Olivia reporting from Andalucia and so to Ibiza, Master Chef España, back again, a lazy sunny weekend at home with the family, history made for British tennis and other stories.

The Yoigo family at this year's summer party in Ibiza

Good morning everyone

It’s Sunday again and the time to write my weekly post.  I wonder how your week has been.  Mine has been a blast, as this week was the annual Yoigo Summer Party which thankfully is now over after weeks of preparation.  So let me tell you all about it.

Last Sunday, Olivia went off to Córdoba to report on the high profile court case with José Bretón who is accused of killing his two small children, Ruth aged two and José aged six, in revenge for his wife filing for divorce. They apparently disappeared when he was with them in a park but later ashes with bones at his country house were analyzed and finally found to be of small children. Olivia would be reporting on this case and others in Andalucia all of last week. 

Meanwhile we had the abuela with us, Eladio’s 92 year old Mother, Ernestina who has spent most of the week knitting woolen socks in sharp contrast to the highest temperatures of the year so far.  She has also enjoyed wetting her feet by the pool in the afternoons and here is a great picture of her with Eladio in the pool which I took last Sunday.

Eladio and his Mother enjoying the pool last Sunday

Later that night Eladio and I went for our usual walk with the dogs.  I checked the temperature and it was 30ºc at 10pm in the evening and still light.  This photo proves both facts.

On our walk the Sunday before last - just look at the temperature and the light for that time of night.  Oh I love summer.

It was on Sunday evening too that Spain played Brazil in the final of the Confederations Cup and I am sorry to report we were beaten 3-0; a score La Roja (the Spanish national football team) are not used to and which humbled us all that night.

On Monday we all sat by the television to watch Olivia report on the court case in Córdoba which she did twice that morning.  You can watch the second report here if you go to 11.05h.

Oli reporting on the José Bretón case in Córdoba last Monday

It was on Monday that I was surprised by some corporate news.  The Siemens part of Nokia Siemens Networks was to be acquired by Nokia making it an all Finnish network manufacturer once again.  I was pleased for the company which I had once worked for and pleased for my colleagues who I know will be much happier to be an all Finnish rather than a German Finnish company. The two cultures are near in some ways but also very far in corporate style, the former being very hierarchical and the latter quite the opposite.  I enjoyed working for a Finnish company as I now do working for a partly Swedish owned corporation.  Their sense of fair play and no “bullshit” are what I like best. You can read about some of the reasons behind the decision here one of them being “"Nokia is trying to get stability in the networks division so they can repair the handset division," according to Strategic Analytics.  Whatever the reason, I am pleased with the news.

Monday and Tuesday for me were the busiest days of the week.  I was working on last minute preparations for the Yoigo annual Summer Party.  The destination had been a whispered secret for a while and if you have read about my “secret” trips in recent posts, I can now tell you they were to Ibiza.  Yes I was organising a two day party there for 210 people, no mean feat if you think about the hotel and travel logistics and factor in that people in Spain are not good at confirming or rather forget to do so and play havoc with your organisation.  It is not easy either to decide which people to put into which hotel and we had three, or on what flight; the crack of dawn regular flight for 30 odd people or the mid morning charter flight we had booked for the rest of the group.  Whatever you decide, some people are going to complain.  Add to that people turning up late for the early flight or missing it and the guaranteed chaos of the hotel check-ins for so many people and you get a sort of nightmare that I always want to avoid.  Thank goodness the girls from my events agency, especially Gloria, never lose their cool and can deal with any situation with a smile.  Thanks Gloria, Cristina, Bea, Miguel, Nuria and Julia, you are great.  Thus I decided to go a day earlier, ahead of the rush as I needed to keep my cool after some very frustrating days working on the last minute logistics.

But first I had to go the office on Tuesday morning for an unscheduled management team meeting.  I got there early so was able to watch Olivia reporting from Jerez on another trial, the killing of a young girl called Miriam Tamayo. She had to interview the parents which she told me later was very traumatic.

Olivia reporting on the case of the killing of Miriam Tamayo last Tuesday in Jerez. 

