Saturday, October 25, 2008

Barcelona and home with a bang

Hiya,

Wow, how I do begin to describe this past week? Well this time last Saturday Eladio and I went to see the film Camino. I think it has gone straight to my top ten of films as it has all the ingredients I like, children, love, religion, hospitals and above all emotion. I highly recommend it. The main character, Nerea Camacho is the loveliest young girl I have ever seen. She is 11 and comes from a town in Almeria. After the film we had dinner with our friends Roberto and MariCarmen at, yes, you guessed right, La Alpargatería.
Nerea Camacho in Camino
On Sunday Eladio and I travelled to Barcelona as I had to do a site inspection for locations for events during the big telecoms congress in February, the GSMA. Time was spent working in my room, site inspecting and all the free time was taken up by being pure tourists. Funnily enough I have only really ever visited Barcelona for work purposes so this was a great occasion to enjoy the city too.

We stayed at a great hotel, the 1898 where we made full use of the spa every day of our stay which is a great way to relax.
Me working in the hotel room
The hotel is right in the middle of La Rambla, Barcelona’s famous walk way. It’s a unique street, full of people from all over the world, kiosks selling everything under the sun, flower stalls, human statues out to make money, live animal stalls, endless tapas’ restaurants, artists offering to draw portraits, people selling loose cans of beer, “ladies” selling their bodies and old age pensioners sitting and watching the world go by.
Me on La Rambla
The weather was amazing for the end of October with temperatures of over 25ºc throughout our stay. We visited the Gothic Cathedral, walked into the famous Boquería fresh food market, made our way to the Gaudi unfinished cathedral, “la Sagrada Familia”, strolled past the Puerta de Angel, the Plaza de Cataluña and up the Paseo de Gracia full of wonderful houses such as Batllo and Casa Mila, otherwise known as La Pedrera.
La Pedrera
We had lunch at La Gavina by the sea in Port Vell (old Port) and dinner at La Venta in Tibidabo, very recommendable places I never fail to visit when I am in Barcelona.

You can see a selection of photos of this trip, here on Facebook.

The day we drove back which was Wednesday, the weather turned for the worse and it was rain all the way back. Just as we had started our journey Olivia rang to say Susana had had an accident with the Volvo on the road from Pozuelo to Boadilla. This was certainly bad news to come home to. Poor Suzy, who came away unscathed, thank God, as did the other passengers, drove round a bend in the rain to find a queue of cars standing still because of what she later learned was a fatal accident. A police car had crashed into a bus and the policeman was killed! Susy was unable to control the car and crashed into 2 other cars. The Volvo, unfortunately, is very badly damaged and it was only insured for third parties!!

To top it all, the next day someone punctured the tyre of the Alfa at the Complutense University. It was around lunch time and she had to wait for ages until the AA (equivalent) arrived. All in all she was waiting around for about 5 hours!!

The week got better, or at least back to normal eventually. On Thursday I went in to the office for 2 meetings. I now work from home nearly most of my time and can’t begin to say just how beneficial it is all round. I’ve got so used to it now I don’t think I’d ever want to go back to a sit in the office job ever again.

Whilst in Barcelona, I finally got the internal motivation necessary to go on a diet. And, yes, I started my diet number 1000 odd on Thursday. Let’s see how it goes …….. Wow that was one important decision to make in my life!!

Oli seems very happy with her new job even if it is quite stressful. It must be worse than a traditional newspaper to work for a website, such as RTVE’s as the deadline is permanent because the news has to be 24/7. This week I’m proud to include her article on the demolishing of the Carabanchel prison, that symbol of Fashist repression under Franco.
The famous Carabanchel Prison
The article was posted on the front page when it was published. Her timetable is all up and down. For instance she is working over this weekend and in the short future will be working at night for 2 weeks, from 12 till 7 am.

To top this week’s bad news, we found out today that our dear Ukranian cleaning lady, Zena, has cheek cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy!! That’s a very sad story.

To cheer ourselves up, and after all today is Saturday, Eladio and I will be going to the cinema tonight to see Nights in Rodanthe which promises to be highly romantic and right up our street. Hopefully we will have dinner with Roberto and Mari Carmen afterwards.

I look forward to a better week next week.

