Sunday 25th November 2018
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| Doing my French homework just before our lesson on Saturday |
I hope you have all had a good week. Mine has been busy and with its ups and downs as usual. It's also been pretty exciting working on the PR part of the launch of a brand new mobile operator in Spain called Lobster, targeted at British and other English speaking residents in Spain, a niche in the market which has previously been untapped. There is anything up to about 1.5 million British and English speaking people residing here permanently. That's an awful lot. It's funny actually as I am one of them aren't I? But more about Lobster later.
Last Sunday was a family day in many ways as Oli was with us. Eladio and I ventured out in the morning for our walk with the dogs. It was an overcast and cold November day and the hunters were out shooting pigeons and rabbits, thus we had to keep all 3 dogs on their leashes. I do hate the killing of animals and in Spain it is seen as a sport and I detest that. What I did appreciate were the lovely autumn colours on the leaves. Oli, meanwhile, went swimming to the nearby gym. Our young Airnb guests, Alba and her boyfriend Michael left in our absence and I hardly saw our English guests at all that day.
I came back to make the lunch and also to work on version number 9 of the Lobster press release in English and in Spanish. It was supposed to be ready to go live on Tuesday morning but thankfully was postponed to Thursday giving us all a bit more time to be ready for the news to go live.
We had lunch together, that is my Father, Oli, Eladio and I. At 4 o'clock we were due at the cinema which meant we only had 30 minutes to watch the news and try to sleep a short siesta. Oli woke us up at 3.30 and soon we were out and in the rain. It was very cold. Both Oli and I wore our new coats. I love my tartan one but it's not as warm as a puffer jacket. There was no room for complaint though as in other parts of Spain they had it much worse. There were terrible storms and flooding in the Canaries and in parts of the Mediterranean coast.
We went to see the film I mentioned in last week's post; The Photographer of Mauthasen, the concentration camp in Austria where most of the Spanish republican prisoners were sent and most of them to their death. Directed by Mar Tarragona it tells the true story of how one of the inmates, Francisco Boix, played by Mario Casas, is able to smuggle out thousands of reels and negatives of photos taken in the camp which portrayed the ugly truth the Nazis wanted to hide. Francisco who was an amateur photographer was taken on to assist the camp photographer, an SS Nazi. The Nazis were given to taking photographs of all that went on at the camps. When they realised they were losing the war, orders were given to destroy all evidence. That was when Boix decided to keep as much evidence as he could with the help of trusted fellow Spanish republicans and a nearby German neighbour. The reels and negatives were hidden in crevices all around the camp and when it was liberated, Boix gathered them all. He later testified at the Nuremberg trials and the evidence he had smuggled out was instrumental in the sealing of the enemies' fate. In fact, it is said, that the camp with the most graphic evidence is Mauthasen. Sadly, Boix, probably suffering from the torture he underwent, died in 1951. I would have loved to listen to the man's personal story of his heroic deed. The film is pretty gruesome as you can imagine but I missed a better ending with details of the liberation and of his contribution at the trials and life afterwards, as a photographer in France for a communist magazine. What a hero Spain has and doesn't really recognise.
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| The film we went to see on Sunday |
We hadn't been to the cinema for a very long time. In fact we didn't remember the last time we had been. The local cinema, Equinoccio, had been completely renovated and I was bowled over by the seating.
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| Oli and I at the cinema on the reclining seats last Sunday |
It was a bit like business class seating on a good aircraft and we could recline on the most comfortable seats with a leg rest. I was worried I'd fall asleep but I didn't.
We walked out into strong rain and ran to the car, umbrellas in hand. We were home at about 6.30 with time for leisure before dinner. We chose to read in the lounge with soft lighting and music in the background. Oli chose to do her French homework. I should have done mine too but felt lazy.
Later we had a healthy dinner - tuna fish salad again. Oli left shortly afterwards and we wouldn't see her again for a few days. We went up to bed to watch the news but the football was on. England was beating Croatia in the Nations League. They won 2-0 which means England goes through to the final four. It also means Spain is now out of the competition. Instead we started watching Season 2 of a series we had loved on TVE a few years back, "14th April The Republic" (La República), a family saga set in the times of the second Spanish republic in the 1930's. You may not know if you are not familiar with Spanish history, that on 14th April 1931 republican forces formed a so-called democratic government, doing away with the monarch - Alfonso XIII abdicated - which later surrendered to Franco in the Civil War on 1st April 1939. They were convulsive times. We are loving this series.
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| A scene from La Republica |
Monday dawned and amazingly the rain had disappeared at least for a day. Monday is market day so after some work, off we went to stock up on fruit and veg for the week. Sorry I forgot to take a photo although as usual the display was marvelous. We came home to unpack everything and then I had to get on with making lunch: vegetable soup, meat loaf, steamed vegetables and baked apples.
There was no siesta for me that day as I had to continue my work if the press release we were fine tuning and tweaking continuously was to go out this week. Thankfully I would have 2 more days for preparations. You can't imagine the work that goes on behind just one press release.
