I feel like I made a huge accomplishment today just deciding where to live in September. I got up at ten to 7 with few hours of sleep, and ended up not going because Mai hadn't woken up. We got there in the end, and it was a shockingly cool 22 degrees. I wanted to put my jeans on but it was 35 by the afternoon.
I took Mai straight to Alfonso Chavez, who was happy to see us, called us both guapa, and with great difficulty, sat on the floor to take measurements of Mai's feet. He had a distinguished looking gentleman helping him in the shop, whose work is in human rights, and told me Alfonso was thinking of starting a school there, because shoemaking is a dying art that needs to be preserved. He knew how to pronounce Japanese names; surprising considering most Spanish people don't distinguish between Chinese and Japanese, and I didn't even know the "sh" is a "s".

We had molletes con tomate y aceite and coffee, and then went to Bar Sol. Jose seemed to recognise me, though I've only been there a few times, and twice now, have looked at his rooms as a kind of last resort if I didn't find another apartment. This time though, it seemed perfect and after deciding I would live there in September, I spent a few hours in shock at how relieved I was to have decided something.

We came back to a party of relatives filling the house, and I have to wait till October to see Pati and Manu.