On Thursday I bought a newspaper. No big deal to most but to me it was a very big deal! You see I haven’t had an English newspaper for over a month. They are not to be had in Ecija. In fact there only things I’ve seen here in English are the text books and some of the notices outside churches and at the museum.

My lucky find of the newspaper happened most unexpectedly. I was at the bus station in Seville when I walked past the newsstand and there, prominently on display, was The Daily Mail, in English! I did a double take and had to look twice. It cost E2.20 which I gladly parted with before scrambling on board the bus, back to the little country town I currently call home, with my precious paper clutched tightly in my hand.

I studied the paper closely and noticed it is printed every Thursday (there were just 3 copies on the newsstand) and it must have been my lucky day because obviously I was in the right place at just the right time.

I’ve ready it from cover to cover and lapped up every word. Ohhhh, the pleasure of real newsprint in my hand as opposed to electronic news – pure bliss!

Funny how the things we take for granted at home take on a new dimension when we are away. Spain might be full of Brits at coastal resorts where English papers and magazine are common place but in little towns in the heartlands of Andalusia they are very rare indeed.

I’ve got to go back to Seville next Thursday for another crack at securing my ID card and the one thing I’ll be looking forward to buying another paper at the bus station on my way home.

Michelle