There was time for a walk, albeit a bit late and on our way back it was already dark. Thankfully the path was illuminated by the distant street lights. I came home to do some more work and there was even time to read in the lounge. Then it was dinner time. We had the most delicious Ibérico ham with a salad and then it was time for bed. There's not much to mention about the news that day. We continued watching La República at the same time on the lookout for messages from Mr. Wong and Mr. Wang, 2 guests who were due to arrive very late, at about 1.30 am. I kept hoping nothing would go "wrong" with Mr. "Wong" hahaha. Well, it did. I didn't really know who they were as on Mr Wong's profile there were Chinese characters only, no reviews at all, the only information being that he lives in Athens! I hate it when I don't know who my guests are. It's a bit risky. However, out of 160 guests since February 2017 since we started we have had no problems. My latest arrival time is 9 pm and I hate it when guests ignore it. I would love to be able to cancel reservations for people arriving in the middle of the night but can't do as I would lose my Airbnb super host status. They were to ring me by phone when they arrived as we can't hear the door bell from our bedroom. The alternative to interrupting our sleep would have been to leave the keys in the letter box but then as the house is so massive, guests would not know how to enter the house or find the rooms. I kept waking up to check my phone. 1.30 went by and no sign of them, so did 2 and 3 o'clock and then my God I got the phone call at 4.15 in the morning - that was just no on. Eladio came out with me to receive them as I was a bit stressed about doing it alone. They really interrupted our night and it was difficult to get back to sleep again. Thankfully I woke up a bit later than usual the next day, Tuesday, at 7.45 while Mr. Wang and Mr Wong slept on peacefully. I had a feeling they would be troublesome guests but thankfully they weren't. I wondered what their review would be like. Mine would not be glowing after that false start I'm afraid.
Tuesday came and rain was forecast - when would it go away I wondered? There have been more floods in the Mediterranean, mainly in Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia and Alicante as well as the Canary Islands. Thankfully we haven't had any here so far. The climate change is a fact and it's here to stay.
On Tuesday I had loads of work to do, mostly compiling my media list to include telco and business press as well as the English speaking press in Spain. The latter would prove a challenge and take up most of my time.
Tuesday 20th November was the anniversary of the death of Spain's dictator Franco but I think it went largely unnoticed in Spain and was only mourned by a few diehards that do exist, most of them elderly. No doubt some of them went to the Valley of the Fallen where he is buried to pay homage. However, his remains will soon be removed but it is yet to be seen where. I never thought about it at all on Tuesday. However, I well remember finding out about his death on 20th November 1975. I would have been just 18. I was in London with a Spanish friend from the Valencia region. When we saw the news banners in the streets, probably selling the Evening Standard and saw the words "Franco is dead", Ana, my friend, burst into tears. I remember her saying "ay pobre "Franquet"!" (Oh poor little Franco). However, not all Spaniards were upset when he died. Many of them had bottles of champagne in their fridges cooling for when he died and to celebrate the end of dictatorship. Democracy came about very soon but still Spain is divided between left and right, a heritage of the Civil War. Today there is a division on where his remains should go. A generation of Spaniards who grew up during his reign, including my husband, were brainwashed in his favour and, even today, remember the good things he did more than the bad. In any case, as I say, thankfully, this year's anniversary went largely unnoticed and wasn't even mentioned on the news.
Meanwhile, my guests from Athens, Mr Wong who is originally from Malaysia and Mr Wang who is from China, slept on and didn't emerge until about midday. Later I asked them what they were doing living in Greece and was told their work was to do with importing clothing from China. Interesting! I offered them coffee and tea. Mr. Wang was hungry, helped himself to one of my mandarins and, feeling sorry for him, I offered him some toast. It turned out that they had come to visit Madrid but had not hired a car, despite my suggestion. Thus they had to take a taxi into the city. They didn't leave until about 1.30 pm and I didn't see them until the next day when they would be going.
I didn't think much about them that day as I was so busy with the Lobster launch. That day I spent the whole morning googling English media published in Spain and getting the emails of the editors or the news desk. That was no easy task. I must say there are a lot of publications. I just wonder what the readership is.
Somehow lunch appeared on the table again - the miracle of every day - and then it was time for the news and a short rest. The main news in Spain that day was the possible announcement of a general election in May as the minority socialist government is unable to gain votes for next year's general budget. We also heard that Mr. Sánchez, while visiting Morocco, had announced a a proposal for a 3 country and 2 continent World Cup candidacy to include Spain, Portugal and Morocco. That would be interesting. I think it was for 2030, so a while away. The main international news was about the Brexit agreement - every time I hear Teresa May mention limiting "freedom of movement" I cringe. The thousands of Central Americans were gradually arriving at Tijuana on the US Border. Trump closed the border for a while and then a light on the horizon for the immigrants appeared. A US Judge ruled that the US President could not stop them requesting asylum and that anyone coming to the US border could request it. I wonder what is going to happen. It's not an easy situation.
Nearer home, in France, yellow jacketed picketers (les gilets jaunes") were disrupting traffic all over the country in protest of increased fuel charges and other rising prices under Emanuel Macron's government. That caused huge delays at the Spanish border. Their riots and protests would go on all week until on Saturday things turned nasty and the police were called in. They used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protesters in the French capital which looked like it was under war. Their protests were not only about fuel prices and rising prices in general but about low salaries, unemployment and increasing poverty in France. Increasing poverty in France? How can that be? It's increasing in the UK as well, as we saw in a damning report this week, and in many other places. Many of the rioters pointed out they have no confidence in politicians, many of whom have huge fortunes, when they find themselves in the red by the middle of the month.