All the best everyone,
Masha

Saturday, October 18, 2008

The rest of the week’s news; Carlos, Fátima and Julio, Santi and the Quixote giants.

Hi again,

Tomorrow, Sunday, I’ll be off to Barcelona on a site inspection tour, so I won’t have time to update my blog which is why I’m doing it today. There isn’t much to report as I’ve already posted the news of Rosy’s visit and the ”X” Motorola girls’ reunion lunch.

Well the lunch yesterday went really well and you can see the photos here. We started at 14h and Marián, Nuria and I were the last to leave at 18h. That was 4 hours of non stop talking as we all had so much to tell each other. I now have the mission, together with Marian to organise the next Ex Motorola Convention. I think that will happen in the New Year. It’s amazing that we are all still so united after so many years. I suppose we can never forget those incredible years we spent together forging and creating the mobile phone market in Spain.
The "X" Motorola girls' reunion lunch
At home we are all still very much under the impression of Rosy’s visit and today my Father tried the Cuban coffee she brought. He thought it was lovely. We haven’t heard from her yet but hope to soon.
My Father with Rosy when she visited our house this week
Rosy and Susy, just before the former left
On Monday I met up with Carlos, another ex Motorolan, for a lovely long lunch. Carlos, now a top executive with The Phone House, started off his professional life in Motorola where we coincided. I have always had a soft spot for him and he knows it, so when he had a terrible life and death car accident a few years ago and most of his body was burnt and no one knew whether he would survive, I became even closer to him in many ways. He survived and I know that the accident not only left physical scars but also an even more positive outlook on life than before.

On Tuesday I had lunch with my favourite “buddies”, Fátima and Julio. As you know, I used to work with them at Nokia and, of course, with Fátima before at Motorola, so I miss them dearly as work colleagues. However we make sure we meet regularly and are completely up to date on each other’s lives.

I also saw Santi from the Mi Querido Watson events agency. Over lunch at La Albufera in Sexta Avenida we caught up on each other’s news. It was good to see him looking so well and happy.

And the weekend is here now. Suzy has gone off to Santa Pola with her boyfriend. Oli will be resting. She works really hard and I thought I ought to include here one of her articles this week for RTVE. The headline is ingenious and the story about wind farms in Valladolid. Of course in Spanish they are known as “wind mill farms”. So Oli called the article: “the Quixote giants (windmills in the book) attack the land of Valladolid”!

Eladio and I will be going to see a rather polemic film tonight called Camino and which has to do with religion, the after life and Opus Dei. Then we will be having dinner with our great friends Roberto and Mari Carmen at, guess where? Yes, La Alpargatería in Majadahonda.

And tomorrow we will be off to Barcelona. Eladio will be accompanying me as my chauffeur and inspector, a job he is very good at.

More about that in my next post.

Cheers till then
Masha

Friday, October 17, 2008

The “X Motorola Girls”


Hiya

Today I am organising a very special lunch. It is for the girls who worked in Motorola in Spain in the 90’s. Motorola is the company where I learned the “trade” I fell in love with and excel in today: PR and events or parties if you want the truth. Yes, I’ve loved them since I was a teenager in Yorkshire and used to fill my parents’ house nearly every weekend. And here I am organising yet another one again today. This time for the girls I worked with at Motorola, Nuria, Marian, Fátima, Vicky, Susana, Anita Oca and Laura.

I was the fourth person to work in that company which I joined in 1990 when mobile phones were a sheer luxury. The first “portable phone” was the Micro Tac 9800x which cost 400.000 pesetas and weighed 400 grammes!! There was only coverage in Madrid and in the Balearic Islands where the King of Spain had his Summer residence.
The world's first "portable" phone, the Motorola Micro TAC 9800X
We have all gone our separate ways but that fantastic group of people whom I had the privilege of working with during the 90’s still keep in touch. We were the team who introduced mobile phones into Spain and made them popular. When we joined Motorola no one knew the company and the penetration of mobile phones in Spain was under 0.2% of the population. I remember in my first presentation to the marketing team in the HQ in the UK telling my colleagues that our objective was to make Motorola a “household” name and mobile phones a mass market product. I didn’t believe what I was saying at the time but time has proved us right.

To celebrate today’s occasion, and with the help of my event’s agency, QuintaEsencia, we produced a superb badge, face mask of how we looked 10 and 15 years ago as well as the Comic Poster above to immortalise the “X girls” – that extraordinary group of women who worked in Motorola in the 90’s and are now known as the X Motorola Girls!!!

