Welcome dear Hive community! Today I want to share with you how pleasant my weekend experience was.
I recently moved to another country and although my expectations were pure love, joy and happiness, the reality is that it is not easy to leave your comfort zone and have to adapt to the changes that all this implies.
Leaving your homeland, your family, your friends to embark on a new adventure is a feat of courage and adaptation is not achieved overnight.
Issues such as climate, culture or language can generate shocks and you have to deal with them little by little.
This is what happened to me. I come from a tropical country and my first challenge was to adapt to a much colder climate that had me sick and without strength for at least a month.
Also, melancholy invaded me many times missing my family and loved ones but they were always supporting me to continue with my goal that I had wanted for so long.
Before traveling, I attended a Christian church across the street from my home. My son started attending the church and I received a lot of support with him in difficult times due to his adolescent process. I saw such a change in him that he convinced me and in the end I went with him to accompany him.
When I arrived here in Madrid, the first thing that struck me about the neighborhood where I live is that right behind my house there are three churches. One Catholic and two Christian.
At first I didn't know anyone except my partner and the people who live in the apartment where we rent.
I felt a bit lonely and fearful, but I decided to go to the Christian church closest to my house, just a few meters away! It seemed such a coincidence that once again God had placed a church so close to home.
Since I started going regularly to church I saw an improvement in my emotional state, I felt calmer, more relieved and fortunately I have found good people there to share with.
A sunny day in the middle of winter
On Sunday I was invited by one of the sisters of the church to have breakfast, walk around downtown and buy some clothes with her daughter.
From early on I felt that warmth of home. That loving welcome that is so welcome when you are in another country where you know almost no one.
Here it is still winter, so normally the day starts a little later as it is very cold in the early morning.
We met at about 11:45 and went straight to a churreria on the boulevard of Villa Verde, the neighborhood where I live. The weather was very pleasant for walking. The temperature had risen to 17 degrees.
We ordered some churros with coffee with milk and a loaf of bread with tomato and olive oil. Both very typical dishes here.
After that, the sister asked me if I wanted to go downtown with them to look at the stores and then eat some hamburgers.
I was delighted to be able to go out and socialize a bit with people with such a good vibe so I said a resounding Yes.
Visiting Gran Via
The center of Madrid, specifically the Gran Via is a very busy place for many tourists around the world. It is always crowded with people.
It is a place with buildings of great architectural beauty and is where you can find the best stores in Madrid.
We walked for a while along the sidewalks of the Gran Via enjoying the architecture and then we went into Lefties, a very cool store with good deals. It is worth noting that here in Spain in January all the stores open their sales season for people to take advantage and buy what they need.
The clothes were very nice in that store. I still don't work so I didn't have the income to buy clothes, however the sister from the church told me to choose what I would like from there, not to worry, she paid for it and I was very happy and grateful for her generosity.
Her daughter bought a cute pink vest for spring and I picked out a super cute dress for summer and a sweater also in the same color as the vest to wear this season.
It struck me about the store that everything was very automated. In the dressing rooms there was a mailbox with a conveyor belt to deposit the clothes we were not going to buy.
And to pay was the same, the cash registers were automated, no cashier. We put clothes on the counter and the computer marked the prices, then we chose the method of payment and that was it. The purchase was done.
After that we went to Plaza España, where there was a Chinese New Year show with Kung Fu demonstrations and a choir of Chinese children singing. There were a lot of people watching the show.
We were just watching for a while and then we went to Burger King for some hamburgers.
After that we went back to our homes and then went to the church service.
We had a great time, for me it was a very nice experience. I don't usually go out that much, since my partner has to work and sharing with other people with such a good vibe helped me to increase my mood and my peace of mind.
I hope you enjoyed my post about my weekend experience. I send you a hug and full good vibes.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
