Life in the Port is
beginning to settle down although we have been very busy during the last few
weeks, in fact Ian says he's been busier here than he was in the last couple of
months in the UK! This has been a salutary reminder to us that this
is 'real life' now and not a holiday.
Ian has been working on
our apartment and looking for storage for all his tools. It is really difficult
to find lock-up storage/garages etc in the Port for any sensible rental but
thanks to a couple of wonderful friends he has managed to do so which is a
great relief. He's also ferried me around to a hospital check-up following
my stay there last month, to the doctor's for a bad ear infection and to the
dentist to have a wisdom tooth removed! I seem to be a walking medical
disaster at the moment and he has waited patiently at all these places with me
and it's all taken time. You would think that we would have plenty of
time on our hands but we really haven't and still seem to have a list of
things to do. I guess if you're a busy person this is unlikely to change
really radically even if you do relocate; we all dream of 'doing nothing' but
if your personality tends to being a 'doer' then somehow you still find things
that need doing! Speaking of which, Ian wishes mosquitoes and other
flying bite-y things would also 'do one' as he has been practically
eaten alive by them. I on the other hand have barely been touched by them
and suspect that the vast amounts of antibiotics I've had to take over the last
few weeks makes me taste like the human equivalent of a witchetty grub on
"I'm a Celebrity....". A small but important triumph from my
perspective.
In other news..... I have
found a job :-) I have started as an English teacher at the N1
Language School in the Port and absolutely love it. I am so lucky to have
found a job I love doing with such a great team and look forward to many years
there. I commute by bicycle (no train strikes and rush hour for me!) and
now that I am gainfully employed and a taxpayer in Spain, I also get a health
card to access healthcare at the local health centre no need to use the EHIC
card. We hadn't known this would be the case so that was a nice
surprise!
In terms of life in
general at this time of year, we've watched as gradually everywhere in the Port
has shut down from the last weekend in October. One minute you walk past
somewhere serving food/drinks with candles lit and looking lovely and then,
within a matter of days, everything is inside and shut up for the winter.
What has interested us is how many places are still open including the
Illa D'Or although we suspect that these will be closed by mid-November.
But watching the Port settle down for the winter has actually been
interesting and we've watched the locals (which now includes us!) reclaim the
town as their own so to speak. The weather is definitely cooler now, we
have had some rain (which was much needed) and yesterday evening it was so
windy I was quite worried when Ian took the dogs out for their evening toilet
walk. We went up to the Talaia d'Albercutx recently and took some
pictures including some of the Port when the sky is less than blue and the sun
struggles to get through - if you live in the UK this is probably ringing a
bell!
Sometimes it's warmer
outside on our balcony than it is inside the apartment and we have invested in
a gas heater in readiness for cold evenings. Bottled gas heats an
apartment extremely cheaply compared to anything electric - and yes, we are
well aware to ensure adequate ventilation! In any event, it's hard to
know quite what to wear as one minute it's in the early 20 degrees and the next
the late teens and a chill wind. But we were well aware that the sun
doesn't always shine and we still love living here.
"So far, so
good" I think would be a good way to sum up living here. But it
definitely feels like home and that can only be a good thing :-D
