One step further

My perspective on US and Spanish bureaucracy so far

The Spanish consulate has contacted me to tell me they await my presence in Miami on May 9. I am encouraged by this news!  Additional paperwork may still be requested, but it seems unlikely that they'd summon me to flat out deny my visa application.

If this goes as I expect, I'll get my visa by the end of May and leave the States in early July. And I have a lot of fun things to do before then- researching the procedures I need to follow in Madrid to get a rental apartment and officially register myself with the authorities, doing any final work on the condo when I've been staying, selling my car and bicycle, plus I have about four more trips planned.  I do struggle a bit with what counts as a trip when I'm carrying almost all my belongings with me. Is home where my coffee pot is? Where I pay the internet bill? Or where I'll lay my head tonight? Those are all different right now, so it's a philosophical dilemma.

The beauty of stuff

I´ve been without a permanent home for roughly six months. I haven´t been couchsurfing* the whole time, of course, because I have been the guest at the condo of the generous and welcoming J and S (the parents of N) in Gainesville. But I have been alternating between a home with extraordinary little furnishing and other people´s homes, and I now better appreciate the having of stuff. I´ve always leaned toward the minimalist side of the spectrum. When I was younger, I dreamed of owning just a few hundred items. However, it turns out that not only is stuff useful, it is reassuring to have it. 

It is a challenge when cold weather hits and you discover that there are not enough blankets for you and your houseguest. (Sorry about that, S!) It is nice when you own more than one bowl, so you can invite someone to lunch. And it is nice to know where the stuff is, and what it looks like. For example, I have cooked my go-to meal, spaghetti, in many homes in the last six months. I always know there will be some way to remove the noodles from the boiling water, but I don´t know if it will be a slotted spoon, a strainer, or a pair of tongs, and where I will find the thing. You can use quite a bit of brainpower figuring out how to conduct regular routines in new places, and I will be happy it when I end up in a more permanent place with furnishings. 

It has been interesting to observe the limits of my minimalism, and to appreciate owning things. But do not mistake my complaints - I still like my current life a great deal more than when I was working!

*Plus, most of my friends have actual guest rooms, and that is a 1000% improvement over living room couches. College-age me could only dream of this luxury.

Vagabond

Gainesville is a lovely place and I´ve met terrific people there, but why stay in one place when you have nothing tying you down? The visa application continues to be marked "En tramitactión" which I´m pretty sure is Spanish for, "Hold your horses, missy, and we´ll get around to reviewing this in our own sweet time." So I packed the car and headed on a month-long tour of the East Coast. 

Returning to DC reminds me of all the delightful friends I have here. There are always people around willing to do a bike ride or have lunch. Last week I organized a bike ride with nine people, three cars, and two bike racks that included stops for cake and French fries. We wanted the kids to only ride downhill (ie the fun part), and that required some complicated project management. Here my old biking group, G, N, and R, relax with beers in the freezing cold afterwards.

I spend a long weekend in New York City with my best friend M. We dressed up to go see the Macy´s department store spring flower show. I also made a delicious corn and tomato panzanella salad with her daughter J, who is a avid cooking apprentice. 

I focused on some of the smaller sightseeing attractions in NYC this time. The flagship public library is a beautiful turn-of-the-century architectural masterpiece. A free tour lets you see areas that aren´t easily accessible to the public. These carved wooden ceilings are actually painted plaster. 

In the fine tradition of roadside attractions, I found this noteworthy statue in front of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes known as St. John the Unfinished, since the cathedral is decades in the building and not done yet). The Archangel Michael casts out Satan while standing on a double helix and a crab, surrounded by peaceful giraffes. I don´t think I´ve ever seen so much symbolism crammed in so densely into one piece of art.