Life isn't easy in Spain either. Although we are officially out of the crisis, there is still far too much unemployment. In the budget for 2019, submitted to the EU, the government wants to increase the minimum wage from 600 to 900 euros a month. Brussels says that will set Spain back. But what about the minimum age workers I ask? Who can live on 600 euros a month? 300 more is not going to help much but please Brussels Eurocrats, try and understand their situation when evaluating Spain's budget, from the comfort of your life in the EU.
Life is easier for us, now that we are in our in our 60's and 70's but even so, I lost my job 2 years ago and have had to fight back and be creative in supplementing the lack of income with PR projects that come and ago and mainly through filling our own home with guests via Airbnb. I don't do it for pleasure I can tell you, but out of necessity.
In the afternoon, miracle of miracles, the sun came out and we went on our walk. Our walk takes up a big chunk of our daily time, 1.5h, but is so necessary for both our bodies and minds, not to mention the dogs who need it just as much. It would be so much easier to say it's raining or that I am too busy but I force myself to make the effort always and I know it pays off.
I came home to do more work and was busy until dinner time when I stopped to prepare the "acelgas" (chard), a vegetable I have recently added to our diet. You can guess the end of our day; up to bed, watched the news, continued watching La República and fell asleep. I slept a bit better that night but blast, woke up 3 times before I was up and wide awake at 6.10.
I was up in darkness on Wednesday morning and beat Lucy to the kitchen. Thus it was me who gave the dogs their breakfast. It's a bit like feeding time at the zoo. I wish someone could tape the process hahaha. Elsa is the fastest and her food flies all around the kitchen hahaha.
It was a hard morning's work on Wednesday. I had to finalise my media list and prepare over 40 emails addressed to about 80 journalists in Spain. They were to remain as drafts until Thursday morning when they would need final tweaking until I got the green light to go at 11.30 on Thursday.
Just as I began work, I got a pleasant surprise. Suzy made a whatsapp video call from Bali that morning. It seemed so long since we had spoken. She looked lovely. She told me she was on a fasting diet, drinking only water that day. We always speak about diets, hahahah. She is doing fine, her only problem being getting a good internet connection for her online English lessons. I wish I could help her. It's less than a month now until we see her next. We spoke about our trip to see her, hopefully at the end of March. We have been debating spending 10 days with her in Bali and that, while in the region, fly to Vietnam for 5 days and also to Laos for another 5 days. Or maybe we should include Cambodia. Wouldn't that be wonderful? It's so exciting to be planning a new long distance trip to exotic locations. Watch this space.
By lunchtime, all my work was done, leaving me free for the rest of the day. Although our Airbnb check out time is 12 midday at the latest, our Malaysian and Chinese guests, Mr. Wong and Mr. Wang made no signs of life. At 12.15 I had to go up to remind them it was past check out time. In the end they didn't leave until 1.30. Wednesday night would be guest free, apart from our long term lodger Andy but only until Thursday when Alba and Javier would be coming and someone called Zigor on Friday. Zigor would be occupying Andy's room as he has gone home to France (Antibes) to spend the weekend with his family. November has been surprisingly busy this year compared to last year. Airbn was in the news this week and got a lot of criticism after announcing closing down short term rentals in the Jewish occupied settlements. I'm not sure that was a good move on their behalf. I also believe companies should try to steer away from politics.
After lunch with my Father we watched the news. The worst story this week, for me at least, is about starving children in Yemen. I can't bare to see their photos. It's so, so sad and so, so unfair. The war with Yemen is one I don't really understand but it seems so damned pointless, like all wars. Oh how I hate war and violence.
We had a lovely walk that afternoon. It was sunny but the path was exceptionally wet and muddy as there had been a tremendous shower of rain earlier that day. This week we only missed one of our walks. On Friday I would be weighing myself again and was hoping all this exercise would help in my particular battle of the bulge hahaha. But actually I only lost 200 grammes:-(
At 7.10 I had an appointment with a dermatologist to remove a small and unsightly blemish on my forehead; well 3 actually, that I have wanted to remove now for a while. The lady doctor sprayed something that removes skin spots that are not dangerous but could become so unless treated. My brother George died of melanoma in 2001 in his mid 40's so I am very wary about my skin as I am also fair like he was. At 7.30 I had another appointment at the same private clinic, this time to get my much needed sleeping tablets from Dr. Crespo.
Both doctors were free to see me early and amazingly, I was out of the clinic by 7.20. From the clinic I drove to Carrefour Market, inspired by their 5% coupon discount that day on all products. Thus I bought some more delicious Ibérico ham and other stuff and was home by 7.50. Dinner was simple, superb and a complete fit with the Mediterranean diet, we all try to follow in this house. We had the ham with the most amazing thick and juicy asparagus I had bought at the market on Monday.
As usual, it was early to bed. I took Pippa up to bed to be with us until it was time to sleep when Eladio would take her down to the kitchen to spend the rest of the night together with Elsa. She immediately took Eladio's place in bed and it made me laugh. Here she is curled up right by his pillow, smothered in thick cotton sheets and obviously feeling like a queen. Well she is the Queen of our house but I think you already know that.
Not all the news on the TV that night was bad. After more politics and more news on Brexit, it was a relief to hear about this year's new Michelin star awards. I tried to look up the statistics but didn't find them. What I did learn though is that Spain is one of the countries with most Michelin stars in the world. For 2019 Spain has 190 1 star (25 new ones) 32 2 star and 11 3 stars restaurants up and down the country. I think this very much illustrates just how important the country is when it comes to top quality food. Spain is very much a foodie tourist destination.
