Madrid, Sunday, 26th January, 2025
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| A coffee with Suzy after having my nails done on Blue Monday, supposedly the most depressing day of the year. |
Last Sunday was not depressing. It was the day the Gaza ceasefire came into force. 3 young Israeli women hostages were released, Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher. They were the first small group of the 33 to be released in the first part of the ceasefire agreement. We saw their release organised by the Red Cross live on TV as did their mothers. I can't imagine the emotion and relief when they finally held their daughters in their arms 15 months after their kidnapping by the evil terrorist group Hamas. Very few details of their detainment have emerged but I'm sure they had a horrible time underground in filthy tunnels. I pray for their mental health and recovery. Another 4 women were to be released on Saturday. Their mothers and families will have awaited the moment with great anxiety. Imagine being in their shoes. I keep wondering why they haven't released the youngest hostage, a baby aged just 10 months old only.
Olivia and the kids were coming for lunch that day and I had everything prepared. We had a bit of a shock before their arrival as Juliet had to go hospital. It happened when she showed her mother a broken thermometer which she took out of her mouth. Had she swallowed the mercury? Was it dangerous? She seemed ok but you never know. It was 5 year old Elliot who told his mother they should go to the hospital, "just in case". Eladio joined them and found Juliet (3) in high spirits.
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| Juliet with her mother who was in high spirits at the hospital after giving Olivia a scare |
It turned out the thermometer contained non toxic gallium and not mercury so this was a storm in a tea cup thankfully.
It was after lunch that my grandchildren tried tea for real for the first time; well decaf tea. Suzy had made some for herself and they wanted to try it. Would you believe they loved it and wanted more? I had to have a photo.
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| Elliot and Juliet trying tea for the first time with Suzy |
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| Elliot and Juliet dunking biscuits in their tea which they tried for the first time this week |
Monday came and it was a foul day. It's rather ironic that Trump's inauguration should fall on Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. OMG. But Suzy and I braced ourselves and went out for a little pampering to have a nail manicure. We later went to have coffee at Alverán. I always have coffee outside in the sun in Spain but not this week. That day we had to go inside which was depressing. Suzy took the only photo I have of myself this week which I have used as today's feature photo. Not a great one but at least I have a smile on my face. You all know I hate going to the hairdresser but I love having my nails done. I always think a woman should take care of her hair and nails. She should take care of her body too; an area I rather fail at although I am now on a semi sort of diet to shed some of the many kilos I put on this winter.
Trump being sworn in as the 47th President, as he was the 45th 4 years ago, was frankly so depressing I didn't want to watch it. I can't stand the man and his crazy ideas. However, I couldn't really avoid seeing some of it on the news that night. One picture did strike me though and it was taken when he tried to kiss his Slovenian born wife (an immigrant btw), Melania. She was wearing the oddest hat which completely covered her eyes. Maybe she didn't want to watch the ceremony either, or maybe she didn't want him to actually touch her face. Just look. I bet underneath it all she hates him. But then, why did she marry him? Only she knows. I mean, imagine going to bed with the monster? Uggh.
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| The hat thwarted kiss at Trump's inaugural ceremony |
He promised a new golden age for America. It looks like the dark ages to me. As soon as he was sworn in, he began to sign hundreds of decrees previously prepared, all of them doing away with any good work Biden had done. In a nutshell, he pulled out of the Paris climate agreement and the WHO, will put an end to diversity (he said there will be only two sexes; men and women), flout climate change (drill baby drill) and close the borders to new immigrants, as well as carry out mass deportations. He wants to stop the right to nationality for immigrants born in the US. Later in the week, he pardoned all those far right criminals who stormed the Capitol 4 years ago causing death and destruction. He also told Putin to stop the war in Ukraine otherwise there will be more sanctions. I don't think that will work. Then to rock the boat even more, he gave his blessing to those radical Jewish settlers who continue to destroy, attack or take over areas and homes in Palestine. He probably doesn't even know where Spain is as he asked whether it belonged to the BRICS countries with their emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). That did not go down well down here at all. He threatens huge taxes on imported goods from friendly and non friendly countries and is generally behaving like a bull in a China Shop. And he will carry on and the world will not be a better place because of him. I really mean it when I say God bless America. He will not make American great again. My husband did watch the ceremony and was awed by the pomp. He was also puzzled as to why the citizens of the US call their country America when it is a continent and not a country. He has a point there. He was also surprised at the religious aspects and the mention of God in the ceremony although the President forgot to put his hand on a bible which his wife had in her hands. That would be impossible in Spain now a secular country. If a Spanish King or new President used a bible or said God Bless Spain, people would have their guts for garters. That's enough of the newly instated 47th US President for now.
Tuesday came and it was another freezing cold and rainy day. Oli asked me to check an email she was sending to Narges Mohammadi, non other than the Iranian woman human rights activist, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2023. I was impressed and can't wait to see the interview.
Our Chinese friends told us that it was the Chinese New Year at the end this month and that it's the Year of the Snake. We also learned they are both Sheep from the Chinese Zodiac horoscope. We looked up ours and I am a rooster and Eladio is a monkey. I later looked up the predictions for Roosters this year and this is what I read: "The Rooster Chinese Horoscope 2025 promises to be highly favourable for Roosters in terms of employment, business ventures and entrepreneurial endeavours". If it refers to my renting business that is good news. Monkeys (Eladio) seem to be promised good fortune too. This is what I read "They will enjoy a steady financial situation and not have to worry about their cash flow". I sincerely hope that is true. As we left, we wished them a very Happy New Year.
