It has been a year!

Only a few days away from being able to say that we have survived the first year!

I look back and it seems like yesterday that we arrived after that horrible experience we had traveling here, when somebody "mistakenly" took all our passports and boarding passes on the plane, months later everything appeared in a hotel miles away somewhere in Germany, including the cash that I've had stored in the travel pouch that was taken...  (trying to explain the experience as positive as possible, as it has been left in the past) just take it as a reminder to always carry with you a digital copy of your documents and to have an extra ID on you all the time of course in a separate place.

I have to say that it has been tough, for sure tougher than what I expected, people do get emotionally hurt after a recension and I am guessing they get concerned when they see the loads of immigrants invading their country fighting for jobs and even for places to rent, specially when they (the locals) are barely able to survive with whatever "little help" they get from the government when the financial situation of the nation its not stable yet, regardless of what the "financial experts" say. Truth is that we as a global population have been spoiled as we all seem to want many things with little or no effort. Here, it is better to be a single mom (or dad) and live off welfare, it is more profitable than working as that requires to give a big % of your salary on taxes; for me that is insane, no wonder why people rather stay home and claim welfare than try to find a job, that is too much of an incentive. Plus the fact that every family gets financial help from the government every month if you have kids, the more you have the more you get.... INSANE again, no wonder you see families here that look like a fecking kindergarten plus apparently parenting for some has become something from the past, kids basically run wild with no manners, no values, no education whatsoever. There is no respect for older people, nor respect for anybody else.... and Do not dare to say anything to a child when THAT little person has done something to your own child because then it is hell unleashed.  (this last bit applies globaly) 
I keep saying it, I might be a bit of a "dictator" with my own child, yet there is no excuse for Free Range parenting, its NOT acceptable! No wonder some places put notes like "if you leave your child unattended, we will give him an espresso and a kitten as a gift"

Now, I have not done many things in this past year, I am very sure it is the first time in my life for many.

1.-It has been a long year since I last drove which feels very weird and getting a DL here seems a bit far away still, it is not only the fact that they drive on the "right" because my head has actually work its way around it. It is VERY expensive yet the fact that I have to do it from the beginning, taking the lessons with a certified driver, doing the hours and finding a nice friend that I can drive the rest of the hours of practice with and THAT has the DL to say I have practiced whatever hours I need to be eligible for the test. Lets be honest, I am NOT getting younger, yet I do not want to give up on the idea of driving... I think it will help us later on.

2.-It has been a year since I have been on a plane which means, WE have not been on holidays at all, very unlike us. I guess holidays will come soon enough!

3.-It has been a year since I have been living on an island, that alone for me has been a huge achievement, I need the mountains and I need the extra chunk of land that forms an actual continent to feel "safe" if it makes sense, I know its a stupid issue but I do like the mountains and the flatness of this area where we live its just a little dull?! No proper scenery...! Again, I am spoiled rotten, comparing every single place to Vancouver and how can I stop myself if Vancouver has it all. You can be standing in the middle of Stanley Park with the mountains at your back, surrounded by very beautiful pine trees that feel like the warmest hug, looking to downtown's skyline that its constantly changing as more and more buildings are being built and at the same time surrounded by water which could seem like an island but its actually just an inlet. 

That said lets move on to a less bitter note, I think and hope its less bitter LOL.

Things here are ...... different!

1.-Regardless of the day of the week and it does not matter if they have to go back to work or not, people gather for lunch, business meetings or dinner at the pubs, it is a "family" atmosphere so kids are welcome at certain hours .... it is the perfect place to grab a bite, relax with a drink (that its NEVER only one), watch a match (rugby or soccer) or meet with a friend or colleague.

2.- The very first time I came to this country was for a visit, and it was way before the global financial chaos, so things were a lot different back then, I remember being able to get nice clothes at decent prices and well, "good" quality, never like in the US or Canada tho but good enough. NOW?.... things have changed so much that almost all the stores sell what I call "cheap one day wonders" that look made of thin tissue, .... basically a dress goes for about 15 Euro and yes it is ok looking, it is ok to wear for maybe a Christening or a job interview but you never know if that "Wonder" its going to make it through the washing machine.... sometimes if lucky your one day wonder actually becomes a two day wonder, so YAY! 
Another thing that I just can't understand.... It is impossible to buy a nice pair of jeans, almost all are crappy cheap or bad expensive.... everything its sooooo tight, no boot cut almost all are jeggins, so for somebody like me with curves in different areas well.... lets just say I do not own a pair of jeans because the only pair a brought broke with all the walking from the first few months after we arrived! I need my Gap (yes, there is ONE gap here but they do not have the nice denim like in the States) or maybe Levi's  or at least Old Navy would do, but not even that!

3.- Which reminds me... a thing that I find very weird... almost all people have their washing machine (as in for clothes) in the kitchen!!!!! how odd is that, so you can be splashing grease and washing at the same time, sorry but that I find odd!

4.- People are definitely cold, most times not even a handshake to say hi, I am used to the kissing and the hugging which I thought I could keep on doing specially with close friends and basically I got fed up after having to kiss an empty cheek... that's what I call somebody that only puts the cheek for you to kiss but they are looking away making no effort or sound whatsoever to kiss back. blah!!!! (sorry guys no harm intended just comparing and sharing how things are different).