Having finished watching the last episode of La República available on Amazon Prime, we turned to a new series, La Verdad which had just added 2 new episodes on its platform. They had us wide awake until way past midnight. Thus it was later to sleep than usual on Wednesday.
Thursday was my big day. Finally the news of the launch of Lobster was to be announced and it was up to me to get as many clippings as possible from the news. The responsibility was enormous. At about 10.30 I got the final versions of the press releases and then the final images to accompany them. Then the big job of sending it out was mine and would take a while to write personally to some 40 journalists and send it to about 80. It wasn't exactly breaking news but I was trying to sell it as such. Now I can reveal the company brand and corporate identity. It's fresh, simple, English and has a decided touch of British humour. I love it.
As the services won't be available until December, this was the corporate launch, not the tariff launch, so on social media we had to publish a coming soon type post. This was it and I love it too.
So why the name Lobster I bet you're wondering? Well, here is the official explanation: "We think it's something different and refreshing that can be associated with the good life. After all, sun and wonderful food is to be found in Spain. " As to the brand itself, "the Lobster brand was created to establish an emotional bond with British values and service. The DNA of the company is "English, easy and effortless", together with a personality that is authentic and straightforward. Its offering is based on simplicity and understanding the customer so that they will be able to enjoy a service and customer experience "like home". I hope it takes off with English speaking residents when we launch in December. Do me a favour friends and readers, please help me spread the word by following us on Twitter. This is the Lobster twitter handle: @lobster_es. Thanks.
As I was sending the release, I was already getting calls from journalists to clarify the news or answer questions. And even before I had finished sending it out, there were articles already published on-line. I did follow up work all day to monitor the clippings and there were loads of them. However, I didn't see any clippings from the British press in Spain but maybe it's early days. All in all I hope the management of my customer is happy with the media coverage.
There was no siesta for me that day as I had to continue my work if the press release we were fine tuning and tweaking continuously was to go out this week. Thankfully I would have 2 more days for preparations. You can't imagine the work that goes on behind just one press release.
There was time for a walk, albeit a bit late and on our way back it was already dark. Thankfully the path was illuminated by the distant street lights. I came home to do some more work and there was even time to read in the lounge. Then it was dinner time. We had the most delicious Ibérico ham with a salad and then it was time for bed. There's not much to mention about the news that day. We continued watching La República at the same time on the lookout for messages from Mr. Wong and Mr. Wang, 2 guests who were due to arrive very late, at about 1.30 am. I kept hoping nothing would go "wrong" with Mr. "Wong" hahaha. Well, it did. I didn't really know who they were as on Mr Wong's profile there were Chinese characters only, no reviews at all, the only information being that he lives in Athens! I hate it when I don't know who my guests are. It's a bit risky. However, out of 160 guests since February 2017 since we started we have had no problems. My latest arrival time is 9 pm and I hate it when guests ignore it. I would love to be able to cancel reservations for people arriving in the middle of the night but can't do as I would lose my Airbnb super host status. They were to ring me by phone when they arrived as we can't hear the door bell from our bedroom. The alternative to interrupting our sleep would have been to leave the keys in the letter box but then as the house is so massive, guests would not know how to enter the house or find the rooms. I kept waking up to check my phone. 1.30 went by and no sign of them, so did 2 and 3 o'clock and then my God I got the phone call at 4.15 in the morning - that was just no on. Eladio came out with me to receive them as I was a bit stressed about doing it alone. They really interrupted our night and it was difficult to get back to sleep again. Thankfully I woke up a bit later than usual the next day, Tuesday, at 7.45 while Mr. Wang and Mr Wong slept on peacefully. I had a feeling they would be troublesome guests but thankfully they weren't. I wondered what their review would be like. Mine would not be glowing after that false start I'm afraid.
Tuesday came and rain was forecast - when would it go away I wondered? There have been more floods in the Mediterranean, mainly in Catalonia, Valencia, Murcia and Alicante as well as the Canary Islands. Thankfully we haven't had any here so far. The climate change is a fact and it's here to stay.
On Tuesday I had loads of work to do, mostly compiling my media list to include telco and business press as well as the English speaking press in Spain. The latter would prove a challenge and take up most of my time.
Tuesday 20th November was the anniversary of the death of Spain's dictator Franco but I think it went largely unnoticed in Spain and was only mourned by a few diehards that do exist, most of them elderly. No doubt some of them went to the Valley of the Fallen where he is buried to pay homage. However, his remains will soon be removed but it is yet to be seen where. I never thought about it at all on Tuesday. However, I well remember finding out about his death on 20th November 1975. I would have been just 18. I was in London with a Spanish friend from the Valencia region. When we saw the news banners in the streets, probably selling the Evening Standard and saw the words "Franco is dead", Ana, my friend, burst into tears. I remember her saying "ay pobre "Franquet"!" (Oh poor little Franco). However, not all Spaniards were upset when he died. Many of them had bottles of champagne in their fridges cooling for when he died and to celebrate the end of dictatorship. Democracy came about very soon but still Spain is divided between left and right, a heritage of the Civil War. Today there is a division on where his remains should go. A generation of Spaniards who grew up during his reign, including my husband, were brainwashed in his favour and, even today, remember the good things he did more than the bad. In any case, as I say, thankfully, this year's anniversary went largely unnoticed and wasn't even mentioned on the news.
