Sunday 22nd November, 2020
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| Coffee out with friends was the absolute highlight of this week. Something so normal has become a luxury in this "new normal" life of ours during Covid. |
Good morning all.
I hope my blog this week finds you all well. It has been another grizzly November week - as I told you my least favourite month. We have not done anything of significance being in semi lockdown as probably most of you are. In fact we both caught a nasty cold which knocked me out for most of the week and really I would prefer this week to be blacked out from my life. Maybe that's a bit strong but it has not been a good week. Factor in Covid and all I can say is what a strange new world we are living in and thanks to this dreadful virus which has completely torn our lives apart. I still can't get used to it and still sometimes when I get out of the car, I forget to put my face mask on and only remember when I see people wearing one. Before Covid (B.C.) we only really saw Chinese or South East Asian people wearing masks and now we all are. What is the world coming to? Covid is still very much here, despite hopes for a vaccine, and the rising figures of those infected and those who have died are testament to it. Last week the figure for those infected was over 54 million. This week it jumped to over 58.5 million. Last week the official global death toll was 1.318.452. This week it stands at 1.387.179
Last Sunday was a very grey and depressing day with very little to report I'm afraid. Eladio had a cough and wasn't feeling too good. Oh my God, I thought he might have caught Covid. He just said it was a common cold. It was to be his second and mine too as you will read on. Thus he spent the day in his dressing gown. He only ever does that when he doesn't feel well. That was the perfect excuse not to go for a walk for the third day in a row. I should have made the effort but just couldn't be bothered. I had no energy and it decreased as the week progressed. The highlight of the day was a 2 hour skype call with our friends Kathy and Phil who live in Keighley in West Yorkshire. I think we must have spoken about Covid for nearly half of it until I suggested we change the topic, desperate to find something that would make us laugh. We didn't find much but it was a tonic to talk to my friends. If only we could meet in the flesh.
The other highlight of the day came in the evening after dinner when we finally got to watch the beginning of Season 4 of one of my most beloved series on Netflix; "The Crown". I had been waiting for months for it to premiere and that night was the night, the night I was reunited with the series. Season 4 starts in 1979 when Margaret Thatcher becomes the UK's first woman PM and centres too on the beginning (and decline) of the relationship between Lady Diana and Prince Charles. Of course this was an era I lived through. At the time I was about to leave Bradford to go up to Nottingham University. So, of course, these two topics were the biggest of those times; hence my interest. I have to admit too that my interest also has to do with my fixation with the Royal Family. I'm not sure where it comes from; probably my UK citizenship per se but it may also have been inherited from my Russian born Mother. She adored the Queen and I do too. That doesn't mean to say I don't see The Firm's flaws. I do but I am still fascinated. Did I like what I saw when the two most influential women in many years; Thatcher and Lady DI, are introduced? Well yes and no. I was eager to see how the actresses portrayed them and how alike they were. Gillian Anderson is a US actress so I was a bit sceptical, mostly about her accent. She doesn't do a bad job but she doesn't convince. Emma Corrin is probably more convincing as Lady Diana, although I think her looks are not a patch on the latter's. How could they be I suppose as in my opinion she was one of the most beautiful women to ever walk the earth.
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| Margaret Thatcher, the Queen and Lady Diana in Season 4 of The Crown |
As to the other royals, or all of them really, except for the "people's princess, are portrayed in quite an ugly light and there has been criticism of this, so much so there have been calls for Harry and Meghan to quit their contract with Netflix. I doubt they will do that. We binge watched 3 whole episodes that night and looked forward to more over the coming days. The main criticism of the series is that it is too fictionalished. The Guardian even called it "fake news". I actually agree as I would far prefer to see a series based on fact. The stories themselves are mostly true but it's the fictionalising of the development of them that makes it a non serious quasi biographical series of an era that would deserves a true portrait of what really happened. But, as I am so addicted, I still enjoyed it.
Monday came. I had things to do, for a change. I woke up to the news that Boris was self isolating again after coming into contact with an MP who tested positive. I also woke up to the news that Trump seems to be beginning to accept Joe Biden's win. The problem this week is the time his administration is taking to hand over information for a vital transition period. The President Elect has to get on with his job, especially dealing with Coronavirus. Help came though that day when a second company, "Moderna" from the US, announced their vaccine was coming to the end of its clinical trials. The good news they say is that it will be 95% effective and, in contrast to Pfizer's vaccine, does not need to be stored at 70 or 80 c below zero. The news brought more hope for a world ravaged by the virus. In fact ever since these announcements, there has been nothing but headlines about when and where and how we will be vaccinated and finally beat the virus. There is so much hype and I do wish our respective governments would be more truthful about when we really will be vaccinated.
