First Whatsapp photo from Elliot, picaresque behaviour in Spain, The Hague Apostille, vaccine delivery row in the EU, Olivia in blue, our weekly treat, Sutton Hoo burial site in Surrey and other stories.

Sunday 31st January, 2021

My treat of the week - coffee out with Eladio

Good morning all. 

How has your week been in this Covid battered world we live in? It's still getting me down. A surprise Whatsapp  brought a smile to my face though  early last Sunday. I got what I thought was a photo from my daughter Olivia of Elliot at his nursery. I thanked her for it. A while later she told me she hadn't sent the photo but that her 16 month old son had! Do you hear that? My toddler grandson had mastered the art of sending a photo on whatsapp to his grandmother. If he can do that at this age what will he be able to do when he is 5 years old I wondered to myself? I had already seen him accessing Netflix and You Tube or pressing the play button, sending audios and making random video calls so I shouldn't have been surprised but I was. He has mastered the mobile phone before talking or feeding himself with a spoon although he soon will.  Babies today and children are true digital natives. This 16 month old is able to navigate the internet the way some people in their 70's and 80's cannot. This is the photo he sent by the way. 

Elliot's first Whatsapp photo sent to me (here at his nursery)

I was amazed but amused. His photo did a good job improving my mood after scouring the papers last Sunday. The only news in Spain is Covid (the rise of and lack of vaccines), the upcoming Catalan elections and also the way some authorities are skipping the vaccine queue. This includes the head of the Spanish Armed Forces who was forced to resign. 

It's such a Spanish thing to cheat the authorities and society and get away with it.    It's called "picaresque" (picaresco) and has its origins in the figure of a "pícaro"from 16th century Spanish literature. The behaviour of a picaresque, using his wits in a corrupt society, stops just short of criminality, thus its popularity. A "pícaro" is a rogue or rascal and trickster but also an appealing sort of hero who lives by his wits.   The two most famous novels of this genre are Lazarillo de Tormes and El Buscón, both of which I read when I studied Spanish at Nottingham University. Rogues of the type described in these books were referred to as "pícaros" and the word entered the Spanish language to describe their anti social behaviour, their distrust for institutions and desire to beat the system. The picaresque genre is not exclusive to Spain although it was born here. I didn't know it but Charles Dickens' first novel, The Pickwick Papers is considered a picaresque novel too as is Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn.  The issues  picaresque novel's heroes have to face are still those we face today; the power of politicians, the church and the power of the economic elite on the masses. 

Definition of the Picaresque novel - image is of Huckleberry Finn

Basically a "pícaro" is someone who lives by his wits  and tries to climb the social ladder sometimes through the old boy system (just as ingrained in Spain) and illicitly too but without being caught.  There are plenty of them in Spain, such as Spain's now former head of the Armed Forces. Spaniards, in general - not all of course -  love flouting rules and not getting caught. It's the national sport and possibly a trait that although sometimes endearing it is what has brought so much corruption to this otherwise wonderful country. If you live in Spain for a long time, like me, it's difficult not to get infected by picaresque behaviour as very often it is not even frowned upon, quite the opposite it can be applauded.  Few people are free of it. It's part of the fabric of this society and probably not exclusive to Spain.  Things are changing though and picaresque behaviour from those in powerful positions is now highly criticised even from people who at their level of society are also "pícaros" which is rather hypocritical. 

My day was not picaresque, it was very quiet and boring. We so miss our travels to the four corners of Spain and abroad. It was frustrating that day to see the temperature rising to 24ºc in Alicante near where we have our apartment by the sea and which we can't go to. It would get higher as the week progressed. But we did have some sun that we enjoyed on our morning walk with Pippa and Norah. I made a lovely lunch "from scratch" as it is called these days -. all my meals are made from scratch - cream of asparagus and mushroom soup followed by meat balls with more veg. 

The house felt quiet without Oli and her family and I hardly saw our guests. I did see Felipe, our Russian born guest, though when he met Zena, our Ukrainian born weekend carer. I remarked to him just how international our house is when I caught the two of them chatting away in Russian. It is an international house just as my childhood home in Bradford was.

