Just two weeks from today, I leave to go back to Spain. A freezing rain outside (freezing rain? shouldn't that mean snow?) doesn't do a lot to hold me here, to be honest! There is something that does, however. That is how helpful people really are here.

Numerous times in my stay here I've geared up for a fight. You know the kind of thing...getting something fixed, or getting money back after being overcharged, or getting something done. And every time so far there simply hasn't been a fight. Whomever I'm dealing with just gets it done, and they genuinely seem concerned and seem to want to help.

For example, when we stayed in Chicago, I had prepaid the hotel. However, we did get a bill for the parking ($37 a day) and also on the bill was a charge for a video game on the TV, $6.60. I know Diana had poked around, looking at what was available, and so I asked her what the deal was with playing a video game. She said that as soon as she saw that you had to pay, she shut the thing down. So I geared up for a fight with the reception, thinking that $6.60 wasn't a lot, but it was the principle of the thing. I called down, explained the situation, and the woman said "OK, m'am, I'll take that right off your bill". It was that easy.

The same with the insurance company that MAPFRE works through here for medical coverage. I was having some difficulty figuring out how to take care of making an appointment, going to the doctor, and getting the insurance to pay for it directly. So I was surprised when, after one initial call to them, they then called me back and arranged everything. Get this, too. I went to the doctor Tuesday (just to have my ears checked...one has seemed blocked for months) and they didn't see anything (age? sinus? nothing serious, anyway!) and this morning some bright bubbly young person called me from the doctor's office just see how I was doing. I was walking in the park in below 0 (centigrade) weather, so I said I was just fine, thank you!

The rental car company overcharged me by a good amount the last couple of months (I'm on a deal where each month is cheaper, I actually paid more in October, and even more in November, than in September). I wrote an e-mail to the rental car company, expecting a long wait to hear from them, expecting to be told that the original deal didn't include having pumpkins thrown through the window, or nails found in the tire. The next day my phone rang and a very nice woman explained how sorry they were for overcharging me, and that my credit card would be credited with all of the money they owed me.

I geared up for having to cajole the graduate school office into accepting a petition for the PhD oral exam ballots without adherence to the "mandatory" 2 week advance notice (I'm supervising a PhD student who just passed her written exam, and we want to schedule the oral before I leave). When I got there with the petition, the woman in the office said "No problem. I'll get those ballots to you right away".

So I keep preparing the big guns, and then am surprised by the supposed enemy coming up and giving me a big hug. And people genuinely seem to care; they are concerned, they want to help. Getting stuff done here is just so much easier!

Diana took her written driving test in about 15 minutes. I took about another 15 minutes to get a replacement social security card, and then about 15 minutes to get her driver's permit (with which she can practice drive to that she can get ready for her road examination). I can't imagine how long any one of those procedures might take in Madrid, and how many long faces, frustrated sighs, and raised tones might accompany it. Here, again, people are happy, friendly, and want to help. That I will miss!

I won't miss this icy rain, and having to take the car out in it.

Don't tell Luis - I got the pictures from Elisa from our Thanksgiving trip. Here is the rocker himself, in gear that we are all more familiar with! See you soon (I'm off to Boston this weekend, to see Elisa!).