500 days. That’s how long I’ve been learning Spanish. I know it tells me every day but it’s still a bit of a surprise.

If you’d told me 500 days ago that I would not have missed a day but also that I’d have emigrated and come to Estepona I’d probably have thought you were mad.

Especially if you’d told me I would have not stirred outside the immediate environs of the city once moving here.

With a couple of exceptions, Sevilla and Frigiliana, and not outside Andalusia province this year.

Although a visit to Cadiz is on the agenda, and we’ll be happy to visit Gibraltar once we’re sure we will still be able to get back in.

I do miss my travelling. As do Lorraine and Penelope.

If truth be told, one of the reasons for moving to Spain was the flights to South America, a continent I’ve yet to touch.

This will make more sense when you get near the end… Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

Part of the issue with Covid is that fulfilling my travel “itch” has been pitched into the long grass, moved to the right on the calendar, that sort of thing…

So what can we do about it?

Especially as the lack of travel opportunities is not being matched by an increase in life expectancy.

That said, I’ve lost over three stones in weight and I’m told I look healthier and younger than last year so who knows?

So holiday travel is curtailed for a year/two years/whatever?

It’ll come back – in some form or other.

So just keep planning. Give yourself something to look forward to.

And in the meantime, there are nineteen regions of Spain and we’ve only visited five of them.

Let alone provinces…

I can feel a challenge coming on.

Only two Duolingo-isms this week:

• Nunca me olvida de beber cerveza. I never forget to drink beer. An app that knows me!
• Los patos jugajaban al futbol Americano. The ducks were playing American football.

Who’d have known?

There was me thinking ducks only played ice hockey!

It’s another hot week this week, albeit reasonable to work in until today.

Today is not and I’m struggling to do anything as it’s both muggy and humid as well as hot.

I’ve already had the nap in the hope of clearing the brain fog. Without a lot of success I have to say.

And with it being Thursday and evening out I’ve an hour before I need to shut up work and continue with my language lessons.

So it looks like anything other than the blog may be out of luck.

Who can tell?

Just need to remind myself what I wrote about last week.

Oh yes. Sometimes it’s like the days and weeks just merge into one.

And you go to mention something only to realise you mentioned it in a previous blog. Like my Spanish keyboard and the way the keys work as if it was an English one, despite what the label is on the keys.

Obviously the Qwerty bit is pretty much/totally the same but most of the other keys are different.

The shift 1-10 row above the Qwerty is ! ” £ $ % ^ & * ( ) on the English keyboard but ! ” . $ % & / ( ) = on the Spanish one.

It really would be useful if you could toggle between the two.

I don’t need upside down exclamation marks and question marks too often but being able to not have to remember the extended ASCII character set would be useful when I do.

And as my language skills improve, who knows how much use I could get?

500 days.

It’s a bit like that song I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) by the Proclaimers.

I’ve just given myself hysterics.

I can remember some of the lyrics but I’ve just looked them up to remind me and found the written down bit between the choruses:

😂😂😂

Classic writing there…

And you have to scream them out in a broad Scottish accent too.

But I have nooo recollection of the ending:

And who knew Charles Reid’s middle name? A definite one for the pub quiz if they ever come back.

So what else of interest have we done this week?

Other than assist the talented photographer of the family by taking pictures and videos of una calle (a street) for what I suspect will be an article of hers on the prettiest streets of Estepona.

Quite a short post this week. And none the worse for that I hear you cry.

It’s quarter to espanol so I’d better think about getting the SEO etc. sorted and this put to bed.

And coffee. I need coffee. Just to tide me over until beer o’clock.

500 days.