‘Twitters from the Atlantic’ – by Barrie Mahoney
Barrie Mahoney was a teacher, head teacher and school inspector in the UK, as well as a reporter in Spain, before moving to the Canary Islands as a newspaper editor. He is still enjoying life in the sun as a writer and author.
THE MAÑANA FACTOR
It was very early one morning when I received a telephone call from a helpful lady, who claimed that she was from “the removals company”. Apparently, they had several boxes of items belonging to me, which they would like to deliver to our home later that morning. Would I be in?
I agreed, but was taken by surprise and did not think to ask any further questions. This was a call that I had not been expecting. After all, we had moved to the island some eight years earlier, and that was the last I had anything to do with any removals company. My mind went back to ten years earlier.
Ten years ago, after we had decided to move to the Costa Blanca, we had to make another major decision. Would we, like so many expats, sell, give away and otherwise dispose of most our UK belongings, and buy all new items for our new Spanish home? Alternatively, would we take most of our UK furniture and belongings with us, which was the more expensive option? We decided that as we wanted to have our memories with us it would be money well spent. Despite this, it still meant many trips to the local charity shops to dispose of unwanted books, records, clothes and kitchen items. It was a heart breaking process in many ways, and I was relieved when my work took me away from home during those final stages of the big clear out.
Our furniture and belongings eventually arrived in the Costa Blanca, mostly unscathed apart from a broken mirror, which probably explained some of our initial periods of bad luck, although I am not at all superstitious. Surprisingly, most of the furniture fitted into our new home very well, although my electric trouser press caused some raised eyebrows, as I rarely wore a suit or long trousers. During those initial months in Spain, it was comforting to be surrounded by familiar items from our UK home, as well as items that had been in both our families for many years.
Two years later, we were once again on our travels and we arranged for all our belongings to be shipped to the Canary Islands. This was an expensive process, but we reasoned that as we had already brought everything with us to Spain, we had better complete the task and transport it all to the Canary Islands.
Upon our arrival, some of the items were to be delivered to our new, but temporary apartment, with the remainder being held in storage until we found a home that we really liked. Eventually, the remaining items were delivered to our new home, which we hoped would be the last move for a very long time. It was good to be surrounded once again by familiar items, a grandfather clock that my father had lovingly crafted many years ago, my Great Aunt Ada’s china cabinet, as well as a collection of other items that mean so much to both of us.
During the intervening years, my partner and I have often had heated discussions, along the lines of “Where is my collection of Shakespeare records?” or “Where is that ostrich egg that we brought back from South Africa?” Two glass shelves from Great Aunt Ada’s china cabinet had also disappeared, as had the key to Granny’s clock, as well as a number of cassette tapes. It was irritating that our highly efficient wine bottle foil cutter from California had also disappeared, as well as several videos, including ‘Tea with Mussolini’, which should incidentally be compulsory viewing for any intending expat on how not to approach a new life abroad. I had just assumed that my partner had disposed of these items quietly, whilst I had been working away from home during those final days in the UK.
The doorbell rang and I answered it with anticipation of what I would discover. Without a word of apology or explanation, the young man in overalls gently placed two large cardboard boxes in our driveway. I tried to ask for an explanation of why it had taken eight years to deliver the two boxes, but was answered with a broad smile, a shrug and, I think, just a hint of a wink.
Yes, most of the missing items were there. However, we no longer have a record player to play the Shakespeare records on, a video recorder to play the videos or a cassette player to play the cassettes. Great Aunt Ada’s glass shelves were there, as was the key to Granny’s clock, although we are still looking for the foil cutter.
Over the years I have come to accept the truism that time moves at a different pace in Spain and the Canary Islands. Generally, I now have a greater tolerance and acceptance of delays and promises, knowing that it usually works out in the end. However, I do think that a delay of eight years is pushing it.
If you enjoyed this article, take a look at Barrie’s websites: www.barriemahoney.com and www.thecanaryislander.com or read his latest book, ‘Twitters from the Atlantic’ (ISBN: 978 1480033986). Available as paperback, Kindle and iBooks. iPhone/iPad Apps: ExpatInfo and CanaryIsle now available from the Apple Store.
© Barrie Mahoney
Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/39433/
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