Brexit, Bureaucracy & YES to the Alpujarras...

namastethis (55)in #steempress • 6 years ago

Over the last couple of days in the Alpujarra… it’s been a cyclone of ‘stuff’… a flow that turned into a familiar torrent of tangents… as is the way that life tends to be up here in these energy infused mountains.

So to start off… let’s say that B word. Brexit. Oh Dear God. Who to believe. What to believe. What to do and when to do it. Thankfully I now have my residency (and yes… I’ve still to share that story!!)… but the latest mad rush is to now get our UK driving licenses exchanged to a Spanish ones… because if UK isn’t part of the EU next month then we may well have to take the Spanish driving test. Seriously… who knows what the heck is going to happen but I’m not taking that risk… so I started the process. And it turns out you need a medical, another document of this and that and copies and photos and certificate and then it all has to be taken to the equivalent of the DVLA in Granada… which by all accounts is a test of faith, patience and perseverance… and a need for verbal fluency.

So I opted for the safe option and Alpujarra Conect are sorting it out once I’ve got all my bits, bobs and ducks in a row. The medical check up was interesting though. And with google translate on hand I managed to press the right button to show I had safe co-ordination and acceptable spacial awareness… from both the left and the right… and I managed to read the first few letters of the bottom line of the eye sight test before being interrupted and boxes being ticked and tapped into the computer. Then while I was waiting for the ‘I’m medically safe to drive’ document to come through at the reception desk, which was meant to be only 10 minutes and yet 45 minutes later I’m still standing there with rather tired legs and a jaded accepting smile on my face, I met a couple who where doing the exact same thing… .although they’ve been resident here for a much longer time.. .and they have rescue donkeys… which I’ve already fallen in love with, without even meeting them.

I’ve also had to go into Lanjarón town council to register there as a resident… because before, I’ve been registered in Orgiva, because that’s where we were registered as renting for our first year, but that apparently doesn’t cut it anymore. That was fun. I’ve no idea how I managed to understand what on earth she was saying as we handed over the copy of our escritura (deeds) and she went through them with a micro-microscope… at one point asking me where my name was and giving me a heart attack. But we got there in the end and I was promised it would be ready by the next day… which is good… because I needed that document to proceed with exchanging to a Spanish driving license.

The last few days have also seen me step up and take on the role of leading a global healing event, in Órgiva to support our fight against the proposed pylons through the area. I don’t want every post that I share here to now be about the pylons… because our life goes on around this… but nevertheless… it’s what we’re all moving through now… and facing. So, I’ve put out the call for people to come together in love to raise the vibration around the situation… and anchor more light into Mother Earth to help support the defeat of the electricity conglomerate.

The ‘Say YES to the Alpujarras and Mother Earth’ event is on Saturday 2nd March at 12pm… click HERE to find out more!

In fact, last night we were in Lanjaron at a meeting that was held underneath the Municipal Market in a great meeting space with red cinema-like comfy chairs and stage. We saw our friends from further down the mountain who are also directly affected… and there was a good sense of community and of everyone submitting the personal complaint to register their objection and 'Di No A Las Torres!’ What was great, was that we saw our direct neighbour, who we haven’t seen since before Christmas. He is a real old character… a smaller, possibly unhinged (if local gossip is to be believed) version of Santa Claus, with a bright twinkle in his eye… holes in his jumper and his permanent woolly hat. Despite the language barrier, we have a great ‘non speaking relationship’… but he has such a thick Andalucian accent so I haven’t a hope of understanding a word of what he says. But, he is welcoming and friendly… and he has been helpful… and we now feel quite protective of him!

Luckily, last night, Lucy was there. Lucy’s Lanjarón’s official bi-lingual bridge between the ex-pat community and the council, so she very kindly stepped in to help translate so we could have a conversation with Cristoba. Things like… are we going to use the shared chain, padlock and keys across the track entrance which had disappeared over night a couple of months ago... and then he was telling us about some dodgy peeps not to trust... and that he’s delighted to have us there as neighbours to his land… even though he doesn’t live on the land… and the natural water storage area behind the wall that got totally flooded and ruined years ago… and… he said he really liked what we were doing with the land! Thank goodness for Lucy… there was a lot clarified that had been hanging over us… and we felt great for having seen him again.

After the meeting we headed straight to the nearest bar with our friends from further down the mountain and we all numbed our ‘pyloned’ nerves… and can you believe it… we met another couple from Edinburgh who live here! It’s a very, very small world indeed. Despite the circumstances of us meeting… it was a great end to an evening that started off infused with the lower vibes of worry.

This morning I put the laptop down and went and helped My Gorgeous Man… Build Fire and Burn!

All the lovingly pruned trees and preparing them for abundant olive production next year, means that huge piles of branches have been building up that needed to be set free through fire. You can’t leave cut olive branches lying around as there’s an insect or bug that I don’t know the name of that can cause havoc with your trees… so we’re making sure that doesn’t happen here in our magical kingdom.

