Written By: Michael Sandoval

The Thanks I

Give

a“Thank Full  and Full of Thanks”

As I sat across from the Melegis (Lecrin Valley, Granada Spain) orange orchards watching our glorious Earth being showered by Zeus, “The God of the Clouds”, I was reminded of all of the blessings to be thankful for on this special day of November 26, 2020. The rain pattered against the leaves as the wind rushed across the fields.  I watched the glistening flashes of lightning abruptly strike as if the “Gods” were enthusiastically capturing photos of the Earth’s beauty. The flares of light were shortly followed by the roaring sounds of the relentless thunder. Its tremendous voice would be loud and clear and without hesitation the Earths heavens continued to express their emotions.

As the rain concluded and the glint of our planets shining “star” exposed its life in the distance, the neighboring birds began to express gratitude by singing their cherished melodies after having had a short soothing siesta. The Sun gave life and offered hope to everything that was in need of restoration. Directly in front of my eyes I was able to experience what the Earth’s miracles could achieve within a short period of time.

This year has been a very difficult endeavor for many of us. Today I realized that with every rainy day comes sunshine directly behind; it is that sunshine that provides us with hope and strength. It waits patiently during the darkest hours and rests diligently until given the opportunity to thrive and encourage our spirit once again.

Today, I give thanks for that strength; the strength that I have been blessed with and given; the strength that has always allowed me to accept the challenges within my life and continue moving forward.

The last three years have not been easy. On February 14, 2017 I was ready to move to a different county with the intent of achieving a dream. I was excited to take on my new journey and discover the beauty of Spain. I had no idea what would be in store for me as a foreigner escaping the norms that I was accustomed to my entire life. It was going to be a new beginning. Everything that I once knew would be left behind. I sold my house, my car my furniture and even my dearest 75” Television that I adored, haha. The only things being shipped were my personal necessities and my ambitions. As the remaining pieces of my humble belongings were wrapped tightly inside of cardboard boxes, I hoped that my desire to succeed would be enough to guide me through this unforeseen adventure. As I watched the moving truck depart, I knew that there was no turning back. I was committed!

The next few months were spent organizing my need for documentation in a new country. While traveling for work I continuously looked for time to have conference calls with Government offices. I was attempting to attain my registration so that I would be able to secure an identification number and begin achieving ordinary tasks like opening a bank account, renting a home or buying a car. I realized that it would be a lot more difficult than I expected. The bureaucratic organization was a lot different that I was used to. The pace of which processes took place was also something that I could not understand. Doing this on my own would soon become a painful feat. After a few months of continuous attempts, I decide that I would hire a lawyer. Surprisingly, it only took them two weeks to attain my Numero de Identetida de Extranjero (Foreign Identification Number). I was now registered and I was ready to discover my next challenge.

Shortly after, I would start the application process for my permanent couple’s certification with my partner who is a European Citizen. This certification would allow me the opportunity to apply for my official residence in the future. They required documents that were not in my possession. I had to request the information from the United States Government which was difficult to do when on the opposite side of the world working internationally. I would sometimes be on a call after a 12 hour shift waiting for an agent to pick up the phone while being on hold for over an hour. Once the documentation was attained, it all had to be officially translated into Spanish and then Apostilled. This process took over 5 month and financially exceeded my original budget. Once all of documentation was finalized, I requested an appointment so that all of the official paper work could be submitted. I had been home for a few weeks from business travel and was eager, happy and excited to finally be able to deliver the work that had taken me a long time to complete. The day had finally come. I arrived to the Government building dressed in a well starched shirt and my favorite sports jacket. The building was frantic and full of elderly people that seemed to need as much help as I did. I checked into the front desk and awaited my turn. To my surprise my number was called immediately. This was it!! I arrived into the office and was greeted with one the coldest facial expression that I had ever seen. She casually asked for my documentation while staring directly into her glaring computer screen as if I wasn’t even there. I slid the paperwork across the desk as her tense fingers began to take a short pause from striking the helpless keyboard. Mmmhmmm..mmmmhmmm… She flipped through my paper work for approximately 30 seconds and said…. “This isn’t correct. The apostille is not done by our list of certified professionals and we can’t accept this”. I began telling her that I had worked on this for the last five months and no one provided me with information that specified my need to use certain individuals to certify the documents. Feeling hot and flushed, I carefully tried to restrain myself as she emptily stared directly at me. I clenched my jaw, collected my things and respectfully left. I was defeated! I would need to start traveling for work in a few days and I would not return home for another two months. The challenges continued!

For the next two months I spent the little time that I had after work organizing and paying for the information to be processed by the approved source. The cost of attaining this certificate would now be double of my original budget. After months of waiting, It was now time to re-submit. This time I was mentally prepared to accept the characteristically defected Government agent. I arrived to the building and as I sat in the same chair awaiting my number to be called, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of déjà vu. I entered the room and this time the atmosphere seemed to have had a transformation. The administrator was well dressed and her rosy cheeks depicted a form of innocence and warmth. As I walked in, she stood up and kindly asked me to sit, this time with direct eye contact and a friendly smile. I politely handed her my files and with confused thoughts started to question if this was the same Lady (although I knew it was). After flipping through the pages she pulls out her ball point pen and began to place her carefully manicured signature on the bottom of each page. The last page was signed while she smiled. She placed her hand inside of her desk and pulled out the official Junta de Andalusia stamp. She tightly gripped the wooden handle and vigorously swung it towards the paper. The percussive sound of the stamp resembled that of a court house gavel as  another millstone was reached.

I was grateful that I had come this far and I was ready to move onto the next challenge  

There would be many more ahead!

Stay posted for The next episode of The Thanks I Give