We just signed the contract for our new house, we won´t actually be moving until after Christmas, probably in February but i´m already Pinterest crazy. I have so many ideas, i´m mentally ripping down walls, painting, choosing tiles and dreaming about filling up those temporarily spare bedrooms with beautiful Spanglish babies!
In the next few weeks and months i´ll be sharing my ideas with you all until we get the keys, and then the fun begins!!
Showing posts with label Madrid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Madrid. Show all posts
Monday, 21 November 2016
Sunday, 13 November 2016
A New Project
So i´ve been "off the radar" for a few weeks, that somehow turned into a few months while we VERY quickly sold our flat, moved into my father-in-laws and bought a new house.
We had the idea to sell our flat in August, it was a very trendy attic in the north of Madrid, I would describe it as bachelor pad with girlfriend accents, which is exactly what it was, and we were fine with that until we got married and started talking about having mini-me´s.
We estimated it would take around 10 months to one year to sell our flat, based on location, size, price etc. We uploaded photos to Idealista, and within 24 hours we had a buyer!
SHIT. We had a buyer, and no house to move into! Luckily my father-in-law has space in his house for us, and ever luckier for me it´s four minutes walking away from where I work! BONUS!
So we quickly packed up our things in boxes, rentes a van, said goodbye to the flat and moved the spare room at my father-in-laws, where we have time to relax, and save some money while we kept looking for somewhere to live.
Most Spanish people live in flats, we lived in a flat, almost everyone we know lives in a flat, but we´ve decided to buy an end of terrace three bedroom house which me, as a person so unused to living in a flat that I could easily have a panic attack every time a neighbour gets in the lift with me, am thrilled about!
I´m doing all the important work like making Pinterest boards and dreaming about colour schemes, woolen couch throws and laundry rooms while Mr. Millennial is doing all the boring work like talking to the bank and paperwork...
I´ll keep you updated on the move, which should happen at the latest by the middle of February and then let the decorating begin!!
We had the idea to sell our flat in August, it was a very trendy attic in the north of Madrid, I would describe it as bachelor pad with girlfriend accents, which is exactly what it was, and we were fine with that until we got married and started talking about having mini-me´s.
We estimated it would take around 10 months to one year to sell our flat, based on location, size, price etc. We uploaded photos to Idealista, and within 24 hours we had a buyer!
SHIT. We had a buyer, and no house to move into! Luckily my father-in-law has space in his house for us, and ever luckier for me it´s four minutes walking away from where I work! BONUS!
So we quickly packed up our things in boxes, rentes a van, said goodbye to the flat and moved the spare room at my father-in-laws, where we have time to relax, and save some money while we kept looking for somewhere to live.
Most Spanish people live in flats, we lived in a flat, almost everyone we know lives in a flat, but we´ve decided to buy an end of terrace three bedroom house which me, as a person so unused to living in a flat that I could easily have a panic attack every time a neighbour gets in the lift with me, am thrilled about!
I´m doing all the important work like making Pinterest boards and dreaming about colour schemes, woolen couch throws and laundry rooms while Mr. Millennial is doing all the boring work like talking to the bank and paperwork...
I´ll keep you updated on the move, which should happen at the latest by the middle of February and then let the decorating begin!!
Wednesday, 3 August 2016
Some Things That Make Spain TOTALLY Different From the UK
Two years ago exactly I arrived in Spain. In fact about this time (12pm) I had landed and was waiting for my suitcases to come out of the door on the conveyor belt of handsoffthatoneismine and sweatyhandsheartracing doom.
I came on a six month TEFL internship with two suitcases and around 800€ in cash that I was so terrified of losing or having it stolen that I kept checking every five minutes that it was there, which in hindsight probably make me either look like I has around 800€ in cash in my bag, or a terrorist with some kind of exploding purse.
