Sunday 12th October 2014
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| Woman in red aka me ready to go to the office this week |
Hi everyone this wet Sunday in October.
Today is 12th
October and in Spain is celebrated as the National Day of Spain, “la hispanidad”
and the arrival of Christopher Columbus in America on 12th October
1492. It is also the day of the Spanish
Armed Forces and Eladio is avidly watching live on the TV the Military Parade in
Madrid presided over by the new King and Queen.
It is one of his quirk likes which I cannot understand but of course
respect. He also likes boxing!!! This
day is also known as “El Pilar” after the lady patron saint. One of my sisters-in-law is
called Pili (short for Pilar) so today is also her day. “Felicidades Pili”
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| Eladio watching the Military Parade today presided over by the King of Spain |
But let me
start from the beginning of the week. On
Monday there was bombshell news in Spain which fast went around the world. A Spanish auxiliary nurse, Teresa Romero aged
44, who had attended the two Spanish priests who died of Ebola and who were
repatriated from Africa, caught the deadly virus. How can that be possible we all asked? Well yes it can, even if the nurse and
medical staff strictly followed the WHO protocol for treatment of the
virus. We are still not sure what happened
but she may have accidently touched her face when removing a glove. There has been nothing else on the news, it
has turned political and there has been much criticism of the government’s role
in the crisis with reason I think. Spain
like many other countries is just not prepared for Ebola. Teresa’s symptoms did not seem like Ebola and
her temperature was not the 38.6 degrees it should have been for the protocol
to be activated. Be that as it may there
were many mistakes in the chain of detecting her case and transferring her to
the Carlos III hospital where she is now fighting for her life. We are making a huge fuss about the one case
in Spain when there are thousands dying in West Africa. If the rest of the world had paid more
attention and given help when Ebola broke out, maybe Teresa would not be
fighting the virus today. It’s amazing
to think there is a team of 13 people looking after just one patient in Spain
when there is a huge lack of medical staff in Sierra Leone, Liberia and
Guinea. It is not going to spread in
Europe but it is spreading like wild fire in Africa and only now are
governments reacting and sending out resources.
It is useless to take people’s temperatures at airports in Europe or the
US, if the disease continues to spread in Africa. That is where all efforts are needed and I
hope the world reacts on time. Meanwhile
my prayers go out to Teresa and all the people she was in contact with and who
I hope go free of the disease. Today her
state is very critical but shows signs of improvement. I really hope that when I write my blog next
week I can tell you that she survived.
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| Teresa Romero with her dog Excalibur |
Olivia on her
TV programme commented on the case all through the week. Media came from as far away as Russia or the
US and caused a circus outside the hospital where the virus was detected, at
the group of flats where Teresa lives and at the Carlos III hospital too. Her flat and surroundings were to be
disinfected and then came the problem of what to do with her dog
Excalilbur. Her husband is in isolation
in the hospital in case he has the virus too but so far has no symptoms. Meanwhile the dog was alone in their flat and
the authorities decided to put it down as it could spread the virus. This caused an uproar in society and social
media around the world. But poor Exacalibur was not saved in the end and was
put down in the couple’s flat, another victim of the crisis.
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| Olivia with her team who spent most of the week reporting on the Ebola case in Spain |
Meanwhile our
life continued as usual although I must admit we watch every news programme we
can and follow developments closely. On
Tuesday I went into the office for a meeting with my boss. I also had a few practical issues, such as a
problem with my pc, to sort out. It was
a lovely day and I wore an outfit for which I got many compliments. I combined red and white and I must have got
it right. The photo illustrating this
post is of me in the outfit – a combination of Zara, Marks and Spencers and
Lindex by the way. When people complimented me I explained that as I work at
home and mostly wear t-shirts and jeans I like to make an effort when I go out
to the office or to meetings in town.
Eladio that
day returned to his UNED (Spanish equivalent to the “Open University”) lectures. He has two a week on Tuesday and Wednesday
evenings and gets back very late.
However it keeps him active and alert to his profession.
On Wednesday
in London it was Gabor’s 22nd birthday. Gabor is Suzy’s boyfriend and she went all
out to make it very special for him. She keeps the same traditions she learned
at home from me: birthday breakfast, presents, card and a lunch or dinner with
a cake. Here they are the two love birds
on his birthday. I’m sure he had a great day.
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| Suzy and Gabor on his birthday this week in London |
That evening
at home in Madrid whilst Eladio was giving his second lecture of the week, I made a lovely dinner for him and also for
Olivia and Miguel. This is what I made: “chicken
mango salad” of my own recipe (roast chicken, mango, avocado, lettuce,
sultanas, walnuts and mayonnaise). It’s my variation of the typical waldorf
salad.
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| My chicken mango salad |
Unfortunately no
one came. Oli and Miguel had gone out for dinner and Eladio arrived really
late, so all my efforts went to waste. The
salad got eaten though, don’t you worry!