Meanwhile, my guests from Athens, Mr Wong who is originally from Malaysia and Mr Wang who is from China, slept on and didn't emerge until about midday. Later I asked them what they were doing living in Greece and was told their work was to do with importing clothing from China. Interesting! I offered them coffee and tea. Mr. Wang was hungry, helped himself to one of my mandarins and, feeling sorry for him, I offered him some toast. It turned out that they had come to visit Madrid but had not hired a car, despite my suggestion. Thus they had to take a taxi into the city. They didn't leave until about 1.30 pm and I didn't see them until the next day when they would be going.
I didn't think much about them that day as I was so busy with the Lobster launch. That day I spent the whole morning googling English media published in Spain and getting the emails of the editors or the news desk. That was no easy task. I must say there are a lot of publications. I just wonder what the readership is.
Somehow lunch appeared on the table again - the miracle of every day - and then it was time for the news and a short rest. The main news in Spain that day was the possible announcement of a general election in May as the minority socialist government is unable to gain votes for next year's general budget. We also heard that Mr. Sánchez, while visiting Morocco, had announced a a proposal for a 3 country and 2 continent World Cup candidacy to include Spain, Portugal and Morocco. That would be interesting. I think it was for 2030, so a while away. The main international news was about the Brexit agreement - every time I hear Teresa May mention limiting "freedom of movement" I cringe. The thousands of Central Americans were gradually arriving at Tijuana on the US Border. Trump closed the border for a while and then a light on the horizon for the immigrants appeared. A US Judge ruled that the US President could not stop them requesting asylum and that anyone coming to the US border could request it. I wonder what is going to happen. It's not an easy situation.
Nearer home, in France, yellow jacketed picketers (les gilets jaunes") were disrupting traffic all over the country in protest of increased fuel charges and other rising prices under Emanuel Macron's government. That caused huge delays at the Spanish border. Their riots and protests would go on all week until on Saturday things turned nasty and the police were called in. They used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the protesters in the French capital which looked like it was under war. Their protests were not only about fuel prices and rising prices in general but about low salaries, unemployment and increasing poverty in France. Increasing poverty in France? How can that be? It's increasing in the UK as well, as we saw in a damning report this week, and in many other places. Many of the rioters pointed out they have no confidence in politicians, many of whom have huge fortunes, when they find themselves in the red by the middle of the month.
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| Riots by the gilets jaunes in Paris on Saturday night. |
Life is easier for us, now that we are in our in our 60's and 70's but even so, I lost my job 2 years ago and have had to fight back and be creative in supplementing the lack of income with PR projects that come and ago and mainly through filling our own home with guests via Airbnb. I don't do it for pleasure I can tell you, but out of necessity.
In the afternoon, miracle of miracles, the sun came out and we went on our walk. Our walk takes up a big chunk of our daily time, 1.5h, but is so necessary for both our bodies and minds, not to mention the dogs who need it just as much. It would be so much easier to say it's raining or that I am too busy but I force myself to make the effort always and I know it pays off.
I came home to do more work and was busy until dinner time when I stopped to prepare the "acelgas" (chard), a vegetable I have recently added to our diet. You can guess the end of our day; up to bed, watched the news, continued watching La República and fell asleep. I slept a bit better that night but blast, woke up 3 times before I was up and wide awake at 6.10.
I was up in darkness on Wednesday morning and beat Lucy to the kitchen. Thus it was me who gave the dogs their breakfast. It's a bit like feeding time at the zoo. I wish someone could tape the process hahaha. Elsa is the fastest and her food flies all around the kitchen hahaha.
It was a hard morning's work on Wednesday. I had to finalise my media list and prepare over 40 emails addressed to about 80 journalists in Spain. They were to remain as drafts until Thursday morning when they would need final tweaking until I got the green light to go at 11.30 on Thursday.
Just as I began work, I got a pleasant surprise. Suzy made a whatsapp video call from Bali that morning. It seemed so long since we had spoken. She looked lovely. She told me she was on a fasting diet, drinking only water that day. We always speak about diets, hahahah. She is doing fine, her only problem being getting a good internet connection for her online English lessons. I wish I could help her. It's less than a month now until we see her next. We spoke about our trip to see her, hopefully at the end of March. We have been debating spending 10 days with her in Bali and that, while in the region, fly to Vietnam for 5 days and also to Laos for another 5 days. Or maybe we should include Cambodia. Wouldn't that be wonderful? It's so exciting to be planning a new long distance trip to exotic locations. Watch this space.
By lunchtime, all my work was done, leaving me free for the rest of the day. Although our Airbnb check out time is 12 midday at the latest, our Malaysian and Chinese guests, Mr. Wong and Mr. Wang made no signs of life. At 12.15 I had to go up to remind them it was past check out time. In the end they didn't leave until 1.30. Wednesday night would be guest free, apart from our long term lodger Andy but only until Thursday when Alba and Javier would be coming and someone called Zigor on Friday. Zigor would be occupying Andy's room as he has gone home to France (Antibes) to spend the weekend with his family. November has been surprisingly busy this year compared to last year. Airbn was in the news this week and got a lot of criticism after announcing closing down short term rentals in the Jewish occupied settlements. I'm not sure that was a good move on their behalf. I also believe companies should try to steer away from politics.
After lunch with my Father we watched the news. The worst story this week, for me at least, is about starving children in Yemen. I can't bare to see their photos. It's so, so sad and so, so unfair. The war with Yemen is one I don't really understand but it seems so damned pointless, like all wars. Oh how I hate war and violence.
