Tuesday, November 25, 2008

I would like my new house better if I had a key

We have been at the new house a few days now, but we only have one key for the front door. Harry takes it because I dont need it in the day and he does. For the last two days I have spent the evenings sitting in the old house without light (we took all the lamps to the new house). So here I sit in the dark again, with Internet and now way of contacting my boyfriend.

Here is what I tried so far:

1. I sent him an sms when I realised my battery was empty on my phone to tell him when I was coming home.

2. I yelled for awhile outside the door.

3. I decided to wait in the old house till dark and he came looking for me

but then yeah.. I discovered his handy, his German handy in the old house.

4. I called him on his Spanish handy using his German handy...

Thankfully he answered, that call probably cost us 5 euros, but who cares its better than sitting in the dark even with Internet, now I can go home soon.

Friday, November 21, 2008

The Terminator

I am a really lucky girl...

Communication issues part 2

This one is way worse than accidentally calling the emergency line. This one isn't funny, it is sad and Paula was the victim. When we got Paula from the shelter, they told us she needed to be spayed, this is fine, we payed for the operation when we took her from the shelter, that is the policy. But the owner of the shelter told me it was possible she had already been spayed. Someone had tried to adopt her before, and the owner thought that the dog had been operated on then, the adoption fell through and the dog came back. He couldn't find the records though, he said we should ask the vet. He said all of this in English. Harry was standing next to me when he said it.

Harry took the dog to the vet, the vet speaks Spanish only but has an assistant that translates. Harry asked if he could tell if she was spayed already, the vet looked at her belly and said no and made an appointment.

The day came and Paula was opened up, only for the vet to discover she HAD been previously spayed. Poor thing. Sick sick and feeling miserable after the drugs, she now has to wear a cone on her head for ten days, it looks like she is going to have a big scar on her previously scarless belly, and has to take a pill everyday for the next two weeks. Poor pathetic thing.

Be it lack or record keeping, Harry not understnading how probable it was that she had the operation because he didnt understand the shelter owner, the vet not understanding Harry as he asked if she was spayed, and thinking he said she needed to be spayed.. In any case it was a sad mistake. But the conehead is kind of funny.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Last weekend

We had beautiful weather, so we went for a walk on Saturday, along the river. Harry had the idea that we should walk along the river until we met a small bridge that he had seen when riding the bike. He didn't tell me that the path along the river stopped before the bridge, well before the bridge. We had a big adventure crawling over rocks and around them, meeting cows and crawling through bushes before giving up on finding the bridge. We came to a road though eventually and discovered we were more than 10 kms away from Ximena, our village... like I said, good that it was a nice day, we walked home along the road.. looking at the valley we have walked through from above, it was really beautiful. On Sunday we took the bike out and went to a middle ages festival in Ronda. What a great town! I wish we could live there, it is so beautiful, and a big enough to be really interesting. Harry was more impressed with the middle ages childrens rides, than anything else, except maybe the bike ride up the mountains as that was also incredible. The one thing I can say about southern Spain is that it has astounding scenery. The pictures say it better than I can so I will stop writing now.







Monday, November 17, 2008

Harry's horrible rotten day

I am sort of jelous of Harry sometimes.

I have to get up early and go to work, my hours are bought and paid for by someone else, about 135 days a year, Monday to Friday, and sometimes weekends. Meanwhile, Harry works a but less, but more intense, he will work for 10 days in a row no break, 10 hours a day, and then he has the rest of the month free, the other 21 days are his, he can sleep late, and enjoy the sun of the day. I envy that, somedays more than others.

Today was one of those days. I woke late, hurried to school, knowing I have a full 5 days ahead of me. With a big sigh I went, thinking of the nice day Harry would have. His day was not totally his own though, we are moving, his job today was to move one room, thats all one room, not a big deal we thought.

So he started the morning with me, made my coffee, walked me to the car carried my school bag, kissed me good-bye and then heeaded back to the house for a lazy breakfast. After breakfast he decided to walk the dog. The first thing the dog did, was jump in a pile of manure, and roll, A LOT. So Harry took the dog back to the house and bathed her in the tub, "with shampoo and everything so she will smell nice for her doctors appointment tomorow" he said. The dog protested. It took a long time, and the bathtub looks like a war took place in there.

Then he decided it was time to start moving. He drove the van, which is too big for Ximena streets, up to the house, it takes awhile but it goes. He parked it in front of the house, which is at the top of a hill and the only angle he could get was with one wheel off the ground. He loaded the van, only to discover, that because the car has 4 wheel drive and some sort of differential drive, that when one wheel is in the air the others spin without power as it tries to correct for the one in the air. I think he made a lot of noise, trying to get it moving, and collected a crowd, so the neighbours all stood on the bumper of the van. Trying to get enough weight to get the last wheel to catch. It didn't work, but he made some friends. In the end he let the air out of the tyres until the last wheel touched enough to move, and drove slowly slowly to a gas station to put air back in the tyres. Then he drove to the new house, unloaded, and tried to come back home, unfortunately the new house is also on a hill, again once unloaded, weight change, one tyre off the ground. This time, no messing about, he let all the air out of the tyres, until all four were on the ground again, and slowly slowly to the petrol station again to put new air in the tyres again. I am sure the tyre profile lost at least a cm today, and they were new... but so it goes.

