Homeless

We planned out this adventure.

The plan was to head out August 12 and start a road trip to visit family. After a couple of weeks, we would fly to Spain, take a week to get settled in Madrid, and be in an apartment a couple of days before the kids started school. Oh, and of course we didn’t expect any difficulty getting kids registered–we had reached out to the schools in advance and told them we were coming and they had confirmed there would be a seat waiting…

Things have not gone according to plan.

Our rent-back for our home ended August 18, so we had to get out of our house by then. Our visas had already delayed beyond when we expected, and they continued to delay for several weeks. After staying with friends (Thank you Robbins family!) we got an AirBNB for a couple of weeks. The minute our visas came in we got flights and transportation figured out.

We finally got to Spain, saw some apartments and put an offer in on one. Unfortunately, at the last minute the landlord pulled out of the deal. We’re not entirely sure what happened but along the way we realized the realtor we were using to find a place was pretty inexperienced (a late Linkedin search revealed he started a month ago!?). Now we’re using a realtor a U.S. family at church had recommended–fingers crossed we get something this week.

We checked in with the children’s schools. Natalie was able to get started (great!) and Hazel and Grace will start on Monday. As for Tyrus…they have too many third graders at the school. We have to figure out how to ask for an extra spot (even though they had emailed months ago saying they had a spot) and with Tonya’s first foray into Spanish educational bureaucracy…let’s just say there’s a lot of cross-talk and not enough organization.

Unfortunately, the issue keeping us from getting an apartment was only revealed to us Friday around noon, and realtors and landlords apparently don’t work on the weekend here. The end result is, we’re going into next week with only 3 out of 4 kids in school and no home.

At that point, I looked at a calendar and realized that it has been 4 weeks since we have lived out of something other than a suitcase.

I’d never considered what life would be like to not have a home with a family, and, to be fair, we definitely aren’t homeless in the traditional sense. We have had a roof, running water, etc., every single night. But not having the stability of knowing where you’re going to rest your head at night takes its toll–especially if that uncertainty goes on for awhile. (It’s also expensive 🙁 )

When it comes to the kids and their behavior, there’s the typical stuff you’d expect. Lots of screen time, because, unfortunately we have to be figuring out the where-to-put-your-head-at-night stuff. And then because they’re not getting enough consistent parent time, there are behavioral issues–little tiffs, uncooperativeness, lack of focus, etc.

At the end of the day though, our children have been superheroes through all of it.

While I haven’t liked the trial of not having a set home, I’ve been intrigued by reading the comments and insights our children have come up with in the meantime, all the way from Natalie’s to-be-published “I Want a Cat” post, to Hazel’s simple, deep, and insightful “What I think of Spain” post, to myriad comments from Tyrus and Grace about how their new world works. It’s been an opportunity to see them put some thoughts together and understand how they see the world in difficult, new, unexpected times.

One interesting quirk, Grace and I have been public transportation buddies here in Spain. She always wants to hold my hand, she always wants to sit next to me on the train/bus, and she always wants me to be exactly one step behind her on the escalators.

Oh, and I also had a spiritual epiphany at 2am after watching a movie because Grace couldn’t sleep, and after I got her to sleep, I couldn’t sleep. Plus, jetlag makes sleep weird.

Picture Time: I’m gonna share some pictures of the AirBNB we stayed at when we first got to Madrid. The pictures online painted a rosier view than actually living there (and they didn’t accurately communicate the pervasive mold smell of an un-airconditioned Madrid Basement apartment). Also, after our apartment offer fell through, we were (thankfully?) unable to extend our stay at the basement AirBNB, and Tonya unintentionally booked us for a particularly swanky hotel, so that’s been nice. We’ve been able to sleep (finally!), and the kids have been excited by a lot of the cool quirks of the place (Example: They have really cool reading lights on the headboard of the bed that turn on when you angle them up.) Grace in particular has taken to five-star living, hence, the bath robe picture. I also threw in some of my pictures of other parts of our journey along the way. Enjoy.