Musings

One of the things I hate about moving is finding a new hair stylist, new doctor, new dentist, new nail technician/manicurist. In N.C. we had the best of all of these. As I told you previously we did find a great dentist thanks for our friend Xavi.  Last week I finally got my hair cut after 8 weeks! Marta and Marc recommended the stylist that their mum had gone to so last Wednesday we met at El Tros and Marc showed us where the shop was. Thankfully he ran in and told her that I was coming while we parked the car. I showed her pictures of my haircut (I have carried these all over) and she did a fabulous job. She only speaks Catalan of which I only know a few words but we were able to work out what we needed to.  🙂  I’m always nervous getting my haircut with someone new but was even more so since I couldn’t communicate properly. But…we continue to learn. The nice surprise came when I went to pay and it was only 18€ or about $20.10! Not that money is everything and when it comes to hair I am willing to pay a bit more but I have NEVER paid that little for a haircut before. I asked her how much to color it as I will need to have that done and for one color it is 30€ or about $33.50. Wow!

Nails were next on the list. I have been to one place, Family Nails, on two different occasions to have my gel polish changed and both times I was disappointed. The polish started coming off after a couple of days and the atmosphere was very rushed. I had the best nail salon in Cary, Beverly Nails and Spa on Kildaire Farm Road.  I make that distinction because there are a couple of other salons by the same name but not the same service that Tom and Mary provide. I knew that it would be a tough act to follow. Last Friday I tried a different place in Sitges called U de Uñas.  It was a much better experience so now I think we can check that off the list.

Next…the doctor. As I type this Bob is returning from a doctor’s appointment. Saturday he was concerned about something so we looked in the large book of medical providers that we received with our Spanish medical insurance cards. We found one in Sitges and went to their website and completed a form to request an appointment. This morning while we were at our new dentist they called to schedule an appointment. We stopped by their office at about 11:45am. They asked if he could come in at 3:30pm today. Sure, no problem. Well, he has just phoned to tell  me what a great experience that was. The issue Bob was concerned about is fine. He brought a copy of his last blood work from the U.S. and the doctor was surprised at some of the numbers that had been deemed as high. Not here evidently. They’ve scheduled some normal tests which are all done right there and they are set for next week! And as far as giving him prescriptions for his existing medications…not needed. Just go to the pharmacy and tell them what you need. Interesting and I am guessing this is not the case for all medications.

You know when you are filling out the paperwork at the doctor’s office and they ask if you drink and if so how much. How many of us have not told the whole truth when answering this question? Come on, be honest. Well, not only did he not fill out any paperwork (the doctor just asked him questions and made notes) but the doctor never asked if he drinks and if so how much. Really? Well, maybe it is because we live in wine country and they expect us to all do our part! The other nice thing…he didn’t pay anything for the visit. So, hair stylist – check, doctor – check, dentist – check, and nail technician – check.

We’ve explored some shops which were recommended by our neighbors – grocery stores, baker, butcher. We bought some plants for the courtyard. Bob hung the wall planters that we shipped over. Now that the house is set we really want to get the courtyard looking pretty. Lots to do including a pond and many more plants.

We love the rose bush in our courtyard that has three different color roses.

Saturday night we went into Sitges to see Lumens Sitges, which is videomapping onto various buildings. To be honest it wasn’t all that great or interesting so if it returns I think we will give it a miss next time.

I’ll end today’s blog with two kind of weird random thoughts that have crossed my mind recently. We have no clocks in our house. We do not have a clock hanging on the wall here nor does the TV cable box show the time. Yes, we could set the time on the microwave but it is only powered on when we use it as it is from America and is on a converter box. There is no clock on the oven/stove. It was just something that dawned on me a couple of weeks ago. Maybe with our new life we don’t need to be so dependent on them. Okay, that isn’t true but wouldn’t that be a nice thought?

The other thing that dawned on me is that we don’t own a vacuum cleaner. We have all tile floors so sweeping and mopping is how we clean them not a vacuum. When we lived in N.C. we had…are you ready…five vacuum cleaners! An upright, a handheld, a canister (had to get that when our move to N.C. saw our movers split the load and it took over three weeks for it all to arrive), and two shop-vacs. Who needs 5 vacuum cleaners?! See, told you they were weird thoughts.