On Monday I had a reason to leave the house. Hurray. No, not really,  as I was going to a doctor's appointment. It was at 12.20 in Pozuelo at the big private hospital, Quirón. So there was time for our walk beforehand and for getting lunch ready. It was nice to get out but I am wary of going to hospitals for obvious reasons. I had an appointment with a dermatologist who I should have seen a long time ago but had either put it off or couldn't go because of Covid. I wanted her to see a mouth ulcer which I have now had since the summer of 2019, a year and a half ago. Another dermatologist saw it about 6 months ago but wasn't concerned. He gave me some mouth gel which didn't work and asked me to do a blood test. I took the blood test results with me to the appointment on Monday. The skin doctor took one look and said she didn't think it was a mouth ulcer but a sort of lesion. She ordered me to get an appointment with the maxillofacial department to have a biopsy performed.  I duly got one for 5th February.   While there I mentioned my brother George had died of melanoma and she assured me the lesion was not that. She did, though, take a look at my whole body for any possible marks and thankfully didn't find any. I did my very best not to linger over negative thoughts for the rest of the day and until my next appointment. 

Every Monday afternoon I have a skype call with my dear school friend Amanda. The topics of our conversation are nearly always the same; Brexit, Covid and the change in President in the US. We are on the same page on all these topics so we are often a comfort to each other. The rest of the time I spent continuing to watch (for the second time), When Calls the Heart, that soppy romantic TV series set in Canada in the early part of the 20th century. It's so comforting to watch and keeps my mind off any negative thoughts.

Both Eladio and I agreed as we watched the evening news just how depressing the news is. We refer to Covid of course. We were all so thrilled a vaccine was coming but now our hopes have been somewhat dashed as we are being told that a vaccine won't stop us passing on the virus. Does this really mean we shall have to continue social distancing and all the other anti measures and for how long? When will we get our lives back as they were before? I shouldn't harp on about Covid and our lives right now but we are living through a once in a lifetime historic pandemic which affects us all and it's difficult to ignore it. 

Tuesday came and another guest, Adrian (a tatooist!) was coming. That day we would have 3 guests under our roof. Felipe, our Russian born guest, has prolonged his stay for another 10 days and we are happy to have him. He is a pleasure to host. Very surprisingly on Wednesday he kindly gave me a Russian icon and two plates. They must have come from his family home and I was very touched. 

Facebook reminded met that 3 years ago that day we were in Manchester. Oli had been sent by her TV programme and we decided to join her and Suzy too who, at the time, was living in London. What a wonderful reunion that was. 

In Manchester with the girls 3 years ago this week. Oh how I long to be able to travel again.

Not that Manchester is a very luring tourist location but it was a great few days together. As a child we lived not too far and my father would take us to that dark industrial and rather grim city to the family dentist,  Mr. Carr. It was on one of those journeys I learned one of the greatest lessons in my life. Seeing a row of  run down Victorian terrace houses I pointed out how ugly they were. My father replied that he always looked for the beautiful things and not the ugly ones and that very often there was something beautiful to be found in ugly things. He is so right and his positive attitude is something I have always tried to emulate. But is there anything beautiful in this ugly Pandemic? Well, maybe the fact that we have gone back to basics, spending time at home with our loved ones. Another good thing to come out of lockdown, for me, at least, is my frequent communication with friends on skype, facetime, whatsapp, etc. On Tuesday I was looking forward to another call with our dear friends Kathy and Phil who live in Keighley. I remember spending a lovely few days with them before meeting up with the girls in Manchester. Those were the days. It's Phil's birthday today by the way so I am happy to send him greetings for today from here. Happy Birthday Phil. Hope you have a great day. Enjoy Kathy's Victorian sponge cake I know she is making for you. 

But there was no good news about Covid that day. The total number of infections reported worldwide had reached over 100 million, 25% of them coming from the US. 19 countries were reported  to have reached over 1 million infections, including both Spain and the UK.  Tuesday was the day that the UK passed the 100.000 death toll.  In Spain I read in The Local that "Spain's infection rate at 884.7 cases per 100,000 has now overtaken the United Kingdom (862.9) and is only behind Portugal (1,484), Czech Republic (1,010.4) and Ireland (926.9). Oh God I thought we are doing so badly. As if that wasn't bad enough, vaccines are not being delivered as promised by the three main pharma companies, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna.  This caused a commotion in the EU and the UK. The companies hit back by saying the UK had secured their contracts weeks before the EU. Who knows? The reality is that there are not enough to go round. I had proof of this when I wrote to my father's GP asking for the second time when he would be getting his vaccine. She replied the roll out was on hold which confirmed to me that there are not enough supplies to go around. She assured me he would be one of the first on the list. The above figures came midweek. Today, on this last day of January, the world wide figures now stand at: 103.167.644 infections  and 2.230.217   deaths, up from 99.338.987 infections and 2.230.217  deaths last Sunday.

