Well, hello there, you! It’s really been a while, hasn’t it? Description of our Nepal travels began, very promisingly, and then…nothing! So did I drop off the face of the Earth? No, not exactly. Just lost my momentum, with the blogging at least.

Today is the one-year anniversary of my “new life” in Spain. I’ve submitted all my papers to renew my residency, but so far haven’t heard anything back. Does this mean that I am officially “sin papeles”? I suppose so — my foreigner’s card does expire today. I hope they don’t decide to just toss me out! (At the very least, they could do like Spain has been doing with some other foreigners: buying them one-way tickets back to their home countries.)

Seriously, I feel very much that this is my home, now. In fact, it felt like that very early on. Perhaps I’m the kind of person who adapts easily to new surroundings? Although it took me a while to start connecting with people (other than my “Dulcinea” and her family) here. Recently, I’ve been expanding my horizons a bit, socially speaking, which is nice.

I have started learning Catalan, a new language (for me, I mean) which is somewhat like Spanish, somewhat like French, yet presents plenty of new challenges — not least of which is the pronunciation…it’s harder than Spanish because there are more “variables” or rules.

Generally, people say I speak quite well (Spanish), although I still find it very frustrating that I often feel “out of it” in group get-togethers. When people get speaking full-tilt, when there is background noise, when I’m not 100% focused and working hard at it, I still miss a lot of what’s said. Getting the gist is one thing, catching the details and subtleties is another.

It’s frustrating — to the point that at times I wondered if my hearing was failing…but a trip back to Canada, chats with folks back home, and a trip to the U.K. at Christmas made me realize it’s just the language. In English (and Quebecois French), I can listen “in the background” — the meaning seems to filter into my consciousness without effort…in fact it’s hard to tune out conversations around me, for example at nearby tables in a restaurant. But in Spanish (or Catalan), unless I really try hard, it is far too easy for the words to just become sounds, background noise my brain is happy to filter out.

Other than that, it’s cumpleaños feliz…and set the sails for Year Two!

P.S. It’s World Poetry Day, so be sure to read a poem: to yourself, to your kids, your lover, your dog. Even better, write a poem of your own, then read it to someone!