Sunday 6th June, 2021
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| Eladio reunited with our "prodigal daughter" yesterday at Madrid airport |
Good morning everyone. How are you all? I am feeling happy, overjoyed in fact, since Suzy, the eldest of our 2 daughters, got back from her Central American adventure yesterday but above all relieved that she is home safe and sound. Before I tell you all about that I must first rewind to last Sunday.
Covid still dominates the news as it has ever since we first heard of Coronavirus back in December 2019. We are still sitting out this pandemic which is not going away soon. Last Sunday the global numbers for infections and deaths was 170.638.059 and 3.548.839. Today they stand at 173.729.468 and 3.736.514. In the UK the Indian variant now called "Delta" is spreading and the number of infections is on the rise. Thankfully though the number of deaths is very low. In Spain 40% of people have been vaccinated and the number of people infected per 100.000 is down to 117. It needs to be below 50 to be considered out of danger and the virus in control.
The other news this week of interest in my mind is the meeting of the G7, the world's richest countries, in St. Ives in Cornwall of all places. There Boris Johnson proposed that rich countries see to it that the rest of the world is vaccinated by the end of next year. Why on earth can't that start earlier? The other news is an agreement on taxing the tech giants such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, etc. Giant multinationals often register in tax havens and don't pay tax on goods and services sold in countries outside their registered country. The idea is for them to pay 15% everywhere they operate. If this comes off it would mean more income for benefits all over the world. In the sports world Spain and Portugal met for a friendly pre Euro Cup match and drew. That I found terribly boring. I am much more interested in Rafa Nadal's progress at the French Open. He has won it 13 times and this week turned 35. Can he really win it again? I sincerely hope so.
News apart, last Sunday was the hottest day of the year so far in Madrid with mercury rising to 32ºc. We went for our walk at 10.30 in the morning and even then felt the heat which got more intense as the day progressed. Oli and Miguel were to be very busy again that day with preparations for their move so they brought us Elliot to look after. He arrived at about 13.30 just before lunch and was delighted to see us. We were too even though we knew we would have to forfeit our beloved siesta. As soon as he got here he was on his favourite "toto" (scooter) enjoying the freedom of movement and the vehicle. Have I told you he is mad about cars and motorbikes?
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| Elliot on his "toto" |
He let us have our lunch in peace playing quietly on the floor with all the toys he has here. I think I need to get him some new ones as they are becoming very old hat.
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| Elliot quietly playing on his own in the dining room while we had lunch on Sunday |
Watching the news and taking a nap in our room with him was a challenge. He loves my bedside table and all the contents, taking out my sleeping tablets, scissors, nail clipper, creams and all sorts of stuff he shouldn't go near. While exploring my things he broke a beloved money box in the shape of a beautiful and colourful hen. But how could I get cross with him? I couldn't.
We spent the rest of the afternoon keeping him entertained and occupied. We didn't want him anywhere near the pool on his own as last week he fell in and had to be rescued by his father. When we go to his toy box the first thing he gets out is his favourite book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, a present from our friends Kathy and Phil. I have no idea how many times I have read it to him but it must be over a hundred. It was then that I got an electric shock; the second crisis of the day. Elliot dropped a set of candle like electric lights I had bought at a market in Sweden. One of the bulbs came apart and I tried to put it back together. I didn't realise Elliot had turned the lights on so I got a tremendous electric shock which had me scream out loud. Thanks Elliot. Luckily I was no worse for the wear.
My friends Adele and Sandra rang me on Skype while we were babysitting. He was fine for a while but soon got tired so I had to curtail the call. Sorry girls. He was more interested when we rang Suzy in Nicaragua, recognising her as his "Aunty Bonny" which is amazing as he hasn't see her for real since the end of October. "Aunty Bonny" is Suzy of course. As a child, Oli used to call her "Bonny". Don't ask me why but it has stuck.
We were running out of things to do with our grandson, so resorted to what always works, watching Peppa Pip on my now rather old iPad.
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| Elliot loves Peppa Pig |
Of all the children's programmes on Netflix, Peppa Pig is his absolute favourite. I love it too. It's so well done. When he tired of it though we had to find something else to entertain him before his parents came for him. So we took him down to the old swings, swings that Eladio bought for the girls when they were 3 and 4. Elliot loves them and so do I. I usually join him on them.
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| Elliot on the old swings being pushed by Eladio |
By that time Elliot began to ask for his father and mother and thankfully they arrived at about 7 pm to pick him up. He was delighted to see them and we were too as it meant the end of our babysitting responsibilities. I think we have forgotten just how tiring it is to look after a toddler and we are no longer young parents with small kids; a period we also went through of course.
