Time Flies

Today, July 23, is the fifth anniversary of our arrival in Spain! Yes, we have come a long way from our arrival in Madrid with nothing more than what you see in this photo:

Also, and this seems a bit crazy in retrospect, when we arrived, we only had a place to stay for seven nights: two in Madrid and five more in San Sebastian. Somehow, in just over a week, despite barely speaking Spanish, we managed to find a place to live both for the month of August, and a permanent place starting September 1 (where we continue to live).

We are also currently celebrating that the Spanish government approved our application for permanent residency, so we are no longer living on a temporary visa that needs renewal from time to time. We know we will be able to remain here as long as we want.

Now, we are planning our "big trip" that will see us give up our apartment and travel for five months (October through February) before returning to San Sebastian. We'll see how much stuff we've accumulated since arriving with those 5 duffle bags, 2 carry-on bags and 2 backpacks. Much more about that to come.

Hasta pronto,

Jeff and Shana