http://alisonslife-in-the-slow-lane.blogspot.com/ Life in the Slow Lane: Snippets of Spanish Life

Sunday 30 October 2011

Snippets of Spanish Life

I now realise that a post about water running down my walls (see yesterday) was enough to cause concern in some quarters...and thank you for said concern...and thought I'd better explain a little about Spanish houses and, indeed, the Spanish themselves!


Because the weather here is more often-than-not sunny and warm, houses are built to keep out the heat. It just seems to be expected that when the heavy rains come, you get water in your house! When it first happened to us we panicked slightly quite a bit  greatly and phoned round a few builders, who all basically said 'it happens and it will dry out quickly'! WHAT!? No-one wanted to come and look at it and make money from trying to do repairs!


 We have discovered that, on the whole, the Spanish (at least the ones locally) are incredibly honest people and aren't out to 'rip you off'. They are also incredibly frustrating, from the point of view  that if you ARE waiting for them to turn up to do any work, or even to open a shop on time, you have to accept that it will happen in THEIR time.....the same applies for anything legal or to do with Banking- you have to accept that things happen, but only in 'Spanish' time.

I have to say that-mostly- I now live in 'Spanish' time, which both amuses and frustrates DH and DD...they can't understand why I don't get annoyed when things don't happen exactly when planned or expected, but then DH spends most of his time in Germany  and DD lives in a world where everything happens immediately (due to the Internet, mobile phones etc).


Anyway, the sun  is trying to come out (though more rain is forecast) and the towels have been moved from the floors..though are still within grabbing distance!....and this is how the pool looks today 
usually the water is below the first step, so I reckon it's up by about6 inches...and that doesn't include what ran over the top yesterday!

According to the forecast, we are back to full sun by mid-week so the walls will dry out....and I am thankful that water running down the walls is the worst that has happened as a result of the weather- so many people have had more than that to worry about in Bangkok this weekend.

Thanks for dropping by!
Take care of you
Alison xx

14 comments:

  1. Good to hear that the watery walls are seen as "normal" - I guess it teaches you not to have too much piled up against them!
    We have sun here today but it was very wet in the night - could do with one last mow of the lawn but that won't be possible today!

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  2. It sounds like it's all about adjusting to a different life style!! Glad the water's clearing though.

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  3. I think I wish I could live on Spanish time as it's back to work tomorrow and as you know school time is very frenetic. Thanks for your kind words on D's blog - she was so excited. Glad the weather's better so your walls will dry out xx

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  4. Glad to hear that water running down the walls is perfectly normal.....I think! The pool looks a beautiful shade of blue in that shot:o)

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  5. Interesting to read about the different culture where you live, Alison. And I always love seeing photos of your backyard and amazing mountain views.

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  6. Glad to hear its calming down a little for you and lets hope you'll be fully dried out by the end of the week!

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  7. I'm relieved that it isn't a big problem to have water running down your walls while the electricity is still on.... I did wonder!

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  8. The pool water looks gorgeous and inviting but that is a lot of rain! Glad your walls are meant to deal with the water running scenerio.

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  9. I could do with a little "Spanish time" in my life, things are always so hurried here in the States it seems. High water or not, your pool looks so inviting!

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  10. Yes, the idea of everything running more slowly seems very attractive to me at the moment (though I guess maybe it would frustrate me too). The pool does indeed look extremely inviting in that picture. Is it warm enough to swim at this time of year?

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  11. Oh gosh, Alison... not sure that the "control freak" part of my personality could handle "Spanish Time"... My DH is very laid-back, so I have had to learn to chill a bit, but I do like to know what is going to happen and when. I think I should stay in the UK, where the plumber arrives within a few minutes of the time he says and the driver phones if he will be late with my shopping delivery...
    Still, it sounds more relaxing really, once you get used to it!

    Amazing that water running into your house is considered "normal". What would we do here,if that happened when it rained hard (which is quite often)?!

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  12. Aaah I can totally relate! Here it is called African time and I am no longer fazed by people not pitching even at the thought of making money out of me! And yup when there are heavy rains our house leaks too but it is so seldom we just get out the buckets!! Again we are geared for the HEAT....

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  13. Wow, that's crazy! I can't even imagine; but sometimes I really envy that wayof life. The US is so rush rush and about immediate gratification. I wish we took more cues from the Spanish.

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  14. I too was a little worried when I had read your post about the water but was happy to see this post explaining things a bit more!

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