It was raining most of last week so we didn't get out a whole lot. We went through a whole tank of propane and a bunch of wood trying to stay warm though. The gas man comes through town twice a week, blaring his horn to let you know he's here. The first time we needed a refill, Shawn carried the empty tank up to the plaza and he and I carried a full one back down. This time we were smart enough to figure out how to get it delivered. See, we're learning!
The fog on Thursday was so thick, we couldn't see past the neighbor's house. This was the view from our bedroom that day.
We had our first parent-teacher meeting with Aliah's teacher last Monday. Haila came with us because we weren't sure whether or not to bring Aliah. We figured the girls could hang out in the hall if the meeting was only for adults. Thank goodness our interpreter was along! The teacher knows a little English, but it would have been painful for us to communicate without Haila. One of our friends thinks she should start charging us for her services (Yes, Dan, that would be you!). I think we'd be broke already.
Aliah's teacher said she's doing really well. She tested her to see if she needed any extra help in any of her subjects, including Spanish, and she passed with flying colors. Aliah was concerned because the other kids do all of their writing in cursive, and she only knows how to write her name. The teacher reassured her that printing is fine. It is more important that her sentences make sense, which they do! That was contributing to a lot of tears at home since she gets homework every day, so we were all thankful to get that welcome news.
We asked Aliah's teacher about after-school activities, and she told us about a dance class. Aliah tried it out last Thursday and really enjoyed it. They are learning some form of flamenco dancing. That sounds right up her alley. She's like her Dad and enjoys an audience.
Now that the sun has reappeared, Shawn and Aliah have returned to their after-school walk abouts. Below is a pic of her doing her homework yesterday at Cafe Central with Dad.
Haila was home sick on Thursday and Friday. She had a fever and a nasty cough, but she's feeling better now. I was grateful she was home on Thursday to once again interpret when there was a knock on the door. I had requested a wood delivery via WhatsApp (thanks to Google Translate) on Wednesday, and the wood man showed up on Thursday to tell me he couldn't deliver until the weather cleared up. We ended up getting the delivery on Sunday. Thankfully the wood man has a self-propelled tractor that's small enough to get up our street. The wood pile is behind and below the house and the only way to get it there is to carry it through the house, so through the house and down the steps the wood went.
Haila was getting a little stir-crazy on Friday evening after being home sick for a few days, so she and I went out for a little fresh air. We just walked around for awhile before dinner exploring some streets we hadn't walked before. When we walked back in the house, Shawn and Aliah asked if we ordered fish with salsa. No... why? Someone had called Shawn's phone and was speaking Spanish, so Aliah interpreted for him. She said that the person wanted to deliver the fish with salsa someone at our address had ordered. She told them no one at this address ordered fish with salsa.
Hmm, that seems odd. Shawn had been waiting for a UPS package. Was the fish with salsa actually a package from the states? Haila looks at Shawn's phone and sees that the caller's WhatsApp profile pic is a dog wearing UPS gear. Uh-oh! Haila calls him back but he's already left town and is on his way to Coin. He's not coming back. Haila asks if he can come back a different day. He says he can bring it on Monday. Once again, our girl saves the day. Maybe we should start paying her!?!
Shawn, Aliah and I walked to the bigger market on Saturday. Guess who was coming out of the store as we were walking in? Our angel from day 1... Augustine from Malaga! We were so excited to see him again. The wood man's name is also Augustine, and they were together. We think Augustine from Malaga told us that they are father and son, but our interpreter was at home taking a bath so that's really just speculation. Regardless, it was wonderful to see him again, and he seemed happy to see us doing well also. Small towns are truly special in so many ways.
Shawn went to music night on Saturday evening. There are quite a few British and Irish folks living here, and they organize an open mic night at a small cafe in the center of town almost every weekend. We have taken the girls a few times, but it usually doesn't start until 9:30 PM or later so we never stay long. Shawn said this week was a little different as an American was in town visiting family and joined the menagerie of musical characters. The visitor added his saxophone and flute to the mix which gave the music a more jazzy feel than usual. What we've seen so far has been more folk and reggae. Regardless of the genre, it's nice to be able to enjoy live music in an intimate setting.
The weather was nice on Sunday and Haila's fever had broke, so we went out for lunch (at 3 PM). We sat outside and soaked up some sun and fresh air. After a week of rain, it felt good to get out of the cold, damp house and feel some sunshine on our faces. We ran into several new friends (Hola Alice and Betsy!), which is such a joy-filled simple pleasure. We're actually starting to feel like we belong here!