When Elliot left we had some alone time and of course I carried on with Grey's Anatomy which is coming to an end for me. What will I watch next? Not to worry I think there are a few more hospital series on Netflix or Prime Video that are new to me.
We had a quiet dinner together on the kitchen patio. It was still hot at 8.30 pm and and hour or so later the temperature was 27ºc. I found that too hot in bed and searched for a cooler "nightie". I didn't sleep too well but good enough. I was awake at about 7 am on Monday, the day of Oli and family's move to their new house just down the road. It will be great to have them so near.
That morning saw us off to El Corte Inglés, Spain's flagship department store, to buy a new printer. Printers don't last more than a few years and our trusted HP all in one type printer just wasn't working. We bought another HP, a "Smart Think Tank Plus" which didn't turn out to be that smart. My conclusion is that you have to be pretty smart yourself or quite IT savvy to set up one of these. The main advantage when I eventually got it to connect to both my PC and my mobile, is that it comes with a new ink system - literally little bottles of ink you pour into little tanks. The advertising says the printer comes with 3 years worth of printing or up to 12000 pages. That certainly is an improvement on ink cartridges which cost a fortune.
The afternoon saw me desperately trying to help Suzy to start her journey back to Spain. She was leaving deep dark Nicaragua for Costa Rica on Tuesday morning and needed help from me: money to be sent via Western Union, reserving a date for her PCR test in San José for Wednesday and finally buying 3 days Covid insurance which is obligatory Costa Rica. The damned Western Union app wouldn't let me finish the process online and sent me to the post office 5 km away. Shortly afterwards I was relieved to see she had picked up the money. I wasn't so lucky with the PCR test as my bank wouldn't let me pay using my credit or debit card. Thus she would have to sort out her test by paying cash in San José. I did manage to get her the 3 days insurance but by the time all that ended I was stressed out. The logistics to get her back proved very difficult. She went to have her stitches out at the local hospital where her appendix had been removed 10 days previously but decided not to as the hospital wouldn't give her a medical report, one she needs to claim money back from her the insurance company here. I just hoped and prayed once again she would manage to get her flight leaving San José on Friday afternoon local time. Thankfully she did but it was not plain sailing nor a walk in the park.
Meanwhile, Oli was at their new flat receiving the furniture from the removal van and Miguel at the old flat bringing the last boxes of their endless amount of stuff and giving back the keys to the landlord. They had a very busy day. We got a photo of the lounge when the furniture arrived as well as one of their first lunch at their new place. It's funny but the street is called Victims of Terrorism. Oli and Miguel refer to their new home as "víctimas". What an awful name!
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| Their lounge on the first day of moving in |
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| Their first lunch at their new flat |
Oli invited us to join her and little Elliot who was back from day care and we went over at around 18h, after all the angst with Suzy's logistics. It was great to see the new flat with their things. But my goodness there was a lot of work to do unpacking the boxes, putting things away and clearing the decks. While Eladio entertained Elliot, I helped Oli and by about 8.30 we had all of Elliot's clothes in his drawers, the baby changing unit set up and the kitchen in order. Miguel arrived as we were finishing. We all decided that it was a much better idea to go out to dinner then to organise one at their new flat. Besides, the two of them were exhausted. So off we went. While we waited for them I went to see the communal swimming pool which is ready for opening. It's lovely.
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| The communal swimming pool at dusk on Monday |
Elliot came with us and was sitting with Eladio waiting for his parents and me. I had to have a photo of him in his new environment. He is only 19 months old so had no idea that something so important was happening in his life, bless him. This new flat is double the size of their rented flat in Mirasierra so maybe he will enjoy more space for his toys, etc.
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| Eladio and Elliot outside his new flat |
We went to Ginos, a quasi Italian restaurant which is always a favourite of ours. Elliot was delighted to be there but had to be taken out when he got bored to see cars and motorbikes.
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| Elliot and Eladio at dinner on Monday night |
My dinner was divine; a mushroom and ham pizza followed by you know what? A chocolate knickerbocker glory. I am ashamed to say I ate it all myself and it was very big. But then again I don't think I've had a knickerbocker glory (love the name) for years and years.
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| My chocolate knickerbocker glory |
It was the perfect end to the day, a very important one in Oli and her family's lives. Believe it or not just as we were tucking into our desserts, the heavens opened and torrential rain poured down for about 15 minutes. Thank God we were eating inside. We had to wait to leave and rushed into our cars shouting our goodbyes.