These topics were in my head as I left the house at 9.45 to go to my new hairdresser, Caty, the one who charges only 22 euros for dying my roots, cutting my hair and blow drying it. She is very quick, efficient and all anti Covid measures are in place. I left under 1.5h later with my hair looking better and drove home. I liked the way she had done it but found it a bit too sleek. Frankly I am the only one who knows how to blow dry my hair. Thus the next day I washed it and did it the usual way. It looked a lot better.
Once home, I saw to lunch and then set about creating this year's desk calendar. Each year I create one as a Christmas present for those near to me. It's difficult to find the best photo of each month of the year as I take so many. I think I am happy with the result. This year Elliot, of course, features heavily. So does Sandra who visited us last January, my Kiwi and French cousins and my dear friend Julio as well as Miguel's family who were with us for New Year's Eve. Who could have imagined then what 2020 would bring' Fewer people than usual, outside the family, feature this year, as our social life has been reduced drastically because of damned Covid. Who does feature is my dear friend Fátima as I can never forget her or the last three months of 2019, before she passed away, when we had some very intimate moments. Perhaps the happiest of them all was when Oli and I took Elliot to see her. It was a lovely surprise for her and a wonderful moment for us both. Here is just one of the photos taken by Olivia of the encounter.
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| Fátima meeting Elliot last year, shortly before she died. It's a moment I shall never forget. |
Selecting the photos made me look back on 2020 which so far has been horrible. However, we have been very lucky. We were still able to travel, saw a lot of our immediate family and of course we bought a new house. Once I had finished the calendar , there was time for some exercise before lunch. We hadn't been on a walk for 3 days and i needed it. With the sun shining there was no excuse, except for Eladio who had a cold. I went off on my own accompanied by Spotify (British hymns!!!!) and enjoyed the sunny walk and my own thoughts.
In the afternoon, both my husband and I had an appointment at the local private clinic for our annual flu jab. Eladio, worried he shouldn't have the jab because of his cold, booked a last minute appointment with one of the GPs, just before the flu vaccine appointment. I, meanwhile, had my flu jab. When I came out Eladio was still waiting. I wasn't allowed in when it was finally his turn and sat outside feeling a bit worried he may have Covid. The doctor must have been worried too as he prescribed one of those new quick anti body tests and his diagnosis was "suspected Covid"! He thought it was a precautionary step because of Eladio's age. Gosh, that is the closest we have come to Covid so far. We got an appointment for his test for Wednesday morning at 10 am. We didn't want to take it seriously but of course inside both of us were slightly worried that he may have the virus and what that would mean. We even discussed how he would self isolate and which room to choose. We both hoped it wouldn't come to that. He would get the green room and I would get to keep our bedroom hahhaha.
As I sat in the waiting room, I shared the news with the girls. I shouldn't have worried them but then I needed to share my troubles. They both responded immediately of course. Later Suzy and I spoke on whatsapp via audio messages. I was happy to hear she had found a new best friend; Mercy, a young woman from the US who lives in Costa Rica and who is also teacher of English online. They seem to have a lot in common. I'm so glad Suzy is making friends. She was in a much more positive mood since the last time we had spoken.
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| Suzy, delighted with her new friend, Mercy. |
We spoke about the events of the day over dinner together. I was happy to see Eladio had an appetite and that his "cold" seemed quite mild. It was later in the night, after 3 more episodes of The Crown, that I myself began to develop cold systems. Damn, I thought it wasn't a good time to get a cold straight after my flu jab.
I woke up with light symptoms of what was obviously a common cold, caught from Eladio, our second this winter but worse than last time. Oh dear I thought. What if it is Covid? Eladio went off for his test and came back much later. In between time he had me worried. He was home by about midday and soon received an email from the clinic with the results. We were over the moon to see he had tested negative. Oh great! We were overjoyed and hugged and kissed. Eladio later admitted he got worried when his family had started to organise his self isolation. I breathed a huge sigh of relief.
It was sunny and we went on our walk. I kept calling Eladio "the negative man" hahahaha. I had to have a photo of my Covid free husband to celebrate the news. Here he is on our walk that morning.
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| My Covid free husband on our walk with the dogs on Tuesday morning |
Other people were not so lucky. That day France passed the 2 million mark of people infected and Spain passed the 1.5 million mark with the UK closely at its heels. France is now the 4th country in the world in this terrible ranking.
As the day progressed my cold got a bit worse so I kept warmly dressed and took paracetamol and cough mixture. The afternoon was spent mostly on skype with a long call with Amanda and then with Suzy. I do love the calls with my oldest best friend and our daughter in Costa Rica. I was worried the new Hurricane Iota in Central America would affect her but she told me Costa Rica never really gets hurricanes, just lots of rain because of them. Thankfully the building where her flat is, is well protected and there are no leaks.