On Thursday
Eladio and I went to look at cars. You are probably wondering why. Well I am a
very lucky person and have a company car and soon the renting period will be
over and I need to order a new one. We
tried out a Range Rover and looked at a BMW similar to the one I have now and
haven’t yet decided although I think it will be another BMW. Here I am at the
wheel of the Range Rover which used to be Land Rover (or still is) but is now
owned by the Indian Tata company. I was “reassured”
in the showroom that the cars are still made in the UK and that the Indians
only put up the money.
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| Me trying out a range rover this week |
It was on
Thursday that the Nobel Prize for literature was announced. Once again it went
to a man and once again it went to a French person. I remember doing some research on this prize
for Olivia a few years ago and learned that France is the nation with most
literature prizes. The prize went to an
author unknown to me; Patrick Modiano.
That day I was
fasting as I always do on Mondays and Thursdays but when midday came I had a
big headache and decided to break the fast.
I nearly always get a headache on a fasting day so there and then I have
decided just to fast on Mondays. Let’s
see how that goes and whether I return to 5:2 or continue with 6:1. In any case, that together with my two hour
long walks a day, are part of my life now and what help to keep my weight down and
feel fit.
On Friday
Eladio and I got lost going to the BMW show room on the other side of
Madrid. We didn’t get home on time to
make lunch so committed a terrible sin and bought a burger king lunch for the
three of us. Now that is not healthy. However it is nice to indulge in this sort of
fast food two or three times a year which is our case.
Friday was a
busy day but I had time for a long chat with Suzy on the phone who, believe it
or not is thinking of going into teaching.
Actually I think that is not a bad idea.
She has had experience with her private lessons over the years and seems
to have the right qualities. The plus
side is the holidays and as I pointed out to her if she went into teaching now
she would coincide most of the time with Gabor’s University holidays.
Eladio and I
did the food shopping in the afternoon.
Usually I do it with Fátima, our home help but she is on holiday for the
moment, only coming on Tuesday and Saturday mornings to shower my Father bless
her. After our second walk, Eladio and I
went out to dinner as we nearly always do on Fridays. This time we went to De María a “posh”
Argentinian place in Majadahonda next to the Atlético de Madrid practice playing
grounds. The meal was delicious but we
were only able to eat one course and we couldn’t even finish that. The dogs were very happy with the “doggy bag”
we brought home.
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| Eladio at dinner on Friday night |
It was on
Friday that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize was announced. I think for the first time it was given
jointly. It went to the Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai and
Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian child rights campaigner. Everyone knows who Malala
is but I don’t think the same could be said of the latter. If you read the articles in the press about
the peace prize Malala gets the lion’s share of the copy. She is only 17 and the first person from
Pakistan ever to win the prize. I’m sure
the Taliban who tried to kill her were not happy to hear the news on Friday. It’s sort of ironic that the peace prize has
gone to two people from nations which are not at peace, Pakistan and
India. Maybe this joint prize and their
efforts could help affairs in this sense.
I certainly hope so.
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| The joint winners of this years Nobel Peace Prize, Kailaish from India and Malala from Pakistan |
And Saturday
came and thankfully was quieter. Eladio
prepared the pool for the winter and with the help of Miguel and Olivia he
covered it with the blue tarpaulin. Later it rained and I took this picture and
it is quite a depressing scene. Long
gone now are the sunny days reading by our pool. We shall have to wait until the spring now.
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| The pool was sadly covered yesterday for the winter |
Eladio was
very busy yesterday morning as his next task was washing the dogs with my
help. My help is getting him to do it,
plus washing their bedding, giving him the shampoo and towels and semi dragging
Norah and Elsa down although these days
they seem to come quite willingly. Here is Norah in the middle of her
bath. Later I love hugging and kissing
them as they are so clean and smell so nice.
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| Norah having a bath yesterday |
For lunch
yesterday we were all together and I made fish and chips with mushy peas,
English style. Everyone was happy,
myself included although it’s a lot of effort. Later we went for our walk and
came home just as it began to bucket it down.
The rain continued along with thunder and lightning. In fact when we went to bed the storm
continued and was so strong the TV went off.
Thus we both resorted to our kindles before we fell asleep. I have just downloaded “Gone Girl”, the so
called “thriller of the year” which is being recommended all over the place and
I am much looking forward to reading it. Eladio, meanwhile, continues to read
Bertrand Russell.
And today as I
told you at the beginning is the National Day of Spain. If it had fallen during the week it would
have been a holiday but being on a Sunday doesn’t make the day feel
special. For lunch there will be just
the three of us as Oli and Miguel have gone out with his family. Later today hopefully I will be able to start
on “Gone Girl” and then go on my second walk.
Next week
promises to be very busy. I shall be
attending a cocktail press event on Tuesday and have an ex Nokia colleague
dinner on Wednesday when my dear friend Anne will be coming from Finland. On
Thursday evening I will be going to a sector prize giving dinner and on Friday
have an internal Yoigo event. In
between, there will be a couple of conference calls and also a visit to my
urologist. You will hear how I got on
when I write again next Sunday.
Meanwhile I
wish you all a great week ahead,
Cheers till
next time,
Masha
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