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| Olivia (far right) with the new team |
Hi everyone,
Well last
Sunday some of us voted for the European Parliamentary Elections. The results the next day astounded us around
Europe. In the UK the party that got
most votes was the far right UKIP.
France’s Le Pen won too. However
in Spain it went the other way. The victors were the left wing parties. People say here it is the beginning of the
end of the two party rule. The
socialists (PSOE) had their worst result ever and the opposition leader,
Rubalcaba, a vestige of Felipe González’ era, resigned. The fight now begins to see who will be the
new leader of the party. I only hope it
is a woman.
The new left wing party “Podemos” (we can) led by a young man called Pablo Iglesias who wears a pony tail and is a teacher of political science at the Madrid Complutense University, were the protagonists of the week winning 5 seats in Brussels thanks to 1.2 million voters. This party stems from the movement of 15M of mostly young and well educated people who want a greater chance in life and are disgruntled with unemployment and the cuts. The movement started in 2011. It remains to be seen just how far this party can go. Will the establishment here let Pablo Iglesias have a say in how the country develops?
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| Pablo Iglesias the leader of "Podemos" |
On the home
front on Monday, it was an emotional day for Olivia, her last day with TVE. She
has worked with the Spanish national broadcasting channel for some 6 years since
she left University. First she worked
with Informe Semanal (a sort of Panorama), then with the website, after which she
did a master with TVE and then worked for the 24 hours news programme after
which she got a job with the morning magazine programme La Mañana de la 1. This is where her career as a live reporter
was forged. However her contract was
running out and so she looked around for jobs in other TV channels. She entered the job process recently to be a
reporter or presenter with a new programme for Telemadrid (the Madrid public
TV) for a new afternoon programme to be called “Aquí en Madrid” (here in
Madrid), starting this Monday 2nd June and which will be broadcast
from Mondays to Fridays from 18.30 to 20.30.
Amazingly last Friday the producer, Boomerang TV (they make all sorts of
programmes and series for television broadcasters such as Top Chef or The
Voice) rang her to say they had chosen her to be one of the 4 main reporters,
but not only that she would also be the substitute presenter when the occasion
required it. She was to start Wednesday
of this week which gave her little time to say goodbye to TVE.
On Monday afternoon
she took me to Prado del Rey (the programme and radio studios in Pozuelo which
belong to TVE) which I had never seen before.
Here she took me round the studios where programmes were being broadcast
and we had to tip toe around in silence.
This is a photo of Olivia signing a piece of paper, one of her last
tasks before leaving the broadcaster.
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| Olivia performing her last task with TVE |
Before we left
we took a selfie by the logo of TVE. It
was a very significant moment.
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| A selfie with Olivia at TVE in Prado del Rey on Monday |
Meanwhile in
London, Suzy was getting on with life. She sent us this great photo of her
coming back on her bike with her shopping.
I could see from the brands on the bags that she was doing so at the
local Tesco in Canada Water.
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| Suzy carrying her Tesco shopping bags on her bike in London |
On Tuesday
morning Olivia went back to Prado del Rey to say goodbye to all her colleagues,
the team from La Mañana de la 1. I just love
the photo she sent us of her with the famous presenter, Marilo Montero, who I
know had a soft spot for Olivia.
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| A special goodbye photo with Marilo Montero, the presenter of the programme La Mañana de la 1 where Olivia worked for 3 years until this week. |
It was on
Tuesday that Suzy finally received our huge parcel in London. She had asked us to send her a 20kg box of
food from the low cost Spanish supermarket Mercadona, as well as sheets,
towels, etc. I can’t remember the name
of the courier but they charge only 1 euro per kilo plus some taxes which meant
the whole parcel only cost about 35 euros to send. Suzy was delighted to receive it at her new
home in London.
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| The huge parcel Suzy received in London this week |
Wednesday was
Olivia’s big day, the day she would start working with Boomerang TV. She would be spending the day with the main
offices in Alcobendas on the outskirts of Madrid. However from Thursday onwards the team would
be working from a new studio and news room especially set up for the programme
bang in the centre of Madrid in the famous Torres Kío in Plaza Castilla.
