, great, they decided to close 15 minutes early. Same thing with the dried fruit store and the hardware store. AUGH.

And this was after I twisted my schedule today to make sure I’d be in La Cañada at a time when I could run a few errands…

I cannot live like that. Maybe it would be easier if I didn’t have a large time commitment to get places, but I am really resenting how much I have to live by the clock here. I have a rhythm to my day and I’ve finally found the place where that rhythm just doesn’t fit.

Moreover, Spain is so regimented that you can pretty much only buy things at specialist shops. They are starting to get away from that with the supermarkets and chinos, but they still don’t really have convenience stores, and opening hours are very strictly regulated.

I suppose that if I had to live here long-term, I’d get used to it. In fact, I’m not discounting living here long-term at some point because this would be the easiest place to get permanent residence in an EU country, which would give me freedom to travel all over Europe. But having been here a month, I can say that Spain is by far my least favourite place I’ve lived and has been the biggest adjustment in terms of making concessions my schedule.

But Spaniards, overall, are lovely people, truly. I popped into Mercadona to pick up some coffee and the clerk I’d asked for prunes last time I was there recognised me and told me they had brought some in! Like raisins, prunes are my junk food/major treat, so this almost made up for the restaurant being closed. Almost. 🙂

In unrelated news, it looks like I might have set up a sit in England starting in early January! I think we’re a go, but I’m waiting for the final confirmation to provide details.

Because of the major stuff potentially coming down the pipeline that I’m not ready to talk about yet, I don’t think I’ll be going to Morocco. 🙁 I really wanted to go for a week or two and have been doing extensive research, but accommodation there is surprisingly expensive and I’m looking at higher transportation costs than expected to get there (about 400CAD to get there and then on to my destination in the UK).

I’m still hoping for a last-minute sit to pop up or for my Fairy Godmother to make a some money appear in my Yule stocking, but I’ve had a lot of fun in 2016, probably more than in the last eight years combined, and concede that I really can’t do everything. My savings are pretty much gone and I don’t want to touch my cushion in case what I think may come to pass does come to pass. So, please, no more hint, hints about Morocco unless you want to buy me a plane ticket from Almería to Marrakesh on December 17th! 😉

But also, please do not worry. I’m being a lot more frugal now than I was even a month ago, but that’s not because I’m in any sort of financial distress. Things are just fine at that end and I am making choices rather than being imposed upon. It was always the plan to put the brakes on the expenditures once I got to Western Europe since my money doesn’t go that far here. It just made more sense to spend with abandon and do a lot of tourism in the Balkans and then hunker down for a bit and replenish the coffers. So right now, I’m in work mode, looking for sits to keep expenditures low, and slowly plotting my return to North America as pieces of the possibly big news start to slot into place.

Well, I’d better finish this painful job I’m working on and then head out for a caña. The tapas bar around the corner is such a gift!!!

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Moiling Away

I’ve been working for the past several months, on and off, on a new documentary project for the producer of the documentary film I did last year and got a huge batch of audio this week. I like when a get large volume order like that because it means I can hunker down and work for a few days and then take it easy for the next couple. I’ve got a couple more days to do on it, but they should be shorter than the last few and I’m hoping to call off early and go to La Cañada for lunch tomorrow and then into Almería for more sightseeing on Thursday and/or Friday, depending on what else comes in.

The weather has been disappointing, with unseasonably cool temps. It’s been okay between about 1:00 and 5:00, when the sun is bearing down in full force, but earlier in the day and by the time I quit around 8:00, I really don’t have any clothes with me to make a walk around the block comfortable. If this keeps up, I’ll have to look into a warm coat much sooner than expected. 🙁 But, again, the afternoons are super comfortable and the cloud cover parted today to give me perfect walking conditions.

So I headed out around 4:00 and was a block (halfway, pretty much) to the beach when an older lady stopped me and started asking me questions. She had a really thick accent and I had to tell her, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” Undaunted and patient, she continued much more slowly, using different words when needed ,and proceeded to ask me a bunch of questions and pretty much got my life story in five minutes, LOL! It was a really lovely chat and I realised that I rather needed that bit of social interaction since I don’t yet fluently understand the cat here. 😉

This palm tree on the beach seemed like a cheeky fellow, with his fronds up in the air like that.

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I liked this house with the unusual round corner and roof.

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I must have walked a couple of kilometres trying to get back to my street since this neighbourhood is a maze. I was never lost, just kept coming up to dead ends!

