jeannie & steve

13 Monday Apr 2020

Posted by in casa azahar, coronavirus, friends, home

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The evening appreciation applause continue around the country, and the other day I met Jeannie & Steve after they had put a banner out on their balcony celebrating their 50th anniversary (I ran to fill a wine glass and toast them too). Then I heard Jeannie saying something to her neighbour across the street and I thought… hmmm, definitely not Spanish! So the next evening after the applause I shouted hello to them and asked where they were from.

Turns out they are from Florida and got trapped here when the lockdown happened and, after their hotel was forced to close, were lucky enough to find temporary accomodation in my street. So we are now in touch on WhatsApp and Facebook and it’s lovely, this getting to know the neighbours thing. There’s a bright side to everything, isn’t there?

lockdown day 27: one day at a time

09 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by in coronavirus, sevilla

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So I have put in for what is called the “prestación extraordinaria”, for self-employed people. Apparently people on salaries are being paid 75% of their usual wages, but us autónomos just get something like 600€ a month. If eligible (still waiting on that one). And while that is better than nothing, it’s really not much. It doesn’t even cover my rent. And who knows when we will even receive it? Plus they still charged me 300€ for social security in March, so… wut? Anyhow, TONS of red tape. Well at least those guys still have a job!

I’ve really been trying to just deal with this situation one day at a time because, if not, I could end up on a very slippery slopes leading to The Depths Of Utter Despair. Once again my cancer training has come in handy, especially the finely honed living in denial skillz. Because while I did get help with covering my rent and bills this month, for which I am very grateful, this thing isn’t ending any time soon. What about next month, and six or eight months from now???? Eh, not going there. Yet. See? It almost works.

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