Mozart Motel

It was sad to see our guests leave as the time flew by so quickly, but we were all enriched by the visit and it was nice also to go back to our quiet life in our village. Mozart was spoiled by all the attention and lapped up every bit of it, but even she seemed happy to get back to our quiet routine. Of course, she would like them and all our relatives and friends to visit every week too.

They had to leave in the middle of the night to catch their very early morning flight, so Mozart had to say her good byes the night before. Nevertheless, she had gotten used to waking up Auntie BJ every morning, so as soon as she awoke, she rushed to her bedroom, but alas she was gone. She seemed a little sad and came back to bed for some more hugs. She knew they would be gone but perhaps she was hoping against hope that they would still be there.

A few days later she wrote her a letter and said “Why did you leave me? When are you coming back?” amongst other things. We had to laugh when we read that as it is typical of a child’s honesty and getting to the point. It is wonderful to get together, but parting is always sad.

In a way their visit reminded us about all the people we are missing at home and our old life, so it was a little bittersweet at the end. But life goes on and we will  cherish it all since these are the colors of life no matter where you live or how you live. Kids live so  in the “now” that in just a day after they left, she was fully back into her routine. Still the memories will stay with her forever.

There are three floors in our village house and we spend most of our waking hours on the second floor where there is the kitchen, dining room and a living room (or parlor as the English say). Mozart took over the first floor which we rarely used. It has a double bedroom, sitting area and laundry room. She loved the large bedroom down there so we came to call it the “Mozart Motel”.

It became her playroom and she spent many hours playing there. It is the only bedroom facing west with a big window, so she had very nice light there in the afternoon, thus it was quite cozy. We enjoyed listening to her hum to herself while she played or talking for her miniature animals and dolls in various accents and voices. Her play is quite elaborate and detailed and I am always amazed at what she comes up with and love to eves drop.

We have been looking at other rental places so we are not sure whether we will be back to this particular place next winter or not. They all have pros and cons and there are many available in the winter, so it is hard to decide. There are lots of things we like about this place and it is a “known” factor, so we know how it fits for us, but it is tempting to try something new as well. It is larger than most places (more room than we need) but I yearn for a nice bathroom or better yet even two  which some of the smaller but newer places have.

Visiting rentals in the nearby countryside was like experiencing a whole new world. Every place has a
pool (which would be little use to us in the winter but we might get some time in it), fabulous ocean and mountain views looking back at the village and outdoor cooking and eating area. They are very tempting, but more expensive, isolated and not really practical for us with a camper as our only transportation. There are a few within walking distance to the village which are the only ones we can consider, but there are not many like that.

Village life is nice because of the convenience to everything like stores,school, restaurants and also for the community. In doing errands and just going thru daily life, one is always running into people you know and chatting and finding out things. Play dates and park visits are easier to arrange and one never misses the joyful celebrations in the village.

We are going to really miss all our sweet friends in the village when we are on the road. It is a lovely international community, so even I (without any decent Spanish), can connect with and have people to
talk to. People who live in the country who don’t have much Spanish, often complain of feeling lonely or isolated, but in the village it is much easier to be part of the community. The expat community is small
and from many different nations so the common language is English and  it happens to be a wonderful
and interesting group of people.

I thought about going around and getting pictures of them all, but there is too much work on our plate these days with our transition looming so close. So we will just have to remember them in our minds eye and know we will be back again next fall.

I did get a few pictures of the “Mozart Motel” one day while she was playing. It is funny to see her lost
in make believe amongst the Alhambra inspired moorish antique furniture. She would bring us down sometimes to show us her latest creation. One of my favorites was something she made with pattern
blocks, because the cutest part was the “ta da” with an exclamation point, that she wrote with the
blocks underneath. My very expressive girl loves to  say “ta da” and she loves exclamation points.

There is a little landing between that lower bedroom and the living room upstairs where there was a recessed area that we stored paper towels, toilet paper, boxes of chicken stock and large things from the market. She pretended that was her store and she would stock it and bring them up to us and make up a receipt when ever we needed them.

We have had lots of good times in this old house and will always remember this special winter. In many ways it feels like we have been here much longer, yet the time passed by so very quickly. I still can not believe my luck in finding this home and village off the internet. It feels like someone is watching over
us and guiding us in our journey as lovingly as Mozart guides her little dolls in her play.