Sunday 1st March 2015
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| A meeting with a difference |
Good morning
everyone. It is the 1st March
today and the beginning of another month.
For me it’s the beginning of a new period after my accident and extended
recovery period. I am now on the mend,
using crutches to walk and regaining my independence and I can’t begin to tell
you how great that feels.
Last Sunday,
the night of the Oscars, Eladio and I re-watched The lives of the others, that
frightening German film that won best foreign film some years ago which is
about how the Stasi (secret police) spied on the lives of citizens of East
Germany.
When I woke up
on Monday it was to find out that Birdman and Boyhood had been awarded most of
the prizes. Neither of these two films
attracts me. I was very pleased though to see that The Theory of Everything
(about Stephen Hawking) got best actor.
British born Eddie Redmayne did it again after winning best actor at the
Baftas. He really was great as the
extremely disabled British physicist and I only wish the film had got best
picture too.
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| Eddie Redmayne, the British actor who won best actor at the Oscars for his role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything |
I’m always
interested to see which foreign film gets best award in this category. This
year it was the Polish film “Ida”. It’s
about a nun in the 60’s who discovers she is Jewish. Always a sucker for films about hospitals,
prisons or nuns, that story certainly appeals to me and I have now downloaded
it on my computer and look forward to watching it soon.
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| The Polish film Ida won best foreign film at this year's Oscars |
On Monday
morning Eladio took me to my rehabilitation session as he would do every
morning of this week. There I spend 20
minutes on a magnetotherapy machine after which I do different sort of ankle
exercises on a wobbly board for 40 minutes.
Finally I spend 15 minutes walking on a special walkway with bars to
hold on to and this is where I suffer not really having interiorized the right
steps. But somehow I manage to do it,
muttering to myself, right hand, left leg, left hand, right leg. Sometimes I get blocked and all the people
looking on try to correct me which leaves me feeling mortified. Most of them are elderly people with all
sorts of different physical disabilities which need correcting or
rehabilitating. They all know each other very well and the place seems like one
big family. I have now had 6 sessions
and another 9 to go. They must be
working as my ankle is on the mend and I can walk without crutches, limping
along. However, the doctor, Raúl, tells me I should use the crutches so mostly
I do. From next Monday onwards I will be
allowed to use just one crutch. Hallelujah! At last I will have one hand free. When you walk with two crutches your hands
are occupied and you cannot carry anything or even answer your phone without
stopping to pick it up. Opening and
closing doors is also difficult but the really worst thing about crutches is
that when you put them down they tend to fall.
Surely someone one day has to invent better crutches? One thing I have
noticed since using them, though, is just how nice people are to you. It’s one of the advantages. The other of course is that you are excused
from household chores. It’s also funny
how you tend to notice other people on crutches; the same way as when you are
pregnant you notice other pregnant women.
On my way
home, I had a conference call with my Finnish boss as we do about once a
month. I was delighted to tell him I
would be able to make it to the bi annual communications meeting in Helsinki on
10th and 11th March.
I shall be going out the Friday before to stay with my great friend Anne
in Salo. On Monday evening I shall be
attending an ex Nokia communications dinner which I have organized together
with Marika and then on Tuesday and Wednesday I will be occupied with the
European Comms meeting. I return home
that evening. For the first time in my
life I have requested wheel chair assistance for both flights as I have to
avoid long walks on my crutches at the airports. I think I could possibly manage on my own but
carrying my PC will weigh me down and going up and down the steps could be a
challenge. I only hope I am allowed to
do some duty free shopping, especially at Vantaa airport where I shall be
indulging in Finnish brown bread, jams, smoked salmon and other delicacies.
It was on
Monday afternoon that I heard there had been an earthquake in Spain which
apparently had even reached Madrid although I never felt a thing. The centre
was in Albacete, near a town called Ossa de Montiel (170km from Madrid). The magnitude was 5.2 on the Richter
scale. Not much damage was caused and no
one was injured thank goodness.
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| This seems to be the only damage done at Ossa de Montiel in the earthquake in Spain this week |
It was the
main news that day and later in the evening Olivia was sent to Torrejón de
Ardoz on the outskirts of Madrid to report on buildings there being evacuated
because of the earthquake. All news
reports that day reported on the same story.