It's not going away is it? We were so full of hope when they announced the vaccines but a) there are not enough to go round, b) we are now hearing that people who are vaccinated may still pass on the infection and c) the current vaccines may not work on the new variants from the UK, South Africa and Brazil. So, we shall be socially distancing and living in virtual house arrest (aka lockdown) for the foreseeable future. In the UK there was a new measure introduced for people travelling to the UK to be put into forced lockdown at hotels paid for by them, for 10 days. Imagine!!!! 

Tuesday was not a good day on a personal level either. I was just sitting down to a delicious lunch of my home made bean stew ("fabada") when I received a call from my lawyer who was due to submit my papers for Spanish nationality the next day. She rang to tell me she thought my last and most important document  -the Criminal Record Check issued through the UK Ministry of Justice - was most probably not valid as the paper had been issued in December and the UK left the EU on 31st of the month. Core blimey was my reaction and thank you once again Brexit.  The only way out was  to get the DBS Criminal Record declaration I had received from the UK legalised in the UK, as if it wasn't legal. To do so I would have to move fast as the document is only valid for 3 months. To be legalised it would need the Hague Apostille (fyi this is what it means: "An Apostille is a French word meaning certification. The Apostille is attached to your original document to verify it is legitimate and authentic so it will be accepted in other countries who are members of the Hague Apostille Convention."). I had already gone through this process to get the Apostille on my birth certificate so quickly found a service based in the UK online. 

The Apostille on my birth certificate

I paid 104 pounds in quite a complicated process and the next day I would send off the document for it to be legalised with the Apostille in Coventry of all places and returned to me. Once it is legalised it will have to be translated here by a "traductor jurado" ( a sworn translator) for a further 70 euros.  Will there ever be an end to this mind boggling paperwork needed to get Spanish nationality? It must be similar to the mind boggling paperwork now needed for the UK to trade with the EU post Brexit. 

I did not expect this paperwork obstacle  on Tuesday and it frustrated me, not to mention that it interrupted lunch with my father and Eladio. My appetite went as soon as I received the phone call from my lawyer. 

The afternoon was better and was cheered up by a Facetime call with my friends Kathy and Phil, in lockdown in my beloved Yorkshire. The three of us are in our 60's and we spent a good part of our 1.5h call talking about our ails, aches and pains. I remarked that our conversation was centred on old people like conversation and we should try to change the topic. It's difficult not to talk about Covid and Brexit when talking to my English friends, although we tried. 

The day ended watching a very interesting film called Septembers of Shiraz. Starring Adrien Brody of The Pianist fame  it is  about a rich Jewish family living in Iran during the revolution of 1979 after the toppling of the Shah. I well remember those times but it must have been awful for those living there seeing their "normal lives" being turned upside down and turning into a society dominated by  Islamic fundamentalism. 

Wednesday dawned and that morning I received an envelope from my friend Anne in Finland. Guess what it was and when it was sent? A Christmas card posted on 11th December which arrived on 27th January. What sort of postal service is that I wonder? My friend Anne told me the postal service in Finland was a joke. Well it's a joke too in Spain so the too combined resulted in a Christmas card taking a month and a half to cross Europe.

That's why I sent off my Criminal Records Check by Courier that morning and not by post. I needed it to get to Coventry as soon as possible. That was one of our errands that morning after Eladio took Elsa to the vet for the umpteenth time. The mouth infection is lingering on so she needs to continue with antibiotics. However the trauma vet advised operating her knee next Wednesday. Poor Elsa, our lovely and noble 9 year old lab, has suffered so much. Her muscle mass had decreased and that has to be because she hasn't had any exercise. After delivering the document to the Courier (MRW) at a cost of 56 euros to add to the other costs - God knows how much I have paid so far to get documents for Spanish nationality (and there is more to come) -  we went to BM, an upmarket supermarket to get some good steak for lunch. Oli was coming and I hadn't prepared anything. Then it was time to visit the chemist to get my father's medicines and to make sure his Doctor had updated the doses to be included in his electronic prescriptions. Thankfully she had. Before heading home we had a coffee outside (and a "porra" .- thick churro). We had it in the sun as on Wednesday mercury reached 20c in Madrid. We mused how lucky we were to be sitting outside having a coffee in the sun and not having been touched yet by Covid, except for restrictions. We mused too about the restrictions which in our case are much more bearable because we live in a big house in a leafy neighbourhood. I feel so sorry for people cramped in small flats in urban areas.

