Camino and the Goya film awards, birthdays, a birthday puppy and a family celebration.

Nora, the birthday puppy
Hi again

This week’s blog post starts with a mention of the Spanish “Goya” film awards, as one of my favourite films, Camino, got 6 awards including the most important ones such as, best film, best director (Javier Fesser) and best actress as well as best supporting actor, and best new actress, the stunning 12 year old Nerea Camacho. In his speech Javier Fesser said that his family was built on love, affection and a good temper, three things that were also fundamental to his job. How true I found his words.
Nerea Camacho receiving her Goya.
This week has been dominated by our new puppy Nora. I had lunch with Fátima and Julio on Monday and Fátima showed me the photo of her sister’s new beagle puppy. We used to have beagles and in fact were breeders for some years until Eladio’s job changed and we could no longer cope. Since then we have only had cats and are now the proud owners of Joe and Phoebe. The girls have always campaigned for a new puppy and up till now we resisted. Until, I saw that photo.

One thing led to another and the three of us persuaded Eladio that it would be great to have another beagle and as my birthday was coming up (today), what better present could there be than a puppy. As soon as Eladio agreed we searched the Segunda Mano website and soon came up with beagle puppies for sale. It took just a few phone calls and one visit the next day to a breeder nearby to find Nora.

And voilá Olivia and Eladio came home on Tuesday morning with an adorable 2 month old tricolour beagle with whom we all fell in love immediately. It took a few days to agree upon a name and now it or she is finally called Nora.
Nora on Eladio's shoulder
You can see her here on her first day at home in a video I uploaded to You Tube. You will notice she was called “Lucy” on the first day. Nora is hyperactive but lovely. The cats, of course, are petrified and disappear for hours on end and hide at the other end of the house. It will take time for them to be friends but that is our hope. I am taking endless photos of her, although she is a very slippery subject as she moves so fast and so often. You can see a small selection here.

The weather has continued to be wintery and, according to what my Father has read, it is the coldest winter in 60 years and believe it, as my Father is a weather expert. We didn’t get the snow that fell in London, but we did get quite a snow storm on Friday evening just as we were taking Nora to the vet. The snow stayed for one day only, but enough to make snow balls and throw them at Eladio on our daily walk.
It snowed on Friday again.
We have recently installed yet another DVD in our house, this time for the TV in our bedroom and we used it for the first time this Friday to watch the Woody Allen film Vicky Cristina Barcelona with Javier Bardem, Scarlet Johansson and Penelope Cruz. These 3 people are what are known as “beautiful people” and it’s very nice to see them on screen in Barcelona but the storyline is absolute rubbish and the music rather irritating.

I got a friend request from Katya on Facebook on Thursday. Katya is my cousin Sophie’s (or Zuka) daughter whom I think I have only met once or twice in my life. It was such a surprise and lovely to be able to "see" her and her family, including my Aunty Valya in her albums.

Then on Friday I got a surprise phone call from my Aunty Valya who is Zuka’s Mother, the wife of my Mother’s brother Nicolas, or Dyadya “Kolya” as he was known. I hadn’t spoken or seen my Aunty Valya since 1999 when my Mother died. Unfortunately the news was not good as she was ringing to let me know that Masha Stachovich, my Mother’s first cousin and mother of my cousin in Paris, also Masha Stachovich, had died the night before of respiratory problems. I had met her once a few years ago in Paris and found her to be a lovely aristocratic elegant and gentle woman who spoke beautiful English. I know very well that my Mother and her were very close and kept up correspondence for many years. In fact when I met her my Mother had already died and for me the encounter was deeply emotional. My thoughts are with you dear Masha and girls.

Saturday was a very happy day as Eladio’s brother, José Antonio and family came for lunch to celebrate Juan’s and my birthday which is actually today. We hadn’t been all together for more than I can remember; possibly over 2 years. Sara lives in London and we see her even less. But finally we made it and they were coming for lunch. I made a very typical English meal of roast beef and all the trimmings, including Yorkshire pudding!
José Antonio and family. It's not often you can photograph all five.
The table laid for the family celebration
Unfortunately Dolores and Sara couldn’t come until really late and by then Oli had to leave for work, so we never actually got to be all together. After lunch, the “kids” (aged between 23 and 30!) all went their own ways and Dolores, José Antonio, Eladio and I spent the afternoon together, talking about India, going for our walk and having tea in the candle lit lounge to a background of Indian music. Later in the evening we went to Mood in Majadahonda for dinner which proved popular with us all. You can see some of the photos of yesterday here.

And today, Sunday, was my birthday. Wow, 52 and going strong. The day has been very quiet and spent with the family and my new birthday present, Nora. It’s amazing how times have changed the way people send birthday greetings. I got some phone calls, text messages, emails as well as greetings on Facebook from many people I know but I also got them from entities such as my bank, my cinema club card, Cortefiel (a clothes’ store), the FB “team” which of course is part of how society works these days but it is a bit strange and rather impersonal. You are sent these messages via some anonymous server because you are on all these entities’ lists and it’s the cool thing to do these days. Funny! I am however very grateful to all the people who rang and sent messages. I love receiving birthday greetings.

