Sea Road...

Barcelona - Day 12

Finally - we're in!  Last night we spent our first night on "Sea Road" - Calle de Mar.  It sounds much better in Spanish.

Of course we couldn't move in properly before the routine trip to Ikea, accompanied by the entire family - claro....so we still have some work to do.  Relying on other people here is expected and it's something that will take some getting used to.  Extended family excursions are also the norm for routine activities.  I'm used to having something to do and getting on with it myself before consulting whichever members of the family happen to be around.  Everyone will have their own opinion and these need to be examined, discussed and analysed before the final action is taken.  I'm beginning to understand why things take time.

Our shipped boxes are due to arrive today so once we've unpacked, it really will feel like home.  We've shipped a kettle (why on earth would you want to boil water...?) and a toaster - good news as I woke up this morning to my husband trying to cook the bread in the frying pan.  I'm surprised we didn't activate the local bomberos (fire brigade), and we'll be waiting until the arrival of our pillar box red Dualit before attempting anymore.

So with one major task completed, another one awaits.  Medical registration.  Sounds simple.  I've moved intercontinentally not internationally, but remember this is Spain - which I'm fast finding out is Europe's captial of bureacracy (and coming from someone who's lived in France that's saying something). I may as well have moved intergalactically.  We've been to the local council twice, the GP twice, the police office once, some other department once (possibly the department of social security), and now we have an envelope full of papers, but still no access to a doctor or a hospital.    It doesn't help that every official department is feeding us sometimes conflicting and always different information.

If I'd been in England I'd have been seen by a midwife last week, have an appointment booked in for next and be looking forward to what should have been my final scan next week.  I'm told that once we finally manage to get the paperwork together and be accepted here then I will pretty much be prodded and poked from now until Popcorn arrives, so small mercies and all that, but the emotional hormonal rollercoaster that is being pregnant means that rationality and reasoning can be sometimes woefully absent.  Only this morning I was banging on about booking myself on the first plane home.  Poor husband.