If I was busy, Oli was even busier. My TV reporter daughter has to be exhausted getting up at 5 in the morning and never getting enough sleep,  looking after a 16 month old baby and then having to prepare news and report on it live. To do so she has to be as alert as possible and that can't be easy. I watch her every morning, mostly from my iPad while reading the news or writing this blog and I still get a thrill. That morning she reported on the government cabinet reshuffle as well as the earthquake and hundreds of tremors in the Granada region. It's most unusual for Spain to suffer earthquakes - this one reached 4.4 on the Richter scale - so  was big news. The poor villagers of Santa Fé, the epicentre, who have suffered more than 700 tremors, have been sleeping outside for days now. 

Oli reporting live on Wednesday. I always love to watch her

It was a pleasure to have her for lunch that day. It's not often we have her on her own. She couldn't stay long though as at 2.30 she had to leave to join Miguel and little Elliot for two house viewing appointments not so far from here. It's so exciting that they are house hunting and I do hope they end up living near us. 

The house was very quiet after that. I never saw Sam, our Swedish Turkish guest, who left early the next morning. But I am very grateful to him for leaving me a 5 star glowing review, bless him. I didn't see Adrian our tatooist either who always keeps himself to himself and only briefly caught up with Felipe. Our house is so big I don't even think our guests ever met. 

It was a very relaxing afternoon and evening until I got a call from my lawyer (again) vs a vs getting an appointment to pick up our new post Brexit residency cards which should be available from 1st March - remember when I had to take my father to apply for them a few months ago?  That took up a good two hours and spoiled my dinner. On the bright side I got an appointment for next week. Thankfully this time I don't have to take my father as he was excused from the finger printing for the card because of his age. I doubt there is much impression on his fingers at this late stage in his life. Cross your fingers though that the cards are there and I don't have to go back and get another appointment. 

Our evening finished watching a rather silly film on Netflix which I do not recommend called "What we wanted" about a couple who couldn't have a baby. 

Thursday came. The main news that day and most of the week was the lack of vaccines in Europe, partly due to problems with production lines.  This has caused a big disparity in the roll out of vaccines in the EU vs the UK.  In the EU the roll out is slow because of lack of supplies which the companies, apparently committed to in their contracts. 

Both pharma companies Pfizer and AstroZeneca can't fulfill their contract requirements and this caused a huge hooha for all concerned. However the UK seems to have enough or more for all its population. The EU made a global order for all members but three months or so later than the UK. It should be added that the former is  complaining but didn't actually approve the Oxford made vaccine until Friday when the row emerging came to its climax. The week ended with the EU confirming new vaccine export controls from the block. It initially included Northern Ireland but then the EU backtracked. So the delivery supply of vaccines turned into a full blown diplomatic and political row; something we do not need.  There are so many ins and outs and details in this confrontation between the EU and the Pharma companies, it is impossible to sum them up here. For me it boils down to two factors; teething problems with production and roll out and the difference in the contracts signed between parties. We should not be fighting against each other, we should be rowing in the same direction as we are all in this together and are equally affected.  I have hope though that the teething problems will sort themselves out and that soon there will be more vaccines on the market, such as the promising UK made Novavax and Johnson and Johnson's which may be with us by spring or summer. 

It's the "rich countries" fighting about not having enough vaccines, while the third world countries aren't even in the discussion and should be as it's the whole world that needs to be vaccinated if we are to eradicate Covid 19. I am  disgusted at some people's selfish behaviour when it comes to jumping the queue to get a vaccine but  I was outraged to read this week about "luxury Covid-19 vaccine vacations" for the super rich. There are companies out there offering ultra luxury holidays to places like Dubai or India to receive the vaccine in packages costing around 55.000 euros. Flights are on private planes  to avoid travel restrictions and families enjoy a month's pampered accommodation while they wait for their second dose. These unethical and selfish rich people should spend their money, not on getting their vaccine while sunning themselves in some exotic location, but on helping others who are really suffering. I read somewhere that the top 5 or 10 richest people in the world could pay for all the vaccines and it would hardly make a hole in their pockets. 

