IN THE BEGINNING...

2006. I was going through a nasty divorce where the paternity of a child was in question. The love of my life had gone insane and I needed to get out. On a whim, I left everything and went to Madrid, Spain. I took a TESOL course and became an English teacher. I lived there for 6 years. I made friends, fell in love, had great students, and generally got on with life. 

THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC MELTDOWN

In 2008,  the global economy almost collapsed. People lost their life savings. Places like Greece and Spain drifted into economic and social chaos. The very worst apocalyptic scenarios were averted, but just barely, and the world is never going to be the same in our, nor our chidren's, lifetimes.

Spain, suffered 27% unemployment (NOTE TO SELF: Never let 33% of your jobs be in the construction sector.) Jobs and social mobility dried up like it was the Sahara. So with mixed emotions, I left the life I had built for myself in Madrid and returned to Connecticut, to live with my Mum and try to restablish something akin to a normal life in the USA. 

Good fucking luck with that! The US has changed too, never to be the same again. The 1% rule the roost and the other other 99% of us fight for the scraps that are thrown out in the backyard. But at least it's a Christian nation!

So, a year removed from my self-imposed Spanish Exile, I find myself repatriated in the country of my birth. And how do I feel? Well, it's been great to reconnect with my Mum, and my sister and her wife, and my friends. But other than that?

I feel like a fish with feet.


PHOTO: Alone by the Sea - by Un-Original-ish