bursting bubbles

I have noticed the past few days that the gas bubble in my eye has begun to thin. Much more light is passing through, and colors now all appear bright and clear, not dark and shadowy. The top third is showing signs that it is breaking down, and I suspect I will soon have several smaller bubbles floating around in there. This is completely normal I hasten to add. Today marks week 5 of the reposo. Days and weeks have begun to run together. Big Jim and I were discussing his travel plans (he arrives back in Spain 1 week from today!) last evening, and I counted up how many "normal" weeks I have had here since he's been in Pakistan: 2 1/2 weeks is what I came up with. Mind you he's been away now for 2 1/2 months. He will be in Spain for just short of 2 weeks, which I am sure will pass too quickly but it is longer than the 1-week visit we initially planned. We will next see each other in early May, when we both will travel to Munich for our friends E. and J-C's wedding. E. is currently a contractor "widow" like myself. J-C is also working in Pakistan, although in Lahore, so Big Jim and he have not yet been able to meet up. Currently Nokia is negotiating Big Jim's contract extension, and we may know as soon as later today precisely what their offer will be. It most likely will be a 1-year contract. A year is a long time to have him so far away, but there are many positives to be considered as well. He likes the work very much, and the project is going well. The company appreciates his efforts and rewards him appropriately (and we all know how rare that can be in today's business world). He and Nasir are becoming great friends, as are he and the Kenyan ambassador. Big Jim and I have been invited to come visit him and his wife in Kenya anytime we want, and if they are not there, to use their home as our own. This past weekend I shared this news about Big Jim's contract with some of our friends here. Their response was stone cold silence. I should know by now that not everyone thinks well of the decisions Big Jim and I make for ourselves, but I confess I still am taken off guard. These would be the same sort of people who told me early in our relationship that I could not date someone who lived on another continent, the same people who freely expressed their doubts that Big Jim and I could ever live happily in another country, etc. We burst their bubbles of what a "normal" committed relationship and life should be, and this makes people squirm a bit. Which brings me to my final note of the day....I was saddened by the news of Hunter S. Thomson's suicide when I woke yesterday morning. Somewhere packed away in my boxes of books in my rented storage shed in the US are copies of his "Hells Angels" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". I read both titles in a single sitting (although not on the same day), which I reserve for only the most compelling of stories. All my life I have admired those who break convention, and Thompson certainly did that. To many, his life was crazy, quixotic, but to him, I believe it was real and his contributions to American writing great and authentic. So today one less maverick walks the earth. Bummer. hasta manana, mylifeinspain