Our topic of conversation at lunch, when we had the pleasure of Oli's company again, centred on the vaccine issue. Being a news journalist Oli has the latest news of course. We missed Elliot and couldn't wait to see him again. We also talked about the weather. Would you believe that mercury reached 30ºc in Alicante that day? Oh how we would love to go our apartment there to enjoy the beach and sun but we can't. What a difference in temperatures from just a few weeks ago during Storm Filomena when in some parts of Spain mercury went as low as -30ºc. That's a difference of 60º in just 2 weeks and is scary if it is because of climate change.

On the subject of  high temperatures, Suzy enjoys the high 20ºs every day and spends a lot of time on the beach in Jaco, Costa Rica which she refers to as "her office". She hangs out at a beach bar which has wifi and we spoke to her on skype that day and admired her office. She also sings there and plays her ukelele some nights. Good for her. She was in good spirits and seemed at peace with herself. She wants us to visit and we want to go too but that cannot be for a long time. Apart from kick boxing and yoga she is now taking up "skate". Wow. While on the call she introduced us to a "friend", a horse owner who offers rides on the beach. You may remember I showed you a photo of her on a horse a week or so ago. I told her to take the opportunity to learn how to ride a horse; something I have wanted to do all my life as horses are probably my favourite animal. She is not so keen. She is though keen to show Eladio, if we ever go out there, the crocodiles in the rivers. Apparently it is impossible to swim in rivers because of them. She also told us she had seen a family of whales on her beach and that there are sharks in the water not far from the beach she goes to. If I ever go I shall not venture into water of any kind apart from a shower, hahahaha. It was good to talk to Suzy, something we should do more often. It seems she is now pining less for Bali and is enjoying life in Costa Rica. I'm glad she is settling down. 

Finally it was Friday, the last day of the week, a week more or less the same as all the other weeks since the restrictions began at the end of October. As usual I watched Oli on the TV. That day as on many other days she was doing a presenter's job and her topics were varied. I watch her and often take screen shots like this one of her where she is wearing blue against the blue EU flag. I think she was reporting on the damned vaccine mess. I share these photos with my family on whatsapp. This is the one I took.

Oli in blue on Friday

Eladio was amused when he saw it and wrote "tengo una muñeca vestida de xxxx". He was referring to a children's Spanish song which starts "tengo una muñeca vestida de azul". It means "I have a doll wearing blue". His "muñeca" (doll) was his daughter. I loved his funny comment. Later I told Oli she looked good in blue. She wasn't sure but had to trust her stylist. One of the perks of her job is having a stylist, a makeup artist and a  hair dresser, something I would die for. Wouldn't you? 

That morning, believe it or not, I received the latest manuscript of the biography of my father from my publisher in London. 

Some news from my publisher on my father's book this week. It is going at slower than snail pace.

I hadn't heard from then since October 16th when I sent in 4 minor changes. Why has it taken so long to include them? Thankfully this manuscript looks like it is the last. But it's anyone's bet now on when it will hit the shops or rather online bookstores. It is still on Amazon though if you are interested. This is the UK link but you can find it on any Amazon site. 

That at least was some good news and nothing to do with Covid. That morning we went on our weekly trip to the supermarket. It has become our main entertainment. The impact of the pandemic on daily life has turned normal routine activities into something special. What is special about doing the weekly shopping, something I used to hate?  It is now the one thing I look forward to in the week. We turn it into something even more special when we have a coffee together afterwards. Luckily the bars and restaurants are still open albeit with restrictions. They are closed from 9 pm which means of course we can no longer enjoy our Friday evening dinners out. So our weekly treat has now become our weekly coffee out. We always go to a "churros" café and there we enjoy a cup of coffee, a churro for Eladio and the thicker porra type for me. I love that moment. It really is the treat of our week. Actually we did it twice this week (naughty). It's the only time we feel that life is still a little bit normal. Having no particular feature photo for this week's post as we haven't done anything special, apart from this, I got Eladio to take a photo of me to illustrate this post. I hesitated whether to keep my mask on or not for the photo and decided to wear it as it is a symbol of our times. 

On the subject of masks there has been much debate this week about which are the most effective. We have always worn the surgical ones but apparently they only protect other people and not yourself. The recommended ones are the FFP2 type. I was persuaded by the argument and decided to make an order on Amazon before they run out as no doubt they will. Many people have turned the mask into a fashion item but they don't protect as well. I hate the mask so much I don't ever want to wear it for fashion or to match my clothes. I don't care too much about my clothes these days. I generally wear jeans or joggers with a jumper, don't bother with makeup or even jewelry. The only jewelry I wear is my watch and my wedding ring. I do though put on a splash of perfume most days. One sign of the effects of the pandemic is my foundation bottle. Oli bought me one for Christmas 2019 which is almost new. Why bother with makeup when there is nowhere to go apart from the supermarket? I do sometimes put on lipstick but then wonder why if no one is going to see it under the mask? Oh boy!!!