I was stuck for lunch alone as my flight wasn’t leaving until the early afternoon.  But that wasn’t for long as some of my “Yoigo boys”, as I call them, had me join them for lunch that day.  So off I went in the warm sunshine with Javier, Juan and my dearest Dragutín to the nearby Hotel Eurostars for a “menu of the day” meal.  Of course they were delighted to have lunch with me as they knew they would be able to get all sorts of information about the arrangements for the summer party from me.  However I wasn’t good company as I kept getting calls about people wanting to change flights and similar problems.

Soon I was at the airport to catch the 4pm flight to Ibiza.  It arrived punctually and I took a taxi to the hotel where I was staying, El Corso, right by the yachting port and with great views of the town of Ibiza.

Ibiza town, the view from my room at the Hotel Corso

I spent most of the rest of the afternoon working, again on last minute details for the big event.  I had a dinner date with the team from my events agency QuintaEsencia at 9.30 pm in town and decided to walk there in the evening sunshine.  It took me 45 minutes and I even had time left over.  So what did I do?  Yes you guessed, I went to Zara as it was the beginning of the summer sale.  I had in mind to buy a dress for the following night’s gala dinner because the one I had brought wasn’t really suitable for such hot weather. And there and then I spied a beautiful cream embroidered dress which I had eyed before.  The largest size available was size “M” and I was delighted it fitted me.  This is the beautiful dress.

My new dress from Zara

Dinner at La Brasa was once again a bit of a disaster. We were there to taste the menu for the lunch on the last day of the summer party. The previous tasting was not good and we had changed the menu completely as we were to do again that night. The place itself is lovely, a sort of garden terrace and is very popular in Ibiza.  However, I am not impressed with the quality of the food or the service.  On the day, the food turned out to be ok but the service was very slow, just as we had feared.

La Brasa restaurant in Ibiza

I would have walked back to the hotel after dinner but that night I did not want to miss the last episode of Master Chef.  It was to be the last one and there were just three finalists left out of the original 15.  They were Fabian, Eva and Juan Manuel.  Olivia who works for TVE had the heads up on the outcome and had already told us that Juan Manuel would win and that Eva and Fabian would come second and third.  Even so I wanted to watch it and I arrived in my room just towards the end.  I was pleased for Juan Manuel who was proclaimed Master Chef Spain 2013 by Spain’s most famous chef, Ferran Adria.  His words to Juan Manuel struck a chord and I totally agreed when he said: “first look for happiness then look for success as it is happiness that most often leads to success”.  Juan Manuel is a 25 year old out of work waiter from Almeria who can hardly believe his luck. He is now famous, he will publish a book with his recipes, has won 100.000 euros and will be enrolled on the Cordon Bleu course in Madrid to further his learning and love of cooking.  I have enjoyed the programme enormously and look forward to the next edition.

Juan Manuel, Spain's first Master Chef

It was on Tuesday too that Suzy and her friend Chati had moved into a new flat in Whitechapel, the area they live in London.  To judge by the photo of their new room, it is bigger and slightly better than their previous accommodation where they had bunk beds.  Suzy would have joined me in Ibiza but that day she had an interview for another job, this time as an events assistant, so it wasn’t to be.  This year would be the first year that neither of my daughters would be with me at the Yoigo Summer Party.

Suzy and Chati's new accommodation in London

And finally on Wednesday the Yoigo Summer Party for employees and partners began and it was to go on until Thursday evening.  They weren’t to arrive until mid morning so I was able to watch Olivia from the comfort of my hotel room live on TVE at around 10 in the morning.  Miguel, her boyfriend from Valencia, had joined her in Córdoba and sent me some photos of her reporting live.  I am so happy he could join her as he gives her so much stability and self confidence.

Olivia reporting last Wednesday on the court case in Córdoba

The first item on the Summer Party agenda was lunch at the Pura Vida beach club followed by activities on the Niu Blau beach.  I was there to greet our guests and spend the day with them.  For the meals I always tried to join my colleagues, Belén, Tony, Antonio and Pedro.  I spent the afternoon on the beach with them afterwards too. I think a great time was had by all as the food was excellent, the beach was more or less for ourselves and you could do water activities or just relax if you chose to.  Towards the end of the day we gathered for the great photo of us all together which illustrates this week’s post.