Of course, to do so I had to get hold of photos of us from the past and photos of us from the present. These you can see on Facebook.

But more news about the X Motorola girls’ lunch next time.

Cheers
Masha

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Rosy, the cousin from Cuba. Return to Montrondo.

Rosy outside the gates Constante walked through when he left Montrondo never to come back again.
Hi again

I just have to include a midweek post to report this piece of big news for Eladio’s family.

This week we met Rosy, the granddaughter of Constante who came to find her roots in Spain. It is thanks to Juan, my nephew who visited Cuba last year and to José Antonio, (Eladio’s brother) his father, who has spent the better part of this year getting all the paperwork together for Rosy to come to Spain as it is very difficult for Cubans to go abroad. How can I begin to explain who Rosy is?

Once upon a time, in about the year 1900, in Montrondo, a small and remote village in the north west of Spain where my husband’s family comes from, there was a couple called Clotilde and Alejandro who were the parents of Eladio’s grandmother (Licinia) on the side of his Mother.

Clotilde and Alejandro had 3 children, Elías, Licinia and Constante. Like many Spaniards at the time, Constante, the youngest, emigrated to Cuba in about the year 1920, never to return to his beloved Montrondo.

However he never forgot his village, the city of León and Spain and corresponded regularly. He married a Cuban girl and he himself had 5 children, all boys, including Alejandro. Alejandro is Rosy’s Father. Rosy always remembers her Grandfather with a map in his hand showing her where Montrondo was. Little did he know she would ever visit. But she did; she returned for him.

Rosy is the first relation to return to Spain nearly one century later. She is an attractive modern Cuban woman in her 40’s and journalism is her profession although right now she is writing a book about one of Che Guevara’s co revolutionaries. Genes being genes, she is similar in looks to my sister-in-law Pili. She is also the Mother of 2 youngsters, Fidel and María Clara.

Our meeting the other night at José Antonio and Dolores’ house was quite emotional and a very beautiful experience. Rosy then visited us here at home yesterday and my Father promptly fell in love with her, as we all did.
Rosy flanked by Toño (left) and Eladio (right)
Rosy with Oli (left) and Suzy (right)
But what must have been even more emotional was her visit to Montrondo this last weekend. There waiting for her was the whole family (except us – we had to stay at home to look after my Father after his operation) and the reunion was a huge success. Alejandro played the accordion and they all danced which is just so typical in Eladio’s family.
The family reunion in Montrondo
There too was Eva, now in her 80’s, the daughter of Elías, and her family who also welcomed Rosy “home”.

Rosy explored Montrondo together with the family and walked where she knew her grandfather had one day walked. She posed for a photo at the main gates of the family house which Constante walked through when he left the village to go to America; so Eva told Rosy, In a way Rosy came back for Constante and walked through those gates again to the warmth and love of her grandfather’s family in Montrondo.
Rosy in Montrondo
Rosy pouring over old family photos with Ernestina, Eladio's Mother
Rosy’s 2 week stay in Spain is over today and right now as I write she is on the plane returning to Havana. Now we have met her we shall all keep in touch. That I know. But who knows if Eladio and I, at least, may well go in the not too distant future to visit our new Cuban cousin and all the other sons and grandchildren of Constante.

Rosy. Fue un placer. Un abrazo desde “El Bosque”.

Masha

Sunday, October 12, 2008

On the home front, Oli and Eladio are back, Oli starts with RTVE, news from abroad, my role as an employment recruiter and other things

Eladio and Olivia in Istanbul
Hi again,

On the home front the week has been quiet but actually full of activity.

Oli and Eladio came back safely last Sunday from their trip to Istanbul. They were loaded with goodies from the Grand Bazar and Spice market. All in all it seems they had a great time and the break had done Oli a power of good.
Oli at the Spice market
On Monday Oli started her new job with RTVE as a reporter for the website. She had been working there this summer on an unpaid internship and she is one of the only students to have been taken on full time. The contract is just for 6 months but the experience will be fantastic. Her timetable is from 3 pm to 10 pm and she comes back exhausted. She has to write on any subject under the sun so has to be prepared for anything. One moment she is writing about the financial crisis and another about bombs in Pakistan, or else doing a chat with an actress from a famous series in the 80s or updating the new films coming up at the end of the week. Variety is the word but she says the organisation is chaotic as no one specialises in anything.

