House Number Eight
The most fortunate house at 22 Calle la Rosa was undoubtedly number eight, yet it was the last one to be sold. Like house number one, it could only be viewed from one side, but it had the added advantage of being close to the main pool. The three-member Slovak family couldn’t have found a better place.
The young parents and their six-year-old son had arrived on the island just weeks before moving in. Adrian, a plumber, and Dajana, an accountant, embarked on the biggest adventure of their lives with great plans. Neither of them spoke any language other than Slovak, but they were confident they’d quickly pick up Spanish. They figured their son, Fabian, would learn it quickly in school, and through him, they’d also find it easier to master the language.
Adrian confidently purchased his tools, with no doubt that he would soon be a successful entrepreneur. In his view, success required expertise, not language skills. Dajana, however, had no illusions. She was fully aware that her accounting experience would be of no use here. Since the island’s economy was centered around tourism, her only real option was cleaning. They were the only residents in the community renting their new home. Their plan was to save enough money to eventually buy what they believed to be the perfect house.
Vanda and Fabian immediately bonded. The lack of a shared language didn’t bother them. Whenever possible, they played in the children’s pool. Sometimes they included Emily in their group, other times they declared her too young to join. When that happened, Emily would scream, and Ted would pace the living room with clenched fists. Much to Dajana’s disappointment, the children didn’t attend the same school. The girls went to a private English institution, while Fabian started at the local public school.
Their neighbor, Carlos, invited them over for a hearty barbecue on their very first evening. The elderly man didn’t let the language barrier bother him. Adrian used a map app on his phone to show where they had lived before and managed to discuss a few things with Carlos using a translation app. Carlos was particularly delighted that a plumber had moved into the house next door. He immediately offered to recommend Adrian to others and even help “interpret” when necessary. However, he strongly encouraged the young couple to enroll in a language course as soon as possible.
Dajana didn’t tell her husband how terrified she was of the future. When they came up with the idea, it had seemed like a great plan. Now, unable to communicate even with gestures and clueless about what was happening around her, panic set in. A Slovak couple who had lived on the island for a long time offered their help (for a fee, of course), assuring her that they would soon adapt to life there. Until then, they would take care of everything for the family. Dajana hated feeling dependent, but she had no choice but to accept their “help.” She couldn’t understand a word of what was going on around her.
She admired her husband, who seemed unfazed by the lack of language skills or their reliance on others. What bothered her even more was going from being an accountant to a cleaner—or rather, a cleaning job seeker. She hadn’t gone to university and worked for years in the accounting department of a large corporation just to scrub other people’s bathtubs. And she couldn’t even discuss this with Adrian. Her husband firmly believed that within a year, he would create a situation where Dajana could stop working, focus on learning the Spanish accounting system, and master the language to a level where she could return to her profession.