I went to bed wondering how Oli and her family felt spending their first night at their first flat or house. I remember the sensation myself when we bought our first in 1983, the year we married. It's good to see them on the property ladder now.
I was up late watching more of Grey's Anatomy but awake quite early at 6.50. After breakfast I think I spent a good 2 hours getting the printer to work on both our pcs and mobile phones. I managed it all and was quite chuffed with myself. But boy it was not easy. Not smart at all.
The rain brought cooler weather on Tuesday. In my home country, England, they are or were having a sort of heatwave and people flocked to the beaches and rivers. I was extremely happy to see that one of my favourite places on earth, Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire, had made it to the front page of The Times. What I didn't like was that it illustrated huge crowds which is not how I remember it.
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| Bolton Abbey made it to the front page of The Times on Tuesday morning |
If you are from Yorkshire you will understand my fascination and love of the place. It brings back wonderful childhood memories. So I was piqued that The Times chose this place out of all the other possible busy beauty spots in England. You see I have visited Bolton Abbey and the 12th century ruined monastery by the River Wharfe countless times since I was a child and we went to live in Yorkshire. Bolton Abbey is located on the cusp of the Yorkshire Dales in North Yorkshire and is very near Ilkley and Skipton, 2 of my favourite towns in God's Own Country (aka Yorkshire). I can also say it never used to be as crowded as it gets today. Possibly it wasn't as well known outside Yorkshire in the 60's and 70's when I used to go. I remember once swimming in the frozen water in the winter, something I wouldn't do today. Besides, the river Wharfe is rather dangerous and swimming is now banned. The monks must have built the famous stepping stones across the river which I know so well and love. The photo in The Times is of many people crossing them. One of the last times I was there was 10 years ago on holiday in Gargrave and when Eladio and I visited. I have a photo of me at the entrance which I love because it gives you a whole view of the abbey, fields and river; such a beautiful sight.
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| At Bolton Abbey 10 years ago |
In contrast to the Times' photo I was the only one there that day to cross the stones I so love.
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| Crossing the empty stones on a visit 10 years ago |
Bolton Abbey is not just the abbey but a whole estate and includes amazing walks along the river which take you to a very narrow part of it called The Strid. Here it is very deep, has fast undercurrents and is riddled with pot holes where the water sucks you in. My mother was terrified of this dangerous part of the river which has claimed many lives. I remember my brother jumping across it over the slippery stones. The narrowest crossing is 2 metres making it a difficult and dangerous leap. If he had fallen in he would well have died as it is said that no one who falls in comes out alive. I have a fascination of The Strid but I am very aware of its dangers.
When my husband to be, Eladio, first came to England I took him to Bolton Abbey. In fact I took him there every time we went to Yorkshire and he fell in love with the place too. He has a photo of me, now fading, by the River Wharfe at the Estate. I would have been in my early 20's at the time. This photo hangs on the wall next to his next in our study. That photo means a lot to us so let me share it with you.
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| Me at the Bolton Abbey estate years ago - in my 20's. |
It's a place I never tire of and I wonder when I will be able to visit Bolton Abbey again.
Tuesday was the day Suzy left deep and dark Nicaragua; not a pleasant country to live in. It is both very poor and very dangerous. It is run by the communist Daniel Ortega who formed the Sandinista National Liberation Front after overthrowing the Somoza autocratic pro US government in 1979. He has been in power ever since. Some say he has created his own dictatorship after ending the Samoza dictatorship. Right now he has imprisoned any threatening politicians from rival parties. It can't be easy to live in Nicaragua. He obviously hasn't done much for his people, although he has made himself rich. Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America and has widespread underemployment and poverty. Suzy says it's like life over a hundred years ago and that women are seen as they were so long ago in the West.
I couldn't wait for her to get out of there. Thankfully she was accompanied by her partner Erick as she needed help with the luggage after her operation just under 2 weeks ago. Her health insurance company was supposed to organise her journey to San José in Costa Rica but left her in the lurch at the last minute. Thus they had to take a bus (full of animals and people) and stand up for 3 of the 5 hours it took to get to the border. They crossed the border safely and then had to journey on to San José, a 4 hour bus ride, find somewhere to stay and on Wednesday take her PCR test. All this was supposed to have been organised and covered by Ocaso/Europ Assistance but they let her down. I wrote them a scathing email the next day and finally they stepped up. I was relieved to know that they had made it past the border. I would know nothing else until Wednesday as of course Suzy is 8 hours behind us. Her journey back was to be something of an odyssey. To document her journey, I copied a photo of the bus they took from Muelle de los Bueyes from my daughter's Instagram. It really looks third world which of course it is.