We had appointments on Tuesday afternoon in Malaga to request our residence cards, so we took the bus in the morning. Our appointments weren't until 3:30 PM, so we had some time to shop. One thing we had been missing was our favorite snack food: popcorn popped in olive oil. I had scoured the shops in Alozaina but could only find microwave popcorn, and we don't have a microwave anyway. Since Malaga is a large city, I thought we could probably find popping corn there. Sure enough, we did.
Spain must not grow much corn, but potatoes are a different story. In the absence of popcorn and corn/tortilla chips, we've had to resort to eating potato chips as our munchy of choice. Oh Mylanta, they are good! They are often made with olive oil, and they are dangerously delicious.
I digress, back to Malaga. Another Conley girl favorite is thrift shopping. The last time we were in Malaga, it was a holiday and all the stores were closed. This time, we were able to check out a wonderful store benefiting people with epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a condition that causes the skin to be as fragile as a butterfly's wing. For people with EB, simple actions such as walking and eating are extremely painful. The store was called Piel de Mariposa, which means butterfly skin, and was filled with wonderful treasures. Both girls found more than a few. We didn't buy everything they had an eye for, like this lovely rainbow chicken Aliah desperately wanted to buy for her Dad (who tells "stories" about his childhood best friend, the rainbow chicken), but we did purchase a number of other gems like a fairy puzzle book, a sequins dress and some jewelry.
After thrifting, we headed in the direction of the police station. There were some amazing murals on the side of a building, so we stopped to snap a few photos. Aliah pointed out that her leggings blend in with the background. Why, yes, they do! Our budding artist has an eye for color.
I had picked out a restaurant close to the police station that had good ratings on TripAdvisor. We got there a little early for the lunch crowd (2 PM) and ordered too much food. It's hard to know how big the portions are going to be. Price does not necessarily indicate the volume of food you will receive. I wish we would have gotten there a little later as the place filled up with locals very quickly, and our choices would have been different had we seen the size of the tapas. Plus, the locals know what to order. Our food was good, but some of the dishes at tables around us looked amazing. Next time!
We each had an appointment at the national police station. Shawn's was the first at 3:30 PM. We wanted to get there a little early since we didn't really know where we were going. The address on the appointment notice took us to the wrong entrance, so we had to walk around the block. There were two doors, one was roped off and the other had a police officer stationed in front of it. I got out Shawn's appointment notice so Haila could ask if we were in the right place. The officer said that we needed to check-in with the man behind the rope. Haila did that and was told that we needed to wait to be called in. There was already a small crowd of people waiting.
Just after 3:30 PM, our family was called inside and told to wait outside door #1. A number of other people were given the same instructions. The four of us were hoping to all go in together since we had planned to take the 5 PM bus back to Alozaina and it was at least a 20 minute walk back to the bus station. Thankfully, that's exactly what happened. Shawn was the second person called in, and the rest of us were told to come with him. Thank God!
The woman who helped us was extremely nice and complemented Haila on her Spanish. She started with Shawn and processed all four of us in succession. As it turned out, we didn't need most of the paperwork I had filled out and had copied, but we did need the passport photos and we were all fingerprinted. We left with four pieces of paper that say we are residents of Spain until 1/1/2021! However, we have to come back in 35 days to get our official resident cards. Well, I guess we'll get our opportunity to order different tapas at that restaurant after all.
Shawn and I were both very relieved to have these appointments behind us. After all the iterations we went through at the Spanish Consulate in Chicago, we were both a little nervous about getting through these appointments on our first try. Plus, the couple being processed next to us did not get their paperwork accepted. Once again, we thank God for our many blessings!!!
Here's a picture of my three favorite legal residents of Espana getting back on the bus to Alozaina! We celebrated when we got home with some popcorn popped in olive oil!!!
The sunrise on Wednesday morning was lovely. Haila took the first photo right outside our front door on her way to school, and Aliah took the second photo on her way to school.
Haila also took this photo of the miniature horse that lives a block from her school. I guess we could consider this her school's mascot as he's usually out grazing when she walks by. She originally thought it was a donkey, but it's ears are too small. Maybe she was wishful thinking as her cousin's school mascot actually is a donkey (Go Bray-Doyle Donkeys!) Regardless of his breed, this guy is darn cute.
Los Cocos son Locos Blog Challenge: How are these two photos related?
We'll bring you home some locally made olive oil chips if you can figure it out before my next post!
Until then, we wish you much love and laughter.
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