Dinner was delicious. I made fresh grilled hake with garlic accompanied by steamed artichoke hearts and fresh asparagus. Entertainment that night was two more episodes of The Crown. One particularly intrigued me. It shed light on some of the Queen's cousin's on her mother, The Queen Mother née Bowes Lyon's side; the sisters Nerissa and Katherine. When they were young, they had learning difficulties and were classified as "imbeciles" and shut away in a mental institution, never to be seen again or so the series hints. In actual fact, their mother, the sister-in-law of The Queen Mother, did visit them and later in life the latter did too. The terrible thing is that these girls apparently knew who their family was - they had the mental age of 6 year old's - and that they were hidden away and registered as dead when in actual fact they died quite recently. This story came to light in the 80's but I had never heard of it. I suppose in those days mental issues were not seen as they are today and the girls were hidden so as not to bring shame on the Royal Family. It doesn't bear thinking about.
Eladio would have wanted to watch Spain play Germany that night instead of The Crown especially when we learned Spain thrashed the Germans 6-0 - making football history I think. The match was part of the UEFA nations league tournament; not that I care very much.
I coughed a bit during the night as did Eladio but on the whole, given my cold, I didn't get too bad a night's sleep. I woke up on Wednesday morning at about 6.40 and enjoyed my breakfast on my own with the dogs and the news as usual. I also watched Oli live at 8 am. She and Elliot were coming for lunch that day but I realised it wasn't a good idea as they would probably catch our cold. It was a pity but a sensible decision. My symptoms got worse and all I could do was go to bed.
We were shocked to hear from Eladio later that morning that two more men from Montrondo had died of Coronavirus, apparently. One was Goyo, a well known neighbour who was probably in his 90's and the other was "Pepín", better known to the girls as J.M.'s father; J.M, being one of their closest friends from the village since their childhood. We were shocked, very shocked and my heart went out to their families, especially Marisa, Goyo's daughter and Pacita, Pepin's wife. Oh how awful for them all and what a tragedy. And there I was complaining about a cold. I had nothing to complain about.
Well, actually I did, as it got me down and I was already a bit down. The only thing to keep my mind on other things was to binge watch one of my favourite TV series, "Call the Midwife". I love it because it is set in the 60's when I was a child and even though it takes place in the East End of London, I can relate to a lot of it. In actual fact season one starts in 1957, the year I was born. The decade through which it is told represents the first 10 years of my life but tells the story of a very different life to the privileged one I was brought up in, although I recognise the symbols of the times which is why it's very nostalgic for me. t portrays the lives of people in one of London's poorest neighbourhoods with its slums, poverty, lack of hygeine (outside toilets), post war immigration - the Irish then the West Indies and Asian population, general prejudice and how society and the NHS begins to progress. We see how women were stigmatised for getting pregnant out of wedlock, illegal abortion of course but also the introduction of the pill in 1961. It was only for married women until 1967. I well remember my mother taking me to a family planning clinic in Bradford in the 70's to go on the pill. I felt elated but guilty and actually hated the pill because of the side effects. It must have been more potent than it is today. I was born at a time when women were like second class citizens. Young women today battling for equality have no idea what mothers of my generation had to suffer. One of the stories is about a teacher who becomes pregnant out of wedlock. At the time a teacher could not even be married and to be a pregnant and single was an absolute scandal. The school found out and she was expelled. She had no money for a back street abortion and tried to perform one on herself and nearly lost her life. This is not fiction. These things really happened. I remember at my Catholic school,St. Joseph's College in Bradford - run by nuns, a 17 year old girl in my year became pregnant. We had just joined the Lower VI and would do our A levels and go on to University. Once the news was out, she left the school the next day and at the weekend she was married off in a shot gun wedding. Of course she would never go to University. Another friend, Cathy, was adopted and knew that her mother had been an Irish single mother, an even worse situation in Ireland than in England at the time.
During the setting of the series most women gave birth at home just as I was born at home. The series also portrays the progress of the welfare state - the beginnings of the NHS and free health care. One dreadful episode of those times is portrayed in the series, one I remember well - "thalidomide". Babies were being born without limbs or just hands and feet but no arms or legs. No one knew why until it was discovered some years later that the thalidomide drug administered for morning sickness was what provoked the dreadful malformations of babies. My mother always told me she was offered it but didn't take it as she never had morning sickness. Thank goodness for that.
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| Some of the main characters from Call the Midwife. |
So yes I have spent the most part of my time in bed looking after my cold, binge watching this marvelous series which takes me back to my childhood and a past revisited. It's nostalgic to see the Sunday schools, the Church halls etc, youth clubs (my first kiss took place at a Youth Club in Shipley. The boy's name was Kelvin Rhodes), boy scouts and girl guides, all of which formed part of my own childhood.
