#1. The cold. The bitter, unrelenting cold!
I know, I know. It's not even as cold in Toledo as it is in Pittsburgh. We haven't even had any snow here. How can I complain?
Well, maybe I shouldn't be complaining about the cold, but instead, about the way the Spanish deal with the cold. They would rather suffer with frozen fingers and cold toilet seats than pay to turn the heat on. We have had streaks of days below zero (Celsius, so.. somewhere in the 20s Fahrenheit), and we have still never turned on all of the heat in this apartment. And let me tell you, these apartments weren't designed to trap the heat in either! There is no insulation in the walls or windows. There is no carpeting on the floors, just cold tile. (Thank God I have slippers, or I would really be suffering!) And the curtains (if there are any) are sheer. Freshly washed laundry is taking 2-3 days to dry, and most of the time I can't tell if they are still wet or just frozen. I finally bought some fleece sheets yesterday. I had to wash them, and instead of having the pleasure of hot, just-out-of-the-dryer sheets on my bed, I'm covering it with cold sheets, just brought in from the frigid, wintery outdoors. It really is all about the small pleasures in life, people.
I am almost certain that my body has grown permanent goosebumps. But I may have to wait until March to find out for sure. You can see your breath when you walk through the hallway. My shampoo comes out chunky because it's half frozen. When I am in this apartment, 85% of the time I am sitting in my bed, wrapped in 3 blankets. All of these are signs that maybe we should turn the heat up-- just a tad.
And I just found out today that it's only going to get worse! Starting in January, there will be a 10% increase on electricity bills! I'm tempted to just build a fire in the middle of my room. Then I could put the marshmallows that Chelsea sent me to good use! :)
#2. The Strays. The kitty cats are taking over the Secret Garden!
I don't know if I've mentioned the Strays before. But they are an ever-present part of my life here. You may have seen photos of my Secret Garden -- the abandoned building across from my apartment -- the lovely, romantic, oh-so-Spanish view from my bedroom window. And I'm sorry to say it, but the Strays are beginning to ruin it for me.
When I first got here, I found the Strays to be charming. (What wasn't charming at first?) They were a bunch of cute kitties that wandered around in the Secret Garden -- and if I couldn't have my kitties, at least I could watch these cuties from the window.
A few months later, as I spent more time looking out of the kitchen window, I began to notice that these cats have a seemingly busy life. "Perhaps I can write a proposal to give them their own TV show. It can't be any worse than Merekat Manor", I thought. "And who knows, maybe I can make a dollar or two."
But I am sorry to report that my latest opinions of the Strays are much less endearing. These days, they run across the roof like...like animals. They fight a lot. And they make horrible sounds a lot. And, well, they "make up" a lot too. In the middle of the night, the last thing that I want to hear are the screeching Strays as they tear up the Secret Garden.
And the worst part? Their...*ahem*... rambunctious activity is sure to grow the population by the springtime. Bob Barker would be so disappointed. Maybe I need to have a chat with the little old lady who leaves them food at night. These cats need to find something better to do!
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| The Strays, eating the food that they didn't have to work for. |
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| Can you spot him, sitting on the roof like he owns the place? |
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| This |
(Oh, and don't worry. When June rolls around, I'm sure you'll get another blog post, telling you how horribly hot it is, and how these pisos just weren't made for the heat.) :)
1 comment:
pet peeves. literally.
That is SO miserable about the piso and the heat. You should maybe invest in a space heater. I had one and it was glorious. Ugh. I´m not a fan of cold.
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