Reality was, according to Olivia, that the buildings were actually being
evacuated for another reason that had nothing to do with the natural
disaster. But that wouldn’t have been
news would it? This just goes to show
you cannot believe everything you read or see on the news.
That afternoon
I had an interview on the phone. It was
with a first year journalist student from Barcelona, called Cristina who was
doing a report for her studies on the history of InterRail. She had found an interview with me by TVE on
my experience in the early 70’s a year or two after InterRail was
launched. I was pleased to see that she
had reached me through my blog and had also read my experiences there. I look forward to reading her report which I
asked her to send me.
It was on
Monday night that Pippa, our adorable frisky tiny little chocolate coloured
miniature dachshund puppy learned a lesson from her elders Norah and Elsa. One of their favourite tricks is to lick
whatever they can reach when the washing up machine is being loaded. That evening they taught Pippa how to do it
and she excitedly joined in as you can see in the photo below.
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| Pippa learning from her elders |
.On Tuesday
afternoon, after my rehabilitation session, my PR and Events’ teams came for a
final meeting before our planned activities at next week’s Mobile World
Congress in Barcelona. Because of my
accident I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it this year but now I shall be
able to go. I will be travelling by high speed train and on both journeys will
be accompanied by my friend and ex colleague Julio. I shall go straight to my hotel and stay put
there only leaving for meals out and to go the Yoigo party and Yoigo press
conference on Monday and Wednesday. I
will not risk going to the congress which would mean walking along miles of
carpet on just one crutch, something I’m sure my Doctor would not approve of.
The photo
illustrating this week’s blogpost is of our meeting which I have included in
the headline as a “meeting with a difference”.
Well it was different for various reasons; first it was at home, second
I served my guests English afternoon tea with delicacies from Bettys and
finally because we had our dogs present.
Rather it was the first time Pippa was to meet her future boyfriend and
fellow Yoigo mascot who is also called Yoigo.
Yoigo yapped quite a lot, I think because he was mystified with Pippa
and Pippa didn’t take much notice, spending most of the meeting sitting quietly
on my lap.
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| Pippa meets Yoigo |
Pippa really
is settling in very well and although she probably still misses her Mother and
brothers and sisters, she lives a splendid life with us. Her major advantage is that she gets to sleep
with us, in our bed, as I told you last week. The excuse is if she slept in the
kitchen the alarm would go off. You
might say then why doesn’t she sleep in her own bed in our bedroom and you
would be right, except that she pines and tries to jump up on our bed the whole
time which is why we have opted for her to sleep with us. The real reason is that both Eladio and I are
besotted with her. Every night before
she comes to bed, she gets a flannel bath and then happily curls up with
us. She behaves quite well, i.e. no
accidents so far.
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| Pippa in our bed |
If she wants
to sleep during the day she can do so in the kitchen. She tried to destroy her
own bed which we have now put away until she grows out of chewing on things –
her favourite pastime. So now she either
hogs Elsa’s bed or joins her in it. This
is a photo I took of the dogs this morning after breakfast. Lovely isn’t it?
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| The three dogs in the kitchen this morning |
On Wednesday
after my rehabilitation session, Eladio and I had something to look forward
to. We were to take my old car to Yoigo
after its 4 year lease had run out, to pick up my new company car. And there you have the two of them with me in
the middle with my crutches. We were sad
to see the old 4wd go but I must say the new one is magnificent. They look the same colour on the photo but
actually the new car is a much brighter red. We are still learning how
everything works as it is very sophisticated.
But I must say I was pleased when I got the Bluetooth connected with my
phone mainly because it also connects the audio and now we can listen to
Spotify whilst we drive. Although I had
tried that out on the old car it never worked.
Now I won’t have to bother with cd’s to listen to good music. We have
yet to learn how the auto-park function works which, when we do, will be a
great advantage to me – those of you who know me, know that reverse parking is
not my forte hahaha.
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| Me with my old and new car this week |
Eladio drove it
from the office to the petrol station to fill up the tank. He then suggested I
drove it home from there. I didn’t think
twice knowing I would be able to do so as it is automatic and of course my left
foot (my bad foot) would not be needed.
Whilst at the wheel, I realized I was finally regaining my independence
and from now on with crutches and driving again, I could do or go nearly
anywhere. That was a grand moment.
