A number of my friends and “loyal readers” of this blog have commented lately that it sounds like we are now on perpetual vacation…that Barcelona sounds like heaven…that all we seem to do is eat…and that we have truly found our total bliss.  I do not want to at all discount the fact that yes, we are very happy with this adventurous change in life and lifestyle, but NO – the transition and our daily existence is far from heaven on earth (close, but let’s get real).  I feel compelled  to share some of the other side of the story.    That said, if you want to continue to fantasize that the Schorr contingent now residing in Spain has “la Vida Perfecta”, please stop reading now and come back in a few days when I have another entry to share. For those who like to have well-rounded coverage of any good story, read on.

Make no mistake, folks, it took a LOT of planning, organizing, a few stiff drinks, a number of quarrels, and a few buckets of tears to both get here and begin to feel settled. And we are still very much in process.   I will start with the more practical, less emotional stuff.

No rain, big sweat….Granted, we have really enjoyed the change in weather from Seattle’s rain and gray, the sun is out every day here.  However, while Seattle is warm and dry in the summer, it ‘s in the 90’s here and very, very humid.  We are getting used to wearing lightweight, breathable clothes, drinking gallons of water, and frankly being sweaty a lot of the time.  Refuge is in the public buses and our air conditioned flat.  The best way to describe how I feel middle of the day is “melty”.   We take it slow midday, walk the dogs early or late, and we love to go out in the evening when there is often a bit of a breeze and many, many people are out strolling.

Two steps forward, always at least one step back.  The old adage that “all good things come to those who wait” could be applicable to life in Spain.  You have to be patient and have a real sense of humor about paperwork, bureaurocracy, and there ALWAYS being some little thing that will throw a monkey wrench into some mundane thing you are trying to accomplish.  Case in point:  When we finally were notified that our long-awaited NIE cards (the national ID cards) were ready for pick up we of course rushed down to the police station where you pick them up. Our attorney even called ahead to be sure that they were there for us.  We got there and, lo and behold, our cards were in a small segment of NIE numbers that were NOT there yet because they were non-EU issues…they were in the right number sequence that had arrived, but because we were coming from outside the EU, they would not arrive until the following week.   Many examples to give you – won’t bore you.

Let’s do the time warp again.  While Skype is the next best thing to being there, the nine hour time difference with the West Coast US is confounding at times when trying to connect regularly with our very busy family here and there.  Granted, we brought this on ourselves, no argument….but this little post is about those niggly things that have made this big change more than a skip and jump in paradise.  Bottom line is that I like talking to and seeing my kiddos and parents and aunt and uncle and close friends more than once a weekend, and we either need to do this earlier in the morning or later in the evening than often makes comfortable sense at both ends.  And the 3am calls (oops, forgot about the difference, mea culpa!!!) don’t help. It’s just one more thing to navigate.

Crowds o’ tourists at our door, pickpockets ’round the corner.  Sure, drop us in NYC in the summer and we would sweat, we’d fight crowds, and we’d stand a reasonable chance of being mugged at some point.  Same deal here.  We have moved from a suburban bubble to an urban fishbowl, and all three of us have had to learn how to stay safe and sane faced with the same set of ‘cons’ (pardon the pun) as any other big city in the world.  The great news is that we stand a much MUCH smaller chance of coming to bodily harm here – thank goodness for strict gun control and vigilant police.  You are more likely to lose your wallet than your life here – I guess I shouldn’t complain, huh?

And now for the deeper challenge.

Plain and simple, moving this far out of my long-standing comfort zone, I really do have bouts of feeling adrift without an established identity, local track record personally and professionally, and my support system reduced to Andrew and Eitan – at least on a daily basis.  The steady flow of projects I’d expected to have coming over here from US clients hit a dry spell…budget cuts and reorgs happen.  Summer is an odd pause in fiscal flow and we moved here just as things slowed to a summer sludge.  I am also not “known” here in western Europe  for the things I am able to do, so I find myself needing to do a re-invention of image and focus to make my skills and abilities accessible and understandable in a totally different market.  It’s hard work and I frankly wasn’t mentally prepared to do this.   I have faith that there will be some continuity of business relationships from my US clients, but those who know me well know that patience is not one of my virtues in this regard. Some odd self-esteem issue, no doubt.

My friends and family at a distance have been great – don’t get me wrong.   And of course Andrew and Eitan pick me up when I am down, as do Ruth and Ari when we can connect.  But bottom line,  big change is HARD and it takes a lot of work to build the foundations and network that keeps you afloat.    I am really happy that there have already been some wonderful, kind, welcoming people here and we are slowly building the life infrastructure we need to feel at home.  It’s that patience and tenacity thing.