While on the infomercials I just got permission from my boss to claim that WeTakeCare also provides all services mentioned in this topic :) Saskia (the owner) is still waiting for her official certificate from the Spanish King but she passed her exams and is now officially fluent on a professional level in Spanish. Shopping, groceries, shower cubicles, gardens, fitting lights, insurances, collecting from airports, interior design, letting services: you name it we do it.
BTW If you really need a professional (sworn) translator we can provide someone who we are very glad with.
The weather is extremely good this winter. There are of course days with rain, but mostly the sky is clear and it becomes quite hot in the sun. I measured 45 degrees today!
On a different note we had some very dramatic stories this week. People on the DJ site who got in to very serious medical and mental problems. They come to us for help as we are always on site and we always try to help. We did actually help these three families as good as we can and are in one case still doing so. I won't divulge any details as I respect their privacy. There are however a few lessons to be learned which are important:
- make sure you're properly insured for medical expenses as real horror stories do actually happen (one of these cases will result in months of staying in a Spanish care home leaving a family without any income)
- make sure you're properly prepared for emergencies. Make sure you that you know the addresses of your consulate, medical institutes, taxis, lawyers etc and have them programmed in your telephone. Make sure that you have a backup on paper and consider buying a Spanish telephone with prepaid sim card as a backup. In an emergency you want to make lots of local phone calls and your mobile can always fail you.
- do realize that if you spent a substantial amount of time in another country you're without your usual lifeline of family, friends and neighbours, the language is a barrier and you're not acquainted with the local procedures so make sure you're prepared for the worse.
Of course most of you will never experience any drama on your visit to Spain, but looking at these three families (in one week!) I would advise you to do your homework and make sure you’re prepared for the worse so that you can just enjoy the good weather.