Wild Boars!

They say ‘Live and Learn’. But sometimes it’s nice when you can learn something without actually living thru it.

The Valencian Communidad has implemented new Covid restrictions. Nightly curfews and the like. But what they really want to do, but can’t without the Central Government in Madrid declaring another State of Alarm, is to put a lockdown around the perimeter of the entire region. The 17 regions around the country are desperately trying to control the virus. But there are limits to their power to limit movement across their regions. But they will get their wish today. And that will keep Valencians in Valencia until December 9th. And others out. Great!

But we have a little problem with that. We have to be out of our apartment by January 1st. So we need to find a new home. After much discussion in el Compartimento we decided that instead of renting something in Valencia in the short term, we would head to somewhere in Galicia. But we can’t wait until December 9th to start looking. We need to secure a place and arrange for movers. So when it was announced that the regions are requesting a new State of Alarm from the Central Government and it would go into effect today, it was unanimous that I should leave Valencia immediately and head north. Before it takes effect.

Long drive. Another long drive. I decided I would stay in Lugo. Pontevedra is on lockdown and I wanted to ensure I made it to Galicia before any perimeter closures. Last night, on a dark windy rainy drive, with road closures and maximum construction diversions on the A6, I was only 15 kilometers from Lugo when I came around a corner and my entire lane was blocked by wild boars.

Now I know what you’re thinking. Seriously, Kelli? No way. But, yes. Wild fucking boars! They call them javalinas here, but they are not the same as the javalinas in Arizona. They’re boars and people hunt and eat them here. And now I have killed two of them with my car. And they, in turn, killed my car. Even though I was going well under the speed limit because of the darkness and weather, I could not stop. It happened in a split second. It took out my bumper, front grill, and radiator.

I’m OK. Just shaken up. The wonderful taxi driver I called did his best to calm me down in Espanol and to get me to stop crying hysterically, while rambling on and on unintelligibly in ingles. I’ve never killed an animal before.

‘Its ok. We have them everywhere. This is very common.’ He assured me.

But it did little to assure me it would be OK last night. Those boars are dead. I just kept thinking ‘What else is 2020 going to throw at me? Wild fucking boars?!?! Are eagles going to attack me from the sky next?!?’

Today I called my insurance company. Honestly, I have to get my Spanish on because it was a serious challenge communicating. Finally, I went down into the lobby and had the agent at the front desk help translate. 5 minutes later a person with perfect Ingles called me back. They arranged everything.

I took another taxi back to the car and waited for the tow truck. Then the tow truck driver called another taxi to take me back. All taken care of by the insurance company. Last February, when I bought full coverage, the agent tried to talk me out of it. ‘Its not necessary.’ But I insisted. Now I’m glad I did. They’ll provide a rental car, pay for a hotel until I get the car back, and give me a meal perdiem.

And like every time I ever enter a new town, I’ve become infamous in less than 24 hours. When the last taxi picked me up today I told him what happened and he took me back to the hotel I got last night.

‘I know about it from my friend who collected you last night. I know where you are staying. I will tell him you are OK and everything is being taken care of. He was very concerned.’ It seems the benevolent taxi grapevine is functioning well.

So, instead of one day in Lugo I will be here likely for a week while they repair my car. Maybe its the world’s way of forcing me to ‘tranquila’. I could use a little bit of that right about now.