The next item on the agenda was the gala dinner at the Destino Pacha hotel where the employees minus the management team were staying. This is a brand new luxurious hotel which is totally awesome.  The dinner was awesome too.  Afterwards the “flower party fiesta” began.  As we all walked down to the discotheque our pictures were taken with an original photo call.  This one is of me with my team from Ketchum, our PR agency, Carlos and Isabel.

With Carlos and Isabel at the Yoigo Summer Party last week

The party began with the showing of a video starring the employees from the Financial Department.  They had put on a pseudo Eurovision Song Contest and they bowled us over with their talent.  We then had to vote for the best song.  Most of us voted for José María and his team dressed up in flamenco gear and singing Telia Telita Telia (a play words from the famous song Pena Penita Pena). They all had us in stitches but theirs was just the best. The party continued but I slipped away at about 2 in the morning, exhausted from the day’s activities and the stress of worrying about all the little details.  I heard later that some people partied until breakfast time.

Two ex colleagues slipped away with me too, Isidro from Nokia who now heads up Sony Mobile Spain and Oscar from Motorola who now heads up LG Spain.  Our conversation in the taxi back to the Hotel Corso centred on life at Nokia Spain which brings back sweet but also very bitter memories.

I woke up late for me, at about 9.30, the next day.  I was too tired to face all our external guests at breakfast so ordered mine in my room – something I love to do.  I was then able to catch Olivia on the television again. I think she was in Huelva, this time reporting on the case of the missing baby.

Oli reporting on the missing baby case in Huelva last Thursday

That morning I was completely free until lunchtime, so I decided to walk to the nearby Talamanca beach and have a bit of time on my own there.  Later I checked out of the hotel and walked into Ibiza town where I found lots of my colleagues exploring the local shops.  In the street and via my mobile phone I watched Oli again on the TV, this time reporting on the temperature in Córdoba – 41ºc, the highest that day in the whole of Spain.  You can see it too if you go to 13.12 in this link.

Oli, the weather girl, reporting on the highest temperature in Spain in Córdoba last Thursday

Just before lunch I went in search of a cash point. My luck was out that morning as although the money came out, the machine swallowed my card.  Luckily they opened it for me an hour later and I was thankful to have my card back.

Meanwhile my colleagues had started the long lunch at La Brasa in Ibiza town.  I didn’t miss anything as the service was very slow.  At the end of the meal, a video summary of this year’s Yoigo summer party was shown and which you can also see here.  We always say in our family “all good things come to an end” and that was true of this year’s summer party once we had finished the lunch at La Brasa.  

From there we made our way to the airport, where, as usual, I bought the local delicacy, the typical “ensaimada” pastry which we would enjoy at breakfast the next day.  I was very tired at the airport and slept most of the way home.  It was only when I was in the taxi going to retrieve my car that I realised I had left my British passport in the magazine compartment of my seat 7C.  We immediately rang the airline, Vueling but so far I have had no success. Vueling is famous for good customer care but I am afraid that is not my experience. We were referred to lost property at Madrid airport but I kept insisting that the passport would not be given in until the magazine was changed the following month.  I got nowhere with their Twitter or Facebook pages so this morning I resorted to ringing their press department who now seem to be dealing with the problem properly.  I do hope I get my passport back soon.

It was lovely to be home again but oh so warm, much more so than in Ibiza. Thankfully it was Friday and I was able to wind down a bit. Olivia was on the TV again that morning, this time reporting on the fate of 120 unpaid Bulgarian strawberry pickers in Huelva which you can see here if you go to 11.30.  

Oli reporting on the unpaid Bulgarian strawberry pickers in Huelva last Thursday

Later she was sent to Seville where she reported on the extreme heat in the Andalusian capital.  You can see that too here if you go to 13.10.

Olivia (in the middle) reporting on the high temperature in Seville on Friday.  On the right her colleague in Valencia and on the left her colleague in Orense, Galicia, where it was even hotter than Seville.

On Friday we took the abuela to have lunch at José Antonio and Dolores’ house in Madrid.  It was the first time she had left our house, so I think the outing did her good.  Later when she went to bed she admitted she was exhausted.  I can only imagine being 92 and suffering that heat.  I would be exhausted too.

