Here is a little Spanish lesson for you. The video and the text. Enjoy.

Salir corriendo

Nadie puede guardar toda el agua del mar
En un vaso de cristal
¿Cuántas gotas tienes que dejar caer
Hasta ver la marea crecer?
¿Cuántas veces te ha hecho sonreír?
Esta no es manera de vivir
¿Cuántas lágrimas puedes guardar
En tu vaso de cristal?
Si tienes miedo, si estás sufriendo
Tienes que gritar y salir, salir corriendo
¿Cuántos golpes dan las olas
A lo largo del día en las rocas?
¿Cuántos peces tienes que pescar
Para hacer un desierto del fondo del mar?
¿Cuántas veces te ha hecho callar?
¿Cuánto tiempo crees que aguantarás?
¿Cuántas lágrimas vas a guardar
En tu vaso de cristal?
Si tienes miedo, si estás sufriendo
Tienes que gritar y salir, salir corriendo

I’ve been having the village blues. The sort where you stop and think to yourself:”Why on earth do I live here?”. It has not been the blues about living in Spain away from family and friends (I don’t think it has, but maybe that is part of it as well?), more the blues about living in s small town full of small town people.

I would love to have some more friends locally, especially more spanish friends and not just expats, but the small town mentality doesn’t really do it for me. Wish I could get rid of half the population and instead import people from Barcelona and Madrid or another large city to create a bit more life, diversity and alternative thinking.

It is almost the same as with some countries, lovely country, shame about the people. I know it is probably not pc to say it and I have chosen myself to live in this small village but I do feel stuck sometimes. I shudder to think about how it would be if I did not have the internet which makes me sound like a sad person with just a virtual life and not a real life. Well, we all (hopefully) know that that’s not the case.

I am sure I will be back to normal soon or just lean to live with it.

There seems to be an entire world of blogs out there. One could quite comfortably sit all day just reading about other peoples lives, which is obviously not healthy.

However, if you do want to have a look at some out there, here is a list of blogs:

Blogs Directory

IDevSpot PHP Scripts

What a shit nights sleep. Still got a banging headache and work is going slow this morning (yes, it is still morning. In Spain it remains morning until 2 o’clock - then it becomes afternoon until around 8.).
El Rubio had his first nights sleep in his own room, as he was obviously not too sure about it. This resulted in me getting in and out of bed around 15 times. I really do understand why they use sleep deprivation as a means of torture, not getting enough sleep is just evil!

El Rubio woke at normal time this morning, but I was still shattered. Maybe his teeth were also playing up, because he was not that happy. We had to ditch first attempt of getting him off to nursery. He went absolutely bonkers when we tried to get him in the car seat, screaming, crying and arching his back making it virtually impossible to seat him. But luckily since I work from home, I can afford to have mornings like this so we went back into the house, he had a little rest, some milk and a play of the roof terrace. After an hour we tried again and no problems getting him into the car, but he was crying loads at the nursery.  Called them 30 min later and he was happy playing with the other kids in the patio. Phew. Nobody quite prepares you for this when you become parents. The stress of leaving your crying children.

I am expecting another bad night, I am sure it will take a few nights for him to get used to being alone. And me too. I am so used to just opening my eyes and looking at him in his bed.

My little boy is getting bigger!

Will keep you posted on lack of sleep and crying babies.

Definitely spring has arrived. Apart from some strong winds, it is really warm. We spent most of today up on our roof terrace enjoying the rays and being outdoors. The house itself is still quite cold, insulation is not a big thing here in Andalucia.

Most houses are built for summer, even though it does get cold in the winter. I have not been in northern Spain yet, but buy looking at pics I can see they go for the more solid buildings with big stones and beams, all designed to keep the cold out.

Anyway, sitting on our roof terrace you really cant help but notice how little other people use their roof terraces for enjoyment. Most of them are only used to hang up the washing and often covered by corrugated iron sheets. Not very pretty. It is quite easy to stop the houses owned by foreigners as they are usually decorated with plants, nice tiles, lamps, tables and chairs with the washing lines playing as small a part as possible.

I think it is often the case, when you grow up in an area. You take the scenery and beauty for granted and don’t really think that much about it because it is always there and always has been.

So why sit on your roof terrace and look at the mountains. It is just the same old mountains that have always been there.

We went to the town hall the other day to ask about a plot of land in the countryside, on behalf of a friend. He was interested in maybe buying it and wanted to know what it would be possible to build on the land.

Quite interesting conversation we ended up having with the town hall architect. When we asked about why our friend would only be allowed to build a small 40m2 house when we have seen so many houses mushroom in the countryside in the last few years, the architect told us that they were all illegal. He said that there were around 2-300illegal houses in the countryside around my village. I think that is a hell of a lot, especially considering our town only has around 2500 inhabitants.

There is an estimated 4.000 (i think or was it maybe 40.000?) illegal houses in the Marbella area, and out of all of them only 40 so far has been ordered to be demolished. I am hoping that they will crack down harder and and more will have to go. Otherwise the odds are just too good, so people take the piss and build houses here there and everywhere. If you know the chance of it getting demolished is so little, it could be worth the risk for a lot of people, which is a shame.