My father had the operation on his big toe on Tuesday and is slowly recovering. It’s not easy when you are nearly 90, have walked all your life and don’t know what a headache is to bear with a set back like this. However, he is a being a “good soldier” and we hope he will be better soon.

News from abroad refers to news from my cousin Zuka and from Susan Wright, my parents’ neighbours in Heaton Grove. Zuka seems fine and we would love to have her come and stay. Will you Zuka? Susan rang about her mother Margaritte whose 100th birthday is at the end of this month. Unfortunately she has had a small heart attack and although recovering will not be able to have a big party, rather small visits from friends. Daddy was going to go out for it but with the problem of this foot the trip will have to be postponed. Well let’s hope that that trip can take in the not too distant future.

This week has also been one dedicated to keeping up with friends. I had lunch with Ana from the Spanish news agency and with Ramón, the A3TV weekend news presenter and MAM, a well known personality from the Spanish telecoms scene. I also met up with Elena, my friend and neighbour and whom I see for sort of informal coaching sessions. “Virtually” I found Eva and Lauri too thanks to LinkedIn as well as Axel Meyer.

I also seem to have been active trying to find employment for friends. I can think of at least four occasions this has happened this week. Two of the cases seem very promising so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Eladio and I have also been busily planning our Indian adventure in December. One big step was taken in that direction when we bought our tickets on internet last Sunday. With one simple click we sealed our destiny. Now we are near to closing the details of our trip with the Indian travel agency. Our trip will start in Delhi. From Delhi we will drive through Rajasthan and then take the plane to the holy city of Varanasi. From Varanasi we will fly on to Kathamandu and then back to Delhi. It’s going to be one hell of a trip and I so hope it all works out ok.

Yesterday, Eladio and I returned to our weekend routine and went to the cinema and then out to dinner to our old time favourite, “La Alpargatería” and dined at table number 7, the most romantic one in the restaurant. The film we saw was Sangre de Mayo (May Blood) by José Luis Garci. It’s about the famous 2nd May uprising in Madrid by the people of the city against Napoleon’s troops and is based on Benito Pérez Galdós novel “Episodios Nacionales”. The film was good but nothing to write home about. It was certainly not Garci’s best in our opinion.

Next week will bring a lunch I’m organising for the ex Motorola “girls” and it will also bring a family reunion with a Cuban motif. But more about both these subjects next time.

Cheers
Masha

Oh Fuck!, Alonso makes a double win in Japan, Martti Ahtisaari and Le Clézio win the Nobel peace and literature prizes and Rajoy puts his foot in it.

Hi again

I just had to include a quick post on the happenings above which for me have been some of the most important things to take place this week.

The Economist, that financial media institution of world wide prestige, this week used the forbidden four letter word to describe how we are all feeling about the financial crisis. I have never seen that word used before in headline news but actually thought it was great. I cannot somehow imagine a Spanish magazine ever doing anything like it. My Father who is nearly 90 and is a bit of a stick in the mud conservative is a subscriber of The Economist. It hasn’t arrived yet but I look forward to seeing his face when it comes through our letter box!

I’m no Formula One fanatic but I don’t like to see Alonso, the winner in 2005 and 2006 so low down in the standings. His win last week in Singapore seemed a bit of a fluke. So when he won again today in Japan
it looked like he had made a comeback. It’s a bit late though as he has 48 points and with only 2 races to go, there is no way he is going to get anywhere near his ex team mate and rival, Lewis Hamilton.

From Formula One to the Nobel Prizes announced this week. Well, I always loved competitions. I was delighted for Finland and my many Finnish friends to see Martti Ahtisaari , the former Finnish president and United Nations envoy, be awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for his work as a mediator in international conflicts. Who is probably not too pleased, or so I heard, is Ingrid Betancourt, the famous ex FARC hostage in Colombia. She was one of the candidates and word has it that she was preparing an event to celebrate winning the Nobel Prize herself. She must have got a big shock.