Every morning
this week I have done rehabilitation and walked a lot on my crutches but I
still have to rest my ankle so I am still working from my bed. When I have got
work out of the way, I have spent most evenings watching series I have
downloaded on my pc. On Wednesday
afternoon I watched the end of Broadchurch Season 2. In a way there wasn’t enough closure and I
was left slightly dissatisfied. I am not
sure whether the producers can get much more out of the story although they
have already announced there will be a third season.
I had a chat
with Suzy later that evening about her application to the HCPC (Health care
professions council) which I told you about last week. She has to do all the work and my role is
like a mentor or rather I am her sounding board. What they ask for is daunting and seems very
unfair but we have no option but to continue and fight this battle. Later in the week we had a longer chat after
she had done her homework and now we have decided on a strategy. She has 28 days to submit the papers they
have asked her for which I know will take up most of her time for the next
three weeks. Meanwhile she sends me the
bits and pieces she is writing for me to correct and suggest any changes.
On Thursday
before going to rehabilitation I went for an early morning emergency
appointment with my dentist. I had felt
a sharp pain in one of my back molars a couple of times the day before. It turned out not to be an infection, thank
goodness, but it seems the tooth is condemned to be extracted one day as there
is something happening to the root; it seems to be absorbing itself and can
only be held at bay by special hygiene.
My dentist has recommended a new hygiene method using what is known as a
water jet tooth cleaner. I shall be
investing in one as soon as I find one.
After
rehabilitation that morning, I went to have a cup of coffee at a bar called
Piero, as I always do whilst waiting for Eladio to pick me up. I had noticed the blonde waitress there
suspecting she was Russian from her accent when she spoke Spanish but of course
she could have been Ukrainian. So that day
I asked her and she told me she was from Moscow. I then told her I was of Russian origin and
had only been to St Petersburg which I loved to which she replied that was like
telling someone from Madrid you preferred Barcelona to Madrid. A lesson was learned that day. My morning coffee at Piero turned out to be
very international as whilst talking to the Russian waitress the girl next to
me, also having a coffee, chirped in and it turned out this beautiful young
girl called Mary was half Indian and half Bulgarian. Having been to India and knowing only just
one Indian word I said “Namaste” to her.
I told her of course that my Mother and her family had lived in Bulgaria
when they escaped from Russia. She was a
lovely girl and I warmed to her immediately because of her looks and exotic
background. Half Indian and half
Bulgarian certainly beats my Half English and half Russian. I just wished I had taken a photo to record
that very international coffee experience on Thursday morning. The moment though will linger in my mind for
quite a while.
That afternoon
I began to regain my independence.
Something as easy as driving your car to the hairdresser may seem very
mundane. However, to me it was a huge step after more than 6 weeks being almost
housebound. So off I went after lunch in
my new car to the hairdressers, Marco Aldany, in nearby Boadilla. I hadn’t been since well before my accident
and my hair was in dire need of a cut and the roots seen to. I felt a new woman
when Sandra had finished her work.
Olivia later said she didn’t like the cut and thought it made me look
old but that was in the evening. So I
left the hairdresser feeling on top of the world and drove home to find my M+S
parcel waiting for me. I had ordered black and white long sleeved tops which
always seem to disappear as well as two more pairs of black leggings. There and then I tried everything on slightly
worried that the size I had ordered (12) may not fit after 6 weeks of
immobility. So I was delighted when
everything did fit. I am happy to do a
bit of advertising for Marks and Spencer in this week’s post and tell you that
these leggings called “Indigo Collection Cotton Rich Leggings with StayNEW” are
absolutely fabulous. They fit perfectly
are incredibly comfortable and keep their shape.
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| I swear by my M+S Indigo leggings |
I must say
another advantage of having been grounded for 6 or so weeks is that I haven’t
spent much money as I haven’t been able to go out shopping, nor I have felt
like it, spending most of my days wearing pyjamas. I am glad to tell you that the
new state of affairs will promptly put a stop to that and I look forward to at
least some clothes shopping in both Barcelona and in Finland. So watch this space.
