Every Place is What you Make of IT

"Every place is what you make of it."  This is a phrase that a wise woman once told me when we first got stationed at Fort Knox in Kentucky.  This is the best piece of advice I have ever gotten and I try to live by those words each and every day.  When the going gets tough those words are sometimes hard to say, but I still try.  These words also take on different meanings depending on the situation and/or location.  Fort Knox for instance is just south of Louisville and there is absolutely nothing around you (at least when we were stationed there, there wasn't).  We had a Wal-Mart out one gate and a road leading to Louisville out the other gate.  Fort Knox turned out to be one of my favorite experiences because you had to make the best of it or you would for sure shrivel up and die.

Now that we have been in Madrid for just over a week this phrase, yet again, takes on a whole new meaning.  We realized well before we arrived here what an incredible experience this was going to be and were excited before we got here.  Having moved many, many times in our 14 years being in the military we are old hats at getting to a new location and immediately exploring to see what the new city has to offer.  In the States that is much easier than here.  In the states you get in your car and explore.  Here...not so much.  We have explored most everything on foot via the Metro, which is great, but I realized today that it makes it a bit difficult to know where exactly you are located within the city.  Now, I of course can read a map, but when we are out and about we haven't had a city map with us, just the metro map.  This will probably change once we are truly sort of on our own, but we have had the luxury to be with a "guide" most of the time or at least when it is necessary. 

Those of you that have had a European experience can relate to this next part.  Every place is what you make of it also can translate to making each place work for you in a manner of comfort.  I am sure that it isn't only Spain, but we have to remind ourselves each and every day that this isn't America and the amenities that we don't think twice about being able to get are not here or are very, very different and we have to be able to adapt.  In all the Army wife type classes that I would take part in, myself and other spouses would joke that our personalities are adaptable with notice and not one of these fly by the seat of your pants type personalities.  This has been a challenge for me.  I am all about trying new things and making my surroundings work for me, but I have gotten to the point a few times where I miss the conveniences of American living.  Because things here are different it doesn't mean that it is a bad thing, just a point at which I need to adapt, which takes time. 

Some examples of where adaptation is needed and that make me miss America.  Let's start with one fresh on my mind because I am right in the middle of it...Laundry.  The washing machine that we have in our apartment is a combination washer/dryer.  There are separate dryers, but we don't have one yet, but in either case it takes forever to do a load of laundry.  In our machine it takes an hour and half to wash a load and an additional 2 hours to dry it, most of the time you need to dry it for a bit longer because the clothers are still damp.  A bit of a side note...a load of laundry consists of about 3 or 4 pairs of shorts and a couple of t-shirts...that is it.  They are extrememly small.  I think of the fancy washers and dryers in the States that can wash a load the size of a king size bed comforter in about 20 minutes and then dry that super large load in another 20 minutes.  Well my personal washer and dryer in the States wasn't that efficient, but I could wash a good amount of clothing in one load.  You certainly could not plan a week's worth of laundry here to be done in a Sunday afternoon.  You have to do a few loads each and every day.  Items such as heavier cottons, like khaki shorts for instance, come out of the dry cycle bunched in a ball and extremely wrinkled...so you have to turn around and iron items like this on top of the crazy long dry time.  This might be different once we get a separate dryer...I hope. 

Yesterday was a day when I was having an off feeling.  We decided to go for lunch, which I was a bit reluctant about because I just wanted some familiarity.  We came across a diner.  It was called Peggy Sue's American Diner.  Praise God...a little piece of USA just one street over.  I, of course, ordered a hamburger...another item that I am missing so much.  Well, let's just say, it was nothing like an American hamburger.  It was delicious, but not an American burger.  That brings me to my next item I am missing...BEEF.  Now we haven't been here that long and have not really "looked" around for beef, but you just don't see it in the grocery stores or on the menu in restaurants.  I am sure there are restuarants that specialize in steaks and such, we just have not located them as of yet.  The food here is delicious...it is just different.  Again, not necessarily different in a bad way, but different in a way that requires adaptation.  We walk through the grocery store and have to just identify items that we recognize and figure out what other items we recognize that will go with each other in order to make a meal.  Because lunch time is really the big meal of the day we are finding ourselves eating much smaller and simpler dinners.  Which we really enjoy.  When in the grocery store you actually use a glove to get your fruits and vegetables and you have them weighed and marked with the weight and price before you get to the check out.  Soda...well this has been a sore point from the get go.  I knew they didn't have Dr. Pepper here before I came, but didn't really find out what they do have.  Their soda selections are very limited.  They basically have Coke, Diet Coke, Orange Fanta and Lemon Fanta.  That be it.  The lemon Fanta is really yummy and refreshing and is usually my choice if we are out to eat.  Being military we have the extreme advantage of being able to use the Navy Exchange within the US Embassy.  Thank goodness for these little gems.  The Navy Exchange has many of the items that we as Americans in Madrid would be missing.  Lets take peanut butter or salad dressing for instance.  These are items that are not readily available in many of the little stores that we have been in.  We did find thousand island dressing in another store, but I haven't seen ranch or anythink like it as of yet.  Again...we have been here just over a week and certainly have not been everywhere.

House hunting is another adaptation process.  We know where hubby is working and where the kids will be attending school.  That opens up several neighborhoods or suburb areas that we could live in.  We haven't decided if we want to live completely different than we would live when we are in the States or fall back on our comfort level and get a huge compound type area which includes its very own mcmansion.  There are pros and cons to both of these.  Being emersed in a more local community or being more isolated with a huge house and a huge yard with a huge fence that surrounds us.  We have not seen the mcmansion type properties as of yet, but are leaning towards full emersion.  We want to learn this language and culture and become a part of it and what better way than to plant yourself right in the middle of it and be forced, in a sense, to adapt very quickly.  The house hunting process will certainly be another post once we get a few more areas and houses under our belt.  The homes here are huge, even within a closer quarters community.  We looked at a home that is around 4800 square feet and is considered to be a row house type or town house, meaning that it is connected to other homes, yet the inside is so huge I am not sure you would know it.  Who knows.

With each and every day we adapt a little bit more to new experiences and what our life will be like for the next three years.  We look forward to growing in ways that we would never have had the chance without the military.  With any type of growing there has to be room for some growing pains.  We will certainly make the most out of this place and I challenge you to always remember that every place is what you make of it.

Until next time.....