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Published: October 2nd 2015
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It’s now been a few weeks since we both started working in our new jobs and what a difference. It’s much more relaxed, and there’s little worries to deal with so we’re both happy. We feel the most settled we’ve been since we moved over in January and it feels like things are finally coming together ‘poco a poco’. We’ve kept in touch with and meet up regularly with our friends (the clique!) and have joined a gym and are doing classes regularly each week (now we can afford it). It just shows that it IS possible to be an English speaker working in a Spanish city (as long as you are prepared to search for it and make compromises). We’ve even been to the town hall to get our padron and are now recognised as being residents of Alicante (Alicantinos!).
We’ve also settled into domestic life in our wee apartment which totally feels like home now. Along with our farting fridge, we also have a magical smelling toilet that smells of poo everytime someone in the apartment block has been for a number two…. The block is really old so the plumbing system must be too, so it’s a
bit of a lucky dip whenever you venture into the bathroom. Sometimes you can be brushing your teeth and the next thing you know, one of the neighbours has seen Mr Brown and his friends off to the coast and you’ve been invited to the leaving party.
There is also a duck who likes to hang out in our pool (which annoyingly still isn’t open even though it is starting to get warmer now). I was sitting drinking my cup of tea (you can take the girl out of Scotland and all that) and next thing I notice something swimming about in the pool. I’m amazed to see a duck swimming lengths! Where did it come from? It obviously likes our facilities as I see it again on another two separate occasions having a wee dip. If only I could fly and I’d be in there too. It's good that we have been able to get to know the area around Playa San Juan a lot better too, and can now navigate our way around without getting horrifically lost (and we now know we need to get line 4 of the tram instead of line 3 so we
don't end up at the other end of the beach!). We've discovered a few lovely little cafes, bars and restaurants nearby, as well as little boutique shops selling knick knacks, a bakery and the best place to just sit and people watch.
Our highlight of the month has been taking part in the Hogueras festival which occurs at the start of summer every year in Alicante city centre. Basically the city is adorned with all these beautiful hand sculpted statues for a week, and there are lots of street parties and firework displays (and firecrackers are set off every afternoon at 2pm in the main square). At the end of the week, they set all the statues alight whilst firemen battle to extinguish them against the crowd who shout and tease them in the hope of being soaked by their water hoses. It works and the crowd get a good soaking! A great festival to witness, highly recommended to anyone who has never been (start booking those flights for next year people!!). We also managed a day trip to Villajoyosa on the tram on our day off which was good fun. Although not a huge place, it was a
lovely little town with a gorgeous beach front, where the fronts of the houses are all painted in different colours. And the views from the tram on the way there were worth it in itself.
So, the last exciting news of this month’s blog is that my parents came out to visit us. It was really nice to catch up with them especially as it was Greg’s birthday too. Lots of fattening meals, lemoncello shots and even a visit to the castle thrown in for good measure. Got to to love my dad when at 12am he offers to buy a bottle of wine for us to share for Greg’s birthday when 1) they hardly drink and 2) it’s nearly their bedtime lol. Looking forward to round two in August!
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