Dreaming of travelling, more on Haiti, the end of La Señora, the Queen of suspense, and other news.

The final reconciliation of Angel and Victoria in the last episode of La Señora on Monday was thwarted by the script writers with their unexpected tragic ending.

Hello again and another week of January has passed. The year is starting slowly and the weather, grey and dull and rainy, certainly does not help raise ones energy level or morale. December was so busy compared and I am getting a little bored and looking forward to action.

Action, of course, comes from travelling, our favourite activity. The world map I ordered from www.amazon.co.uk arrived to replace the one Oli took to work. I also bought a new map of Europe and this is what one corner of our kitchen looks like; a sort of Geography class where we can dream of travelling by looking at all the possible destinations.
The maps on our wall in the kitchen with which we all travel in our dreams.
My trips coming up are to Barcelona on 14th February for the Mobile World Congress. The girls will be joining me which has now become a tradition. As soon as I get back I will be off to Brussels with Eladio for the reunion with Sandra and Adele, fellow students and house mates at Nottingham University. Then in March we have New York to look forward to. Oli, by the way, will be visiting the Holy Land next week with her ex school friend Begoña. They will be staying part of the time with Miad who they both went to school with and who now works in Haifa. We too will very possibly be visiting the Holy Land, though in September, a quiet month for me. We are definitely an itchy feet family, as my Father described my brother George when we were young. It’s quite obvious the girls have inherited them from me and their Grandfather.

Unfortunately poor Grandpa, my dear Father, can only dream of travelling at the moment as now his feet won’t let him. Recently they have been giving him problems and his mobility is rather hampered. We suspect the operation on his toe may not have been a complete success and the joint that was supposed to have been cured seems not to be. He frightened us this last week when one morning he was not in the kitchen early as is his custom. Of course that got me extremely worried so when I knocked on his door I was relieved to see him sitting in his chair. But he couldn’t get up and spent that day in his room and we feared a rapid decline in his well being. Slowly though he is moving again and right now I can hear German military marching music coming from his room, a sure sign he is feeling better physically and mentally. We will, however, make an appointment to see a specialist. It’s easy to say “what can you expect at the age of nearly 91?” but he has always been healthy and walking is a way of life for him. He has always been a great traveller and it is my hope he will get better soon and we will include him in our plans for travelling somewhere he likes this year as we do every year.

Where we will not be going is to Haiti I’m afraid. The situation after 13 days is only just beginning to stabilise but aid took too long to get through. Right now the US forces have more or less taken over the running of the country if that’s what you can call it. Latest estimates are that over 100.000 people have died. Hiati was further hit this last week as another earthquake (6.0) caused more destruction. On the bright side they are still rescuing people from under the rubble. So far 132 people have been rescued and every day there is a story of another miracle. I can’t understand how they could have survived and the newspapers do not explain. They must have had water nearby. This last week a 7 year old boy called Kiki became world famous as he stretched out his arms as if in victory but actually to be handed to his sobbing Mother, from the rubble he had laid under for 8 days. His smile is contagious and a smile of victory.
Kiki, the 7 year old boy who survived after 8 days under the rubble from the Haitian earthquake. He holds out his arms in victory or in joy to to be handed to his sobbing Mother. A true miracle.
Haiti, already one of the poorest countries in the world will have to be reconstructed. Funnily enough Olivia went yesterday to the Spanish International Tourism Fair (Fitur) and surprisingly came across a small stand promoting travel to Haiti. And promoting travel was the Haitian ambassador in Spain herself so Oli took the chance to interview Madame Yollete Azor-Charles, a charming lady and passionate about her country. This is the interview. It transpires that Madame Yollete, just hours before the earthquake, was in the middle of a meeting about how to improve buildings in Haiti to withstand earthquakes and hurricanes. She is now on a mission to convince the authorities that the country's capital, Port au Prince, should be reconstructed elsewhere. Let’s hope people’s enthusiasm and solidarity for the Haiti cause lasts long enough for that to happen. I am on your side Madame Yollete.
The Haitian ambassador in Madrid who Olivia interviewed at the Fitur exhibition on Saturday.
But maybe I should start at the beginning of the week if I want to reach the part in my headline about La Señora, or rather the end of La Señora as last Monday night was the last episode. La Señora for you people not living in Spain is Spain’s best drama series I have ever seen in all the years I have lived here. It is set in the north of Spain in Asturias and begins in 1920. Above all I love the scenes on the cliffs where most of the secret amorous encounters take place. One day I swear I will visit the place which I think is called Cuerres near Ribadasella in Asturias in the north of Spain. As I wrote before in my blog, it has all the the ingredients I love, romance, history, marvellous scenery and clothes of the era, superb characters and an impossible romance between the beautiful Señora (lady) Victoria and a working class boy, Angel who is forced into the priesthood to avoid any relationship with her.
The beautiful cliffs in Cuerres, Asturias, where Angel and Victoria always met. One day I will go there.
On the rebound she marries the Marqués (Gonzalo) who is the evil protagonist of the series but whose Achilles heel is his absolute love for her. Both Victoria and Angel suffer throughout the series and only in the last episode do they finally get together something all the spectators were hoping for. In the end it is discovered that the Marqués had killed her Father and that he was an imposter and even a bigamist. Angel finally leaves the church and with the coast clear he and Victoria had a future to live for. Unfortunately the script writers of the series spoiled it all by killing Victoria off to the wrath of most of the spectators including myself. On the website forum there is huge criticism of the ending, the main feeling being that we have to suffer enough in real life to have bear an ending like this. I totally agree. The funny thing is the series is going to continue (but not until the end of the year:-)) but I cannot imagine it without the beautiful, generous, independent, courageous and loving Victoria.
Why did La Señora have to die? The scene where Angel carries Victoria, already dead, and her family and servants come running to her.
You can see more photos from the last episode here.

