… things suddenly seem to be going quite well.

Okay, maybe not everything, and maybe not as much as I might have hoped … but I’m really feeling good about things today. Have been following my heart of late and am amazed (though I shouldn’t be) at how much better life is when I do so…

To wit,  I have a new student lined up for next week. He’s a doctor whose “hobby” is doing volunteer work in Africa, and now that he is working further south (in the north he can get by with French) he wants to learn more English. This is the kind of class that is right up my alley and I am quite looking forward to starting. Meanwhile, two other students – Agustín & Bizzy –  have restarted classes this month, and Agustín’s good friend Guillermo has also signed on. And so that makes five classes a week. If I get five more classes then I am kind of set up until next summer … with the extra bit of income I get from renting the rooms next door I should be able to squeak by on this, have plenty of time to go to the gym in the mornings, and also work on my other projects that – I hope! – will also bring in some extra income.

The next door thing (which careful readers may remember is an option I have going until next July) had also been totally set up for the next ten months – or so I thought. Then one of the tenants – a young Irish girl here on an Erasmus exchange – came to me in tears last week, saying she was homesick and lonely and that her parents were basically bailing her out and sending her to Germany instead, where apparently she has friends and family. The girl had only been here for three weeks! Incredible. So I had to immediately start looking for a new tenant at a time when most people have already found accommodation for the year.

Thing is, the same day the Irish girl came to look at the room back in August a young German guy also showed up – and both wanted to take the room. And although I personally felt the German guy was a better match for the other two tenants, I did the “dutiful” thing and gave the Irish girl first option, as she had seen the room first. Clearly a mistake. I didn’t follow my instincts.

And so this week I had an English guy (working at an English school here) calling and texting and saying he was interested … but then another German guy showed up, fell in love with the place, and said he wanted to take it. EXCEPT, he is only going to be here until February, whereas the English guy will be here until next July. The other thing is, German Guy had taken a room at what turned out to be an awful place to live. The landlord lives in the apartment, which at first glance looked tidy enough but upon moving in ended up being quite filthy. And GG was desperate, saying that he didn’t care if he lost the deposit on the other place, he just wanted to be somewhere nice and clean and central, and said my place was exactly what he’d been looking for all along.

So … whatever. I went with GG. Which was a heart rather than a head decision. Pepe (who owns the apt next door, along with the rest of the building) is going to give me hell for not holding out for someone who’d stay till summer, but oh well. I didn’t follow my heart with the first GG and look how that turned out. Because even if they say they are staying all year they can actually pick up and go anytime they like. So maybe it’ll work out better this time. In any case, I have a good feeling about this guy.

In other news… got a couple of ideas brewing, as well as some contacts made, that could end up with some freelance work for me.  I’ll fill you in on the details if – or should I say when? –  those chicks have hatched.

Healthwise … have had some rather serious pain in the scar area just above my bellybutton this past week. Am hoping it’s just from maybe overdoing it in pilates class, so will wait a few more days before contacting the docs. But that is the area that keeps showing up as being very inflamed in the scans, and I think it’s also where the hernia is. I just hope it isn’t you-know-what again.

But being just five more classes away from finally being relatively self-sufficient again … I cannot tell you how wonderful that feels! I’ll actually be able to buy a book or a dvd without feeling guilty about spending donation money “frivolously”. And I won’t feel like such a wuss. I also won’t lie awake at night wondering how I’m going to pay the bills. And I may even plan a trip – I’d really love to go back to Morocco, or maybe to London or Lisbon. Just for a few days. Anyone want to go with me?

Right, off to hatch those chicks. With fingers crossed.