A lovely Easter Week .... Easter day with Fernanda + the Mexican connection.

Hello again my friends,

So we had a good week, very quiet with the girls away most of the time. Oli came back on Wednesday night from Poland and Susi came back on Thursday afternoon from Benidorm. But then they went away again; Oli to Tarragona with José to see the theme park, Port Aventura and Susi to Jerez to join her boyfriend. Olivia came back today, Easter Day but Susi won’t be back until tomorrow. We at least had the pleasure of Olivia’s company for lunch on Thursday and today but Susana was only seen for a few hours on Thursday as she left that very night for Jerez.

The highlights of the week were lunch on Thursday when Fátima joined us and Friday evening when we went out to dinner with Eladio’s brothers, Isidro and José Antonio and our sister-in-laws, Yoli and Dolores. We all felt like going for an Indian meal, so we went once again to the Ganges. Isidro and Yoli had come to Madrid to pick up their daughter, Alicia (my sweet goddaughter) who had spent the Easter holiday on her return exchange to Paris to stay with my cousin Masha’s daughter Sophie. We were delighted to see a big Indian family sitting on the table next to us and eating very similar things, as it added to the authenticity of the place, not to mention the rickshaw in the middle of the dining room and the two Indians sitting on a mat and playing the zitar. It all added to the atmosphere.

The last day of the holiday was the best though as we had the pleasure of the company of my dear Mexican friend, Fernanda Navarret who came for lunch and to spend the afternoon with us here at Río Tajo. Fernanda, now six months pregnant, is going back to her native Mexico after six years here in Madrid. I will miss her. I met Fernanda through work when she was with Ahciet and I was with Nokia. She and I have really connected people around us; through me she met dearest Anne, who then met Manuel, a friend of Ana Valdivieso’s. Manuel then met Paola, also a friend of Fernanda’s. And now, I hope that Fernanda will meet Juana and Oscar when she goes back to Mexico. They will have a lot in common, I know.

And here is Fernanda looking radiant and one of the two of us hugging (so blonde, so dark). But the best photo of all is of Eladio and Henry our cat, both taking a nap/siesta after a copious Easter lunch. That photo sums up the relaxing week we have had.

Tomorrow will be another day and back to my Doctor Honoris Causa to Mario Vargas Llosa project which actually takes place next week. So I will be rather busy from now until then. But the relaxing week has certainly done me a lot of good.

That’s all for the moment folks

Masha