Not much else happened on Friday that is worth reporting, except perhaps to tell you we watched the latest Netflix film, The Dig. Sandra, my friend in Brussels, recommended it. The film is based on the true story of the excavation of an Anglo Saxen  burial site in Sutton Hoo in Surrey (UK), believed to be that of a 7th century warrior King along with his fabulous treasures.  I had never heard of the find nor of Sutton Hoo  but read that it had changed historians' view of early medieval Britain. The site is often referred to as England's valley of the Kings. I must visit one day. The dig happened in 1939 on the cusp of WW2. Here is a scene from the excavation.

The real dig - 1938, Sutton Hoo, Surrey, UK

Wanting to know more about it, I "dug" into the internet and read the following:

At its centre was a ruined burial chamber packed with treasures: Byzantine silverware, sumptuous gold jewellery, a lavish feasting set, and, most famously, an ornate iron helmet. Dating to the early AD 600s, this outstanding burial clearly commemorated a leading figure of East Anglia, the local Anglo-Saxon kingdom

The most famous artefact to be found, all of which are at the British Museum (I think) was what is known as the Sutton Hoo helmet. This is it. It must have been used in warfare. Imagine. What a find. 

The Sutton Hoo helmet

The film was interesting enough but a bit slow. I am grateful to it though for making me aware of  one of the 10 greatest archaeological finds ever in my home country. You can see the list here. 

Yesterday I woke up late for me at 7.45. By then my tatooist guest, Adrian had left. We had only briefly seen him when he arrived on Tuesday morning. He is the best of guests and a delight to host. Oli announced they would be coming for lunch so it was a good job I already had my "cocido madrileño" (dish made with chickpeas, veg and a variety of meat) on the boil. They were here just after we came back from our walk and it was soooo good to hold Elliot in my arms again. He is very keen on me at the moment (bless him) and wouldn't let go of me for much of his time with us yesterday. I had the privilege of feeding him - he now rejects his high chair - and I am amazed at just how much he eats. Yesterday he ate the whole baby puree jar followed by some of my soup and chickpeas. He then devoured a whole dish of fruit salad and even managed some chocolate. Just a couple of hours later he was eating a whole pear. No wonder he is growing so fast. He loved the new "touchy feely" books I had bought him but his favourite, at our house, is The Very Hungry Caterpillar" which my friends Kathy and Phil sent him when he was born. I have to read it to him over and over again and I groan each time he brings it to me. He is mad keen on mobile phones too which is not a good thing but it's impossible to keep him away from then if we are all using them all the time. Here he is with his grandfather who is showing him something on his screen. Love this photo don't you? 

Grandfather and grandson yesterday

He is learning words fast and knows who everyone is, including his great grandfather! I was sad when they left at about 6 to go to Elenita's for afternoon tea or similar. The house seemed very quiet so I just resumed watching more of When Calls the Heart. We had a small dinner, watched the news and then an interesting interview with Barack Obama by the TVE correspondent in Washington. Oh boy how frustrated he is with Trump's disastrous administration. 

We then began a new film on Netflix we had been recommended, "White Tiger". It's an Indian film about an ambitious Indian driver who, in a very picaresque way, uses his own wit to escape poverty. As we visited India on our 25th wedding anniversary - our greatest trip ever - we found the film interesting in a very Indian film like way and long to go back. If I'm not describing it well enough, this is how Netflix describes it: 

"The movie, newly released on Netflix, is an adaptation of the Booker Prize- winning debut novel of the same name by Indian author Aravind Adiga. Produced by Priyanka Chopra Jonas and directed by Ramin Bahrani, the film offers a grim tale of corruption and betrayal, examining the complex dynamics of the employer-servant relationships in India while delving into the country's stark rich-poor divide and its class and caste issues". 

No doubt we shall finish watching it tonight. Today is now Sunday and here I am finishing this post and just about to publish it and give a copy to my father who awaits it eagerly every week, bless him.

I bless you all too and wish you a good week ahead. Stay safe my friends,

Masha