The first week goes by

Our first week here is drawing to close, and the weather hasn’t been too bad, despite one day of serious rain. The house has had a few more adjustments due to it being a little cold this week. It has been fine during the day, just cold first thing and during the evening. We have solved this by tracking down where the drafts were coming from and the use of a temporary heater, all is now fine and dandy on the temperature front. Shopping at the market was a great for the fruit and vegetables. Lots of variety and really cheap, you could almost go vegetarian here, if it wasn’t for the prawns, chorizo and ham. We will be going again before the first visitors start to arrive on Tuesday.

Taking advantage of the good weather, we went to Guardamar Del Segura for a stroll along the seafront, great for burning off the late breakfast. Last time we went there we soaked to the skin, not this time. The ‘sand art’ there is amazing, the size of the pieces and the shear amount of detail, they must work on them for hours.

I am now starting to miss friends and family. The first visit from family will be quite soon, but visits from friends might not happen while we are out this time. Ringing them just isn’t the same, maybe a little home sickness is creeping in, or perhaps it is just having time on my hands after a stressful few months. We are making friends quite easily here, albeit mostly of the English variety. We bumped into a couple we saw last September, they had just moved over here for a year, and watching their furniture being delivered on an articulated lorry on these small streets was quite entertaining. They have settled in ok and really getting into the swing of things, but still in shock from the price of second hand cars over here. A 12 month ‘special’ at home, costing around £600, is pushing five times the price here. I’m not sure if he has been ripped off, but knowing the liking of paperwork here, I would not be surprised.

Mobile internet at the bottom of the urbanisation here is useless, unless you are using Movistar or Yoigo, the reception for Vodafone and Orange is pants at the best of times, and even worse indoors. Thankfully there is a bar not too far up the road with free Wi-Fi, and it is quite empty on a Sunday morning, great for Skype to see the grandkids and family etc. The trouble with only being here five months is, it’s not long enough to get the landline switched on, that will have to wait till a permanent move is on the cards.