Katie Johnson

Jun 30, 20236 min read

Lodge-Living Ending: Car, House, Scooter, Spanish Bank Account- DONE!

So you may have noticed in my last few posts that Spain works on beach time- a simple document will take a month to come back from the government, driver's licenses are processed every 2 weeks and the housing process scheduled our inspection for two weeks after signing papers.

Have I mentioned that I am NOT a patient woman!?!

So while waiting for things to come back, I added another to-do list item to my growing list: set up a Spanish Bank Account. Lucky for me, BBVA has a branch on base, but it's located a nice mile and a half walk from the Navy Lodge in the Spanish base area. So after three trips back and forth, I was able to set up a Spanish Bank Account for Bryan and I and transfer funds from our Navy Fed account for easier access to Euros.

With this account, we can pay our rent and utilities and have access to Spanish ATMs without incurring the standard fees we are used to when traveling abroad. The biggest bonus is that Bryan has set up for part of his paycheck to be paid in Euros to this account, so we avoid conversion fees and wire transfer fees for all our bill payments. Long story short, the long, hot walks to the bank will be worth it in the long run!

Jose at BBVA was beyond helpful. From our first meeting, he was able to guide me through the process and complete the necessary documentation for opening an account without Bryan present. After my last appointment with Jose, I snapped this photo on my walk back to the American part of base, as Spanish sailors raised the Spanish flag at 8 am.

What a life!

With over €6,000 in cash in my backpack, I made my way back towards the Lodge. Saturday, June 17 at 10 am our house passed inspection, meaning we could officially move in the following Friday! All that was left to do was fill out the pre-contract with my landlords, deliver to housing, wait 48 hours, pick up the lease, sign 3 copies with my landlords, pay my first month's rent & security deposit, return to housing and schedule the loaner appliances and furniture, and then wait another 48 hours for housing to accept the delivery request. THEN the pups and I could move in on Friday, June 23.

Military-level efficiency there.

Wednesday, June 21: I Bought a Car!

In the middle of going back and forth between the housing office and my future landlords, I also received my NIE meaning I could finally buy the car! So June 21st, I met the local Spanish couple at the Geico office off-base to sign over the car and hand over the final payment. I am now the newest car owner in Spain!

I see many road trips in our future; this 2011 Acura MDX will be well-loved!

Wednesday evening, as I loaded up all our belongings into the new Acura, I was flagged down by a group of USO ladies asking me to join them for Bingo at the Lodge. Unable to say no, I hunkered down with a newly arrived sailor, where we made small talk and each won a round of Bingo!

After the hour Bingo break, I was back to packing the car for the first trip to the new place on Thursday morning!

See, I even won an art kit and a bag of popcorn- not too shabby for the impromptu event!

Thursday, June 22: Load 1 to the New Home!

Knowing I had too much to transport on Friday, my landlords were kind enough to hand over the keys Wednesday when we signed the official lease, so Thursday I dropped off the first carload of belongings.

See, this is what happens when I move to a new country, alone. I have been stalking the military Facebook pages for used European appliances and had lucked out with finding a Crockpot, blender, electric kettle, fan, hair dryer, surge protectors, and converter plugs for next to nothing. (This is the benefit of PCSing during the busy season!) With these purchases, plus the 7 boxes of "goodies" I mailed to Bryan's sponsor from Japan, my two suitcases and two dog kennels weren't making it in one load!

After emptying the car and bleaching the kitchen cabinets, I picked up Meghan for a dinner date! I also suckered her into helping me pick up another one of my military Facebook page buys: a huge umbrella for our top patio! We then headed over to Sedona, a Mexican restaurant in New Rota, where we split some killer pork nachos and some shrimp tacos.

Friday, June 23: MOVE IN DAY!

After 39 days in hotel rooms on three different continents, we finally made it to our move-in date for our new home! These pups have endured it all and we did it!

Were they excited to be in a new, completely-empty home? Nope. Our loaner furniture and appliances weren't delivered until 5 pm, so we spent the day on the floor of our new house and listening to all the creaks and eerie sounds an empty home makes.

I quickly gained two shadows, who followed me room-to-room as I cleaned and prepared for the loaner things to arrive!

At about 6 pm, I get a ring at our gate and realize it was our landlords. The loaner appliance delivery men weren't able to install the dishwasher due to hookup adapters, so my landlords came over to install it themselves. While my dinner cooled on the stovetop, Julia and Francisco Javier pulled out the cabinet, hooked up the dishwasher, and waited for it to run a pre-rinse cycle before packing up and heading home.

I'm already feeling so blessed with great landlords! The dogs also enjoyed the extra attention and they even snuck in a few ear licks and head sniffs while Francisco Javier was up under the cabinets!

But don't worry, our adventure isn't over yet.

Saturday, June 24: Scooter Listing

So while browsing all the Facebook Groups, I have seen several mopeds/scooters for sale and have been itching to get one. I mean, what is more European than scooting around town like Lizzie Maguire on the back of an Italian moped?! (If you don't catch my reference then you need to stop now and watch the *classic* Lizzie Maguire Movie immediately.)

Normally the minute these bikes are posted, people pounce and they are sold within the hour. I know this because I have tried to get 3 other bikes without much luck. The last one I missed out on because some dude jumped the line and offered $250 over the asking price.

So after trying my hand at multiple scooter sales, I finally pulled the douchebag card and offered the guy $100 more than he was asking. And it worked.

Sunday morning I met up with the sweetest Air Force guy who taught me how to turn it on and the basics on driving a moped. He gave me plenty of pointers, handed over the helmet and I was off on a test drive in base housing! Things seemed to run smoothly and I didn't wreck it during my single lap, so I told him I wanted it! We agreed to meet up Monday morning to sign the papers and transfer funds at the Geico office. (I swear those ladies are making BANK off me this week!)

Monday & Tuesday, June 26-27: All Kinds of Repairs

Monday I spent the day running more errands around Base on my newly-purchased scooter and Tuesday was filled with the housing office, yet again, because our refrigerator had kept everything frozen, no matter what setting it was on. I also met Jose, our gardener, who will come once a week to maintain our yard and is an overall handyman, who also replaced our shower head and repaired the light switch in Bryan's game room!

I also have been going without good AC in our living room, so our landlords were quick to call the repair tech out to take a look. Apparently its too old to repair, so I will have a brand new unit installed on Thursday!

Who said moving into a "new" place was easy?!

Wednesday, June 28: UB Delivered!

Wednesday finally arrived and that meant it was Unaccompanied Baggage Delivery Day! Thanks to our Apple Airtags, I had been tracking our UB shipment as it plane-hopped from Japan through the US and eventually to Rota. At 10 am, the delivery guys arrived and quickly unloaded the 46 boxes containing all our clothes, most of our linens, and a few random boxes from our kitchen.

When I say "random items from our kitchen," I mean just that. Boxed up were every single collar from Hugo & Reynolds' collection (why was that with the kitchen items, great question,) the three crockpot lids for our triple crock pot (but no crock pot,) two wine glasses, a ton of our beer glass collection, my bread pan and a bunt pan. Now it's time to get creative in the kitchen!

The rest of Wednesday is quite a blur: I unpacked all those boxes, bleached two bathrooms, mopped the second floor, unpacked and reorganized both our closets, bathed two dogs, and did several loads of laundry. To say it was a packed day is an understatement! But hey, our house is finally beginning to feel like a home!