5,4,3,2,1,MEME...and a surprise

Kim at Stepping Stones got me with this MEME...aimed mostly at expats, so lets see how I do, and who I'll get, I don't read that many expat blogs, I may have to bend it a bit to make it fit.

Name five things you love in your new country:
1. The sea and the mountains, both at my doorstep, well, a very short walk away.
2. Barcelona...I don't really need to say more, what an amazing place.
3. Being able to have guest after three years on the boat where we really couldn't.
4. Eating.
5. The challenge of it all.

Name four things that you miss from your native country:
1. R O O M and S P A C E.
2. ummmmm,
3. hmmmmmmm.
4. lots of lovely trees and lakes and rivers and wildlife with NO PEOPLE IN THEM
(this isn't really fair, because Canada is fantastic and a wonderful place to live, but I am not great at missing things, well except the boat....)

So here, I'll name four things that I miss from my previous life as a cruiser:
1. My family
2. My boat, Oreneta
3. Sailing
4. Spending all my time outdoors, and living in and with the natural world all the time.

Name three things that annoy you a bit (or a lot) in your new country:
1. Hassles with the school. (though that is far from unique to here)
2. Dirt bikes.
3. Big, loud, aggressive dogs and dog sh*t everywhere.

Name two things that surprise you (or surprised you in the beginning) in your new country:
1. How easy so much has been.
2. Narrow food options in the grocery stores.

Name one thing that you would miss terribly in your new country, if you had to leave it:
1. The mountains.

Now who to tag??

I am going to bend this a bit. If you are living expat...then go ahead as is, or bend it as you want. If you aren't, I am looking forward to the different ways you'll warp bend it to suit you. Have fun. In no particular order, well actually in the apparently random order my computer has saved my favorites, without any logic that I can see, not chronological, alphabetical...I don't know. Must have to do with the bizarre inner workings of some computer programmer's brain:

Beth at Blind as a Bat
Beth at BooksEtc
Kate at Expat Mama
Nomad at Navel-gazing again
Dorky Dad at Basement Epiphanies
Trish at Coffee House Chatter
and Jocelyn at O Mighty Crisis

Well, I tagged more than five...sorry, you don't have to; and if you hate these things, well, skip it...I don't care, and neither will anyone else, it's your blog isn't it.

Back to my day and life...
Locally, the man got exciting mail today, which doesn't happen often. It looked pretty dull, if not a little alarming. There was a letter from the bank...dullsville central, and an 'URGENT' letter from the ajuntamin, city hall, a little alarming. Turns out the city hall is having a supper in June to celebrate the 50th birthday of any local people who hit that milestone this year, and he qualifies. It does cost 30 Euros, but still, kinda cool. The one from the bank we assumed was an update of some sort, we get millions of them, but NO! Turns out he won a wheely suitcase, complete with a zip on knapsack! WOAH. It's not a piece of crap either! WOW. Now that's good mail.

The dog has developed this new thing, he has gotten this desire to have bits of me in his mouth. That sounds strange, he isn't trying to bite, he just wants to put his mouth around whatever bit of me he can get a hold of, ankle, wrist, arm, hand, leg...whatever comes past. Usually when he is being patted, so it seems a little like a love kind of thing, but what do I know. It's a little weird, and I am not that excited about it, indeed I don't really like it at all. I tried simply discouraging it at first, but now I am jamming his Kong in his mouth whenever he starts. Sometimes he will take it and go and chew, but often he isn't interested. What is that? Any doggie experts out there know what's going on? I am his favorite person at this point...and I am the only one he does it to. ???????

Six word summary....
surprises frustration
warm cool
laugh climb