This week promises to be another one of preparations, this time for the Mobile World Congress coming up in Barcelona on 16th February and to which I am much looking forward to going. The girls will be off travelling, Suzy to London on Wednesday and Oli to Amsterdam on Thursday. The three of us will then meet up in Barcelona on Monday 16th and will make our very own Olivia, Susana and Masha Barcelona film which promises to be fun.

Cheers till next week
Masha

The week I found my cousin in Canada, some long lost friends in the USA, the week that Christmas came and many other things.

Preparations for Christmas were early this year.
Hi again

This week, the week after Aunty Masha’s funeral, has had me thinking more about my family, my Mother’s family and just how few of us are left. Of the 6 brothers and sisters, there were only 4 off springs, possibly because only 4 had children as 2 of the sisters, Olga and Dorothea (Dara) were nuns. These were, Andre, son of Alexander (Sasha), Sophie (Zuka) daughter of Nicolas, Alexander (Sasha), son of Maria (Masha) and George and I, son and daughter of Helene (Lena) – my brother George died in 2001.

I have always been in contact with Sasha who now lives in Spain and also with Zuka who has lived most of her adult life in Yorkshire. However I only ever met Andre once when my Mother and I went to Montreal in 1978 (when I was 21) to meet her brother Alexander (Sasha) for the first time since they parted in Germany in 1945. That was some meeting. When my Uncle Sasha died in 1987, we lost touch with the family. I had googled Andre occasionally but got nowhere until this last week. I wrote and got an immediate reply about which I am very excited. Andre is the only child of the Lieven children to carry on that name. I wonder if he realises that.

This year has been about finding people from my past and so again, thanks to Internet, more concretely LinkedIn, I found Rosa and Angel, our friends from when we first lived in Madrid. Rosa worked with me at Defex, my first place of work and hers too. We were employed as bilingual secretaries and went through a very long process before being taken on. We were going through all the interviews but not once were we told what the company did. When Rosa and I arrived at the offices in the post Madrid business district to sign our contract we wondered what the line of business could be. Rosa wondered whether it was pornography! Amazingly enough it turned out to be the export of weapons, or “defence material” as it was described to us. I will never forget a Señor Ibañez telling us that it was just like selling cars. He asked us whether we had a problem with that. Our morals at the time were less important than finding a full time job, so we just meekly said “no”.

Rosa, of Cuban American origin, and I worked side by side for a few years and were also neighbours. Her husband Angel taught Maths at a Madrid University and got on well with Eladio. But Rosa missed her family in the United States and very soon they decided to return to New York. I only ever saw her once since they left but have never forgotten her. She organised the ceremony of our wedding and was an essential part of my life. We did see Angel again occasionally when he would visit his cousin in Madrid but the last time was over 15 years ago. As with Andre, I wrote to Angel and got an immediate reply with which I am thrilled. It is wonderful to find old friends.

This week has brought bad news again too. On Thursday my niece Marta (on Eladio’s side) rang to say her husband, Fernando, more commonly known as Ministro had lost his Father early that morning. It was not unexpected as that wretched illness cancer had slowly been consuming him for some time. I’m so sorry Minis. I know how you are feeling and my thoughts are with you and your family.

Then the following day, Friday, we got the dreaded phone call we were expecting from José Antonio to announce that Dolores’ Mother, Merche, had passed away that afternoon. She has been suffering for a long time and this was now to be the end of her suffering. However she leaves behind, 4 orphans, Mercedes, Dolores, Esther and Cristina. They already lost their Father some years ago and will be feeling very lost. My heart goes out to them.

The girls have been ill this week with pharyngitis and a nasty cold which actually means they have been a lot at home. Also as this is a bank holiday weekend, for the Spanish Constitution and the Immaculate Conception it has been very much a family weekend.
My ill girlies, Oli and Suzy (in pink)
As we have had a lot of time on our hands this bank holiday weekend, we decided that Christmas should come early this year. Also because Eladio and I will be off to India on Boxing Day, we wanted a bit more time to enjoy the decorations. So up went the tree, last years Ikea lights and lots of mobile musical trees and Father Christmases I couldn’t resist buying at the Christmas market in the Plaza Mayor. Of course, to this we added the lovely decorations we had bought in Stockholm recently.
The Christmas tree.
Talking about India, we are now a little wary or worried about our upcoming trip of a lifetime. So, should we go or shouldn’t we? Well, from a materialistic point of view, maybe we should as we have already forked out quite a bit. On the other hand, there is an awful lot of tension between Pakistan and India, so it’s anyone’s guess. I vote we go, but be cautious right up to the last minute.
I would hate to have to cancel as that would be a bit like the straw that broke the camel’s back in our spate of bad luck. I think we will go in the end but am conscious we are risking it a bit.

