WE VISIT THE POLICE STATION
Part Two
Deja Vu All Over Again
At the conclusion of which the fat lady does not sing
To Recap: After spending eight weeks gathering the nine documents necessary to obtain a three-year Spanish residency visa, Kay and I left instead with three-month visas that would enable us to obtain our visas once in Spain. Within a week of our arrival in Granada, we reported to the Police Station, as instructed, to obtain our visas. After three visits, and with Flannery´s invaluable help, the authorities accepted our documents and informed us that in approximately 30 days we would receive a letter instructing us to come in for our one-year visas. Ah, the sweet smell ofsuccesss. We left the Police Station that morning and headed to the nearest cafe for a celebratory breakfast.
Just over 30 days later, the letters arrived by certified mail, one for me and one for Kay. Fortunately we were home. We presented our passports and sighed the forms. According to the letter, we were to report to the Police Station no sooner than 15 days and no later than 30 days. We would need two photocopies of each letter and three photos each, our third set since beginning the process.
Seventeen days later, we went to the Police Station and waited in line at the window where we had submitted our papers six weeks earlier. The wait was a relatively short 15 minutes. When we reached the window the friendly lady informed us that we were at the wrong window. And that we had come too early as our information was not yet in the computer. The letter, she pointed out, instructed us to come not less than 15 days from the day we received the letter, not the date on the letter. Come back next week to the other window.
We returned the following Tuesday after a four-day holiday. The line reached across the courtyard to the entrance. It took one hour to reach the window. You´re still too early, the clerk informed us. But even though our information was still not in the computer, she would give us the tax forms. We were to take the forms to any bank, pay the tax, and return with the stamped and signed forms at the end of the following week. As we were leaving for Munich the following day, this worked out fine.
The following Tuesday we went to a nearby bank and paid €6,31 each. The man stamped our forms and instructed us to take the two white copies, along with two photocopies of each, to the Police Station. The blue carbons were for us.
We returned to the Police Station on a rainy Thursday morning. Expectations were high. This could be the day we actually received our resident visas. The champagne was in the fridge. There was no line. The lady at the window awaited us with a smile. We gave her the forms. But where, she asked, were the blue copies? She needed the blue copies, not the photocopies, which were for us. Having been informed that the blue copies were ours, Kay had left them at home. Off she scurried, returning 18 minutes later with the blue copies. We turned in our papers, two photos (not three), signed the forms and were fingerprinted.
We waited breathlessly. Had the moment finally arrived? Our journey over? The long sought-for prize within our grasps?
We were then given a receipt. The receipt contained the following instructions: Come to window four at the Police Station with this receipt no more than 30 days from today to receive your foreigner´s identification card and residency visa.
The champagne is still on hold.
To be continued.
THE BLOG EXPLAINED
In response to a rain of inquiries, as well as request that I stop hogging blog writing duties, the following explanation/excuse is offered:
After suggestions and discussions as to the subject of the next blog, I write a first draft. Kay and Flannery then proceed to correct misinformation and false impressions, question my memory, squash overblown metaphors, rip out unnecessary verbiage, tone down rhetorical excess and demand the deletion of all gross exaggerations and outright lies, no matter how entertaining I think they were.
After surviving this riot of verbal abuse and ridicule, I stagger to the computer and write a second draft. This is once again reviewed by Kay and Flannery. Six sneers, three jeers, two giggles and one pat on the back later, a final version is approved.
Then off to the computer center. If the blog entry is short, I type it myself. If it is long, it is imputted using dictation.
Although Kay and Flannery did write the entry on marketing and cooking, and may yet do another, they prefer the method described above. Perhaps it is the delight they take in offering criticism and advice.
Thank you both for your interest and suggestions.
Boyce
A TRIP TO MUNICH
During which we visit the Christmas Markets and discover gluhwein
On December 10th, we flew to Munich to see the Christmas markets. We had attempted to make the trip last year, while Flannery was still in Munich, but we were unable to get on a flight. So Flannery came home instead. The trip would also serve to bring the remainder of Flannery´s possessions, which were stored with a friend, to Granada for later transport to California.
Nearly every district in Munich has its own Christmas market, each with its own distinct character. The city´s main Christmas market is on Marienplatz, the historic square in front of City Hall and at the heart of thpedestrianin shopping area. A one hundred-foot tree with 2,500 lights (only a few more than on the Canepa´s tree) towers over the market. There are over 140 stands, or booths, most selling ornaments and decorations. There are literally thousands of exquisite ornaments, many handmade. After an hour or two here, you´d be embarrassed to decorte your tree with mere balls and tinsel.
There are also a dozen or more stands selling gluhwein (hot, mulled wine), along with sausages and fried potato pancakes. On our first visit to the market, around eleven in the morning, we were amazed to see the crowds at the gluhwein booths. Equally amazing was how many of the drinkers took their morning gluhwein with a shot of rum. Perhaps the temperature, two degrees Celsius, about 35 Fahrenheit, was a contributing factor.
Cold weather does not deter the Germans from enjoying themselves outdoors. Even during a light drizzle, the markets and streets were thronged. Sidewalk cafes even provide heavy blankets to sit under while enjoying coffee or beer in near freezing weather. According to Flannery, only snow, rain or below freezing temperatures stop the cafes from putting out tables and chairs.
