Thursday 2nd May 2013

Bright and early, clothes ironed, all members dressed smart ready for business, even Ethan put on his school tie!

Packed lunch ready for a full on day, as we wanted to go to the bank first before the appointment, see what we needed as criteria, then at least we would have Ana, our Translator, with us for assistance.

At Barclays we had everything apart from some sort of Certificate of Residency, our Rental Contract wouldn’t be sufficient, well at least we knew.  Anyway we met Ana outside and went in for our appointment.  For some reason, even if you have a booked appointment you still have to get a ticket and wait in line.  Well we went to desk 3, but the lady said we couldn’t see her because we were British we needed desk 7, but that wasn’t open til 12.00.  We would have to take another ticket and they might be able to do it for us.  However, Ana did her stuff spoke to the Security Guard and then spoke to the lady at desk 7 (same Mrs Happy from last time) and she said she would help.  Forms processed, signed we went next door to the bank to pay,  came back gave her the receipt and she said come back tomorrow at 12.00 and collect your NIE’s. Woop woop. Excellent.

The kids were enjoying Ana’s presence too, especially Aston as he spent most of his time holding her hand – little Prince Charming! 

Now back to Diego at Barclays Bank and see if Ana can also use her charm on him.  Basically, it worked!   It wasn’t just being able to speak Spanish,  she was persistent in reaching a positive conclusion for us.  And it worked.  Tomorrow Friday we would collect our NIE’s and then go to the bank with the NIE and open an Account.

We then went to Carrefour at La Sierra and popped in Orange, and found that we could get a dongle internet for Euro 29.99 per month instead of the 2.99 per day that we was paying.  All in all, a fantastic day. 

Tired and a long day, but very, very happy Adjayi’s.

Previously I had read on the internet from various sources that obtaining an NIE was a nightmare.  And would take weeks and you would have to keep chasing you could not expect to be called when it was ready.  The learning experience for us and advice to anyone else is, even if your Spanish is OK, get a Translator (especially one who thinks on the same wave length as you).  It makes life so much easier, and at a reasonable cost per hour too. 

She is going to help us improve our Spanish in addition to the work we are doing at home, as well as ask her friends where there are Salsa classes, so Paul and I can get back to it.  However, we may have to do alternate lessons, so we can take turns looking after the kids.