I guess we just have to wait and see what happens over the next year or two. Most of the courts have a massive backlog, so it will take some time for all the decisions to come through.

Ok, back to part 2 of my Zoo adventures in past and present.

We went to the Zoo in Fuengirola with the kids, and it was really brilliant. They had gone to great lengths to make it very child friendly with lots of glass panes at floor level, aviary with birds running around freely and a HUGE playground next to a cafeteria. Ideal for the kids to get rid of some excess energy.

The zoo as a whole was so integrated and well thought out. But looking at their website, it appears that this a fairly new thing. In ‘98 it was your bog standard depressing zoo, but it all changed then. The only thing was the that the cafeteria food was a little boring. Chicken nuggets, fries, pizza, hot dogs and sandwiches. They rest of the zoo is so well thought out and wonderful that I thought they might put a bit more effort into the food and challenge the stereotype which is that children only want bland food. Anyway, a brilliant day and it appears that they are open until midnight in the summer. Wicked!

Here is some of the history of the zoo i nicked from their website:

History of the Zoo

In 1998 this small zoo, which had opened to the public in the 1970s, was in a pitiful state. Designed 30 years earlier as a traditional complex of cages and fenced enclosures, it had then expanded chaotically as the town itself developed. Both the physical appearance of the establishment and the living conditions of the animals left much to be desired.

In December 1998, Rain Forest took over the contract to operate the former site, conducting a radical refurbishment to create the first zoo fully designed in accordance with the very latest “full-immersion zoo†concept.

Taking advantage of the fine climate of the Costa del Sol, and bearing in mind the small size of the land available, one single ecosystem was chosen: the tropical forest.

The sub-tropical vegetation which grows on the coast of Malaga province served to re-create the tropical rainforests of Madagascar, Equatorial Africa and Southeast Asia.

A team of architects, builders, sculptors, painters and gardens set about making the visionary designs a reality,and over the course of two years the zoo’s appearance was completely transformed. All the fences and buildings disappeared, rivers and waterfalls sprang up, along with caves, valleys and rocks. The small size of the complex presented quite a challenge. Subterranean stables were built, deep canyons and raised gardens erected to screen off the nearby buildings. And so the zoo grew upwards, giving visitors the impression of being within a much larger site.

THE ANIMALS ARRIVE

One major step at this stage came when the first animals were introduced into their new environments. And without a doubt, the most significant of all was the arrival of the chimpanzees.

The zoo had kept, and even bred, these intelligent primates almost from the very outset, in unhealthy cages, on their own or in pairs. Over the years they had developed stereotypical and completely abnormal behavioural patterns, such as infanticide. Over a two-year period the keepers and veterinary staff at the zoo had succeeded in creating a more or less stable social unit with five of these six animals. On the day they emerged to explore their new territory, their life changed forever. For the first time they could walk on grass, touch plants, run, play hide-and-seek… For the first time they could behave like chimpanzees.

We have got family over at the moment, so me and El Rubio went to the zoo with his cousin Cecilia who is 1.5 years older and my sister, her mum.

I have heard good things about that zoo previously, but never been. And I was really pleasantly surprised.  The last time I was in a spanish zoo was 22 years ago on a holiday in Santander in Northern Spain. I was 12 and camping with my mum and sis (and I kissed a boy on that holiday, but that is another story…) and ate spaghetti bolognese and oxtail soup.

No idea what the zoo we visited was called (give me a break, it was 22 years ago, and I have had a baby since then which is a way of getting senile, seriously I cannot remember a thing any more these days). But the zoo was not a pretty sight. Kinda like the animal version of those Rumanian orphanages. There was big cats in tiny circus-like cages pacing back and forth (you know the type I am talking about: small box, bars on one side and solid wall on the remaining three). A stench of animal piss and shit, no stimulation for any of the animals who all seemed to have various manic-nervous behaviour issues. We didn’t stay long and my sister and I were in tears.

So went we went to the Zoo in Fuengirola, I am happy to say that it was as far removed from my previous horror experience as possible. I will tell you more about it soon, but someone is clinging to my leg making typing difficult.

Easter time again! And in Spain it is always something special. It doesn’t really matter that I am not religious, I still enjoy looking at all the processions and shenanigans surrounding the celebration of Easter.

I am hoping to get some photos of our local set-up for you all to have a look at, but here is one I found on the internet. All the brotherhoods (Nazarenos) always were these (for me) really scary hoods that always remind me of the Ku Klux Klan. I guess if you are brought up in Spain you don’t get the same associations at all, it will be a normal Easter thing and you know that under that hood is your dad, neighbour, teacher etc. ( actually, looking at what I have just written, that is exactly the same as with the Ku Klux Klan - it was quite likely your neighbour, dad and teacher hiding under those hoods in its hey day…)

I think most people will think of scary klan people!

Here are some more pictures of Nazarenos in their different coloured robes. I have no idea what different brotherhoods they belong to or more about what the defines the different Nazarenos. But at least I got you some photos to look at

I found this video of La Macarena de Sevilla at being carried around in the procession at Easter.