Christmas is also creeping up on me at work where I have 3 events left to go out of 4. Last week I organised a press lunch for the key journalists on the occasion of Yoigo’s 2nd anniversary but as it was already December, there was a Christmas touch to the occasion too. We organised a proper “birthday” with gas filled balloons decorating the ceiling and we gave the journalists a bag of sweets as a good bye present. Next week will be the employee’s party and the following week the bloggers and then the children’s party. I also have to do all the gifts and the online Christmas card. So I am very busy on the work front.
The balloons at the company's 2nd birthday
The bag of "birthday" sweeties
Meanwhile I have to do a horrible test at the Montepríncipe Hospital on Tuesday afternoon called a colonoscopy. I won’t go into what it’s about as I’m sure most readers will know what it is. The worst part is the preparations, 3 days of protein only diet and then some awful liquid to be taken.

On the subject of hospitals, Eladio and I went to visit Zena, our Ukranian cleaning lady who has just been operated at the Hospital Clínico San Carlos. She has a tumour in her cheek and will now have to have chemotherapy treatment. That was a depressing thing to do this weekend. We hope she gets better soon.

Finally this has been the week when I have begun to think about writing a book. What book you might say? Well it has to be about my Mother and her family. I have had encouragement from my best friend Amanda who offers to be my editor. Thanks darling. So here you have me thinking the whole time how it should be. It will probably be the story of 4 generations in history, about my maternal Grandmother, my Mother, me and finally my girls, Suzy and Oli. The how and when is now the subject of my thoughts. Suzy made the obvious question by asking me who would buy it. She’s right of course, probably very few people, but then the object is not to write a bestseller, but to record the whole story for my children and for the generations to come.

And on that note of self questioning, I leave these pages again until next week,

Cheers
Masha

Fathers' Day Bank Holiday

Hello again

I had just started work again and one week later it was Bank Holiday. So I am writing from home in my pyjamas at nearly midday (but you are not getting that photo!). Well, we’ve had a very busy weekend with lots of socializing.

Susi went off to Benidorm with Carolina to see her best (childhood) friend Copito who has recently gone to live there. Actually 40% of Madrid’s population left the city for the bank holiday and most of them probably went to the coast. But they all went to bad weather as we have had rain ALL weekend. But that’s very much needed as Spain is in the throes of a very threatening drought.

Oli stayed behind to finish off a work project filming Madrid’s road works. We’ve hardly seen her all weekend.

My bank holiday started on Friday night with dinner with Marta (a very good friend - link to her blog is on mine) at the Vaca Argentina. As you may have guessed by now, it is one of my favourite restaurants. Marta and I met at Nokia and drank many morning coffees together there, so we had lots to talk about and catch up on. She gave me a beautiful ring she had made. Thanks darling. We must do this again.

On Saturday we had people for dinner: Eladio’s colleagues from his time in Local Education. We were 9 for dinner, Víctor and Mariluz, Juanjo and Justi, Roberto and Maricarmen, my Father and ourselves. As for all our dinner parties, I went all out in the preparations and spent from about 2.30 to 9 cooking and preparing. So what did I make: Cream of lobster soup (real ingredients and no cheating), a Tex-Mex second course consisting of fajitas with chili con carne, guacamole, nachos and sour cream. The desert was "la pièce de la resistance", English sherry trifle and here I did cheat with nearly everything but I don’t think anyone noticed except Eladio but I told him to keep quiet (I actually used stronger words but they wouldn’t go down well here on my blog would they?). They stayed till after 2 in the morning so the next day I was pretty much exhausted with a bit of a hangover as I had drunk too much wine as usual!! A big thank you here to my Father who did nearly all the washing up!!

Yesterday, San José, was Eladio’s beloved brother, José Antonio’s birthday and we were invited to their house for lunch. It’s always funny going to their house in Calle Francisco Silvela because we used to live there too and it’s like going down memory lane. But we really did go down memory lane yesterday as we went for a walk in the Retiro park first. The Retiro Park is Madrid’s Hyde Park or Central Park and is always full of people from everywhere, lots of side shows and is often called the Lung of Madrid. It was real memory lane because when we lived in Francisco Silvela (18 years ago!!!) we used to go every Sunday morning with the girls and so yesterday we had many memories to relive. We went purposely on the very same route, parking where we always used to park, past the kiosk where we used to buy them sweets, past the ducks we used to throw bread to, past the puppet theatre and then on to the same cafeteria we always used to have a coffee at. Lovely!

Today we are just relaxing with the newspapers. There will be no cooking, thank God but probably some ironing to catch up on (loads actually). A nice quiet day at home with the family.

And tomorrow, back to my exciting new project ……………

Cheers/Masha
PS the picture is of Eladio, myself and my Father at the Retiro.