Thus that afternoon Eladio went into Madrid to view three parking spaces near the Torres Kio. He found a great one which meant that the next day Olivia would be able to park comfortably right next door to her new work place.
On Wednesday none of us could have showers that morning as the hot water had stopped working. The plumber came later in the afternoon. It was bad news as he had to replace the “burner” which ended up costing nearly a thousand euros!
Because the new parking space was tricky to find, Eladio accompanied Olivia on her first day at the Torres Kío. It turned out it took them more than 2 hours to get there because of the traffic. Now Olivia may well have to commute via car and metro but as she still doesn’t know her timetable, she will have to decide later whether she drives or commutes on the train to work.
Meanwhile I
was on my way to far less pleasant destination, the Quirón Hospital for my
yearly mamograph. If you are a woman
reading this you will fully understand how unpleasant that is.
It was my
fasting day on Thursday and I was really busy preparing a press release on
Yoigo’s new tariff which was supposed to be going out next Monday. However the news was leaked and we decided to
send it out the next morning. This meant
I was frantically getting the wording changed from about 20h to 23h until the
document was approved. We were to announce the reduction of our tariffs by 25% and the cheapest "giga" on the market.
Thus I was
hardly able to think about Olivia on her first official day with the new
programme. That afternoon I would have
loved to be at the press conference when it was presented. The photo illustrating this week’s post is of
the team of reporters and presenter. I
think Oli looks gorgeous. She also sent
me this more informal photo of part of the team. I can’t wait to see the programme on Monday.
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| Olivia in a selfie with some of the members of the teams of the new Telemadrid programmes |
On Friday I
was up at 06.10. I had to get everything
ready for the issue of the press release but also pack for Montrondo and
prepare all the food to be taken as there is nowhere to shop anywhere near the
village. I would be going with Eladio
and his brother José Antonio and our main mission was to see how the rebuilding
of the house which started some 10 days ago was going. Thus I was able to have breakfast with
Olivia; something I always treasure.
From now on her life will be hectic.
She has been told she will have no life other than the programme to
start with and she has even had to work all of this weekend. It reminds me of my beginnings with Motorola
when I was the 4th person to join and I would be there from dawn to
dusk and gave my soul to the company for it to grow and be consolidated in the
Spanish market. However it was fun and I
made friends for life who are still in this industry in many of the different
companies in the telecoms world. I think
it will be similar for Olivia. I wish
her lots of luck but mostly fulfilment and enjoyment.
Just before I
left for Montrondo I had a quick chat on the phone with Suzy. She is excited too, embarking possibly on a
new career after sending in all the documents and complicated forms to register
as a dietitian with the NHS in London. I
wish her the same as Olivia, fulfilment, enjoyment and much success.
At 10 we were on the road and 1.5h later having a glass of wine and plate of ham at Rueda on the way. We got to Montrondo at about 14.30 and then my cooking started. I have spent the whole weekend cooking for the men and have got many compliments.
After lunch I
went to see the “house” if that’s what you can call it. It’s more like a shell as all the walls on
the whole of the ground floor have been knocked down. The builders have also dug about half a metre
underground to isolate the damp. It’s
hardly damp as it looks more like a lake to me, or maybe the trenches in the
First World War. It looks totally
depressing and hard to imagine it will ever be a beautiful country house. However Eladio and José Antonio were very
impressed with the work done so far. Eladio was very excited that the well in
the old bathroom had appeared and now he wants to use it for extra water with a
tap inside and out. My comment was that
water is abundant in these parts and I don’t see the need. However if he wants
a well, he can have a well!
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| What the ground floor of our house looks like in Montrondo after 10 days of work. |
Later I sat in
the sun and started re-reading Wild Swans by Jung Chang, that wonderful book
about China. After a cup of tea and a
biscuit with the men, they joined me on a long walk to Senra and back, some
8km.