We also visited a market offering blown glass items, wooden toys, nativity scenes and gluhwein; another which featured handcrafted originals (doesn´t hold a candle to the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival) and gluhwein. The market in the English Gardens specialized in porcelain, china dolls and marionettes, antiques and gluhwein. The Tollwood Winter Festival, on the grounds of the Oktoberfest, takes places primarily in giant tents, where you can buy international wares and food. You can drink gluhwein both inside and out.
In addition to market hopping and gluhwein drinking, we saw Mystic River in a theater that shows original version films; in Spain all films are dubbed. We thought the film was terrific. We had dinner with Flann and her friends in a restaurant in which the schnitzel servings were larger than the plate. We also ate sausages, roast pork, dumplings, sauerkraut and drank dark beer in restaurants so German who felt you were on a movie set.
Flannery and her friend picked Kay and I up at our hotel at 6:30 on a dark, cold, rainy morning, and we drove to the airport. We flew to sunny, warm Malaga on full-fare tickets (no United passes in Europe), then bussed home to Granada.
The Humdrum Stuff of Daily Life
Rent
Our apartment rents for E400‚ a month and includes water. which is delicious, cold and safe. The typical deposit for a furnished apartment is two months rent. There was also a rental agency fee of one month´s rent. Our landlord adds the electricity charge to our rent. The electric bill for November was E19.
Hot Water
Hot water is supplied by a gas heater mounted on the kitchen wall. The gas tank is stored under the counter. There is no storage of hot water. When you cut on the hot water, the flame is ignited and hot water reaches your hands is less than 20 seconds. The water is as hot as you want it and the supply is limitless, as long as there is gas in the tank. A tank lasts from three to four weeks. Tanks are available by calling the company or by simply hearing the truck unloading and rushing down to the street with an empty tank to exhange. A tank cost E8.80.
Heat
We have three heat sources: a small, electric, oil-filled radiator on wheels; an electric heating and air conditioning unit mounted high on the living room wall; and a gas heater, also on wheels, which uses a gas tank. The gas heater is quite efficient and very inexpensive. We have three tanks, one for the hot water, one for the heater, and one in reserve.
Laundry
We have a medium-size washing machine under the kitchen counter. There is a clothes line on the covered roof which we share with our upstairs neighbor.
Phone and Internet
We chose not to have a phone installed and use a cell phone to receive calls and a public phone to make them. In Spain, cell phones will not accept the codes necessary to make reasonably priced, international calls. Fortunately, there is a web/computer center nearby for internet use. Unfortunately, some of the center´s 100 computers are used by noisy teenagers playing games. This can be a problem, because blog entries, which are written and printed at home, are inputted using dictation. Recently, for example, when Kay read, "except Visa," I, focusing on inputting words and not re-writing the entry, typed "except Visa." Alas, we are but human.
Groceries
In general, produce costs roughly half what it does in California, meat and chicken about three-quarters. Fish is definitely less expensive. Milk and a wide variety of fruit juices come in one-liter cartons - milk .80, juice .90. A six-pack of 33ml beer cost less than E2, a bottle of Beefeaters E9.60, wines E2 to E5, though you can spend a lot more, or even less, if you desire.
Dining Out
You can easily find lunch for between E4-5, less if you go the tapas route. Cafes offer a sandwich and drink for E1.75. Many restaurants offer a Menu - first course, soup for example; second course, chicken or fish; dessert and bread for E5-7, often less. Your drink, even beer or wine, is often included. Beers runs from E1-1.5, wine E1.75. We´ve eaten delicious and filling dinners in nice restaurants for less than E9.
Garbage
There are no individual garbage cans. Small dumpsters are placed throughout the neighborhood wherever there is room. There is one at our corner. People deposit their garbage tied in plastic bags. They also bring everything from broken furniture to windows and put them along side the dumpster. The dumpsters are emtpied every day at dawn. Not one scrap is left when we get up.
The streets are also cleaned each morning by a man on foot with a broom and can, a streetsweeper and men using firehoses to blast the cobblestone streets and sidewalks.
Recycling
There are recycling stations wherever there is room. There are two on our street and one in the nearby plaza. The stations consists of a 5 x 15-foot, hinged, metal "trapdoor" in the sidewalk, topped with three, short, shiny, rolltop depositories, one for glass, one for plastic products and one for paper and cardboard. The containers are beneath the trapdoor. To empty the containers, the trapdoor is opened by a hydraulic lift ,and the elevator-size containers are lifted on a hook and emptied over a specially equipped truck, then lowered back down.
Buses
City buses are convenient and run often. The fare is .85€, but you can buy a 6-ride card for E4. Inter-city buses operate more frequently than trains - more than a dozen a day to Madrid - and are less expensive. They offer reserved seats, toilets and are very comfortable. The two-hour trip to Malaga on the coast costs only E8, the five-hour trip to Madrid is only E13.
Movie Rentals
We bought a TV and DVD player, which also serves as our music system. There are several movie rental stores in the area, including a Blockbuster, which has every Bruce Willis film ever made. And that´s a lot. Movies rent for E1.5-2.
As of December 1, 2003, one Euro costs $1.20, a record low for the dollar. So all the above figures are 20% higher in dollars. Our E400 rent, for example, is $480. This does not make us happy.