In the afternoon I went to do the weekly food shopping with Fátima.  You may remember Fátima is Oufa’s older sister and is replacing her as our home help as Oufa is getting married in August and will be going to live in Paris.  Fátima started last Monday with us.  Her Spanish is very limited but is improving.  She is 41 I think and a lovely person but scarred from being a battered wife.  This is her first job and to judge by this first week, we couldn’t have anyone better.  But I know that she needs help in many ways – to improve her self esteem and to begin to enjoy life.  Just being with her makes me realize once again just how fortunate I am for having been born in the west into a middle class family.  Fátima is one of 10 brothers and sisters and she now has to bring up her two small children alone, although she has the help of her sister Ashouak here in Madrid.  As we enjoyed an ice cream together during our shopping outing, she told me about her terrible marriage and I tried to help her look on the bright side and to forget the past and enjoy the present.  I think she is learning a bit from me.  I asked her whether she wanted to use our swimming pool and she admitted she had never been in one before.  So I promised she would try ours out as soon as there were no men on the horizon.  That was yesterday.  I gave her a bathing costume and entered the pool with her whilst she trembled, half from fear and half from pleasure.  This morning she left for her two days off and she was wearing a red top inherited from me.  On her head though she was wearing a black scarf so I offered her a red one instead, to match the top. She willingly accepted and asked me to take a picture of her.  And here she is laughing and smiling.  It is my intention that she laughs and smiles more as I help her to enjoy life and at the same time modernize this darling woman who needs love and attention to blossom and enjoy life once again.

Fátima, our home help, looking much happier after a week with us

But back to Friday.  That evening Eladio and I went out to dinner true to tradition.  This time we went to Sibara where I always order the gazpacho and their style fish and chips.  As it was summer, the tables were laid in the garden and the place was full.  We enjoyed our time together that evening as we always do on our Friday night dinners out together.

The Sibara restaurant where we had dinner last Friday night

Saturday was another hot day.  As usual my Father, Eladio and the abuela had their breakfast outside and read the papers.  I took a photo of them for the records.  It’s nice isn’t it?

Eladio with his Mother and my Father after breakfast on Saturday morning

We spent most of the day by the pool.  That evening our friends Mari Carmen and Roberto who are now divorced but still on good terms, came to dinner.  The meal just had to be a cold one so I made vichysoisse followed by salmon and lobster salad.  I’m afraid we spent the whole time chatting that I completely forgot to take a photograph.

Sunday was the highlight of the week.  In fact I started writing this post yesterday but had to put off finishing it if I was to spend any time with Olivia who was returning at 11.30 and later with José Antonio and Dolores who came for lunch and to spend the afternoon and evening with us.  It turned out to be a very lazy family day; something I was much in need of if I was to recover quickly from last week’s exertions. 

Lunch was a Moroccan dish prepared by Fátima who by the way is a very good cook.  Here is a photo of us sweltering around the table outside the kitchen.

The family lunch on Sunday

In the afternoon, whilst Oli was getting a quick rest and packing her case before leaving for Córdoba again, the men slept a siesta and Dolores and I read our books, surrounded by our three dogs.  I particularly like this photo of José Antonio asleep with Nuba his delightful mongrel lying with him on the sun bed.

José Antonio and Nuba having a siesta in the shade yesterday

Earlier that morning Miguel, Oli’s boyfriend, was taking part in a swimming race from Santa Pola to the island of Tabarca – some 6km I think.  They had stayed in Santa Pola at our flat that weekend because he was taking part in the swim.  Oli very proudly told me he came 15^th out of over a 1000 participants.  I asked him for a photo and this is what I got. He is on the right and certainly the best looking guy in the photo.

Miguel (on the right), Olivia's boyfriend and his companions who raced in the swimming competition from Santa Pola to Tabarca yesterday

Whilst we were resting in the garden by the pool on Sunday afternoon, Andrew Murray from Scotland was playing in the final at Wimbledon against the number one player, Novak Djokovic.  He was fighting to become the first British player to win Wimbledon in 77 years since Fred Perry.  I was certain he would not win as were most people.  I kept checking my phone and was happy to see him win the first set.  I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw that he had also won the second set.  Then I and all the British fans could begin to believe in fairy tales.  He went on to beat Djokovic in three straight sets and make British tennis history in doing so.  The crowd was ecstatic as were British tennis fans everywhere in the world, including myself.  There are no words to describe what it means for a British player to win Wimbledon, England’s prime sporting event and the biggest feat for any tennis player.  So, well done Andy, well done British tennis. You made us all happy now and even if no British player wins Wimbledon again for another 77 years we will still remember your victory.