It was on
Thursday evening that after having finished both Last Tango in Halifax and Broadchurch
I was a little stuck for which series to watch next. I had Call the Midwife to watch which I
thought wouldn’t appeal to me after seeing the beginning of episode one of
season one some time ago. However, I
decided to persevere even though I’m not too keen on watching women giving
birth. However the allure of nurses and
nuns on TV was there of course but the attraction caught on when I realized
that the story was set in the East of London in 1957, the year I was born and
when most women at the time, like my mother, gave birth at home. Since starting episode one of season one,
yesterday I started on season two and am now completely hooked on the
series. The TV series is based on the
true life account of midwife Jennifer Worth.
My favorite nurses are definitely Chummy (Miranda Hart) and Jenny Lee
who I think plays Jennifer Worth (Jessica Raine). I now want to read the books and have bought
the kindle edition of the first of the trilogy called Call the Midwife: A True Story of the East End in the 1950s.
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| The cast from Call the Midwife, my favourites are Chummy and Jenny |
This week in
Madrid the ARCO (contemporary art exhibition) was on and it was one of the
topics Olivia was to report on. She was
very disgruntled when she was asked to do a report on the financial benefits
for Madrid rather than the exhibition itself.
In her research, talking to taxi drivers and hotel workers, she found
out the fair does not bring much money to Madrid but when she told her producers
that they insisted she did a favourable report on the economic benefits for the
Spanish capital. So she found herself
telling people to say so when she interviewed them and came home that night
very disappointed in her profession. But
that’s how journalism works these days I’m afraid. Not so long ago I read somewhere that most of
the world’s media is owned by 6 giant corporations. I think that says it all. Pretty frightening
isn’t it?
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| 6 corporations own 90% of the media1 |
Oli did
however a chance to get a quick glance of some of the exhibition and here is a
fun picture of her behind one of the bizarre exhibits at Arco.
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| Oli at Arco this week |
Friday was a
good day. It was also the first day I
drove to work for a meeting for a very long time. It was about the content for our up and
coming press conference in Barcelona. We had prepared everything; the press
release and presentation but will now have to start from scratch as everything
has changed. But I didn’t mind as I have
no worries about challenges or working during the weekend. That’s part of my life. So on Saturday morning the version of the
press release I was happy with was sent to everyone for their comments.
On Friday afternoon
I went with Eladio to do the weekly food shopping for the first time since
before my accident and that felt good too.
That night we went out to dinner, as we always do and again we went to
Zurito where we celebrated my new found mobililty, freedom, independence, etc.
Meanwhile
Olivia had gone off for the weekend to Extremadura (south west Spain) to
Badajoz with Paula. They were to stay
with Giovanna who lives in Badajoz where she works as a journalist for the
Spanish news agency, Europa Press. All
three girls met when they did the TVE master in journalism a few years
ago. Yesterday they have Mérida, the political
capital of Extremadura and famous for its Roman ruins, especially the amphitheatre.
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| Oli (left) with Giovanna (middle) and Paula yesterday in Mérida, the capital of Extremadura |
Her trip to
Extremadura reminded us of our trip there with my Father just before Easter in
2009. His memory is very intact and when
we spoke about it yesterday at lunch, he well remembered our visits to Cáceres,
Trujillo, Guadalupe, Mérida, Badajoz and La Parra. I also reminded him of our visit to the very
well-known and expensive two Michelin star restaurant called Atrio in Cáceres
which cost him a small fortune. In sleepy Badajoz I think we went to the best
place in town too which was called Aldebaran which was very good and much
cheaper than Atrio.
And yesterday,
Saturday, was a quiet day at home. I
didn’t go out anywhere and spent a lot of the day reading, playing with Pippa
or watching Call the Midwife. I also
made lunch for the first time hobbling around the kitchen and trying not to
step on Pippa.
Today Sunday
is equally quiet and whilst Olivia is away the house seems very empty. Today is “blog day” to quote my Father and I
don’t feel free to do anything else until I have written and published it. As Gema is off for the weekend, we shall be
having her chicken couscous left overs for lunch today. I must say she is very good at Moroccan cuisine,
but not so up on Spanish menus.
And tomorrow a
new life begins for me; I will be on my travels again and I much looking
forward to a change of surroundings.
Tomorrow morning I will be off to Barcelona, back on Wednesday evening
and off again on Friday to Helsinki.
Meanwhile I
wish you all a good week. Cheers till
next time
Masha
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