Skip to main content

Practicing the Ol' Espanol

OK!!!!! And we're back online! I will eventually get to everything. Sorry I missed so much!! I will do some better posts with pictures, but I gotta get this out there first!! I had an interesting day.

God must like messing with me because I have been a happy little hermit for the past few months, but He made sure I HAD to interact with people all week... in SPANISH. Once I got over my initial horror, I finally made phone calls to get our internet turned back on. I don't know why talking on the phone and using Spanish stresses me out so much, but it really really does. Like... "maybe you should talk to a psychiatrist" kind of issues with it. I will avoid it like the plague. Example: our telephone has never worked. I've never called in the year+ we've had it. Never. I don't care enough about having a land line to try and explain myself in broken Spanish. It's worth the 13 a month for me to not have to make one lousy call. I waited until my tooth was broken, the nerve was exposed, and I was taking 800mg of motrin at a time just to be able to handle the pain to finally call a dentist here. Getting the picture? Right. I know, it's weird. My Spanish is actually great, but I have major confidence issues.

OK... today. For whatever reason the bus came early, so we missed it. My friend was kind enough to offer to drive us up to the school (no van, remember) and then go on a little shopping trip. Yippee!! I went to the mall with my friend... and... my purse was stolen from the back of the stroller. I don't know how this happened because it was with me the entire time (Brennan was sleeping in it). It did happen regardless. I had everything in there! Due to our adventures in Spanish banking and my relative hermit-ness I keep our original documentation for our Spanish account in my purse. The only time I leave it's usually to go to the bank. It makes sense to keep it there. On it is our Spanish SSN's, bank account number, and address here. They also have my keys. Thankfully I didn't have the van with me otherwise it may have been taken as well. They also have my passport, military ID, base ID, credit cards, and 3 rented DVD's (it's a big purse). I used a TON of Spanish today! I talked to security guards, police, and bank people... all day long. No money was lost (joke's on them if they thought I had cash) and everything has been canceled. I'm really only worried about some random person with our address and van keys paying us a visit. My house keys and cell phone were in my pockets and we have dogs YAY! But, I am seriously considering having the van re-keyed. Wonder if insurance would cover it... or if I can even find the right stuff for our honda yacht here in Europe. It won't fit in the garage so there's nothing we can do to protect it. I happen to have another passport (go me!) so that's no big deal. We'll see how I feel when Josh is TDY... Jessica I might be moving in with you until our men come back lol.

None of it is a big deal, really. It's just annoying. Tomorrow morning we have a fun-filled day of more paperwork and a visit to the embassy. Overall I'd say this day was actually fine. I don't feel that stressed and am oddly excited. I did a great job communicating my plight with the locals and even cracked a few jokes. It was a confidence boost... and that's SO BIZARRE!!!! But, it's true. So, don't feel bad for me!!! I am quite content :) Everything is fine. Everything that was taken is already on it's way to being replaced. All is well in my world. Just wanted to let you all know what was going on! I will catch up with everyone as soon as I can :)

Comments

Anonymous said…
My word Girl---you lead a very interesting life. Happy Veterans day to you. Your friend in GC Pa
Anonymous said…
Note to self... never take my purse to Spain and Allie you are awesome at Spanish!!!!!
Haley Elizabeth said…
OMG, Allie, that is a crazy day. It's horrible how people can steal someone's person out of baby's stroller come on! That is just ridiculous and while he was sleeping in it. Do they not have a heart? I hope everything gets taken care of. Good luck and thank goodness you know Spanish!!!!

Popular posts from this blog

Very bad day today

I got a horrible phone call early this morning from someone I used to work with. A friend of mine, who was stationed in Iraq, was killed yesterday in her sleep when her trailer was hit. SGT Trista Moretti was an amazing person. She had an impact on so many lives in so many places. It's going to be tough for everyone (like me) who can't make it to Jersey to say goodbye. I've been crying off and on all damn day. It seems so unfair. I hate this war and don't agree with it, but I don't think she died in vain. She died for everyone else out there. They fight for each other, not a cause, not their government. That's what I miss about the Army. I miss my comrades. Trista was hilarious and beautiful and had this great Jersey accent. We used to play word games and gossip and eat lunch together every day. We would laugh all day long while we "worked" haha. I remember when she first got to the unit I told everyone some bitchy chick with an accent was in the...

Hurricane Sandy

This will be a gleefully uneventful post, but I thought I should at least inform everyone of our whereabouts during Frankenstorm. On Friday the landfall predictions were further south, which had the eye passing near our tiny town after obliterating Dover, DE.  We happen to be surrounded by water.  The Patuxent River on one side, Chesapeake Bay on the other, plenty of swamps and creeks in between.  Not a good prospect. Josh and I had gone out that night to try and secure supplies and already, there were no batteries or flashlights.  We also don't have a grill and thought "we'll try Lowe's tomorrow"I mean, most people already own grills... right?  Everything in our house is run on electricity (including the water pump for the well) except for the fireplace.  I don't know what builders are thinking when they do that.  I at least want a gas stove and water heater!  So, anyways.  We got a few hours of sleep before trying to brave the crowds...

Hiking on the Guadarrama Trail

As promised yesterday, I actually left the house and went on a hike with Mama C and Goober!  YAY! I was a bad Mommy and ill prepared to shield us from the hot Spanish sun so we all have a touch of sunburn.  Whoops.  It was fun though.  OK so here's where we began our journey.  You can see the bridge between the roundabout and the little house with a red roof (which is a restaurant).  All the cylindrical buildings were a plant nursery.  We walked over the bridge and past the nursery where we crossed the street and then started up the dirt path.  The other little building is literally a Gypsy Keep. Here's what it looked like from the road... and it was so ridiculously creepy, yet fascinating.  I don't know why there is always tons of junk in trees around gypsy places.  There was a gutted van in the backyard, a stroller jammed into a wall, shorts in the trees.  We both wanted to trespass, but the kids would have inevitably fal...