Monday with the tragic end of La Señora was a wash out. Tuesday brought with it the annual Nokia Spain press lunch. As you know I worked for Nokia for 6 years in Spain and was their Corporate Communications Manager. I left in very unfair circumstances, something which hit me hard at the time and has left a wound which will probably never really cure, although the job I have today is even better. I get invited because I am a mobile phone operator communications manager. I was attending for the 4th time and went with mixed feelings as I do every year. It took place at a rather dismal location called Teatro Quinto on the outskirts of Madrid and was a simple affair, very different to the unique events I used to create for the media in Nokia.

Work wise the week was quiet, too quiet really and I have spent more time than necessary working on closing my PR report for Yoigo for 2009. I would far rather already be working on my 2010 plan. Thus I had time to go the dentist twice. I probably wrote that on the night of the snow and on our way to Julio’s dinner, my crown fell out. Tuesday was my 3rd visit, this time to measure my teeth for a new crown (hate that part as it always makes me feel sick) but it was aborted as I was made to wait more than an hour. Thus I went back on Friday and thankfully the measurement part is now over. I think I have 2 more visits which all seems a lot for just one tooth. I also had time to go to the hairdresser, something most women love but which I hate, nearly as much as the dentist. However it was time to hide the roots (oh yes when you are in your 40's onwards you have roots in your hair which is the grey or white area you have to dye every now and again unless you don’t mind showing yourself to the world with your natural greying hair. I do not). So why do I hate it you might ask? Basically because I find it a waste of time, one of those tasks you have to do, like filling the car tank but which I don’t particularly enjoy. Plus I don’t really like anyone else touching my hair. Hopefully the hairdo will now last me a couple of months. What I have retained is the cut; short at the back and longer at the front.

Friday was my most active day. I met my friend Elena for churros (very fattening sort of delicious fritter cum donut). It was my up day so shouldn’t have mattered however lately I am not losing as much weight as I should. I know that’s because I ‘m eating too much on both the up days and down days. That will have to stop. Elena needed some cheering up in her job hunting but it’s not easy. I wish her lots of luck but mostly a positive attitude and a will to enjoy her time despite not having a job. But that’s easier said than done.

On Friday too I had a girly lunch with Suzy and Oli and we went to Ars Vivendi in nearby Majadahonda. It’s a nice cosy little place with excellent Italian food. Friday was certainly a day for food as in the evening Eladio and I went out for dinner too. We went to Mood where we spent the last of this month’s restaurant vouchers that are a job perk. We got back home in town to see the second half of film we have watched over and over again through the years called “Los Santos Inocentes” - (the holy innocents) about rural Spain in the 70’s and the domination of the landed gentry over the peasants who worked for them. It is a masterpiece directed by Mario Camus and based on the book with the same name by one of Spain’s best living writers, Miguel Delibes.
Los Santos Inocentes, one of my all time favourite Spanish films.
This week was also the week I discovered a new writer and now want to read anything by her I can get my hands on. A chance remark from a friend in Facebook about a book called “Daddy’s little girl” by Mary Higgins Clark had me order it on Amazon.co.uk. As I read it and praised the author in my Facebook status another friend commented, “ah yes, the Queen of suspense”. And indeed she is. Her books are basic “who dunnits” but superbly written and keep you hooked from the first page to the last and are thus hugely entertaining. Since then I have ordered more and the other day read my second book by her called “Where are the children” which I highly recommend. I am now well into my third called “A stranger is watching you”. And because I have become hooked on her books, this very morning I ordered another 4 or 5. It's not exactly high brow but I am like my Mother and can enjoy both.