And a big shock it was to hear the name of an unknown writer, to me at least and possibly many more people, as this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. It went to French writer and traveller Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio . He will now surely become quite famous which, I think is one of the objectives of this prize. In any case, both he and Martti Ahtisaari (how awful is the spelling of Finnish names and surnames, you never know how many consonants or vowels!) will pocket 1 million euros each which will surely come in handy.

And finally here comes the local story of the leader of the opposition, Mariano Rajoy’s unfortunate incident with a microphone. Today is Spain’s national holiday when they celebrate the discovery of America. It is also the day of the Armed Forces and military processions go on all over Spain. The King, Juan Carlos, presides over the events in Madrid and all the Government and opposition members have to attend.
Mariano Rajoy and his faux pas
Rajoy was talking to a colleague and without realising a microphone was switched on complained that at the weekend he had to attend the Fiesta Nacional which he said was a complete bore. The vocabulary he chose was much more descriptive in Spanish as he said it was “¡un coñazo!” You can actually only feel sorry for the chap because at the end of the day he is completely right, it is a bore and I’m sure he would prefer to spend the Sunday morning with his family. It goes without saying, of course, that the press and Government members have had a field day with the whole episode.

That’s all for the moment folks.

Cheers
Masha

Sunday, October 05, 2008

A long, lonely and significant week in many ways

Hi again for the last time this week,

Wow this week has been long and full and rather lonely. Lonely because Eladio and Oli have been away which I’m not used to at all. The weekend was the worst and now I am here on Sunday morning writing whilst making their welcome home lunch of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Suzy has gone to get them. I'm so looking forward to their return.

It has also been full of events and outings, starting with a press conference and employee do on Monday which were the culmination of an intense week of preparations. Luckily it all went off really well. I must say, the location, “la casa del duque” or rather Rock and Loft was a great choice. Oli was my hostess and that was lovely.

This week was also significant in that it was the anniversary of my Mother’s passing away 9 years ago. It was also my 2nd anniversary at Yoigo. But you know that already if you have read my other posts this week.

On Thursday, my PR agency, Ketchum, invited me to have lunch with the Yoigo team and we went to a superb place called Sua, just off the Gran Via. Wow was the food good.

On Friday I took the day off. Suzy was free too so we took Grandpa to Ikea and then to Vips in Xanadu for lunch. I think it did him a world of good to get out and take his mind off the pain in his foot. Suzy and I also did a bit of quick shopping whilst Grandpa enjoyed a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

On Friday I also finally got down to writing to “Raju” in India, at Incredible Real India Tours & Travels Pvt.Ltd., recommended to us by Julián and Merche. The idea is to fly out on Boxing day and spend just over two weeks visiting Delhi, Rajastan, Varanesi and end up in Nepal. This trip is to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary and is also intended to make up for the honeymoon we never had when we got married.

Even though Eladio was away I still went on our daily walk everyday and made it more enjoyable by listening to part of my great repertoire of music in my phone. Our walk has become an integral part of every day, and is now a physical need in a way.

Yesterday, Suzy had planned a sit down dinner for 12 friends so of course I ended up helping. I was invited to stay but in the end took advantage of being “single” to go out for dinner with Fátima. We went to my latest favourite, De María in Majadahonda and had a great meal and a lovely time chatting and catching up with each other. Fati is doing fine at Nokia Siemens Networks and thoroughly enjoying her marketing job.

And that’s about it for this week, apart from recording Eladio and Oli’s much awaited arrival back today.

Oli will be starting her new job tomorrow and I wish her all the luck in the world. I know she will do well and go far.

Also Grandpa will have the first of two operations on his big toes and I just hope it goes well and he recovers quickly. I don't like him being in pain and having sleepless nights. Poor Daddy!

Cheers till next time
Masha

Friday, October 03, 2008

Working from the kitchen table, an emptier house, while the cats are away ….. planning the weekend

Hi

Here I am again writing midweek for the second time this week. I’m at my “new desk” and Suzy is opposite me with her wonderful Mac probably sending multiple invitations via Twenti or Facebook to her friends to come to dinner tomorrow night!!!

This house is huge and I have my own space for working but since the summer I’ve been using the kitchen table. I think I do it to be more integrated in the household or nearer the family. This way I can perfectly combine my work life balance or am I completely addicted to my computer, outlook, internet, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc?