As I landed on that hot day in August with my address written on a piece of paper to give to the taxi driver and enough Spanish to ask someone how they are but not enough to understand the reply, little did I know that all my dreams of travelling the world teaching English were about to come crashing down VERY rapidly, for less than three weeks after my first day arriving in one piece to the most disgusting flat i´ve ever seen I met the man that would change my whole outlook on life.
When I met my husband, I decided instantaneously that this was the guy for me, that all my dreams of country hopping, living out of a suitcase, never having to worry about anyone but myself popped, but in a good way. I lost the need to travel, I stopped in the first country I went to. I also used to be the girl who never wanted to get married and never wanted kids but I suppose my sister was right when she told me "wait until you meet the right man" because here we are almost two years after we met, married and I very much do want kids...
It hasn´t been all fairytales and looking at life through rose tinted glasees though, there are tonnes of diferences between the UK and Spain that i´ve had to get (I haven´t got) used to, here are just a few...
1: KISSING
In Spain it´s custom to give two kisses, one on each cheek. Men kiss only women but women have to miss everyone! I HATE IT Being a Brit, we are not used to kissing and when we go somewhere are there is a group of people, friends or family usually we say Hi and wave in general to everyone, maybe you kiss your parents, or give a hug to your best friend but we don´t kiss 20 people hello and then AGAIN to say goodbye!
2: LATENESS
I hate being late, I´d rather be an hour early than a minute late. This doesn´t seem to bother Spanish people though, we´re going to have lunch at 2pm, so the guests arrive at 2.30/3pm, we´ll start the meeting at 5.30pm so obviously i´m sitting alone until 5.45 when the other people start to arrive and we start the meeting somewhere between 5.45 and 6pm. Come on people I wanna go home!
3: PAPERWORK
No-one has told Spain that computers can hold a lot of information and that most of the annoying things that we had to make appointments for and wait in queue´s for in the past, well we can do those things now online. I´ve been here two years, it took me a year and a half to get around to registering that I live here, I had to go four times to get my national identity card because of all the paperwork I had to take, and trying to get a metro card was like trying to get a passport!!
4: FEVER
People are obsessed here with having a fever, if you sneeze someone will ask if you have a fever, if you have a headache someone will ask if you have a fever, if you cut your arm off, i´m pretty sure that someone will ask if you have a fever! And I work with children, I take at least one every day to see if they have a fever! And if they have a rever they go straight home, however, if they vomit, but don´t have a fever, well drink some water and back to class!
5: MEAL TIMES
In Spain we have lunch around 2-3pm (we have been known at home to have lunch at 5pm) and dinner is around 9-10pm. My family can´t believe this, being from the north of England they are strictly Tea at 5pm tupe of people. And I was too and although I spent my first few weeks here in a constant state of either starving or stuffed, you do get used to it.
I came on a six month TEFL internship with two suitcases and around 800€ in cash that I was so terrified of losing or having it stolen that I kept checking every five minutes that it was there, which in hindsight probably make me either look like I has around 800€ in cash in my bag, or a terrorist with some kind of exploding purse.
As I landed on that hot day in August with my address written on a piece of paper to give to the taxi driver and enough Spanish to ask someone how they are but not enough to understand the reply, little did I know that all my dreams of travelling the world teaching English were about to come crashing down VERY rapidly, for less than three weeks after my first day arriving in one piece to the most disgusting flat i´ve ever seen I met the man that would change my whole outlook on life.
When I met my husband, I decided instantaneously that this was the guy for me, that all my dreams of country hopping, living out of a suitcase, never having to worry about anyone but myself popped, but in a good way. I lost the need to travel, I stopped in the first country I went to. I also used to be the girl who never wanted to get married and never wanted kids but I suppose my sister was right when she told me "wait until you meet the right man" because here we are almost two years after we met, married and I very much do want kids...
It hasn´t been all fairytales and looking at life through rose tinted glasees though, there are tonnes of diferences between the UK and Spain that i´ve had to get (I haven´t got) used to, here are just a few...
