Greetings from Madrid

 I originally started this blog to document some new programming and tech stuff I was working with, but I quickly let that lapse and haven't posted in years. In a few words, life happened, and a blog just didn't seem that important. A lot has happened since then--my children have gotten older, with all of those child activities that any parent will understand; I changed jobs; I started my own company on the side; I broke my foot. And now, we've moved to Spain! 

It's that last bit that's making me want to write again. People ask how it's going and I find myself giving these long expositions over email. Heck, a complete stranger just emailed me and I definitely over-shared. At least this way, if you get bored you can just stop reading and move on. 

In any case, I'm going to start writing about the experience of moving over here from the US. I'm going to do that partly because I had a lot of experiences and gained a lot of insight into the process that could definitely benefit someone else. At least, I wish someone had told me a number of these things rather than my wife and I having to figure it out on our own. 

Another reason I want to write this is to help me remember some of the things we've done and experienced. It's already been quite an adventure.

And, so I have a place to start the next time I sit down to write, here are some of the things I might write about: 

• Getting over here. What a process that was! Of course, it didn't help that the world was hit with a global pandemic just about the time I accepted the job and we started working on moving over here. It took us five months to get here, which I'm told actually isn't too bad, especially considering the uncertainty brought on by the pandemic.
• Kids missing their friends. Mine are school-age: one in elementary school and one in middle school (in the US system), and both with established groups of friends they've known since daycare. We've had some tears.
• Things you just can't get over here. Some of it would be useful; some of it's just stupid but we miss it anyway. It all falls completely into the category of "first-world problems".
• COVID. Life during a pandemic. Moving during a pandemic. How can I not mention it?
• Travel. This is one of the biggest reasons why we moved: so we could travel all over Europe. We've already seen some beautiful places and we have plans for a lot more.
• Working remote. I dunno. It's a big part of life; I'm sure it'll come up.
• Navigating bureaucracy. Spain has a lot of it. I mean a lot. I'm sure part of the problem is that I've spent most of my life in the U.S., where I already had most of the paperwork taken care of from a young age. I've heard horror stories from co-workers in the U.S. trying to make sure their work visas didn't expire, and I never had to deal with it. And now, I'm a foreigner in someone else's country. Fair enough; we should probably all have to go through this at least once in our lives to get an appreciation for what others have to do. Still, Spain seems to have an inordinate amount of bureaucracy. I think God is trying to get me to work on having more patience.
• How to get here. Definitely some advice to be dispensed. We got over here in spite of travel bans and a raging virus. And with a dog, no less!
• How to find an apartment. And a school for the kids. And healthcare. And get your NIE card. And what an Empadronamiento is.
• Lanzarote. We went. It was beautiful.
• Skiing near Madrid. We've only been once, so far, about an hour away by car. Had a great time. Maybe explaining how it works here will save someone else the hassle of showing up and not getting a lift ticket (it's actually a pretty common thing here.)
• Buying a car. I mean, speaking of driving... we decided to go ahead and buy a car when we got here, mainly so we could take road trips. We're also lucky enough to have a garage to park it in even though we live right in the city.
• Driving in Madrid. It's an adventure all to itself! But don't speed past the speed-cameras, even a little bit. 
• Segovia. And Paradores. And Cuenca, with its "hanging houses". And Manzanares el Real. And...
• Living in Madrid. It is a truly amazing city. And we're only four blocks from Retiro! Crazy!

I'm sure there'll be more, but that's a good start for now.