Needless to say, we didn't leave the house, not even to go on our walk. We just weren't up for it. With great difficulty and not feeling at all hungry, I rustled up a very simple dinner. My taste buds and sense of smell were severely reduced so eating was no fun. We watched a bit of the news. One of the main topics this week is the non stop arrival of migrants to the Canary Islands and what to do with them. The other was the possibility of the Covid Anti body test to be done on a massive scale at Spain's network of chemist shops. I think that would be a good idea although it presents some logistical issues. That night too we finished The Crown. We had binge watched the whole of it in just 3 nights. We miss it now and will have to wait a whole year for Season 5. I think I might watch it from the beginning again hahaha.
The night was difficult but I managed to sleep and was up at 6.30 on Thursday morning. My cold wasn't better and I was feeling sorry for myself. I shouldn't should I? Sorry for complaining. As soon as the chemists opened I drove to the one nearest our home to buy two bottles of cough mixture and some nasal spray. Once home, I put my pyjamas on, got into bed again and continued watching Call the Midwife. Eladio is not keen and is rather amused at my fascination with series and films that have to do with doctors, nurses, nuns, priests, prisons, in fact nearly any sort of institution. I wonder what that says about me? Well, as a little girl and like many little girls I wanted to be a nurse but of course was far too squeamish about blood. As to nuns, I think my first interest came from watching one of my favourite films ever, "The Nun's Story with Audrey Hepburn. I had no inkling to become a nun but was just fascinated to know why other women did. I still am.
Thus there is very little more to tell about Thursday. I kept thinking what is there to look forward to? Not much really; no trips, no dinners out or visitors. How depressing. But again, I shouldn't complain as compared to many many people in the world we are very privileged. I didn't even enjoy my food that day and I still don't as the cold has affected my taste buds and all the congestion in my nose has affected my sense of smell. That makes me feel very sorry for people who lack these senses. How awful not to be able to enjoy food. In a similar way, when I broke my leg a few years ago, I was able to understand what life must be like for people who are paralytic. Again, I mustn't complain.
Friday came and Oli and Elliot were supposed to be coming but of course had to stay away so as not to catch our cold. We missed them dreadfully. I didn't feel much better on Friday either and again stayed in bed binge watching Call the Midwife. I finished season 5 which is the last season available on Prime Video and then started on season 1 again which I watched years ago. Seasons 6-9 are not available so I have indulged and bought myself the whole box set including the Christmas specials. Can't wait.
Nothing of any interest happened on Friday so let me move on to yesterday, Saturday. Did I feel better? Well, I wasn't sure. However I had a motivation to get up and find some energy as we had a date for a coffee with friends (at an outside café, no worries) at 12 midday which I was determined to honour. That of course was something to look forward to and I really needed something to look forward to. And we had a wonderful time, despite the restrictions caused by "the new normal", our new way of life. It is so sad not to be able to greet people with a hug and a kiss here which is how they do it in Spain. All we could do was touch our hearts with our hands and grin with our face masks on. But it was so nice to see them, so nice to be outside the house. Something so normal "bc" (before Covid) as having a cup of coffee with friends at a bar or café is now a luxury. We didn't realise what we had b.c. did we? We certainly do now. So we sat outside at Alverán, our local favourite bakery, and ordered a coffee. Javier had a slice of the red velvet cake and we had the baker's "vigilantes", a bit like croissants but slim and elongated. We chatted non stop for 2 hours catching up on each other's lives. Javer and Ana don't get to see their two grandchildren who now live in Zaragoza and Valencia and we commiserated as we see Elliot very often. I couldn't bear not to. It was great to see Javier and Ana again and I do hope that in the not too distant future we can invite them to our new house in Asturias or see them at their lovely holiday home in Salamanca. Before we parted we had to have a photograph. We asked someone to take one of the four of us but the lady we asked was hesitant to touch a phone because of Covid. In the end Eladio took one of the three of us. He told us to take our masks off for the photo but we didn't. It could have been dangerous and, as Ana said, it was a sign of our times, living history to be recorded. One day, she said, too, children will be learning about 2020 in their history books. She is right. These are extraordinary times.
We parted at 2 as we all had to go and have lunch and I didn't want to keep my father waiting. I came home feeling much better for having been out to have a coffee with friends. My energy levels felt higher and I felt good. We must do it again.
And today, despite our colds, Oli will be coming with Elliot for lunch as Miguel has to work today. I'm still worried they may catch our bug but Oli doesn't seem to be worried. I can't wait to see them. They will bring some much needed joy to the house.
Now my friends, having told you all the stories of the week - not many of them really- I must get on with the day with my renewed energy.
Cheers then till next Sunday. Keep well my friends,
Masha
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