Kiki's Spain Writings: ‘Welcome to the growth and growing pains’
Good morning, my little hearts! It's time for our weekly dose of Spanish adventures again. If you're just joining us from this point: about eight weeks ago, I boarded a plane with my love (and cat) and now we are temporarily living about twenty minutes away from Alicante.
The fun thing about embarking on such an adventure is: you have no idea where you will end up. As in: you take the plunge, but after that, it really is a matter of experiencing. Do you feel good in your new spot? What does it do to you when you step into another culture? Are you the kind of person who notices a lot, or very little? These are all questions I have gotten answers to in the past few weeks.
Now that everything has settled a bit, I can say: emigrating is a rollercoaster. Villa Volta. Everything upside down. It is the biggest adventure of my life (so far), I wouldn't miss this for anything, but this whole thing also really comes with the necessary growing pains.
Remember that whole ‘sometimes you have to take a step back to eventually move two steps forward’? Well, that's where we are now. I am 31 and living with my mom again. And yes, she does my laundry, even though I tell her it’s not necessary. Living in a casita on her property sounds very cozy, but an average student has more space, which is why the litter box is in our bathroom and I have actually had to pee at the same time as Monza. HAHA. Hey, but we won't show that on Insta.
If you think you are reasonably zen in life, then I would especially advise you to live on a mountain with your family. No matter how much you love each other: soap opera guaranteed, trust me. Life has a reason for making you eventually fly the nest as a child. Oh, and to the now frequently asked question: ‘So, have you found a house yet?’ I can only answer ‘No, not yet’ and I find that more annoying than I admit. My mind secretly has a very different pace and thinks: chop chop, why is this process taking so long?
So am I just whining now and is this story actually very two-part? Of course. It’s November and the sun shines almost every day. We have a financial buffer to take it easy for a bit and I am still super proud of myself and Sander every day that we have taken this mega step. After weeks of arranging, we have our own car, health insurance, NIE number, and a Spanish bank account. We are working on our health, mindset, and the Spanish language is on the agenda soon. Poco a poco, everything will be fine. And we are scheduling viewings here and there, but the dream house hasn’t come up yet.
Anyway, a reasonably relaxed week without spectacular scenes, and that was needed after that bizarre storm from last week. Well, good news: after typing this diary update, we are packing our suitcase for a mini-vacation at Daphne and Rick's. And no, the fun part is: I don't know this couple myself, but they have a really cool B&B (Villa Rosa in Lliber) and we have been invited to stay for a midweek to get to know the area a bit. Hip hip hooray for the power of social media. You get it: it’s going to be full-on house/region hunting.
Next week a detailed update, Amayzers!
Besos!
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P.S. To conclude, a little fun fact: I posted a poll on my Insta @kikiduren which about 2,000 followers responded to. 62 percent indicated they would like to emigrate at some point (which is a lot!) and 38 voted that they are too attached to the Netherlands to ever want to leave.