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| Suzy's Goodbye Nicaragua photo of the bus she took to the border of Costa Rica |
On Tuesday while Suzy was travelling, I was on my weekly Skype call with my friend Amanda. She was very sympathetic about all the issues involving repatriating my daughter. I told her I felt like Suzy's secretary, personal assistant, medical advisor, travel agent and of course her bank. I couldn't wait for her to be back for it all to be over.
In our Skype calls we always tell each other what we are watching on Netflix, etc (BBC iPlayer in the case of my friend) so I was delighted to tell her that Line of Duty Season 5 is now available in Spain. We watched episode 1 that night. I totally understand the British audience fixation with this series. It is so well done.
I was up late, responding to all sorts of queries for our different houses and our pool. I got another reservation for our apartment in Santa Pola and I think I said 10 people are coming today via "Piscilovers" a new platform to rent out private pools. This is my new work, managing our little hospitality business (hahaha) and I was up late responding to endless enquiries . Some translate into confirmed reservations and some do not. That's the name of the game.
Wednesday came. That morning Caro, my Airbnb Belgian guest from Antwerp, left vowing to return as she had loved her stay so much. She later left me a glowing 5 star review. These reviews are my motivation in this new hospitality business of ours if you can call it that. We did the normal things, our walk, lunch with my father but there was no rest for the wicked that afternoon. I spent a lot of it on more logistical activities related to Suzy's return to Spain. If I look back I realise I am good at these things as once I was a secretary. It was my first job in Spain with a terrible arms exporter, Defex, but it taught me to be good at administration. I am organised too. That comes from my time working for multinationals. I owe my organisation skills to my first boss at Motorola. I had become the marketing and communications manager and in my first yearly assessment he accused me of being disorganised. That really hurt and I was determined to prove him wrong. He gave me a great lesson in life and ever since I have been a very organised, focused and efficient person when it comes to work. This has come in handy, helping Suzy get out of Nicaragua and Costa Rica and I think she knows it.
I did get some relief though when Oli sent us a photo of little Elliot. In it it looks like he has having the time of his life with water. He loves water as he does cars, motorbikes and animals. This is the photo. I think it would cheer anyone up don't you?
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| The photo that cheered me up on Thursday |
We needed cheering up; all of us in fact, as that morning we had really bad news. Oli's partner's father has been diagnosed with stomach cancer. My heart goes out to Miguel and his family.
Thursday came and it was pretty similar to Wednesday. We only left the house for our walk with the dogs. I was happy to get two new Airbnb reservations, one for Santa Pola next week and one upcoming which is for this house (an Argentinian family). I am also expecting a whole group of people today coming to use our swimming pool. Our pool is already listed on Swimmy, the French platform for renting private pools to guests. Their latest rival is "Piscilovers" and when I came across it, I immediately signed up. This is the ad if you live in the Madrid area and fancy a day out using our pool and gardens.
That day I had a cheer me up video call with my dear friend Kathy. She and her husband are now on a road trip to Cornwall in their beloved camper van. They can't come here for the moment as Spain is on the UK's "Amber list". You may know the UK has a traffic light system for approved and non approved countries to travel to. That day, the government removed Portugal from the Green list. Spain remained on Amber which is a disaster for its tourism industry as the large majority of tourists coming to Spain are from the UK. I was stupefied when I saw Afghanistan added to the green list. I mean who goes to Afghanistan on holiday for God's sake? Isn't it less dangerous to travel to Spain or Portugal? Damn the UK Government and its Trump like Premiere, Boris Johnson. To add insult to injury many of the green countries ban entry to UK travelers. Doesn't make sense does it?
I thought my work to get Suzy out of Central America was over that day but it wasn't. I was firstly relieved to hear she had her PCR results back and that she is negative so was ready to fly. But it was up to me to check her in and send her boarding card. That's it, I thought. But it wasn't. Meanwhile, thankfully the health insurance company intervened and found a much better hotel for my daughter and her partner, Erick, for her last 2 nights in San José. It was a Holiday Inn and I think the first time her partner had ever stayed at a semi luxury hotel. I'm so glad they enjoyed it. Their first night was spent at a dubious hostel full of drug addicts. God! I got a photo of the outside of their new hotel, a nice end to her Latin American adventure which turned into a nightmare for me, especially when she had to have her appendix out.
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| Suzy's hotel in San José, a bit of luxury for her at the end of her trip |
We were still in contact until 2 am that night, nearly Friday. She had heard the insurance people allowed her up to 200 euros a day for upkeep and needed my visa card to order food. I reluctantly gave it to her to allow her to order food from Uber Eats. Only then could I rest and finally fall asleep.