I’ve been getting my hair done. When I say done I mean I had my hair cut and this time also coloured, not I had my hair done as in styled to the max.

It is funny that even though I speak quite good spanish, there are still a few things that you would prefer someone who speaks good English to do. And one of them is cut your hair. It is just that your hair is a serious matter and the finer details in describing how you want it done are rather important. You don’t want to leave the place looking like a throw-back from the eighties.

Luckily I found an English hairdresser in Spain and had my hair sorted out. Nobody seems to have noticed though, as I have not had a single comment (either that or they think it looks horrid ).

El Rubios hair is growing and growing as well. Not quite ready for his first haircut, but I think he might need one this summer. The question will then be if I take him to the hairdressers or if he is going to get a best-of-mummy-style-of-haircut? Or do I let it grow into a prober mullet?? Just joking, that would never happen even if this hairstyle is fairly popular in the south of Spain.

A comment to my previous post about Salud Responde and the process of getting an appointment at the doctors http://www.morethansunandpaella.com/2008/02/26/salud-responde/

Well, it seems I was overly positive and optimistic. This new system has reached the health centre in our nearby larger town, but our very local and small get-up consisting of a nurse and a doctor are still caught in the dark ages.

Not the doctor and nurse literally, of course, but the system. For some reason it has not been updated yet, so you still have to get there at 8, wait for the doctor to arrive, get your number and try to figure out when it might be your turn and end up wasting most of your day…

It is just so inefficient in drives me nuts. And such a waste of time for everyone. I wonder how many millions of euros Spain looses every year in lost revenue due to employees having to take a whole day of to go to the doctors. Arghh!

I makes you consider signing up to some private health scheme here in Spain, just to avoid the wait. At the moment we are all covered by the national security because we live and work here (Seguridad Social) but if this continues I might have to go private!

Because of El Hombre being ill I decided to take the pushchair and the two dogs out. Not an easy task I tell you.

It wouldn’t be so bad if only the streets were flat and I felt certain the dogs would be all right being off lead, but no, I am not so lucky.

In order to get to the flatter streets of town, you have to navigate a hill going downwards. So off I went with a dog on either side, and it went ok apart from the odd eagerness to get going which resulted in the dogs pulling a bit.
But then they spotted some food on the street and being the greedy fuckers they are, almost pulled me down the hill. I swear, some days they do my head in.

Furter down in the village I ran into an old Spanish man who, after seeing my getup with two dogs and a pushchair, asked me if I was not scared that the dogs might jump up and bite the baby? Ahemmm, no?  I decided there was no point in telling him that the dogs sleep inside on their shared doggy bed next to the fireplace. He was an old man and there is no point risking him having a heat attack. I just once again show the differences in attitude to animals in Southern Spain and Northern Europe.

Illness seems to have a good hold of us this winter. We have just been struck down again. This time at least, El Rubio was not in the firing line, and neither was I.

El Hombre got sinusitis, i think its called, and it got really bad in the weekend. He could hardly move around for the pain in his head and behind his eyes. Having not had this before, it took a bit before we figured that it was the sinuses which were the culprits.

I decided to get out of the house with El Rubio as much as I could, as I am sure that the high-pitched shrieking, screaming and yelling of a child just over a year old is not what you need when your head is about to explode.

We went to see some of our other foreign friends in the village, and it endd up being a rather productive trip. As I moaned about El Hombre being ill again, it seemed that these sinus problems are rather common and everybody had a bit of a boots pharmacy going on at home. So I came back with the loot which included: Those drops you put in boiling water to inhale (cannot for the life of me remember what they are called right now), vapour rub, decongestion and painkiller tablets, and some other tablets. And they really did the trick! He is feeling much better, as the headache is more of a normal headache and not this crippling pain.

I think we need to stock up in Boots next time we are home in the UK. Sounds silly as you can get a lot of good products here in Spain, but there is something about using products you know well and have always used. Old habits die hard I guess.

I’ve not been that efficient at blogging this month, but El Rubio has been ill again(!) so he has been home from nursery creating havoc in the house instead.

The Junta de Andalucia (kinda andalucian government) have made some efforts recently to make things a bit more userfriendly. A much needed step! Part of this has been to introduce a Service called Salud Responde, a telephone service open 24/7 for you to book appointments with the doctor or ask questions.

This is brilliant, as they previous way was an utter waste of time. To see the doctor in our small local health centre you had to get up early in the morning, queue with all the other ill people or just people having their prescriptions renewed (80% elderly people who would start the line at 7, the doctor arrived at 8 ) get a number when the doctor arrived and then estimate when it might be your turn. So if say, your number was 26, you then had to try to suss out how long it would take for the 25 patients before you to be seen which meant you always ended up waiting at least at hour because you didn’t want to get there too late and miss your turn.

Going to a health centre in a nearby larger town meant trying to call around 10 times to make an appointment and being on hold for 10 minutes. So I am so chuffed with this new system.

The telephone number for Salud Responde is 902 505 060. I don’t think they speak other languages than Spanish, but I have not tried. Obviously this could be dependant on the operator you get through to.