We had a lovely walk that afternoon. It was sunny but the path was exceptionally wet and muddy as there had been a tremendous shower of rain earlier that day. This week we only missed one of our walks. On Friday I would be weighing myself again and was hoping all this exercise would help in my particular battle of the bulge hahaha. But actually I only lost 200 grammes:-(
At 7.10 I had an appointment with a dermatologist to remove a small and unsightly blemish on my forehead; well 3 actually, that I have wanted to remove now for a while. The lady doctor sprayed something that removes skin spots that are not dangerous but could become so unless treated. My brother George died of melanoma in 2001 in his mid 40's so I am very wary about my skin as I am also fair like he was. At 7.30 I had another appointment at the same private clinic, this time to get my much needed sleeping tablets from Dr. Crespo.
Both doctors were free to see me early and amazingly, I was out of the clinic by 7.20. From the clinic I drove to Carrefour Market, inspired by their 5% coupon discount that day on all products. Thus I bought some more delicious Ibérico ham and other stuff and was home by 7.50. Dinner was simple, superb and a complete fit with the Mediterranean diet, we all try to follow in this house. We had the ham with the most amazing thick and juicy asparagus I had bought at the market on Monday.
As usual, it was early to bed. I took Pippa up to bed to be with us until it was time to sleep when Eladio would take her down to the kitchen to spend the rest of the night together with Elsa. She immediately took Eladio's place in bed and it made me laugh. Here she is curled up right by his pillow, smothered in thick cotton sheets and obviously feeling like a queen. Well she is the Queen of our house but I think you already know that.
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| Pippa occupying Eladio's side of the bed on Wednesday night |
Having finished watching the last episode of La República available on Amazon Prime, we turned to a new series, La Verdad which had just added 2 new episodes on its platform. They had us wide awake until way past midnight. Thus it was later to sleep than usual on Wednesday.
Thursday was my big day. Finally the news of the launch of Lobster was to be announced and it was up to me to get as many clippings as possible from the news. The responsibility was enormous. At about 10.30 I got the final versions of the press releases and then the final images to accompany them. Then the big job of sending it out was mine and would take a while to write personally to some 40 journalists and send it to about 80. It wasn't exactly breaking news but I was trying to sell it as such. Now I can reveal the company brand and corporate identity. It's fresh, simple, English and has a decided touch of British humour. I love it.
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| Lobster's logo and corporate identity |
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| Lobster, Spain's only all-in-English mobile operator for British and English speaking residents in Spain, coming soon. |
As I was sending the release, I was already getting calls from journalists to clarify the news or answer questions. And even before I had finished sending it out, there were articles already published on-line. I did follow up work all day to monitor the clippings and there were loads of them. However, I didn't see any clippings from the British press in Spain but maybe it's early days. All in all I hope the management of my customer is happy with the media coverage.
Basically Lobster took up my whole day. On the other side of the pond it was Thanksgiving Day. I have a lot to be thankful for I must say but we didn't eat turkey on Thursday. We only ever eat it at Christmas really.
During lunch I ate in between responding to messages, hardly focusing on my food. We watched the news of course. In Spain the government was up in arms about the Brexit agreement with the EU as there was no mention of Gibraltar. Spain insisted it had the right to oversee anything to do with the Rock after Brexit and said it wouldn't vote for the agreement to go through. The political crisis lasted until yesterday. What I couldn't watch were the dreadful images of famine struck children in Yemen again. It's just awful.
Amazingly I slept for at least an hour after lunch and woke up when it was nearly dark. It was wet and cold and that day we skipped our walk I'm afraid. I tried to read but kept being interrupted by more journalists interested in the story of Lobster. The clipping that pleased me most came from El Mundo, Spain's most viewed news site (3.6m readers) and on the front page. That was a feather in my cap. But I was to wait until the next day and the following days to get the full coverage from my press clipping service, JP Media who do a great job.
That night, Alba and her fellow student, Javi, were arriving. Thankfully, as Alba has been before, I was able to leave the keys for them in a hidden place, thus I never heard them coming in. Alba and Javi will be coming between 2 or 3 times a month from now until June. This weekend the house was full of guests again, although they have all left this morning. That's not bad for November, the height of the low season.
Friday came and thankfully the pressure was off work wise, although I would be compiling all the clippings to send to my new customer. It was Black Friday which I largely ignore. I was very cross that Amazon completely ignored its reader customers and that there were no discounts for kindle books which would have probably been the only thing I was interested in. I hate the invasion of American traditions in Europe like Halloween and now Black Friday. Thank goodness, so far, we have not been tainted by Thanksgiving.
When I got the media clipping bulletin I was extremely pleased to see we had garnered 44 articles, some in major and some in more insignificant media, but 44 in total is just great for not-so-big corporate news as a lot of media steer clear of it, considering the news publicity. I didn't see anything in the English press in Spain though in media like The Costa Blanca News and that is something I have to work on.
Andy was off that day back home and I was determined to go to Ikea with Eladio to buy him a desk and chair that blends better with his room. Eladio had put given him our old PC desk which is probably 20 years old - we bought it when we bought our first computer at our old house - and a horrible red plastic chair. When we got to Ikea I had forgotten it was Black Friday. It looked like Ikea had too as there was no discount for the white table and chair we bought. Later, poor Eladio, would assemble the desk. I am always grateful that I married a man who is good with his hands as I am not. He spent a good part of the afternoon on the difficult to assemble little white desk. However, I suspect he liked doing it. I bet he would have loved a meccano set when he was a kid but he never got one.