Friday dawned and it was another warm and sunny day. Yet, I still haven't been in our pool. It was a busy morning for Oli who was stepping for her colleague, Marina, who does the social media part of the programme. This time I could clearly see Oli's 6 month bump which means not only my daughter but my granddaughter to be, Juliet, was also on TV. Isn't that funny. Oli hates the photo but it's the significance of it that matters I thought.
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| Oli (and Juliet) on TV on Friday |
Friday was shopping day and off we went at around 10.30 to Mercadona, Carrefour and BM. We brought everything home and Lucy and I packed it all away. Making sure lunch was organised, we set off again as we had an appointment at the local town hall to get a certificate to prove Suzy lives here (empadronamiento). What would we need that for you are probably wondering. If you are Spanish you will understand. She needs this to register at the local and public health centre where without it she would not be able to get a medical appointment. I was in a rush to get her one to remove the stitches. I was stumped when I was told she had to do this in person and without her authorisation I was shooed out. How I hate bureaucracy here. We will be going tomorrow.
The rest of the day was calm and quiet with nothing much to report. We continued watching Line of Duty which is just as thrilling as reported by the reviewers. I was nearly asleep when it was time for Suzy to check in at San José airport. I was so happy to report that all went smoothly. By 12.20 after midnight, our time, her Iberia plane took off and landed yesterday at 10.50. The plane was not full and Suzy was given a seat on her own after I advised her to try for an upgrade due to her recent operation. I had hoped they might put her in Business class but that did not happen. I have been in touch with her since the middle of May organising her trip out of deep and dark Nicaragua and from Costa Rica an home, I almost felt as if I was with her on Friday night as her plane took off destination home. I should have felt relieved and been able to sleep but I couldn't. I was wide awake and after our last exchange of messages, I turned once again to Grey's Anatomy, the only thing that has kept me sane over the last few weeks.
I was up at 6.50 on Saturday morning. Only 4 hours to go until Suzy landed. I busily prepared for lunch, making things Suzy loves. She is a "flexitarian" who has dabbled in veganism and is now more of a vegetarian. Thus she would love my red lentil soup. I also had time to prune the roses and some of the geraniums to make everything look perfect for the "hoard" arriving today. I was in the middle of the job when I got a message from Suzy to say she had landed. Thus we rushed off, calculating it would take her 30 to 40 minutes to get out of the terminal. We were just on time. I was outside the airport for about 5 minutes before she came out. We melted into each other's arms, both so happy to see each other. She actually looked a lot better than I had expected after all her adventures and the appendix operation. She was looking beautiful too. She took a selfie of the two of us to mark the moment and then I took one of her melting into her father's arms who was equally happy and relieved to see her. Their photo made the cut for this week's feature photo. Selfies are never as good but here is ours to mark the day, 5th June. She had been away since 1st November. That's 8 months and I don't think we have ever been separated for as long.
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| So happy to be reunited with Suzy yesterday |
She was soon bundled into the car and we were on our way home, the place she needs to be to heal, recover and move forward. It was so good to have her home. My father was delighted. There was time for a coffee together before lunch and it was fun hearing about some of her experiences in backward and deep and dark Nicaragua. Women have it difficult there and I think Suzy turned into a local hero for many of the women who are often seen, to quote Suzy, as a "piece of meat". I told her we were both lucky to have been born in the west. If it's that bad in Central America, my heart reaches out to women in the Middle East.
We had a quiet and peaceful lunch together and then a sleep (I couldn't). Later in the afternoon I took Suzy to have her stitches out at the local A&E as they were 5 days overdue. The doctor told her that her body was already beginning to reject them and that the skin was growing over them. Thank God she is back to civilisation in all of its aspects, not just health. Tomorrow we shall get her a doctor's appointment to do a blood test and get a general check up. She needs it. Suzy made our dinner. She was dying for normal salad with lettuce and desperate for Spanish bread; things she has found scarce in both Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
After dinner Suzy and I had a short heart to heart, one of many to come I am sure. She needs so much support right now and she is going to get it from me and from us. Now as I write, in the study next to her bedroom on the ground floor, she is sleeping peacefully. She needs peace, we all do and we shall take it step by step.
On that happy and relieved note, I shall leave you now to prepare for the arrival of my swimming pool guests and of course make our lunch. Suzy, hopefully, will join us on our walk today. It's going to be warm - up to 28ºc - so we must go early.
There you are my friends. I am at the end of this week's tales. I hope you have enjoyed the read.
Till next week, cheers,
Masha
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