Andy Murray who made British tennis history yesterday when he won Wimbledon

Later we went for our walk as usual which the dogs enjoyed immensely. I took this photo of my walking companions to record in this post.  We love José Antonio and Dolores spending their weekends with us and I look forward to many more.

Dolores, José Antonio and Eladio on our walk yesterday evening

When we came back Eladio had a swim in the pool as I was preparing our dinner. Meanwhile Olivia had arrived in Córdoba from where she will be reporting on the outcome of the José Bretón murder case.  It was even warmer there so she also went for a swim on the rooftop pool of her hotel. This is the photo she sent me.  It was taken by her producer friend and colleague Bea, who certainly knows how to take good pictures.

Oli diving into her hotel swimming pool last night when she arrived in Córdoba

And that was the last story of my very long and activity packed week.  A nice one to round off this post I think.

I wish you all a good week ahead.  That’s it for now folks

Masha

Summer’s here, Oufa is leaving, welcome Fátima, the supermoon, Inda came to visit Norah and Elsa, a trip to a secret destination, a family barbecue and lots of other stories

The "older generation" at the family barbecue gathering yesterday

Hi everyone,

Sorry for missing my post last Sunday but life has been very busy recently. I now have two weeks to report on.  So let me backtrack to tell you all about my life since I last wrote on Sunday 16^th June.

The next day Monday, our mother company, TeliaSonera, announced the appointment of a new CEO.  Johan Donnelind, unsurprisingly, is Swedish and has lots of international operator experience.  He will start after the summer, which, for the Nordic people, is when they all literally switch off to enjoy their summer houses, picking berries and mostly the long daylight they have at this time of year.  This all starts with what they call Midsummer, although it is not the middle of the summer.  This is a festivity that celebrates the longest day in the year and is taken very seriously by our Northern European neighbours. 

It was on Monday when our sweet Moroccan home help Oufa announced she is getting married in August and will be leaving us.  I am very happy for her but will miss her enormously.  Her wedding will be in August near Marrakesh where she comes from, after which she will go to Paris to live with her Moroccan groom who runs a grocery shop there with his family.  We will not be bereft of help as her older sister, Fátima, will be replacing her.  It was not until she told us she was leaving that I began to realize just how much she means to me.  Oufa is like a substitute daughter and has run this house with great dedication, love and efficiency.  For me she has become part of the family and when she leaves she will break my heart wherein she will remain forever.  Oufa is one of those people I cannot forget, a bit like our Danish au-pair Pernille with whom we have formed a lifelong relationship. 

Oufa and Susana

Oufa hasn’t replaced Suzy but she has made it easier for me to bear my eldest daugher’s leaving Spain to go and live in London.  It was on Monday too that Suzy left after her surprise visit here.  

On Tuesday it was Olivia’s time to leave, this time for a short holiday in Valencia with her boyfriend Miguel whose nick name is “Titi”. He had prepared a surprise for her, two nights at the luxury 5 star Villa Gadea Hotel in the chic little town Altea on the Costa Blanca.  Funnily enough it was near Altea where Eladio and I fell in love more than 30 years ago.  It was in Altea too that we had our first dinner date together. 

Olivia enjoying the luxury hotel in Altea

It was on Tuesday too that the Spanish national Under 21 football team won the European Championship.  La Rojita (the little red) as the team is known, after the La Roja (the red) official Spanish national football squad, beat Italy, no mean rival and I think have now won the championship some four times. Spain is really currently the best squad in the world, something this nation could never have dreamed of a few years ago, although it is a great football nation, boasting some of the world’s best teams.