And now I must leave you to carry on reading “A stranger is watching you” and enjoy the rest of this Sunday which is fast coming to an end.

I hope you all have a great week. Me too, I very much hope.

Till next time
Masha

The week Haiti was devastated by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, a personal implication and other news.

A ray of hope in the midst of the catastrophe, 2 year old Redjeson Hausteen Claude being lifted out of the rubble by the Spanish fireman and rescuer Felix del Amo on his first mission abroad.
Hello again,

My blog last week was all about the snow, but whilst we were enjoying it on Monday, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake almost devastated the impoverished and poorest country in the American continent, the small French speaking nation of Haiti located together with the Dominican Republic on what is known as the “Spanish Island” in the Caribbean. Haiti has suddenly become the country the whole worlds’ eyes are on as happens only when countries like this suffer natural catastrophes. The United Nations has already said it is the worst tragedy they have ever had to face. The UN itself, or rather the MINUSTAH (the UN Mission for stabilisation in Haiti) lost many members of its mission when its own building was also destroyed.
The building of the UN mission in Haiti which was totally destroyed by the earthquake last Monday.
It is difficult to calculate the destruction and the exact death toll in a country whose population can only be guessed at (some 10 million) as there are no registers for the living or the dead. Statistics of the dead fluctuate between 40.000 and 150.000 and buildings destroyed appear to be one in every three. In a country which has a history of natural disasters and where over 70% live below the poverty line with less than 2 euros per day, Monday’s earthquake seems especially unfair.

Aid is taking its time to help the desperate and sometimes violent population as there is a total lack of coordination and a scarcity of petrol to transport the aid and chaos reigns at the airport of Port au Prince, Haiti’s capital and the border with the Dominican Republic.

And here I am writing this Sunday afternoon 5 days after the quake and feeling totally involved. You will ask why. For more than one reason is the answer. Of course events like this, and I specially remember the Tsunami on Boxing Day in 2004, always have an impact on me. But when we remembered that Carolina, our neighbour of many years at our last house, was living in Haiti, we suddenly felt involved. Carolina works in Haiti for the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and is married to Luis Eduardo, a Venezuelan, who works for the UN Mission there too. They have 2 little girls called Carlota and Ximena aged 3 and 1 year old.
Luis Eduardo holding Carlota and Carolina holding Ximena just as they stepped off the Spanish repatriation flight from Haiti. They were lucky to survive the earthquake.
We were very happy to hear they had survived and when Olivia who, as you know, works for www.rtve.es heard this, she immediately got in touch with the family to cover their story. Carolina’s parents Dulcinea and Eduardo and their son and daughter Eduardo and Graciela collaborated from the start and Olivia even went with them to meet Carolina and her family off the repatriation flight organised by the Spanish Government yesterday, a very emotional moment. Tears come to my eyes just by looking at the photos and my heart goes out to Dulcinea and Eduardo who have literally gone through hell as they did not get news of their daughter and family’s survival for 48 hours. Finally she was able to send them a text message which said: “we are all ok, terrible catastrophe, kisses”. Imagine!
Carolina reunited with her family. The joy and emotion on the faces of Carolina and her Father Eduardo are so vivid as is the relief on the face of Dulcinea, Carolinas Mother as she holds her grandchild tight as they all came off the plane which repatriated them from Haiti. This family were our neighbours for nearly 20 years in our last house. Our hearts go out to them and we are so relieved that Carolina, her husband Luis Eduardo and little girls Carlota and Ximena survived the catastrophe.

You can read the article Oli wrote here (in Spanish). In short Luis Eduardo was lucky to survive as in the moment of the earthquake he was not in the UN building but of course lost many of his colleagues. Carolina was at work when it happened and miraculously was able to get out unscathed physically but emotionally very shocked. Their little girls too survived although Ximena has refused to eat since.

Luis Eduardo who appeared yesterday on Informe Semanal (the top Spanish news programme of the week) together with some of Carolina’s colleagues as she was in no state to take part, told viewers he flew to Spain to bring back his wife and children but that within a week he would be returning to Haiti as “there is a lot of work to be done”. A very special man transcends here. Oli also organised their appearance on the programme and has been totally involved in their story and in this infernal disaster.

For my part I have contributed just a bit by communicating and coordinating with the Spanish Red Cross my company Yoigo’s efforts to do our bit. The first measure taken was to offer free calls for all our customers to any number in Haiti. Of course we are aware that most lines will probably be down so we took another step by setting up an SMS premium number for our customers to send messages. If they send the letters CR to the number 5280 we will donate the cost of every message (1.04 euros incl VAT) to the Spanish Red Cross for aid in Haiti. In fact I have spent the better part of this weekend on this project and feel happy to have done so. As it’s the weekend I have only been able to post this on Facebook and Twitter but tomorrow Monday we will publish it further.

