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Spain has worked out well for me. I might never make tenure track at Instituto Cervantes, but navigate chats in español far more adroitly than when I arrived last summer. I’ve made new friends, hope to stay put. I stand by ‘impressions’ rounds one and two, but will humbly judge this latest contribution to be…

Or, a round-up of heretofore unmentioned tips for expats and expats-to-be: MAIL AND DELIVERIES Almost everything I once ordered through amazon.com stateside is available through amazon.es in Spain. I use the same account and log-in, have received deliveries without incident. An amazon.es CSR called to verify bonafides for my first order. I missed a couple…

I joined many public hikes in San Francisco, and while thus wholesomely engaged often found myself talking shop with techies: querying a coder about the merits of Java, C, Python while we panted our way up Bernal hill, or absorbing security tips from a sysadmin under the Lands’ End cypress boughs. Two reasons why: IT…

I completed paperwork for a Spain long-term visa, moved to Madrid, live there now, intend to stay.   This morning I feel oddly motivated to sum up what I’ve learned about the process for transitophile readers.  I wonder why!  Who knows where these weird whims originate? Maybe something happened. The U.S.-to-Spain expat wanna-be must: qualify for…

Spain is interested in Donald Trump. Understandably. I ignored many European squabbles while hailing F cars on the other side of the planet, but paid attention when Britain voted itself out of the European Union. Iberian psychology may be similar. Spaniards have their own canoes to row, little time to fret about Citizens United, Merrick…

España está interesada en Donald Trump. Entiendo por qué. Ignoraba muchos conflictos de Europa mientras viajaba en tranvías al otro lado del mundo, pero presté atención cuando Reino Unido votó por el Brexit. La psicología de la Península Iberica podría ser similar. Los españoles tienen sus propios problemas, poco tiempo para preocuparse por Citizens United,…

Still mortified by those gnaw marks on the keyboard from a rage-making experiment with Linux last decade? Consider giving the OS another try; Linux has matured. I switched last summer, endured far less grief than expected, now rarely boot into Windows. Warning: this post is geeky. If you don’t know or care what a “Linux”…

He was about eighteen, pudgy, stoned; I wondered if he’d keel over in the BART car. But he managed to lurch upright when his Balboa Park stop came up, and that’s when I spotted the logo on his tote bag. Cannabis Cup. The big marijuana fest at the San Francisco Cow Palace. That explained it.…