1: KISSING
In Spain it´s custom to give two kisses, one on each cheek. Men kiss only women but women have to miss everyone! I HATE IT Being a Brit, we are not used to kissing and when we go somewhere are there is a group of people, friends or family usually we say Hi and wave in general to everyone, maybe you kiss your parents, or give a hug to your best friend but we don´t kiss 20 people hello and then AGAIN to say goodbye!
2: LATENESS
I hate being late, I´d rather be an hour early than a minute late. This doesn´t seem to bother Spanish people though, we´re going to have lunch at 2pm, so the guests arrive at 2.30/3pm, we´ll start the meeting at 5.30pm so obviously i´m sitting alone until 5.45 when the other people start to arrive and we start the meeting somewhere between 5.45 and 6pm. Come on people I wanna go home!
3: PAPERWORK
No-one has told Spain that computers can hold a lot of information and that most of the annoying things that we had to make appointments for and wait in queue´s for in the past, well we can do those things now online. I´ve been here two years, it took me a year and a half to get around to registering that I live here, I had to go four times to get my national identity card because of all the paperwork I had to take, and trying to get a metro card was like trying to get a passport!!
4: FEVER
People are obsessed here with having a fever, if you sneeze someone will ask if you have a fever, if you have a headache someone will ask if you have a fever, if you cut your arm off, i´m pretty sure that someone will ask if you have a fever! And I work with children, I take at least one every day to see if they have a fever! And if they have a rever they go straight home, however, if they vomit, but don´t have a fever, well drink some water and back to class!
5: MEAL TIMES
In Spain we have lunch around 2-3pm (we have been known at home to have lunch at 5pm) and dinner is around 9-10pm. My family can´t believe this, being from the north of England they are strictly Tea at 5pm tupe of people. And I was too and although I spent my first few weeks here in a constant state of either starving or stuffed, you do get used to it.
Sunday, 3 July 2016
Melting Pot
Madrid has turned into an inferno!
I´m sitting here writing this in my pants and a vest top, swigging back water like it´s going out of fashion, dreading the fact that tomorrow I have to go to work, wearing a uniform! Trousers and a polo shirt is hell in summer in Madrid!
Just two more weeks... Two more weeks of work then I have six weeks off. Which sounds amazing and to be honest in England it was but last year we spent one week in England, (Nice and cool) one week in Portugal (Nice and cool) and I spent four weeks dying and sweaty in a house which seems to be hotter than outside, and no air con, only a fan to blow the hot air around.
This week we´ll have to abandon the upstairs of our loft and decamp to the living room, sleeping (trying to sleep) on a blow up bed with the balcony door open and a bowl of ice placed infront of aforementioned fan to ty to cool the place to below 700degrees!
For all of you who are thinking of leaving the UK for somewhere with a bit of sun, THINK, and I mean seriously THINK about it before you take the plunge. We Brits are not cut out for two months of 40degree heat!
I´m sitting here writing this in my pants and a vest top, swigging back water like it´s going out of fashion, dreading the fact that tomorrow I have to go to work, wearing a uniform! Trousers and a polo shirt is hell in summer in Madrid!
Just two more weeks... Two more weeks of work then I have six weeks off. Which sounds amazing and to be honest in England it was but last year we spent one week in England, (Nice and cool) one week in Portugal (Nice and cool) and I spent four weeks dying and sweaty in a house which seems to be hotter than outside, and no air con, only a fan to blow the hot air around.
This week we´ll have to abandon the upstairs of our loft and decamp to the living room, sleeping (trying to sleep) on a blow up bed with the balcony door open and a bowl of ice placed infront of aforementioned fan to ty to cool the place to below 700degrees!
For all of you who are thinking of leaving the UK for somewhere with a bit of sun, THINK, and I mean seriously THINK about it before you take the plunge. We Brits are not cut out for two months of 40degree heat!
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