Despite the weather, we did go out that morning. We had a coffee date with our Chinese friends whose English names are Amanda and George. They and their 12 year old daughter were our Airbnb guests two years ago after they left China for Spain. Since then we have met occasionally and we admire them for their courage. It's funny as their daughter now goes to our daughters' old school, St. Michael's in Boadilla. And, just as we walked into the cafeteria (Manacor), sitting there were old friends from the school; Inés and her daughter Beatriz who was in Suzy's class. Inés and her husband live in a house right across the road from the school. We had bumped into her occasionally over the years but we had not seen Beatriz since she left school over 22 years ago. And there were our Chinese guests waiting for us and my attention was divided between them and our old friends. Here are two photos I took at Manacor that day. It was lovely to see our Chinese friends as well as Inés and Beatriz and her brother Fernando who joined them later.
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| Inés and Beatriz, friends from the girls' school days |
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| Amanda and George, our Chinese friends with whom we had coffee this week at Manacor |
Once again I braved the weather that day as I went for my afternoon hair cut appointment and the dyeing of my awful roots. I hate going but it is an important task. Conchi did her work speedily and well and I left with just 18 euros less in my pocket. Gosh, she is cheap. Now both my nails and my hair were in good condition, as I like them to be.
Wednesday dawned and as I didn't plan to go out, I showered and put my pyjamas on again. I love being in my pyjamas and dressing gown at home. Do you? I was certainly not one of those travelling anywhere that day. I was stunned to hear that 1.4 billion travelled abroad in 2024 and that 94 million of them came to Spain and some to my house too. Spain was the second most visited country after France with 100 million visitors. However, and this is big, tourists and visitors spent a whopping 126 billion euros here vs 71 billion in France. I got some of that and spent it too on our amazing road trip last year. I read that tourism accounts for about 13% of Spain's GDP. I honestly thought it was more. So where does the other money come from? Agriculture? No, that's only 3% believe it or not. The main sources of revenue come from the car industry (Spain is a huge manufacturer mainly of French cars), medical technology (new one for me), chemicals (really?), ship building and the textile industry - of course, Zara and co I suppose. We are also supposedly a big exporter of professional services whatever that means. In any case, tourism is looking good unless our communist and socialist coalition government spoil things, especially with restrictions on Airbnb hosting and the purchasing of housing by non EU countries. Spain's economy is apparently booming although you wouldn't notice it on a day to day basis, but according to The Economist, "Spain deserves a fiesta". We do, we do. Pensioners also deserve an increase in their income which promised to be 2.8 this year in line with inflation. However, something happened to halt the increase. That day in the Spanish parliament a huge bucket list of decrees was voted on in one bill including pensions. It did not go through as the government didn't have enough support. You would think that all parties would agree to pension increase and they do. What they didn't agree to were all the other decrees sneakily included in the one bill. I was furious at the news. I can only hope this can be revoked somehow. Of course it could if it went through Congress as a single bill or if the government issued a special decree. For now it's all about political games which is infuriating as it affects people's lives. Damn the government we have. That news was not a good end to the day.
Thursday dawned and although it still rained, the sun came out a little and the temperatures went up a tiny bit. I can't wait for the good weather again. I slept well and once again as I didn't go out, I just showered and put my pyjamas on again, hahahaha. At breakfast I did not see my latest guest, Cristiana, a 22 year old Romanian girl who came on Wednesday. She is studying in Utrecht and is here on an exchange programme. When I showed her the house, she said it was so gorgeous, it felt as if she was in a film, bless her. We aim to please, of course. 2 more guests were arriving that day, Leonardo (a repeat guest) and Elena. I looked forward to greeting them.
On Friday we were out and about. We went to pick up a traffic fine from the post office. We can no longer drive our old Volvo diesel car to the local train station damn it. I then stopped at the local clinic to pick up the instructions and some vile powder to be consumed for a dreaded colonoscopy on 3rd February. It's just preventative as my mother had bowel cancer but I am not looking forward to the horrid preparations to clear my gut hahahaha. We then went for coffee after which we did the weekly shopping. It was lovely to be out and about and to have the house full of healthy food.
On Saturday, earlier than expected, the 4 Israeli women hostages were released as announced. The exchange rate was high; 200 Palestinians in their place. They were the second small group of the 33 to be released and they are Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag. They are soldiers and were members of the unit of observers posted around Gaza to watch for any signs of Hamas activity. They were supposed to be "Israel's eyes on the border" but their pleas went unheard. This was the night of the big debacle on 7th October 2023 which caught Israel unprepared. If only their pleas had been listened to. Now they are home but with scars; mostly mental of course. How on earth do you get over something like that? In contrast to last Saturday's huddled release, this time the terrorists displayed the women on stage in Gaza claiming victory from Israel. That was not popular and the Israeli government was disappointed a 5th hostage, civilian Arbel Yehud, had not been included as agreed. In retaliation Israel delayed allowing Palestinians to return to the northern part of the Gaza Strip. This ceasefire agreement is very fragile.
Life continued as normal here in the middle class bubble we live in on the outskirts of Madrid where life is generally safe. That morning I accompanied Suzy to the hairdresser in Villaviciosa and we had coffee together. Here she is just after the bob cut. She doesn't like having her photo taken so I had to sneak this one.
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| To the hairdresser with Suzy on Saturday |
The outing did us both good and I think she enjoyed a bit more pampering. I suffer for my daughter but I suspect she suffers a lot more. If only she would agree to medication and therapy. For the sake of peace we often ignore the elephant in the room in our day to day relations. In any case, she prefers not to talk about the delusions when I carefully try to reach out to her and question them.
The rest of the day was quiet too. I watched a lot of The Night Agent - an excellent spy series. I have also re watched The Night Manager this week. Oh I do love spy stories don't you?
Today is Sunday and Oli and the kids will be here for lunch, so I must leave you now and get on with the day as it is already late and I have lots to do.
Cheers then my friends until next Sunday. All the best till then,
Masha
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