Six Months in Spain: We’re Still Smiling

It’s officially been six months that we’ve lived in Spain, and we’re all still smiling. We left the United States approaching the summer of 2021 and now we’re heading into the holiday season and I couldn’t be happier. I have no regrets about taking this leap of faith and moving to a new country.

Setting Up a Regular Routine in Spain

Despite the fact that we moved in the middle of a global pandemic, when Spain was still considered one of the countries with the highest number of COVID cases, our arrival to the Iberian peninsula was not heavily impacted by the virus. We couldn’t go out partying and acting foolish, but we were able to find a home, schools for the children, and a tranquil lifestyle that fit our personalities.

Six months on, we’ve fallen into a comfortable routine; the kids both go to local schools; I walk babygirl to her elementary school that sits on top of a mountain behind our apartment. My son takes the local city bus to his school, because he’s usually running late in the mornings, but he walks home. El esposo and I both currently work from home. We’re still figuring out our meal times as I can’t quite wrap my mind around eating dinner at 9pm as is the Spanish custom, so these days we eat an early dinner/later lunch around 4pm and if someone gets hungry later on, they can have a snack.

It’s All So Beautiful

So far my greatest joy in living in Spain, is just the absolute physical beauty of where we live. The sun shines almost every day and there are beautiful green trees and colorful flower blossoms everywhere. Orange trees line the streets of our neighborhood and the Mediterranean Sea is just footsteps from our front door. I find myself smiling a whole lot here. I cannot stay angry or remain upset for more than a few minutes. All I have to do is step outside and drink up this beautiful paradise that we can now call home, and any bad feelings I may have had, melt away. Seriously, my gratitude list is long these days.

Six Months in Spain Means the Honeymoon is Over

Of course, not everything is perfect and now that we are past our honeymoon phase, we have to deal with mundane life things like finding doctors, and dentists, and an accountant. We have to decide if our romantic vision of living without a car is going to still feel romantic when the weather turns cold and rainy, which it will very soon.

Also, now that the kids have settled into school, we’re seeing where they are struggling in the classroom. My son, as we predicted, needs tutoring to keep up with his assignments. Luckily, his attitude is pretty positive, but he’s got a heavy load of classes and a lot of work to do to be at the same level as his Spanish peers. That’s why we had him repeat 11th grade, so that he would have this “extra” year to do that catching up. But watching him struggle is hard, for everyone. 

Life is Still Life in Spain

My life is still my life here in Spain. I still cook, clean, and do laundry. I still help babygirl with her homework and I still fall asleep exhausted most nights. I still haven’t been able to stick to a yoga schedule and I still haven’t finished writing my novel.

But, I am really happy that I get to wake up every day in a new country where every mundane experience is still a little bit exciting because it’s happening in a new language and/or in a new cultural context.

That newness is exciting to me. It’s life-giving and I am so grateful that we  made this move at this point in our lives.

Up Next? The Holidays

Next week is Thanksgiving and we’re going to celebrate with el esposo‘s family.  (No, Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Spain, this is just a request from my in-laws.) They all want me to cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, so your girl will be doing just that. I’m going to be throwing down in my mother-in-law’s kitchen, trying my best to recreate my traditional family dishes–turkey, cornbread stuffing, collard greens, mashed potatoes and gravy, and sweet potato pie — with Spanish ingredients. Talk about a challenge, but I’m going to try to make it work. Extra bonus, our eldest son flew in for a visit, so he will be with us to enjoy the Thanksgiving dinner.

That’s it for now, but of course I will continue to chronicle my adventures in Spain here on The Meltingpot.