The Spanish Under 21 football  team won the European Championship yet again

On Wednesday I had a crucial meeting with my events agency, QuintaEsencia, to go over lots of little details of the up and coming summer party I am organizing for over 200 people.  You cannot begin to imagine the work that goes into preparing it with the added complication of all the flight and hotel arrangements.  

Wednesday saw the Real Madrid basketball team beat Barcelona to win the national league.  There is so much rivalry between the cities that reaches its zenith when the rivalry is about sport. 

Last week was the official start of the summer.  We have had strange weather recently but finally on Friday the sun shone and it has done ever since.  Friday 21^st was therefore the longest day of the year, the solstice. We did not celebrate with bonfires or maypoles as this is not a festival I was brought up on. So Eladio and I did our usual and went out for a normal Friday night dinner.  This time we went to La Vaca Argentina where there was a promotion of a free bottle of wine from an area I love in La Ribera del Duero, Arzuaga.

Saturday was the highlight of last week.  José Antonio (Toño) and Dolores and Nuba their mongrel dog came to spend the day.  We enjoyed a great lunch made by Oufa (oh I will miss her cooking), a long afternoon by the pool, followed by our walk with the dogs and a light dinner  For the record all four of us swam in the pool that day, something of a first for Dolores.

Eladio enjoying the pool

Just as they were leaving, we witnessed the appearance of the supermoon which was supposed to be at its brightest in the early hours of Sunday morning.  As you can read here, the “so-called "supermoon" occurs when the moon reaches its closest point to earth, known as a perigee full moon. The effect makes the moon seem 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when it is furthest from the planet”. It was quite a spectacle but difficulty to record well on camera.  This is the best I could do on my iPhone 5.

The supermoon as seen from our  balcony the Saturday before last

On Sunday Olivia was back from Valencia.  She brought her friends Dave and Rocío for lunch and Rocío brought with her, her darling little black Labrador puppy, Inda to meet our dogs Elsa and Norah.  We all doted on little Inda with whom I have fallen totally in love but we weren’t sure how Norah our beagle or Elsa our Labrador would react. The beginnings were not promising but within the hour the three were firm friends.  I am sure they now look forward to India coming to visit again or to stay when Rocío goes on holiday. 

Inda with Norah and Elsa

Susana would have loved to be here that afternoon when the rest of the “manada” (herd) as the girls’ group of friends is called came, but that was not to be.  Suzy meanwhile is having a grand time in London to judge by photos of what seem to me to be endless partying.

Suzy having a great time in London

The next day, Monday, Suzy had an interview for a job which would be good to start with; guess assistant at a top Spanish hotel in London.  She was later told that she would go through to the next round or rather be admitted into the job selection process.  Whatever the outcome, interview experience is very important for her in her job seeking period.

Suzy was much on my mind as I went into the centre of Madrid for a business lunch.  It was hosted by Ametic, the telecommunications sector association, who had invited the communications directors from the main Spanish operators.  We love to get together and were very honoured at this initiative which came from the new CEO of Ametic who has a completely different style to the previous CEO who mostly ignored us.  The purpose of the lunch, held at Loft 39 in Velázquez, was to get to meet us of course, but also to discuss the arrangements of the big conference they organize in Santander at the beginning of September and which is probably the most important item in the sector’s yearly agenda.  We were so busy discussing Santander that I forget to take a picture of the group.  However I do have a souvenir of the lunch, in the photo below.  It is of the “tapa” created by the restaurant chef which won the best tapa of the year award organized by the city of Valladolid.  The “tapa” or morsel of food recreates the local newspaper, El Norte de Castilla and is served on a glass covered plate of newspapers.  It is completely edible and is made of steak tartare, milk ice cream, mustard, honey and goat cheese.  As I don’t like cheese I didn’t try it but I also would have chosen it as the best tapa in the contest just for its originality. My fellow colleagues around the table said it was delicious.

The prize winning tapas at Loft 39

I was the first to leave this long lunch at about 16h and as I stepped outside into the warm sun, I spied a Zara shop and decided to go inside to see if they had a summer coat/long jacket which I had seen Cristina wear earlier that morning at a meeting with my events agency.  We both have a similar slightly classical style and I always love the way she dresses.  Her coat was light blue and the Zara in Velázquez only had it in emerald green.  I tried it on and loved it.  Green is one of my favourite colours and I look forward to wearing it with my flowery green trousers, perhaps in Santander in September as right now it is far too hot to wear anything long sleeved.