From Ikea we drove to Mercadona to do the weekly shopping. We were home by 12.30 and on time to make the lunch as well as look at the new clippings that had come in. It was while we were having lunch that Zigor from Bilbao arrived. I had completely forgotten he was coming and when Andy left for France that morning we hadn't cleaned his room. So it was panic stations to get it ready asap. I think it's the first time I have ever forgotten a guest was coming. He's another student at the UEM local university and came to do a course this weekend for triathlon coaches. Good for him.
Friday was a sunny day, although crisp and cold. Thus we had a lovely walk that afternoon with the dogs. It was dark when we came home but I had at least an hour to myself to do what I wanted before dinner. I chose to sit in our lounge and start my new book, Michele Obama's biography which has just been published and is called "Becoming". I think I'll like it.
We did not go out to dinner that night. Usually we do on a Friday evening, but not since I am on a semi strict diet. Instead we had a delicious prawn salad in the kitchen. Our young Airbnb guests arrived home when we were already in bed.
Oli, meanwhile, was in Madrid at a choir rehearsal. It wasn't any choir rehearsal but a gathering of her old choir from St. Michael's school. One of the ex members had suggested that old school choir members participate in the school's anniversary and thus the idea for a Christmas concert came about. Their old choir master, Javier - can't remember his surname - a brilliant and young musician, was all game for it. So, on Friday night, former members of the choir met with him in Madrid in an amazing reunion for their first rehearsal. Oli said she felt she was on Cloud 9 and I can imagine it. The girls were very active members of the school choir which, under Javier, won many prizes. We went to all of their concerts and have happy memories of their choir days. We shall not miss the concert in December at the San Francisco El Grande church in Madrid. Suzy will take part too, although she can't go to the rehearsals as she is in Bali. Javier has sent her the music to study and I know she is really looking forward to singing in the choir again too.
We watched the news of course, all about the political crisis regarding Gibraltar and the Brexit agreement with the EU. Pedro Sánchez, was far away at a historic meeting in Cuba, must have had his mind on the Gibraltar issue more than anything else. He was criticised for not meeting the Cuban opposition party but at least the question of human rights was on the table. From far away Havana, the Prime Minister was threatening to veto the EU agreement for Brexit. These were stormy waters.
I fell asleep soon after the news and for once got quite a good night's sleep, waking up on Saturday morning at 7.20! I felt very rested.
Saturday was a cold but sunny day. Oli and I had our weekly French lesson that morning. I hadn't done my homework so a couple of hours before Helene arrived, I sat down to do it. It was all about when to use "c'est" and "ce sont" as opposed to "il est/elle est/ils sont/ elles sont". It's quite confusing at times. I got Eladio to take a photo of my studying in the dining room yesterday before my lesson as I needed a photo to illustrate this week's post.
Oli came home just for the lesson and departed immediately afterwards. She had a busy social life this weekend. At least, though, she and Miguel will be coming for lunch today to brighten up our weekend.
It was yesterday at 3pm Madrid time that Pedro Sánchez, already back from Havana, announced the issue of Gibraltar in the Brexit agreement had been solved. He had a letter from the UK Government and another one from the EU guaranteeing that the Spanish government would have a say in all future issues with Gibraltar, negotiating directly with the UK. In these new circumstances, he said, Spain would now back the plan. Back home, Teresa May was described as having given in on the Gibraltar issue. She didn't say much about the diplomacy crisis but made it very clear that the sovereignty of the Rock was not an issue as Gibraltar was part of the family of the UK and always would be. So what do I think about that you may wonder? I have mixed feelings really. It seems a bit of an anachronism that a small piece of land in Spanish territory belongs to the UK because of the Treaty of Utrecht some 300 years ago. I wonder how the UK would feel if the tables were turned and Spain owned the Isle of Man for example? On the other hand, the Gibraltarians themselves, about 30.000 people, are staunchly against any change of sovereignty. Well, of course they are as they are far richer than the area around the rock belonging to Spain, mostly because the rock is a sort of tax haven and a lot of the riches are from smuggling and dubious business activity. It's a hard nut to crack and the issue will not go away but at least the political crisis is over for the moment.
In the afternoon we went back to Ikea as Eladio thought the base of the chair we had bought was the wrong one. It turned out it was the right one, so our journey was pretty useless. Actually it wasn't as once there I was able to buy the led candles I wanted for our lounge. What a lovely invention they are.
Finally yesterday afternoon, the work area of the ground floor room was ready for Andy's return and for future students renting the room when he goes. This is how it looks now, a great improvement on the horrible old fashioned brown desk and red plastic chair that were there temporarily until yesterday.
We had to content ourselves with the walking we did at Ikea - it is immense - as it was too dark when we got home for our normal walk. I felt guilty for the dogs of course but happy to curl up in the lounge with my book surrounded by soft lighting and music in the background.
Today is Sunday and I woke up to rain. How dismal. Where is the autumn sun? It keeps coming and then going again. My three young student guests have already left and Zena has started on the rooms. Andy is back tomorrow from Antibes and we only have two guests coming next week so there is plenty of time.
I shall be spending part of my time this morning making a lovely lunch for Olivia and Miguel - roast chicken with roast vegetables, the last of the ones we bought at the market on Monday last.
