Update: We found the light for the car for the new DGT rule about being broken down on the side of the road. It was behind the counter at our local Autoparts store. At €16 its now safely in the door pocket on the driver side door in easy reach and for handy use in case of an emergency. There will be a transition period where the triangles will still be legal and the lights will become required. To give people time to comply. I only had to ask the clerk in español and he knew right away what I needed. I was a little proud if myself and so was Jeff.
And speaking of español, in January I have to start Spanish again. Its long past time. And the signs are getting harder and harder to ignore.
The first sign is my friend from Lugo is getting very serious about me learning and we now have a pact to only text in español. I’m to try to type the correct sentences and I’m not allowed to look it up on a translation app. She will kindly correct any errors and we will continue on with our conversation. I have to give up ‘being right’ and just be good enough that someone could understand me enough to correct me. This is a fresh concept for me.
The second sign was my laptop broke. Completely. Normally I would have been to the US and replaced it. But it didn’t happen this year, so I had to bite the bullet and buy one here in Spain. And yes, it has a Spanish keyboard. This has taken some getting used to and the new letters and configuration are staring me in the face every day. Keys might look similar but they are not and do not work the same much of the time. Function keys, the Alt key. Not the same. Even quotations or apostrophes do not function the same.
More and more I need to actually speak, not just understand what other people are saying. And in real time, not just typing out what I need in advance. Muddling through is a thing of the past. And I can tell I’m getting better after months of brain fog. Slowly I’m making connections again. I think I might just be able to, not only get back to where ai was, but to truly learn to get along in Spanish.
Do I have a very very long way to go? Yes I do. But what seemed hopeless these past few months doesn’t feel so impossible, or as intimidating, now. The mountain won’t climb itself. I have to just put one foot in front of the other. Some days it will be a long slog. Others won’t seem so difficult. But if I have any hope of growing old in this country and having Spanish friends long-term its a must. I just gotta keep going.
And if I can get my Spanish to a decent level perhaps someday I’ll feel comfortable enough to tackle the citizenship test. Wouldn’t that be something? But for now I just need to start up again. One foot in front of the other.
Viva Espana 
I also had to buy a laptop with the lovely Spanish keyboard. I am used to it now but looking for punctuation is still …..fun . I still cannot figure out how to add accents to words in Spanish with that keyboard. Milito, refuses to buy a new laptop with Spanish keyboard so is still using his heavy, 10 year old very slow dinosaur.
When texting in Spanish on WhatsApp, I change the language to Spanish first. It helps a lot because otherwise, I cannot get the accents and my Spanish is still muy mal. 😊
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I opened a word doc and played around. Sometimes it seems to require a space before it will actually type the apostrophe or quotation mark. But I can finally use all the characters on the function keys but I have to use the ‘GN’ key (never seen this before) to use them all. Always learning something new.
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Are you planning on giving up your US citizenship?
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No plans for that. In Spain you’re required to sign something renouncing all other citizenship. But that means nothing to the US govmt. So as a US citizen you can hold dual citizenship. I have citizenship in another country, other than the US, already. But Spain says you can only be a Spanish citizen. Essentially what that means is that we would be Spanish citizens while in Spain and could not ask for US govmt intervention on our behalf while within Spanish territory. To give up US citizenship you are required to stand in a US embassy or consulate and formally renounce your citizenship. There is a bunch of paperwork too. I have no intention of doing that. There is no upside at this point.
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My husband is a computer guy and says you can change the settings for the keyboard:
Press “control shift” and toggle until you get the layout you want.
I know Jeff knows computers, so he probably knows that and for some reason it didn’t work.
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I bit the bullet and am trying not to change it. A person I know here said it will help me learn. Its taking a little adjustment. I think Jeff is waiting to see how long I last. I’m stubborn.
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Yes, I figured! Enjoy!
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