My new green linen summer coat from Zara

Whilst I was coming home, Rafa Nadal was playing his opening match at Wimbledon and I was shocked to hear he lost it and was out of the tournament which, despite being on grass, his least favourite surface, he has won twice.  Later in the week his arch rival, the lovely Swiss Roger Federer was knocked out too.  That means this year’s tournament will be one of the most open in years. Who knows this maybe Andy Murray’s chance to win it, with the permission of Djokovic of course?

Tuesday and Wednesday are days I can’t tell you about this week although I would love to.  You see this year’s summer party’s destination is a secret and I went there with Bea and Miguel from QuintaEsencia for some final important details we had to see about to make sure “everything will be alright on the day”.  Next week the secret will be revealed and the 200 or so guests, I hope will be happy to find out where the party will finally take place.

I was home on Wednesday evening, just in time for a balmy evening walk with Eladio and the dogs and dinner with Olivia.  Needless to say, in this weather, all our meals take place outside in the garden in front of the kitchen which I call our “little paradise”.

I came home to a perfectly clean and run home.  Oufa, for who this would be her last week, had brought her older sister Fátima on Monday evening to show her the ropes.  Fátima doesn’t know much Spanish but seems a lovely person and is an excellent cook.  The two of them have been here all week cleaning and cooking and the house, with two people running it, has never looked so good.  I went shopping with them on Thursday evening, as I do every week with Oufa and it saddened me to realize it was the last time I would do so with Oufa.  Here is a photo of the two sisters at Mercadona, our local low cost supermarket.

Oufa (in white) and Fátima at Mercadona on Thursday afternoon

That night there was a football match again between Spain and Italy.  This time it was “La Roja” playing the Italian squad in the semi finals of the Conferederations’ Cup.  I wasn’t really sure what this “cup” was about so friends on Facebook enlightened me.  Apparently it is a sort of world cup hosted by the country where the next World Cup will be played, Brazil and the contestants are the host country, the champions of each continent as well as the current world champion.  As Spain is both the current European and World champion, Italy gets to represent Europe as it was the semi finalist.  I didn’t watch the match which in the end was decided by a penalty shoot out won by Spain. Spain will now play Brazil tonight at midnight European time which in most people’s opinion is the best outcome possible.   Eladio may well watch it. All I want is to be able to go to sleep and wake up to hear that Spain won.  You can tell how enamoured I am of my adopted country can’t you?

Friday was by far the busiest day of the week. However, as I am a highly organized person I had time for everything that day and first things always come first for me.  First that day was watching Olivia live on TVE.  She often gives me the heads up via whatsapp and if I can’t get to a TV set, I can always watch her via streaming on my phone.   At 10.15 she reported from nearby Talavera on a sad story of a Ukranian couple who are so poverty stricken they can no longer feed their children so they decided to leave their two young babies at the reception of the town hall to the amazement of the staff there.  You can see the report here if you fast forward to 10.15 approx.

Oli reporting from Talavera on Friday

She was on again at 13.15 reporting on a home for home exchange story of how an Australian family was staying in a Spanish home in nearby Majadahonda whose members would be staying in the Australian’s home in Melbourne, I think.  Olivia loved the idea and so did I.  It was also one of the few reports where she has used her English, having to double as an interpreter whilst interviewing the Australian family.  You can see the report here if you fast forward to 13.15. 

Oli reporting on the home exchange story on Friday

The website where you can study how this amazing new way of travelling works is called www.homeexchange.com.  Eladio and I are now seriously thinking of doing something similar next year.  It sounds a great way of travelling as you save enormous costs by not going to expensive hotels which can often consumer more than 50% of your holiday budget.  Of course the idea has been around for a while and is now really taking off.  

On Friday, in between meetings, I had a lunch appointment with my colleague Juan.  Over a wonderful meal at Aspen, we talked shop of course and our conversation lead to the topic of happiness.  We discussed just how well the employees are treated at work which is not very common under the current circumstances.  My conclusion to him is what I always say; that happiness is about the small things in life, such as having a cup of coffee with a friend in the sunshine.  Sounds simple doesn’t it, but it is only possible if you have a positive attitude towards life.  I’m so glad I have. 