Now I have reached the end of the tales of this week. I wish I could be writing from some place exotic - like Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos but that's not to be for the moment.
Wishing you all a great week ahead, cheers until next Sunday,
Masha
When I got the media clipping bulletin I was extremely pleased to see we had garnered 44 articles, some in major and some in more insignificant media, but 44 in total is just great for not-so-big corporate news as a lot of media steer clear of it, considering the news publicity. I didn't see anything in the English press in Spain though in media like The Costa Blanca News and that is something I have to work on.
Andy was off that day back home and I was determined to go to Ikea with Eladio to buy him a desk and chair that blends better with his room. Eladio had put given him our old PC desk which is probably 20 years old - we bought it when we bought our first computer at our old house - and a horrible red plastic chair. When we got to Ikea I had forgotten it was Black Friday. It looked like Ikea had too as there was no discount for the white table and chair we bought. Later, poor Eladio, would assemble the desk. I am always grateful that I married a man who is good with his hands as I am not. He spent a good part of the afternoon on the difficult to assemble little white desk. However, I suspect he liked doing it. I bet he would have loved a meccano set when he was a kid but he never got one.
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| Eladio setting up the new desk from Ikea |
Friday was a sunny day, although crisp and cold. Thus we had a lovely walk that afternoon with the dogs. It was dark when we came home but I had at least an hour to myself to do what I wanted before dinner. I chose to sit in our lounge and start my new book, Michele Obama's biography which has just been published and is called "Becoming". I think I'll like it.
We did not go out to dinner that night. Usually we do on a Friday evening, but not since I am on a semi strict diet. Instead we had a delicious prawn salad in the kitchen. Our young Airbnb guests arrived home when we were already in bed.
Oli, meanwhile, was in Madrid at a choir rehearsal. It wasn't any choir rehearsal but a gathering of her old choir from St. Michael's school. One of the ex members had suggested that old school choir members participate in the school's anniversary and thus the idea for a Christmas concert came about. Their old choir master, Javier - can't remember his surname - a brilliant and young musician, was all game for it. So, on Friday night, former members of the choir met with him in Madrid in an amazing reunion for their first rehearsal. Oli said she felt she was on Cloud 9 and I can imagine it. The girls were very active members of the school choir which, under Javier, won many prizes. We went to all of their concerts and have happy memories of their choir days. We shall not miss the concert in December at the San Francisco El Grande church in Madrid. Suzy will take part too, although she can't go to the rehearsals as she is in Bali. Javier has sent her the music to study and I know she is really looking forward to singing in the choir again too.
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| Oli at the St. Michael's choir rehearsal on Friday for former members |
I fell asleep soon after the news and for once got quite a good night's sleep, waking up on Saturday morning at 7.20! I felt very rested.
Saturday was a cold but sunny day. Oli and I had our weekly French lesson that morning. I hadn't done my homework so a couple of hours before Helene arrived, I sat down to do it. It was all about when to use "c'est" and "ce sont" as opposed to "il est/elle est/ils sont/ elles sont". It's quite confusing at times. I got Eladio to take a photo of my studying in the dining room yesterday before my lesson as I needed a photo to illustrate this week's post.
Oli came home just for the lesson and departed immediately afterwards. She had a busy social life this weekend. At least, though, she and Miguel will be coming for lunch today to brighten up our weekend.
It was yesterday at 3pm Madrid time that Pedro Sánchez, already back from Havana, announced the issue of Gibraltar in the Brexit agreement had been solved. He had a letter from the UK Government and another one from the EU guaranteeing that the Spanish government would have a say in all future issues with Gibraltar, negotiating directly with the UK. In these new circumstances, he said, Spain would now back the plan. Back home, Teresa May was described as having given in on the Gibraltar issue. She didn't say much about the diplomacy crisis but made it very clear that the sovereignty of the Rock was not an issue as Gibraltar was part of the family of the UK and always would be. So what do I think about that you may wonder? I have mixed feelings really. It seems a bit of an anachronism that a small piece of land in Spanish territory belongs to the UK because of the Treaty of Utrecht some 300 years ago. I wonder how the UK would feel if the tables were turned and Spain owned the Isle of Man for example? On the other hand, the Gibraltarians themselves, about 30.000 people, are staunchly against any change of sovereignty. Well, of course they are as they are far richer than the area around the rock belonging to Spain, mostly because the rock is a sort of tax haven and a lot of the riches are from smuggling and dubious business activity. It's a hard nut to crack and the issue will not go away but at least the political crisis is over for the moment.
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| The Rock of Gibraltar where up to 10.000 Spaniards cross the border to every day to work. |
Finally yesterday afternoon, the work area of the ground floor room was ready for Andy's return and for future students renting the room when he goes. This is how it looks now, a great improvement on the horrible old fashioned brown desk and red plastic chair that were there temporarily until yesterday.
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| The new work space area in the ground floor bedroom. |
Today is Sunday and I woke up to rain. How dismal. Where is the autumn sun? It keeps coming and then going again. My three young student guests have already left and Zena has started on the rooms. Andy is back tomorrow from Antibes and we only have two guests coming next week so there is plenty of time.
I shall be spending part of my time this morning making a lovely lunch for Olivia and Miguel - roast chicken with roast vegetables, the last of the ones we bought at the market on Monday last.
Now I have reached the end of the tales of this week. I wish I could be writing from some place exotic - like Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos but that's not to be for the moment.
Wishing you all a great week ahead, cheers until next Sunday,
Masha
