Project Nadz’s Independence

One of the things that I’ve been finding difficult over the last couple of months has been the change to my level of independence.

Being in my flat in town, I was near to where everything was happening, I could easily walk to the supermarket or go off into the city centre if I so pleased, with no real planning needed to accomplish this. Of course there were also down-sides to being in my flat, some rather unexpected and perhaps not very relatable, like waking up to the sound of cockerels crowing (who, contrary to popular opinion, do not only crow at daybreak but periodically through the night) or the dogs barking and don’t even get me started on my ongoing war with the trespassing cockroaches. Ergh! Then there were some more serious ones. I always felt fairly safe in my flat, mainly due to my neighbours having various different family units in different flats and houses around me, and to get up to my flat you’d have to pass the guard dog, go up a flight of stairs and walk all the way to the back before getting to mine. But still, I wouldn’t want to be out and about at night and living on your own in a foreign country is kinda scary at points.

The neighbourhood that I’m in now, is a real blessing. We’re completely safe and secure here and walking outside at night is not a problem. We have a garden (oh how I missed having an outside space when I was in my flat!) which is lovely anyway, but also means we’re able to have our little pooch! I’m not awoken to the chorus of cockerels and don’t have the cockroach problem (thank GOODNESS). The only thing is that now, I’m cut off from town and people. Nolz and I have been working on project get Nadia driving, but I’m a while off from being able to drive on my own here. Driving here is terrifying! People view road rules more like guidelines and when I ask Nolz who has right of way he said it’s the person who’s going. Plus I don’t have a car, so I can’t just nip out in the morning, even if I was happy with the driving situation, as Nolz is already out at work with his car.

So anyways, over the last couple of months I’ve kind of slowly been coming to the realisation that I need to do something about this. With my job being a work from home kinda sitchu, this also means that I can very easily just stay at home all week if I’m not careful. So, what could I do to help this? Thinks me.. Well, up until a few months ago I had been doing online pilates classes with my mum (shoutout to you mum!), which was really lovely and enjoyable! But I realised that this is something I could do here. It would get me out of the house and get me meeting some people. And even if I didn’t speak to anyone, being able to get out the house would surely do wonders for me.

So we found a pilates class, signed me up and Nolz and I did a trial run on the bus to see the timings and when I’d need to get off and all and I was all set… With trepidation, I set off on Monday morning. My trip starts with a 25 min walk to the bus stop, a 10 min bus ride and then a 10 min walk on the other end. In classic Nadia style, I arrived 30 mins early to counteract my fear of being late to a new place and ready myself to go into a new place on my own. After my half an hour wait, in I went and… I loved it! It wasn’t quite the pilates I was expecting. With mum, we’ve just been doing it on just a mat. This one is called “pilates reformer”. You have this weird kinda bed thing which has different springs that have different amounts of resistance, and you lie back and go whizzing (sorry, I mean, you go back, in a slow and controlled manner) backwards and forwards waving your legs about in the air. If you have more coordination than me, you may also wave your arms about in opposite directions (to be fair to me, I can sometimes do the arms! with much concentration). Then after a while you do them resistance band exercises or some stuff for the arms and an hour and a half later, you’re done! And then your legs / abdominals / arms / back (or a mixture of these) ache (but in a I-did-a-good-thing-for-my-body-kinda-ache) until it’s time to go back again! (My explanation of pilates reformer is perhaps not the best. I would recommend googling it for a slightly clearer and accurate idea.)

My second class I went to was on the Friday. Usually the groups happen on Mondays and Thursdays and Tuesdays and Fridays, but I can’t do Tuesdays and Thursdays coz I have morning classes, so the teacher has let me do one on Monday and one on Friday, so I’m in different groups on the two days that I go. Amazingly, I got into the Friday class, was introduced and immediately the lady next to me clocked that I was English, started speaking to me in English (I always find this v disorientating and takes me a while to remember I should reply in English and not Spanish!) and mentioned that she’s in an expat group of people here in Salta who are from various different places, and would add me in to it. I mean, what? This was more than I was hoping for if I’m honest, I thought that maybe, if I was lucky I might make a friend or two, and even if I didn’t I was happy just getting out of the house, but meeting someone who knows a whole lot of expats?! I have since been added to the group who seem to be very active, and a hoping there will be some kind of meet up at some point soon!

So what can I say, pilates has been a big success! Oh, and something funny about the classes, is that I seem to have signed up to the two chattiest groups according to the teacher. It’s difficult for me to chip into the conversation, being a foreigner, not always being able to follow the rapid conversation topic changes and not knowing if people are talking to me or not, but it’s quite amusing lying there listening to it as they discuss all things from the local gossip to the benefits of using white soap..!

So there we are. This is phase 1 of project Nadz’s Independence. I’ve also been trying to meet up with someone once a week, outside of the house, who is not Noly or his family for coffee or something, but this one has varying levels of success. That being said, a few weeks ago I met up with someone who has links to England and she commented that there are hiking groups who go hike different places on Saturdays and she could pass me some info on one of them, which I, and also Nolz, are quite up for doing! But just waiting for my ankle to be completely healed before I follow up on that one.

But there we are! Phase 1 is in motion and I’m very pleased to have found such a good group. The days that I’ve done pilates I’ve generally just been in a really good mood and I think it does good things for me, taking myself off somewhere, on my own and doing my thing. I think being in a foreign country can quite easily strip away your independence if you’re not careful, so I’m fighting back and getting into shape at the same time.

That’s all for now chums! Coming soon, the birthday blog!

Love to all xxxx