Later that day I had another meeting, but this time it was at home.  Bea and Gloria came to go over the final lists of the attendants to our ambitious and complicated to organize summer party.  It’s amazing how some people haven’t confirmed yet and when I rang some of them, their answer was generally: “well of course I’m coming.  Did I have to confirm?  Oh I’m very sorry I will do now”.  They have no idea of the problems they cause as we have run out of hotel rooms and seats on the plane.  

I remarked to Eladio at dinner that night at Ginos, where we ate far too much pasta, that as usual there will be a bit of chaos at the beginning of the day but experience tells me things will work out fine and only Bea, Cris, Gloria and I will be aware of any mistakes. But more about that next week by which time the summer party will be a thing of the recent past and I will be able to relax, for a little while at least, until my next big project.

If the Saturday before was the highlight of the week, Saturday of this week was even more so.  We were expecting family guests for lunch that day. Pili and Andrés were coming from León and were bringing my Mother-in-law to stay with us for a fortnight.  The excuse was they had to bring a sofa bed for their daughter Paula and her boyfriend Pedro’s new flat in Madrid.  Thus Paula and Pedro joined us too, as did José Antonio, Dolores and their son Juan and his girlfriend Cristina.  We were to be 13 around the table and had organized a barbecue of the finest produce to be found locally. Thank goodness we had both Oufa and Fátima to help and they worked all day long to help make the day a great success. The photo below is of us all enjoying that wonderful meal.

Yesterday's family barbecue gathering

Afterwards we spent the afternoon by the pool in two groups, the “oldies” – ourselves and the younger generation.  The photo illustrating this week’s blogpost is of us “oldies” relaxing after a dip in the early evening when it just began to cool slightly and the one below is of the younger generation.  I have to say that Suzy was sorely missed yesterday.

The younger generation yesterday. 

Everyone left quite late, after which José Antonio, Dolores, Eladio and I and the three dogs went for our walk.  When we came back Oufa and Fátima had laid the table for a supposedly light dinner.  The only difference from last week was that yesterday there was no supermoon.  You can see the rest of the photos of yesterday’s family gathering here.

And today is Sunday and I am at the end of my tale of the last two weeks.  Again I am sitting at the table by the pool whilst everyone else is sleeping off the huge Moroccan couscous meal Fátima made.  Earlier I took them to the station with their luggage.  Thankfully I didn’t have to say goodbye yet to Oufa who will be returning tomorrow to retrieve the rest of her luggage.  That will be hard.  So yeah, goodbye darling Oufa, have a good life, keep in touch.  And, of course welcome Fátima. These two hardworking Muslim women are very religious and in many ways behind the times.  They got a lecture on marriage from Eladio and I this morning when we asked them what a Moroccan wedding was like.  Our underlying message to them was that a woman and man should be equal in marriage and life in order for both of them to be happy.  I would like to believe that they agree.

Not everyone is sleeping. Olivia is packing upstairs as later this afternoon she will be going to Córdoba with a TVE crew.  She will be reporting from there all of next week on a terrible case about a man, José Bretón, who is accused of killing his two small children in revenge for his wife having asked for a divorce.  It is the biggest profile case in Spain for a long time as stories like this are not common here.  Olivia is at her best when reporting on court cases but this will be a hard one as the story is so sad. She asked us at lunch about Medea, the Greek tragedy which is similar to this case but in reverse.  Medea killed her own children to avenge her husband Jason’s betrayal, I think.  But maybe you know better.  We will all be following her on the television – me on my iPhone as I will be away at the secret destination – every day next week.  The temperature in Córdoba, one of the hottest places in Spain, is nearly 40c right now so I hope she chooses cool clothing to wear when she reports from the court in this beautiful Andalusian city, one of my favourites in Spain.  

The rest of today will be like most Sunday afternoons in the summer. We will swim or read and then go for our walk just around sunset to avoid the heat.

I have a big week ahead of me and will need lots of energy to get through it, so the rest this afternoon will do me good.

Cheers until next week my friends,

Masha