amebic dysentery

Eww, Big Jim was just sent home from the doctor with the above (read all about it at http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic80.htm---a warning, it ain't pretty). He should be back on his feet in a few days. Just another notch in his "Gastrointestinal Protozoa of the World" scorebook....

"Pope Laments 'Dying' Churches in West"

Hmm, I just saw this headline, and it reminded me of something that has been eating at my craw all week. In past years, the priest of the village church has always served at the host and emcee for all the festivals. This year, the village council contracted the work out for the feria to some local dj outfit. Why? Because certain people in the village did not approve of the priest's enthusiasm; he was too "animated", especially when he, heaven forbid, danced! (But how is one to dance a sevillana if not with animation?) I constantly hear churches lament how difficult it has become to keep young people involved these days. Our village, fortunate to have a young, energetic priest who can engage many of the children and youth, however, has decided to curtail his interactions with them. Interesting, though, how no one complained a few summers ago when the priest and his group of musicians played shows down on the coast to raise money for the new roof on the church. No, then his love of music was applauded. From my perspective, there was nothing inappropriate about the priest's behavior. To the contrary, I was happy to see his usually serious, although friendly, self relax and enjoy the moment. It's a pity there won't be more of them (although I'd like to think he still is popping in a CD and having a whirl in the rectory). hasta luego, mylifeinspain

friday foto

Big Jim's latest photo, taken on his way to Lahore yesterday. Have a nice weekend, everyone! hasta pronto, mylifeinspain

back to normal

I have decided that after four ferias in this village, that what I find most interesting is walking through the village early Monday morning as all except for the most diehard of partiers sleep. The final rocket shots are set off at about 5:30 am, signaling the official end of the feria and waking every already traumatized dog in the valley. But the party continues regardless. Yesterday I heard the amusement rides finally turned off at 7:00 am. I gathered up the pups and took them on their first anxiety-free walk through the village since last Thursday. They spent most of the weekend huddled together under the bed.



Three whole days of peace, before the feria moves to our neighboring village and the fun starts all over again. hasta pronto, mylifeinspain

and so the feria begins

The time is 8:42 am. We have already had a barrage of fireworks and rockets (to let people in neighboring villages know that indeed our feria has commenced), and a parade led by the always-out-of-tune village band (but we love 'em and would have it no other way). Oops, here we go, the second round of rockets just started (mass scramble of puppies under the bed). More later.... Hasta pronto, mylifeinspain

diet

So after a fitful night of sleep---you know the kind where you wake up every hour in a panic, thinking you have missed the alarm and overslept, only to look at the clock and see it is 2:37 am---I made it to the bus in time. I got to tell you, I am going to be using this bus more often. Get this, a one-way ride to the coast costs 1.31 euros; don't know what's up with the penny bit, but regardless that is crazymoney. And this isn't some rickety Franco-era bus; this is a full-sized coach, with AC and cushy seats. My kind of public transport. Anyway, I arrived early, so I stopped at a cafe near the ophthalmologists' office for a coffee and tostada. One of the things I do love about the coast is that one can actually purchase a coffee and tostada at 8 am. In the village, the earliest anyone is prepared to make you a simple breakfast is 9:15. People-watched for awhile and then made my way to the doctors. After all these visits, my name continues to confuse the receptionist, who always greets me by inverting my surname and my first name. She puts in my drops and then I sit and wait. And wait. Today's music selection: the Evita soundtrack in muzak. So here's the good news: my vision in my right eye has improved, to 20%. But even more exciting, the macula's functioning has improved fourfold. The doctors expect this can continue to get better with time. The floater I noticed in the left eye is a bit of vitreous that has detached, but did so without pulling on the retina; therefore, nothing major to worry about. However, Dr. Rubio is concerned about the overall health of my vitreous; so he says to me that he is putting me on a diet. To which I must have responded to him, a man with a major overlapper clearly indicating a fondness for churros, with a nonverbal, "huh?" He quickly qualified, "Oh no, not a diet to lose weight. A diet to promote eye health." He prescribed me heavy-duty vitamins, plus I am to eat as many fruits and vegetables as I can tolerate. Now I know there are some people in PA Dutchland who find this amusing because it is I who is always telling certain members of my family that they should eat more fruit and vegetables. At a minimum, I have to have one fruit smoothie and one giant vegetable salad a day...tomatoes, carrots, spinach, melon, berries, pineapple, the more colorful the better. I told him I do eat plenty of these; he said, "Mas, mas, mas." Will probably turn into oversized pumpkin (also high on my "must eat" list). Truthfully, I look forward to playing around with the juicer, which has been tucked away, still in its original box. I have tried to eat healthily for many years now; this is just pushing it up a notch. Now, off to look for smoothie recipes on the Internet.... hasta pronto, mylifeinspain p.s. I didn't get to have my swim. Plenty of time, but because of the eyedrops, I had zero tolerance for the bright sunshine. Had to curl up in the back of a dimly-lit bar for an hour, but did have a freshly squeezed orange juice while I waited for the bus. :-)