There have, however, been a few rays of sunshine in this disaster. After the 72 hour mark it is very difficult for anyone to survive under the rubble without water. One case, the rescue of the 2 year old boy, Redjeson Hausteen Claude, made the headlines round the world with the photo of the Spanish fireman Félix del Amo, on his first mission abroad, lifting him out to hand him over to his Mother. The face of the little boy tells more than a thousand words and I bet Félix del Amo will keep this moment forever in his heart. Félix, I would have done anything to be you at that moment. I take my hat off to you and the other rescuers. This is the picture that illustrates my blog this week and I chose it because I would prefer to have this image in my retina to remember the Haitian disaster than any other and there are many horrific ones.
A miracle and ray of hope in the Haitain disaster - the 2 year old boy, Redjeson Hausteen Claude, being handed to his Mother just after being rescued by the Spanish fireman Félix del Amo and his colleagues.
Andrea Loi, a Chilean worker for the UN in Haiti, was not so lucky. Andrea was a friend of a friend of mine, Paola and we have been thinking about her all week. As I write now I heard her body has just been found. She must have been a colleague of Luis Eduardo. How terrible.

Writing anything after this seems banal. But actually there are 2 pieces of news this week that also had an emotional impact on me and they are to do with the 2nd world war, a topic which forever fascinates me as I think you already know and they are certainly not banal.

Miep Gies did not live to hear about the earthquake as she died aged 100 on the same day, last Monday 12th January. You probably know she was Otto Frank’s secretary and the person who kept the Frank family and friends fed and cared for during their terrible time in hiding in Amsterdam. Miep Gies, a wonderful woman, was actually the person to pick up Anna Frank’s diary when they were caught and she gave it to Anna’s Father after she died. Miep Gies wrote her own memoirs in a book called Anne Frank Remembered which is well worth reading. Published in 1947, the Diary of Anne Frank became the best-selling non-fiction book in the world for reasons we can all understand. I mourn Miep Gies’ death of course as I have always admired her courage.
Miep Gies, the Dutch lady who cared for the Franks and their friends during their hide away during the 2nd world war, and who became the guardian of Anne Franks diary died on Monday 12th January, the same day as the Haitian earthquake, aged 100.

Another survivor of the Nazis and there are not many left, was Helen Lewis, who died just 3 days after Miep Gies on 15th January aged 93.
Helen Lewis, the dancer whose talent delivered her from almost certain death at a Nazi concentration camp died last week aged 93.

I read Helen’s amazing story in her book called “A time to speak” which I also highly recommend.
She was a dancer whose talent actually delivered her from almost certain death at Auschwitz. May she rest in peace and I say that from the bottom of my heart.

Now it’s time for a piece of good news in this blog post, something to cheer it up. So what better than a sports victory? You probably know I am sports’ enthusiast too so was very happy to hear that the bi world car rally champion, Carlos Sainz, has just won the Dakar Race and is the first Spaniard to do so. That is a great feat and another great sports victory for Spain. I’m happy for him and for this country of course.
The Spanish hero, Carlos Sainz, the first Spaniard to win the Dakar car race.
This week which for me has been dominated by the Haitian disaster otherwise went past in quite a routine way. I lost a crown in my mouth so will now be visiting the dentist to complete treatment for a new one. I ordered some more Emma Bridgewater pottery to increase my ever growing collection. Here you can see a couple of photos of what it looks like now. Actually I broke one of the mugs I just received and promptly ordered more. I am getting addicted. As a lot of EB fans say, “there is nothing nicer to eat off” and in part I agree.

My Emma Bridgewater collection as it looks now after the arrival of my new order. Lovely to eat off.
So what else did I do this week? I went into the office for a couple of meetings and work wise the beginning of this year seems to be a bit slow. I had lunch with my Events Agency team, Quinta Esencia at a new place in town called Castellana DF, thanks Bea, Cris, Gloria and Nuria. I also had lunch with my Press Tracking agency (thanks Víctor and Pedro) at one of my favourites near home, in Boadilla, called El Convento and with Suzy at El Buey. And yesterday Eladio and I had a nice quiet dinner at La Vaca Argentina. So, yeah, a lot of eating; ah but I’ve been careful and kept to my Up and Down diet which is working slowly but surely.

Finally and on another gastronomic note, I received this month's wine from my wine Club. I belong to Spain’s biggest one which is called Vino Selección and the wine I got this week is lovely. It’s called Idrias and is from the Somontano region, great. Every month there is a different collection of wine to order if you want.

And that is it for this week. Let’s hope that from now till next Sunday aid begins to get through and Haiti starts to emerge slowly from the worst catastrophe it has ever experienced and which has made such an emotional impact on me.

Until next week
Masha