I was panicky and Spanishless when I entered the office down the street just to make the appointment. I forced myself to ask a few logical questions and then raced home to dread the day of my appointment. Continue reading Spanish healthcare chronicles: the optometrist
The chiropractor was next. I never would have looked for one if I hadn’t had a shooting pain in my hip with every step I took. I tried an exercise ball and alignment exercises before I decided that maybe I should get it checked out. Continue reading Spanish healthcare chronicles: the chiropractor
Two weddings in two weeks. Whew. They were lovely weddings. Both fairly small and fairly simple. One was a dear friend’s wedding; the other, my baby sister’s. One couple puttered away in an old car; the other roared off in a helicopter on what turned out to be an unfortunately windy day. Continue reading Weddings and the Wild West
It was a special night, not because of what happened but because it was. After a day of suffering inside a hot house like the rest of the town’s population, Friend #1 invited me for an afternoon coffee. When the 8:00 bus didn’t come, I started walking. Continue reading Summer nights
And this bus driver was the type you didn’t approach with a half-hearted, nose-sticking-out mask job. He asked the lady in front of me to tighten the metal part across her nose. Continue reading Of masks
My first dentist experience was terrifying. My teeth are bad and I was already imagining myself in dentures. Continue reading Spanish healthcare chronicles: the dentist
We approached what we hoped was the bus stop, our suitcases rattling along behind and a disgruntled (and tipsy) beggar peering after us. Since disembarking the ferry, we were well aware that we were in foreign territory once again. “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Spain anymore!” Continue reading Some ups and downs of language learning
The week began with the bus radio blaring, “I want to get away; I want to fly away.” That day, I got away over café coffee and the chilly breeze sailing through the hollow bus station. But tonight, I flew. After two months in lockdown, was I ready to function in normal life? In another language? Another culture? I had my doubts. Ready or not, … Continue reading Tonight, I flew
I answered the door. The neighbor girl beamed up at me, her fuzzy pigtails sticking straight out from her head: a North African Pippi Longstocking. Adorable. Continue reading A different world: another quick update
I felt more at home with the worn travelers and scruffy men bumming cigarettes than I had browsing a mall full of things I didn’t need and lounging in Pad Thai Wok after my pad thai was gone and all I had left was C.S. Lewis. Continue reading Along the coast
my thoughts from afar 