early to bed

It's still hot. I am amazed at how the Spanish neighbors, who one would assume would be used to insane summer temperatures, can talk for hours about the heat. Granted, I think I have acclimatized quite well, considering I only start moaning about it when the thermometer hits 105 to 110 F, which it did yesterday on R.'s terrace. The streets are deserted in the afternoon, everyone inside seeking shelter from the sun. So I am sitting here now, nursing a tinto de verano, hoping it will coax me to sleep in about an hour. When it is hot like this, I usually don't think about going to bed until at least 1 am, when the house cools off and sleep becomes possible. But tomorrow I have to catch the 7 am bus for my morning eye appointment with the Drs. Marcos and Rubio. I can't drive myself because they load me up with all sorts of drops, plus I am hoping to maybe get in a Med swim before I have to catch the bus back to the village. I haven't noticed any dramatic improvements in the right eye, although I think perhaps the vision is a slightly better. I can actually read "Yahoo" on the home page, which I couldn't before. I also want them to look at the left eye though because I have a new floater, which could be nothing or it could be something. Either way, I would like to know and have it taken care of if need be. Twenty days until Big Jim is back in the village. Much to do before then workwise, plus the village feria kicks off Thursday, which means absolute hell for the dogs and me, who has to attempt to walk them through the day/night-long barrage of rockets and fireworks. Actually, the time from now until the end of the year is going to busy. I bought my ticket to Pakistan yesterday, so I will be there from October 1 to 16. So, while Big Jim is home in August, we have to go to Madrid so that I can get my travel visa. And I need to get all my shots; hope this is something I can get from the local pharmacist and doesn't involve a trip to Malaga. After my Pakistan adventure, Big Jim is going to come back with me to the village for a week or so (K., if you are seriously thinking of visiting w/ the little Cora, this would be a good time; we'll talk.). Officially his contract with Nokia should be up then. But given the state of the project, it looks as though another six-month extension is in the works. I had hoped to make a visit to the US before Christmas this year, but it is not looking very possible. Perhaps if I can find a cheap flight in September, although I don't know how patient my work clients will be, considering I will only be working half of August and half of October, plus plan to take off two weeks or slightly more for Christmas. Okay, don't mind me, just trying to get a handle on all this myself. (And I only feel slightly guilty about taking this much vacation, considering Big Jim and I had no vacation for the years he was job hunting. Just using up my "banked" holidays, I figure.) Yes, the refreshing, slightly alcoholic drink has worked its magic as I am beginning to get dozy. Now must just remember to set the alarm...... hasta luego, mylifeinspain

hot

It's 1 am. I just checked the thermometer. It's 30.7 C in the house, and I am too hot to do the conversion to Fahrenheit for Americans (when will you all get with the metric program?!!). Take my word for it, as I am sitting here in my underwear with my ice packs, it's still hot. Spent a lovely, albeit eventful, evening with M.A., eating cold salmon and homemade sorbet and watching the helicopters and airplanes fight the wildfire that was inching eerily close to the village. Seems to be under control for now as the wind has died down considerably. Big Jim and A. managed to avoid kidnapping and all other assorted badness on their weekend trip to Kashmir and the Khyber Pass (http://www.afghan-network.net/Culture/khyber.html). They got as close to Afghanistan to be able to see the soldiers lining the border. Overall, an amazing experience says Big Jim. Can't wait to go myself in a couple months.... Okay, am taking my sun/heatstroked self to bed. More soon. hasta pronto, mylifeinspain

shopping in tangier

No, I have not run off to Tangier. :-) These are from a trip we took a couple years ago. But as I am swamped with work at the moment, which is leaving little time to write a proper blog entry, I figured I would post a couple photos for now. Big Jim will be back in the village in less than four weeks (yay!), and I am furiously trying to finish a book project so that I can spend our two-week break completely free of work thoughts.
Big Jim currently is entertaining his son A., who arrived in Islamabad from the UK bright and early (5:50 am) Sunday morning for a two-week visit. Safe journey, although understandably security at Heathrow veryveryvery tight. Today they visited Taxila, which is a nearby ancient Buddhist site, and a trip to Kashmir is planned for the weekend. Now before anyone freaks out, they are going with a military escort, which has been arranged by a vg friend of our vg friend Father L., who is a retired Jesuit priest we know from Brussels AND who spent several years in Pakistan building schools. So all will be fine. :-) hasta pronto, mylifeinspain P.S. For friends awaiting e-mail responses, they will come as soon as I get pass this wave of work. Thanks for your patience. :-)

