Legal Resident and Legal Driver!

Gosh, it has been ages since I last wrote a Life in Spain chapter in my ever growing “book” as some of you call it! So much has been going on these past couple of months that I hardly know where to start! I think the last time I wrote one was back in March...and here we are in July already! Where does time go?

Well, I am being fully indoctrinated into the Spanish life...on all levels! I finally got my residency here back in February and picked up my national ID card in March...wooo hooo! Now I can work anywhere in the European Union! Of course, now as a legal resident, that means I have (had) 6 months in which to get my drivers´ license if I wish to continue driving here after which my international license expires. So...

Licensed to Drive
I just recently completed AUTOESCUELA...yep you got it...driving school! A mandatory step towards getting my Spanish drivers´ license. It had been several years since I sat in lectures in Spanish...needless to say the first couple of classes in autoescuela were a rude awakening, between technical terms and my “false knowledge” of the driving here...was quite a challenge. I passed the “written” exam on Wednesday with flying colors scoring 39/40 correct. Next Wednesday, I present myself for the on the road test. This past week I have been taking driving lessons, can you believe that?! Gosh, what 17 years of driving an automatic does to really screw up your driving skills! However, sometimes I think my professor slams on the breaks unnecessarily just to demonstrate a minute point...if anything, out of sheer boredom. On the road, I am probably one of the easiest students he has since it was Angel who suffered through teaching me the use of the clutch and gears.

Socalized Medicine
Here in Spain, although a democracy…has a socialized health system. What that means is that everyone is covered, free of charge, under the national social security system without the need for private health insurance. Of course you can get private health insurance, but for most health needs, it isn´t necessary. What does socialized medicine mean from a users´ point of view? Well, for instance, no calling the doctor the first week expecting to get an appointment the second. When you do get an appointment, it´s around his/her schedule, rarely yours. I had an unfortunate fainting spell the other week (don´t get alarmed, nothing serious and I´m NOT pregnant!!) and we went to the ER of the clinic in our town. Ok a town of 2,500 … the ER is open 24/7... the incident happened at 8pm on a Friday night. I was seen in the ER after waiting an hour. Geeze...no bedside manners here whatsoever. The doctor was all business and quite frankly downright rude. The best that not having Blue Cross will get you! Ah well, at least everyone here has their basic healthcare needs met, and no one is turned away…not even illegal immigrants.

Work in Spain
Uff where do I begin with this one? As many of you know...I had several promising job interviews and even a job offer by the Red Cross of the Valencia region to do regional fundraising… to the tune of a little more than $5,000 a year. Full time. OUCH. (before leaving Philadelphia a company wanted to interview me for a position paying 20 times that amount!!!) So, I didn´t accept the position, we moved to Madrid (well, El Espinar) and I began my new career as an English teacher. Interesting career it is and I have met the most wonderful and interesting people. One of my students is the national sales director for Volvo Spain. He told me that whenever I was ready to buy a Volvo, that he is the one I should talk to. Hmmm on what I make?? A Volvo???. Anyway...I am an independent English consultant and work for several agencies. But then we got to thinking…why not just get rid of the middle man and go off on our own? So, that is what we will be doing this summer...renovations in a space that Angel´s parents own in downtown Madrid. With a September launch planned. The English center will offer multiple services including English classes, both onsite and in companies, as well as translation services and eventually, interpreters. I have developed a real deep respect for those who want to learn English because compared to Spanish, it´s one hellava difficult language. It has so many grammar rules and there are more exceptions than rules. Oh and forget the spelling. Argh. Try explaining the pronunciation rules for though, through, thought and bough. Then the spelling rules for throw, dough, sew, so, know and now. See what I mean? And that´s just the tip of the iceberg!

Legal Maneuvers
So, in my work as an English teacher, I have been working, since November for a company called O.E.(I am omitting the full name here. It's one of 3 places that I work for). I was one of their professors who went to the homes to give private English classes. All was peachy keen until late March when they started to pay me late. They continued to pay, but perhaps 6-8 weeks behind schedule. Last Friday when I was in my boss´s office, she suggested that I stop teaching for the month of July to minimize my risk of non-payment. She said that I would be paid for May and June, but wasn´t certain how nor when. Since then, the Academy has closed up shop...closed all its offices and cut its phone lines. Angel and I are now in a legal battle with about 10 other professors to collect the money owed to us. The whole thing was a complete sham! As I said, I am being fully indoctrinated into Spanish life here...Spanish driving school, Spanish medical system and the Spanish legal system! What next?!

Now that July is here again, it´s time for the tremendous San Fermín Festival in Pamplona (remember Michelle??!!), commonly known as “The Running of the Bulls”. I was just reading the article about it on CNN.com and find it quite interesting the angle that the article takes. Painting the festival as a dangerous drunken rampage and talking about the tourists who have been gored or trampled. Ok, it´s a drunken rampage with all night partying (if you choose to drink all night). But give me a break, the “tourists” who are gored or trampled are the ones who purposely put themselves in the paths of these huge beasts. The route that the bulls run is carefully fenced off and the “spectating tourists” are safe from any wandering animal. Oh well, viva impartial reporting!

Making connections: I have slowly been meeting people (socially not through work) and am quite pleased with my network of bilingual/bicultural friends. I have been pretty skittish about connecting with the expat crowd here. I would much rather mix with Spaniards. However, I have found a great group of Americans who are romatically involved with spaniards (dating, married, etc), so we have a lot in common. Angel and I, with the help of Jeremy (an American expat with Spanish gal) organized a barbecue here in the mountains. We convinced a caravan of 8 cars carrying 27 people (Spaniards, Americans, Brits, South Africans) to make the 30 mile trek up here where we made paella, roasted lamb chops, sangria, roasted chicken and salad along with fresh bread. Yum! Of course the picnic was complemented with good old American baseball, a rousing game of volleyball and visits by wild horses. You can see the pics here: http://www.multimadrid.com/barbq/june9_2002/.

Visits, visits and more visits! The special guest award goes to Julie Cheng to be the first to visit with us in 2002! Jeannette Riviera and Suzanne Tenuto won the award in 2001. Unfortunately Julie´s visit was only for a brief drink in the Plaza de los Cubos, but great to see her all the same! I recently had lunch with Dr. Iglesias, my college Spanish professor and the person who started my love affair with Spain! She was in town (or should I say in country?) for a conference. Gosh it was so much fun to catch up with her and have her show me some of her favorite Madrid secrets! Angel and I are anxiously looking forward to having Mom and Dad Gaspar come visit at the end of this month along with Patti DeFrancesco. Maybe Angelo DiGiulio will give us a buzz while he is here on business from Venezuela later this month. My sister Jen, and her hubby are planning an October visit before we head “west” (to Phila) for the Christmas holidays. Who knows what (or who) 2003 will bring us!