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| On the walk to Senra and back on Friday via the "Bao" |
I continued as
cook for dinner and prepared a healthy meal of vegetable soup followed by
Spanish ham with salad and dark cherries and little orange coloured apricots.
Whilst the men
spoke about philosophy and continued their conversation late into the night, I
rang Olivia eager to know how her day had gone as on Friday they had to produce
a pilot programme before the real one starts on 2nd June. She had done two live reports, one about the
public swimming pools opening in Madrid and another on some new healthy juice famous people are all drinking. I think it’s called “cleansing” or “detox
juice”. To do the report they needed a
nutritionist to take part and I was very pleased to hear that Olivia got the
girls’ friend Elena who had studied nutrition with Suzy at University, to
participate. Good on her. Who knows, she may be hired for other
occasions as a nutritionist on the programme.
Olivia didn’t leave the newsroom till past 10pm that night but was happy
with her day.
Yesterday was Saturday and it was a glorious day in Montrondo. I was up early for my morning walk to Murias and back. As always, Nuba, José Antonio and Dolores’ mongrel joined me.
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| My favourite path on my early morning walk to Murias and back |
The morning,
for me at least, was spent making lunch: chicken noodle soup followed by
chicken curry and Eton Mess. Later
Eladio and I lay outside in the sun reading, after which we fell asleep. It got
so warm I had to change into shorts and a t-shirt. After tea and biscuits with the men, we set
off on a long walk up the mountains.
Yesterday I did over 15km, my average daily, but the exercise was much
more intense as the climb up the mountains is so steep.
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| The men on the walk up the mountains yesterday |
It was a
glorious walk up and down and we were happy to see that the path had been
improved. Normally water runs all the
way down but this had been channeled to the side of the path as today an
important marathon was taking place called Omaña No Limits. As I write now sitting outside in the sun
this Sunday morning in Montrondo, I can hear people running past and being
cheered by the villagers. Some of them
are doing 48km and others others are doing 18km.
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| The Omaña no limits race which went past Montrondo today |
As we came
down the hill towards the village, a herd of cows and a big bull were being led
up the path by one of the villagers. It
was a pretty sight and quite unusual for these times. In the past nearly all the villagers,
including Eladio’s family, earned their living by raising cows, but these days
there are very few left.
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| Happy to see a herd of cows on the walk down the mountains yesterday |
After such
strenuous activity, a delicious dinner was in order. Eladio suggested egg and chips, his
favourite, so I obliged. I made a
fabulous meal of what is known in Spain as “huevos rotos con jamón” (broken
eggs and grilled ham on top of a bed of chips).
The men and I tucked in eagerly.
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| Toño (left) and Eladio (right in the checked shirt) tucking into fried egg and chips last night for dinner |
If we had had
a good day out in the mountains, Suzy in London was out with her boyfriend Gabor
and Italian flat mate Stefania. From a
photo Stefania posted on Facebook they must have gone for a picnic to a park
but I don’t know which one. I am so
happy to see Suzy living contentedly in London. Enjoy darling!
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| Suzy (middle), Stefania and Gabor having a picnic in a London park yesterday |
We all went to
bed early last night as we were tired from the walk. I fell asleep reading Wild Swans and this
morning was awake at about 07.30. I went
on my early morning walk as usual and came home to have my favourite meal of
the day, breakfast, with Eladio.
After writing my blog and hopefully publishing it, thanks to poaching a neighbour’s wifi, I shall make a simple lunch for the men and then we will be off. José Antonio will be staying here all week as Dolores is away in Norwich, England, for a 10 day trip to stay with friends. But he will not be alone. Nuba will accompany him and tomorrow Monday, Andrés, Pili’s husband, will be here for most of the week to oversee the building of their new house which is looking good. I can’t wait for ours to be at their stage of building. I just hope it won’t take too long.
I will leave off now, happy to have finished my story of the week earlier than usual. I wish you all a great week,
Cheers till
next time
Masha
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