agoraphobia

Like many people around the world yesterday, I spent much of my time glued to the streaming BBC webcast on the computer. Although Big Jim and I had often discussed London as an obvious target for terrorism, the reality proved to be no less shocking or horrifying. The village remained subdued all day. The many English expats were fixated on news reports and attempting to reach loved ones back in the UK; the Spanish were sadly reminded of their own terrible bombings, particularly last year's in Madrid. And I often found myself being transported to Philadelphia, 9/11/2001. The shock, the fear, the silent streets. And then somehow, we managed to get out of bed the morning of 9/12 and carry on, just as many, many Londoners are today. ***************************************** Three times in my life I have had to face agoraphobia. The first time was after a car accident when I was 18. The second was after I was carjacked in Philadelphia 14 years ago. The third is now, anxiety being a common result of vision loss. I have learned that agoraphobia seems to be my way of dealing with any sort of trauma. This time, I first recognized symptoms as M.A. and I were planning to go to Priego de Cordoba. Currently, day to day, there are no overt signs because the fears do not surface as long as I am in the village. It is only the thought of putting any distance between me and the pets that makes my heart beat faster, my skin tingle. However, the rational part of me knows that the only way to get passed this is to go, desensitize myself, to prove that nothing "bad" is going to happen. Today I think of all the people in London, and in too many other parts of the world, who must just want to shut their doors to the world, be safe within their homes. And so I, in recognition of their fears, must put mine aside, and after listening to my relaxation tape am off to the coast for the morning. hasta luego, mylifeinspain

horoscope

Hmmm, I usually don't give much credence to astrology, but my horoscope today made me jump. After thinking about making changes for so long and not mentioning it to anyone, the obvious solution has suddenly dawned on you: If you really want to change, what could possibly fulfill that urge more dramatically than moving, long distance? After all, that would mean you'd have to change your home, your job, all your relationships and all your habits. If all this sounds invigorating rather than frightening, better get busy, because it's obviously time. Confession: I spent two hours yesterday searching the Brussels real estate web sites, looking for an apartment for me, Big Jim, and the BBC.

manolo

Manolo, the village house painter, arrived smack on the dot at 7 this morning (who says that Spanish are not punctual). I had to get up at 6:30 to move all the planters out of his way. Aurelio and I discussed having the house painted weeks ago, but I had heard nothing more about it, until Manolo stopped by last evening at almost 9 to let me know he would be here in the morning. Despite having to struggle out of bed while still dark, I remind myself how Manolo's work will please Almendena and the Herb Thief, who regularly complain under their breath about the state of our house as they sweep up around my plants (because I receive an F as a Spanish hausfrau). If all goes well, he should be done by lunchtime. And then I am left with the clean up, although perhaps if I ignore the fallen paint bits just long enough, the ladies will take care of it for me. ;-) *****************************************
We got a little flag crazy for the July 4th picnio. First, R. asked if he could borrow our American flag. And then he decided to also hang the Spanish flag. Five minutes later, Pepe brought us an Andalucian flag as well, so all bases were covered. The menu was very traditional: grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, potato salad, cole slaw, and raspberries and cream for dessert. All superyummy. We had our own fireworks as well, when L. started in on R. for leaving two copies of her Opera News magazine at a friend's house. Nothing like a little dysfunction to make a holiday party more authentic. *******************************************
Anyone ever seen one of these? It's not a tiny creepy crawly, about 2 cm long, and I found it on my mustard greens, which I don't think is a good thing. ******************************************* Torie, you win! If you e-mail me your address (you can find my e-mail under my profile), I will send off a little package of prize goodies from the village. Thanks for playing. :-)
Gratuitous precious Boo picture. Look at that ridiculous tail.... Off to see whether Manolo needs another coffee.... hasta pronto, mylifeinspain

happy friday

I am proud of people in my adopted country this week. First, on a national level, the rights of marriage, inheritance, and adoption have been extended to same-sex couples in Spain. This has been covered widely in the media, so I won't go into detail about this new law, just a big "yay" to Zapatero and everyone who worked so hard to get this passed. :-) Second, on a local level, people in the village took a stand against the Junta de Andalucia and their continued lack of attention to the condition of the 5 miles of road that lead into our town. It is difficult to explain how bad a state this "road" is in, but I will try. Potholes, deepdeep potholes, large enough to swallow my 55-pound precious Boo. Everywhere. Completely eroded shoulders. Car-length sections where the road has slid down the mountain, shutting down an entire lane. Maximum speed reduced to 5 mph. No joke. I typically travel to the coast every two weeks, and every time I am amazed at how much worse the conditions have become since my previous trip. Six weeks ago, the village was finally granted just over one million euros for the repair of the road, and work was to begin in June. We were overjoyed. Except that the work wasn't done. Frustrated, three members of the town council organized a rally of business owners and residents. They brought their own equipment, intending to fill the larger potholes themselves. The townspeople had been warned by officials not to do so because the ownership and maintenance responsibility of the road falls in the jurisdiction of the Junta. But they were not deterred. The Guardia Civil was called in. The people from the village stood firm---for 11 HOURS they blocked the road, demanding a meeting with the provincial authorities. Finally, they were granted an appointment for the following day. The Junta has agreed that the most serious repairs would be made within one week, and the rest of the work addressed within three months. If the urgent repairs are not completed, the town has promised it will organize a second rally. The Junta should remember that this village was one of the last Moorish holdouts during the Inquisition, and the people still have strong convictions. Should be a couple of interesting weeks around here....at the very least, I am looking forward to a much-improved road. :-) Americans out there, enjoy your long holiday weekend. I have been assigned potato salad for the local US contingent's July 4th picnic, which neighbor R. has agreed to host. hasta luego, mylifeinspain