Sick for Two Weeks

So basically I've been coughing and laying around the house for the last 12 days.  I tried a couple of classes but the day after felt much worse. 
I've got some sort of 'flu.  I don't remember being sick for so long before.  I'm hoping this is the end of it now. 
It wasn't the best time to get sick with classes starting and Jett beginning school, but life is what it is.  
I think my biggest frustration has been the weather. It's so beautiful out. Every day has been gorgeous. The suffocating heat of high summer has gone and its just lovely out there. The clouds are soft and there's a gentle breeze. 
I know it will pass. 
I also joined Google+. But I'm going to keep it primarily for yoga/meditation/qigong information. 

Got the Flu

So finally the 2 months of hectic holidays caught up with me. I'm in bed with a chest cough. Tomorrow Jett starts at ESO and I start work. Good luck.

Piou piou in the Library Square

It's about 30 degrees and we're sitting under a big tent playing card and board games. The boy beside Jett is his friend who lives up stairs.

The Dentist- the second visit

What will happen. . . Agh




(edit - ok, I'm understanding things.  The first visit to the dentist is to see if it needs pulling out or if you need medication. They give you cheap drugs and send you to the private sector. Then, you need to go, with your aching tooth/teeth to the different dentists around town getting quotes.. Seriously.  It was horrible enough to open my jaws to a stranger, but now I have to do it a few more times to check prices while I have this drilling going on in my right jaw. Seems the nerves are exposed in two places and it will cost 450 euros.... well worth the pain of another week, or not?  I will not swear. Lucky the friggin' alcohol is cheap.)

oh, and oooommmm. 

The Face of Someone Going To the Dentist

Oh God, why are you punishing me? Aren't I good?! I honestly hate the dentist. It's been a week now and I've had bad pain in my right jaw. It's time to meet my biggest fear. Someone violating the insides of my mouth. In a white coat and a pointy steel drill in hand. Oh my. . .


The Second Visit

Am I Beautiful Yet?

The packet said it would make me fresh as spring. Hmm. How long do I need to wait for that to happen?

Yep. I said it was Boring.

This man fell asleep!

What a Goofy!

Fat Thursday!

Today is Fat Thursday. Avui es dijous gras. We're in sant jordi bakery. Its typical that people eat white sausage but we're just going to eat extra donuts. This is about ten days before lent. Carnival is coming up this weekend too. And then, the fasting.

Dispelling the Myth of Passionate Mediterraneans

I've experienced lots of these kinds of comments, but I'd like to share this one.
'Oh, you've got lots of little hairs on your nose. Does everyone have them, or just you?'

The Guilt of Cooking with Oil

I feel it. I don’t dribble oil, like I used to, I pour oil. And I have the sensation of being harshly judged somewhere. I see little droplets of unused oil on our plates, and understand why the people here (in Catalonia) clean it up with bread. It’s a shocking sight. Oil, oil, oil.

And yet I love it. Its what we (foreigners to Spain) love about Mediterranean cultures in general. The indulgence of oil and pastries and wine and some sort of gluttony over our food.

I wonder if we all secretly love the tinge of guilt of eating and cooking with more salt, more oil, more sugar.

Did you know they eat chocolate for breakfast!? No, its true! Part of me is horrified and part of me is delighted that I’ve finally found a place I can be the real chocoholic I’ve always been in the secret recesses of my kitchen, or my ‘private’ draw. You all thought I had something wicked in there. It was just mars bars.

It seems everyone is out of the cupboard here.

A Finger in the Eye

Every now and then, when Albert is telling a story and getting himself a bit carried away, he sticks his finger underneath his eye, and contorts his face to emphasis some relevant point.

I’ve always thought it a rather ridiculous and superfluous thing to do and wondered where he picked up the habit.

Yesterday, on the television, I saw an old man being interviewed about Barcelona’s victory over Madrid (in soccer/football), and he was asked ‘how did you celebrate Barca’s victory?’ The old man answered ‘My wife is from Catalonia and we celebrated in the way we know how. See if you can understand that.’ And he stuck his finger under his eye and did the same open mouth and raised eyebrow expression I’d previously associated with Albert.

So, after all of my detective work, I discover it’s a facial custom of the area equivalent to our eye brow raising in moments where we think we are being rather clever and indicating to our listeners that they will have to think for themselves because we will not explain everything at this point in the story.

Elementary, my dear Watson.

Being a Foreigner in Granollers

Well, its only the first week. Nobody pays any attention to us unless they hear us speaking, and then it can produce a sharp turn of the head in young people, and a rather slow and curious look from the older generation.

After being in Asia, where many of the people notice that you are a foreigner and smile at you because of it, its strange to be in a ‘civilized’ country where there is more reserve and cold curiosity. A welcoming smile there is not. People walk around with closed and withdrawn faces, barracked within themselves with designer wear and arrogant attitudes. ‘I am complete’, their walk and attitude suggests ‘I want and need nothing more.’

The good thing about being a foreigner is that you are obviously different and can do what you want to some degree. I can’t help but smile at people, and honestly, I don’t care if the people here frown at me in return. Its better than a blank stare as if I didn’t exist.

I laugh a bit to myself. Albert says ‘I’m afraid Granollers doesn’t know what its in for with you here.’ Hmm, and all of that for smiling at people I haven’t seen before.

The Faces of the People I Meet

Ahhh, its depressing. Harsh is a soft term for the faces I’m looking at. They look war torn and tragic, complaining and despondent. And yet, they have so much. There’s a real lack of joy in the air. I don’t feel spring in anyone’s step. Its all cool reserve and blocked love.

Well, I did see a woman give another woman four kisses instead of the traditional two. I thought it was a bit over the top, but it expressed affection and sincerity in the moment.

It needs a closer look. I have no idea why people look so unhappy here. Its not just unhappy, its severe, like a grey concrete wall.

I said ‘hola’ to a few people, and they give you a careful look and a tentative reply. Nothing seems spontaneous.

If there has been a people that need some waking up, some lightness in their step (and I don’t mean a pair of red stilettos – the young women have plenty of those and believe me it does nothing for their face), its these ones.

A smile is an inexpensive way to change your looks. ~ Charles Gordy


(edit: This was written after a two year trip in the east and was my initial impression about Granollers, only.)