I came in and worked for a couple of hours, then called off and started to make dinner when a client emailed to asked if I could take a couple of short jobs due in a few hours. *sighs* I just have to remember that I’m funding the next leg of this great big adventure! 🙂 I’m not ready yet to blog about a lot of things going on behind the scenes, but there could be multiple huge expenditures over the next several months that I had not anticipated when I left in June. Nothing bad, all very exciting, just a lot to sort through and process.

Well, dinner smells ready, so I’d better eat and then get back to work. That feels like that’s all I’ve been doing for the last two days!

By the way, the cat here? I’m totally in love. But I bet that’s not a surprise. 😉

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I Can’t Believe What I Found Today!

I was running out of fresh veg today and the little shop here didn’t have what I wanted. I did a general search for supermarkets, with the intent to look for one near my bus route. I didn’t need a hypermarket today, but I wanted something a bit bigger than the shop here. Suddenly, I remembered that Alicante had a supermarket that would be perfect for my needs, Mercadona. So I decided to pop that into Google and see if there was one more convenient to me than the Lidl downtown (which I haven’t been to, but was my likely destination).

When a result for Mercadona popped up, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was 2KM away. Two measly kilometres! There had to be a catch! A catch like, say, the road there not being pedestrian friendly…

I set off around 1:00 with my grocery trolley. The directions were simple and actually took a shorter route  on foot than by car. My destination was La Cañada (not Canadá — accents are important!).

I skirted around the base of the airport and soon had to turn off onto this road, where I immediately felt as though I was in Mexico.

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Before I knew it, I was in La Cañada after traveling a pedestrian-hauling-a-trolley-friendly road! It’s a full service community, with shops and restaurants and all services! I cannot believe my host, who seemingly thought of every detail, didn’t think to tell me to check this place out!

Special of the day at the first restaurant I passed: rice and octopus. I went out for tapas last night and had calamari, so I wasn’t tempted.

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The Mercadona was exactly where Google Maps told me it would be. It had taken absolutely no time to get there. It was almost like a mirage!

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But I didn’t go in yet, wanting to see what other treasures I might find.

Like this one-stop shopping for all manner of certificates and licenses: medical, driving, firearm, private security, nautical, and… dangerous animals.

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I passed a lovely church.

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And an interesting fountain.

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Near the end of the main street, I popped into a Chinese restaurant to ask for a menu. The server gave me one to take with me in case I want delivery (free with orders of 10 euro). I’m not at the point yet with my Spanish where I’m ready to do that… But she also pointed out that there is an eat-in special on weekdays for less than 8 euros for three dishes, with dessert and a drink with lots of choices and the menu is available between noon and 4:30! My clients are currently trying to kill me, but as soon as things calm down again, I look forward to going for lunch of a cuisine I haven’t had in months at a time of my convenience!

Coming back towards the supermarket, I popped into a “Chino,” a type of store my host gave me a heads up about. They are the equivalent of a dollar store/pound shop/Waldo’s, where you can find almost anything for a very low price. I’ve been needing a small sewing kit since I got here to mend a few things and forgot to pick one up when I went downtown. The store was immense and like Ali Baba’s cave. I found exactly what I needed for just 90 cents.

Then, I went into the grocery store to get what I needed. It was large and had a lot, but very little exotic-type products like you’d find in a hypermarket, so I’m not regretting my trip to Carrefour at all. I don’t even think they had almond milk. The produce section was a bit dismal, to my surprise, however. Everything looked fresh, but there was little selection. There is a dedicated produce shop almost right across the road, so hopefully it’ll be open if I go back during the week. But I got what I needed today, some zucchini and sweet potatoes.

They were out of carrots (who runs out of carrots?!), but the produce manager pointed to some packages of prepared veggies that had carrot, leek, onion, celery, and what I think are turnips for just 1.25 euro, which suited me better than getting a huge bunch of carrots. I’ll be able to slice all of that up and put it around a chicken to roast at the same time.

I was also able to stock up on raisins. They were a bit pricy, but needs must. There was a shop marked “dried fruits” a little ways up the road that I’m hoping I’ll find open next time I go as I’m going into prune withdrawal, haven’t had any lucky finding some, and this place will be my best bet.

I’ve only got a little more than a month left here, but even with just that short span of time, discovering La Cañada is a game changer, if only to have a place to pop in for lunch during the work day without having to take the whole afternoon off!