So after a satisfying morning of dragging branches, fire building, dragging more branches, fire monitoring, tidying up and dropping our potatoes into the ashes to bake… I headed back into Lanjarón to pick up the ‘Empadronamiento’ document… parking conveniently just outside the supermarket and diving in to check if any of Sir Maxelot’s favourite chicken pate was back in stock… but it wasn’t… and I ended up buying other options to make sure his Lordship didn’t have to go without… and by the time I made it into the council offices with all possible lines in Spanish, perfectly lined up in my head… I was told that the document wasn’t ready because her colleague was off sick, with sick kids and she was holding the fort but didn’t have enough arms and legs to cover all bases. In her defence, she had phoned me to say not to come in… but I don’t like answering my Spanish phone incase I don’t understand what’s coming down ‘the line’… so… I hadn’t picked up. Friday’s the day apparently. I really must be more courageous in answering my phone!

But I still had to go back in the other direction and on to Órgiva, as the documentation for our new car insurance was to be completed and paid for. Again, I had the conversation all lined up in my head… but again, the insurance wasn’t done… because there was a signature missing on each page… the pages they’d seen yesterday and given the thumbs up to… but they’d only taken a copy of the front page and that wasn’t valid enough for head office… which needed the back page where my signature was clearly there.

Deep breath. Ooooooookaaaay.

So, more copies taken… cash payment handed over and apparently Bob was my Uncle… and all the policy documents would be sent to Alpujarra Conect… but I was insured. I think. Probably. Yes definitely. Ok then. But My Gorgeous Man wasn’t. Because he needed his NIE number, and his appointment isn’t till later in March which had been arranged while he was in Dubai…. under the panic stress of Brexit. But now that My Hero is back, and because there’s such a rush to get ‘legal’… there aren’t any closer appointments… unless you pay through the nose for them.

So after much wasted emotion rallying against what was… we gave up the fight, got our BFF the credit card out and paid. Thank you credit card. Because My Gorgeous Man needs to be on the insurance and be able to drive. The last insurance company weirdly weren’t bothered… but this one is… and there’s a list of reasons that we’ve changed insurers that are way too boring to share here. But the main thing is that MGM will have his NIE number on Friday! Yay! We must celebrate at the beach bar that I went to when my residency went through!

After the insurance and town council escapades, and having achieved very little of what was supposed to be an afternoon of completion… I went to the nearest bar and ordered… a coffee. I was wiped.

Healing coffee for all the bureaucracy....

So many documents...

And I had an hour to fill before doing an in person Oracle card reading. The coffee helped, but what I really wanted was a power nap… so I drove down to the river by the Seven Eye Bridge… briefly getting caught in a sheep and goat traffic jam…and as soon as I pulled up by the river I basically fell asleep under the eaves of the stunning Sierra Lujar mountain. Well… of course I overslept… very, very unusual for me… and I woke up when I was supposed to be arriving at the house for the reading. Luckily… it was only a 10 minute drive away… and I was ooooooh so grateful for ‘Spanish time keeping’ making me look as if I was bang on the minute.

The reading was such an honour… and I spent way longer than I planned with her… but when the energy is flowing and the healing and insight is there… for me, this is what my work is all about.

By the time I got home… the sun was beginning to set and I was treated to spectacular views, with the golden light and clouds over the mountain tops… and I met My Gorgeous Man being taken for a wander along our track by Sir Maxelot. What a handsome pair they were.

Burnt home, fire baked potatoes...

My heart swelled with love and gratitude as I saw them so happy and content together. Back in the house My Hero Man had remembered our baked potatoes…. 7 hours after planting them in the fire… and he proudly offered me his burnt out gifts wrapped in foil. But after a long day we both needed more than some burnt skins so he set to making one of his special curry experiments. And I headed up to the roof to relax, breathe, let the day go… and revel in the setting sun.

My boys...

What a stunning sunset it was… Mother Earth and nature are my healers… time stopped as I dropped into the bliss of simply being in gratitude, awe and appreciation of what was around me.

It’s these moments that are so precious in life. It’s these moments that offer us glimpses of Oneness… with a love that comes from nowhere filling us from top to toe… and which needs no explanation or description. It’s simply love.

And through that love, I received an invitation to join Martin McNicholl on his daily livestream “New Earth Mystery School Empowerment Hour” show on Friday 22nd February at 4.44 GMT to talk about the pylons and our movement to heal the world through LOVE.

Basking in the glow of the sunset...

This is the power of the flow… and of living from your heart. Doors open, help comes in… and miracles can become your reality.

Hasta Luego my lovelies,

Love,

You can sign the petition against the pylons HERE and help us save the the stunning Alpujarras! We only have till the 7th March 2019 to register our protest!

You can help us by sending in your own 'allegation' even if you aren't resident here. Every complaint has to be addressed and personally answered, and not only will it show the extent the Alpujarra protest, it will overload the council system and give the lawyers and working platforms more time!