5.- Driving on the "right" as I have mentioned previously here THEY drive on the "right" which actually makes sense once you analyze it, as it actually flows more freely specially with the big roundabouts but and that is a huge BUT, the issue is that many, many people do not know what they are doing on the road, causing mayor chaos at intersections out of nothing. You can be stuck on traffic for ages without being able to move and that's one individual's fault.

6.- Everybody gets take out for the Friday night or any other night during the weekend, the place to get it? its called the "chip shop" yes... you can get fish and chips there to go.... or you can get a Kebab or Chinese (which is usually horrible), also you can get curry, hamburgers, wraps... anyway, you name it you can get it but no tacos! BOOO!

7.- Public transport... OH BOY where to begin?????? double deckers for buses to take you around a city that its not bigger than the size of my last town including suburbs and it takes forever, yes we go back to the fact that this city has many "non literate" people driving hence traffic jams everywhere. Bus drivers are usually nice, some do greet people, some just tell you what you just did wrong specially if you are traveling with kids in a buggy, some drive ok and some drive like if they had cows and the fecking bus feels like its going to trip sideways. I was actually once with my son at the special area for buggies and the driver took a curve so hard that my son went flying with the buggy sideways, very thankful that he was actually wearing the harness... I think a lost about half hour of my life with that experience so now that we do not use a buggy for going out its quite a relief.  The best way to get from one place to the other is by train, specially if traveling to the city centre. It takes 20 mins tops yet the trains can be quite spaced out time-wise but definitely a good way of getting from point A to B faster than the bus!

8.- The weather..... ohhhh the weather!!! It rains, and its cold, and it rains more and just when you think the sun its about to come out .... LOL good luck, the sky falls and hail comes like there is no tomorrow! OH well, I will Never get used to hahaha!

Storms????? fuck me... in my side of the world the so called "storms" here are called hurricanes.... my god have I ever been so scared of weather and the wind and the rain that I swear sometimes it feels like its coming from the ground up, attacking every single corner of your knickers. I have never been so wrong about trying to predict it, that has taken me by surprise many times, so now when we go out, regardless if its raining or not (which usually is) I have my raincoat, my son's raincoat, an umbrella and the sun block, sunglasses and snacks in my bag just in case! 

And I stand corrected, yesterday it was local voting, so I had to go to the place for my vote, well, it is not far but trying to move with a toddler walking can be tricky, so I decided to take the bus even if it was only for one stop... after we came out of the bus the sky fell on us, we both had our raincoats and the umbrella that I had to hold sideways because the water was hitting us sideways ... so, no matter how prepared you are for the weather here, it is always going to find a way to "soak" you up! 

9.- The food---- ummmmm this is a tough one... actually a very tough one for me because I am from a place where you can find many veggies and fruits year round. It might not be the best but for sure it is way better than having only two or three choices for veggies and that including many kinds of spuds. Fruits here are expensive and tiny... very tiny! A papaya its the size of what we call Hawaii papaya which basically feeds one person, same goes for the pineapple, by the time you are done peeling it you have one mouth full of the blasted thing left. Veggies here do not last long, basically if you buy broccoli one day, you have to use it straight away or it goes moldy yet apples last in the fridge a couple of weeks, so as the kiwis because they are so unripe at the shops that you actually need at least a week in the fridge to eat one without scalding you tongue for life. 
There are plenty of restaurants from all over the globe, variety its not a problem it all comes down to how much money you want to spend which goes hand in hand with the quality you will get. So if you order Chinese from a Chinese takeaway and for two mains and fried rice with the included free rice crisps and you spend 26 Euro, that is what you will get in quality. Not so good! We have tried different places as we are new to the area and once not only the restaurant got our order wrong but also their food sucked, so we asked the driver when he showed up with the "correct order" to take away ALL!

A thing that I miss the most, its eating sushi, I have not found a place with decent sushi and it is driving me insane as much as the weather! how can this be????? the closest sushi to us has the worst reviews ever, and the local shop has "fresh sushi" and it seriously looks like it had seen better days.. yesterday, never mind today!

The traditional fry up needs an entire post of its own! it does, I promise! Depending on the area the ingredients are different although grease its a common denominator. LOL

I am still trying to fit in, to experience the local culture yet we are surrounded by immigrants and that makes it hard, some do not even speak the language which makes it hard at times and sometimes fun, as trying to communicate with sings its a necessity, specially with all these grandmothers that I keep bumping into in playgrounds as their level of English its non existent.

Yes, there are many things that are good, like the odd episode when the sky clears and you can see the sunset or the stars... those still take my breath away! The sky is as blue as it can be and as black with diamonds during the night! Just plain beautiful. The history that holds within the walls of the castles, the amazing coastline and all the different shades of greens and different colours when Spring decides to arrive. The size of the bugs here are impressive, bumble bees here are as big as my thumb! I have never seen so many ladybirds in my life, and in so many colours and sizes too! I keep waiting to bump into gnomes, fairies and elves when we go for walks, it is a magical place, it withholds mystical air regardless of the weather. So, no, not all has been bad, many things have been good and we are still adjusting to all the changes including the culture or lack of it (not that there is no culture here, but as I said we do not interact much with the locals) and the odd time when I do find a local I think they feel I am a leach as I will not stop talking or asking questions! So far, I am known in the state as "the Mexican" LOL whatever that means I really do not know, I was told by one of the lads at the local shop and it made me laugh!  hahaha it still makes me laugh! 

Anyway, so far my time is up for now.

Hope you enjoyed it!

TT4N

-Deep at the center of my being is an infinite Well of love! Blessings!