During the years that I lived in Spain many were the occasions that I jumped to conclusions. Now, jumping to conclusions, or assuming things, isn’t all bad for it can certainly create colour and adventure in one’s life. But, sometimes it can cause inconveniences.
When I first moved to the Province of Cadiz, Spain in 1972, at the ripe old age of 23, I wasn’t sure how long I’d stay. I didn’t have a job lined up, but there was the possibility of securing a position in a bilingual school. I certainly assumed that at one point I'd be going back to Scotland to live. How wrong was I?! I ended up staying for four years in Cadiz. Not only that, I married, had a child and moved to Virginia. I subsequently returned to Spain in 1980 where I lived for yet another 4 years. Although I’ve visited Scotland many times I never have lived there since I left in 1972.
I knew very little about the person who had offered to put me up when I first arrived in Spain. A colleague of mine had friends who knew this person. Since my colleague and her friends were all teachers, I simply assumed that the kind person who was willing to let me stay with her for a few days was also a teacher. It didn't occur to me to ask questions. I was actually too excited about moving to Spain to even consider that what I was doing was possibly just plain daft. I did get frowned upon a lot when I gave up my secure position as a Primary School Teacher. People warned me about Franco, about gypsies, etcetera. Many things crossed my mind as I made my decision to leave Scotland and jazz off to Spain, but I simply didn't consider the possibility that the person with whom I was going to live was a prostitute. Ha ha. Surprise! Although I had jumped to the conclusion that she would be a schoolteacher, everything did work out well. It was very kind of her to allow me, a complete stranger, to move in with her until I found other accommodation.
When I lived with two teachers from the bilingual school where I managed to get a position, I just assumed that I could leave a container of yogurt on the windowsill in the kitchen. That's what I had done in Scotland and there had never been a problem. Absolutely not. However, no wonder my roommate stared at me in disbelief. I think I appalled her completely. Nobody in their right mind would leave a yoghurt on a windowsill in Southern Spain, certainly not when the temperatures are in the 80's. You can well imagine the stench of putrid yogurt that I caused.
Years later, when I was living in Miami Playa, Tarragona I assumed I had remembered correctly the Spanish word for chickenpox. I had recently looked it up in a huge, heavy dictionary with the tiniest of print. When I told the new neighbours that our son had chickenpox I used the word 'viruela'. They became so upset spluttering how terrible, how awful, then fled inside their house and closed their windows. Oh my! Surely chickenpox wasn't all that bad of a disease? I later discovered my error. Smarty pants me who prided herself in her good Spanish had got mixed up. The word for chickenpox is actually 'varicela'. And just what does 'viruela' mean? It means smallpox! No wonder the neighbours were so perturbed.
When I left Virginia to return to Spain in 1980 I assumed that I’d be able to go back to the United States without any problem. Wrong! I should have read the small print on all the documents I received when I applied for the green card. Turns out, at that time, Resident Aliens could be out of the United States for no more than two years, otherwise, your green card would be taken from you. Fortunately, a Cuban friend of mine in Cambrils warned me about this when I was planning a trip to Florida. Off I went to the American Consulate in Barcelona where my green card was duly removed from my clutching hands. They did issue me a tourist visa so that I could still make the trip. However, I had to start the process all over again of applying for a green card!
From assuming the fire that was burning way far away in the distance couldn't possibly reach our house to assuming there would be running water after I lathered up in the shower, this jumping to conclusions had me jumping up and down so many times!
Thank you for reading my article. If you'd like to read my memoir which has just recently been published on Amazon, it's called "Aventuras in Spain a Memoir".
Sandra Staas www.spanishinterludes.wordpress.com www.lavidalocainthesuburbs.wordpress.com