Oli and Eladio went off fine to Istanbul but were very unlucky with the hotel which was supposed to be 4 star. It turned out to be one of those nightmare places with bugs on the stairs, a nasty smell in the air, a titchy little bedroom and very unfriendly staff. So, yesterday had me fighting with the agency, Viajes Marsans here in Spain and Oli fighting in Istanbul. Oli has always been very good at arguing even the most difficult of cases and has a bit of a lawyer in her makeup. So I can imagine she must have put the fear of God into the local tour operator representative as within
hours the problem was solved and they were settled into a very comfortable clean centrally located brand new hotel.

Today they will be visiting the Grand Bazar and I am looking forward to their bringing back all sorts of Turkish “delights” such as pashminas, tea, baklava, etc.

Meanwhile Suzy, Grandpa and I have been a little lonely at home but are making the best of it but the house does feel empty, especially at night. I am so unused to being without Eladio at home that I feel a bit at a loose end. However, my attitude has been “whilst the cats' away the mice will play” so Suzy and I have been shopping and have watched a couple of series on the TV in the evenings. We are also taking Grandpa (well that’s the excuse) to Ikea this morning and then on to Vips (his choice!) for lunch.

He has been suffering badly from pain in his feet because of acute arthritis and is waiting desperately for the operation which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday. Hopefully this little outing will cheer him up and take his mind off the problem.

Suzy has been planning a macro dinner here tomorrow night and she says I’m invited! However as the guest list gets bigger and bigger and there are no other “grown ups” I have decided to go out to dinner with Fátima – another symptom of the “mice will play” strategy. I think we will be going to, yes, you guessed, our latest favourite: De María.

Then on Sunday Eladio and Oli will be back and very soon the weekend will be over.

But more about that in my next post.

Cheers till then

Masha

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

The tables have turned, remembering my Mother and 2 years with my new company.

Hi again, midweek for a change. I don’t usually write midweek, but I sort of had the urge today for 3 big reasons:

In the first place today, 1st October, is the 9th anniversary of my dear Mother’s passing away and the day couldn’t go by without me remembering her. My Mother was unique; a fun loving intellectual Bohemian aristocrat of Russian origin and not at all like me. I imagine today must be difficult for my Father.

Secondly, the tables have turned as today Eladio and Oli are going on holiday to Istanbul. Usually in this house it is me who goes away and they are left behind. That’s why today is a bit memorable. Oli hasn’t really had a holiday this summer as she started working with Spanish Television (RTVE) as soon as she graduated and so she is taking a short break before she starts her new job. Eladio will be her guide and a good one too as he has been before of course.

Thirdly, tomorrow will mark my 2nd anniversary with Yoigo, Spain’s 4th mobile phone network operator and subsidiary of the Swedo Finnish incumbent operator TeliaSonera. In the telecoms sector I had always worked in the manufacturing side of mobile phones, with Motorola and then Nokia. So starting with Yoigo, a new entrant into the Spanish market 2 years ago was quite a challenge, not least because no one knew it and the market was highly penetrated. The 2 years have been hard work but fun. Let’s see what the next 2 years will bring.

To add a recap of what has happened since I wrote on Saturday I ought to mention that on Sunday we went to see Julián and Merche, the parents of Suzy’s friend, Carolina. The reason was to hear from them firsthand of their experiences of their trip to India this summer and where we are planning to go just after Christmas.

After some great recommendations, we met up with the girls to go and see the much awaited film, The boy in the striped pyjamas. The book, of course, I loved but I had mixed feelings at the end of the film. Yes, it was good and not that sentimental but perhaps what I didn’t really like too much was the cast.

After the film the 4 of us went for dinner to Ginos; something memorable too as I cannot remember the last time we went out to dinner on our own. We must repeat the experience. Communication of this sort in a family is so important.

What I must mention here too is Oli’s contribution to Informe Semanal (weekly documentary programme on TVE) this last Saturday again. The documentary she worked on this time was called Justicia para la Memoria – Minute 13.23 to 26.46 (or Justice for the Memory) and was about the killings in Spain during and after the Spanish Civil War and which is a huge conflict currently in Spain.

She also did a voice over in a report on the Financial Crisis (Minute 3.20).

And that’s all for the folks right now as I have to go and drive Oli and Eladio to the airport which is such a funny feeling for me.

Cheers till the weekend.
Masha