I came home, and the house is all ripped up, and nothing looks like it has really moved.. Harry came home an hour later, well after dark. So what do I do,, but ask what he did all day? Luckily I left out the rest of that sentence... (cause it looks like you did nothing but make a mess). He sat on the sofa and started, to tell my about his horrible day. Sometimes I am glad I only have to go to school.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Harry is home and the dog doesn't care

I have been training the dog to ride in the car. Our car expereinces were very unpleasant, the dog hated it, she would lose control of all bodily functions and then vomit until she had no fluid left in her body. This was not what our dreams were when we got the dog. We imagined ourselves hopping in the van and all three driving to Morocco for the weekend... That won't happen if we can't take the dog around the block in the car, and that was also the reason for the previous note about washing the matress,, she had made it a very unplesant place to sleep.

So matress clean, and me with a little time on my hands, the car training started in ernst. First we just practiced getting in the car and sitting there unmoving, then engine on, then short drives in the village. That was all good, no problems. I thought perhaps her fear came from the fact that bad things usually happened when she went for a ride, to the shelter, to strangers house, all her rides are associated with big changes. I thought it would be nice then to have an association with something positive, like Harry coming home from Germany.

Harry said he would take the bus and I could pick him up in San Roque rather than driving all the way to Malaga. This was a stupid plan but thats another story. San Roque is not so far, about 30 minutes so I decided to take the dog her first BIG drive since training started. She was great, no loss of control, she even lay down and looked like she was sleeping for awhile. We had a couple of tense moments where she made some squeeking sounds that were more mouse like than dog like, but we sang them away. Someone told me singing to the dog will help her stay calm, sounds crazy, but the fear of a front seat full of vomit makes one do desperate things.

I thought this would be a nice drive for her, because we would see Harry and so the ride would be associated with something nice. She wags her tail and jumps and is over joyed everytime I come home from work, or in the mornings when we wake up, and so I thought she will also be overjoyed to see Harry too. So did Harry.

After waiting and waiting, Harry finally arrived, and he opened the car door, to see a dog that found him more of an annoyance than anything else. She did not jump, she did not wag her tail.. she just sat. Harry was so dissapointed. I was so suprised. Paula just wanted to go home.

So strange... dog psychology

Thursday, November 13, 2008

112 is not telephonica

Maybe some of you see the funny right away, but if you are like me you will have to read on. I am moving, so I need to have my phone transferred to the new house. I tried to call the phonr company, telephonica, to make arrangements. I know they have English service but the first number I dialed was not this, so I tried again. The second number was also not English,but through random number pushing I was able to get a person. That person told me to dail 1004. I tried this and also noticed this was blue speed dial number on the phone. The number was no good for me, all Spanish, so I hung up and noticed the RED speed dial number 112. Maybe this is English, out of dsparation, I tried it. I got "Hola spanish spanish spanish..." so I ask, "Hable Inglese?" "Yes, whats your problem?" Great, now I am getting somwhere.

My problem, I want to change my phone, from my old house to my new house

"and this is an emergency?" is the reply.... Thinking its a language issue.. I say..

"well no,, not an emergency but it would be nice if we could get it done this month"

Its funny now,, her response... She says "but it is not fire? ambulance? meidcal problem? police?"

Oh,,, I get it now,, I have called 911,,, I appologise profusely and try to get off the line as fast as possible.. the operator is laughing,, stupid foriegner... Oh well, so it goes.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Bad Dog

While I was in Paris, the dog was busy. She had to stay home, but not alone, I had a babysitter check on her 2-3 times a day, take her for walks, feed her, put her out in the yard in the day, take her in at night. This was apparently not enough attention. The dog protested. I won't recount the couple or regressive toilet issues she had: I understand she may have been feeling abandoned, and that leads to such things, but the simple destruction. That is hard to understand!

Let's see how much did the dog cost me in the last days:

1. Ripped KASHMIR shawl 70.oo
2. Green Chair upolstery 100.00
3. Babysitter 5x30.00 150.00
4. Feathersout of bed pillow 40.00
5. Hole in sheet and blanket 50.00

That's a grand total of 410 euros, a little more than 100 euros a day.

Here is the incidence report if you want further details.

I left my cashmir shawl folded on the bed upstairs, the dog is trained not to go upstairs, but she forgot this. She was up there, she ate a hole in the shawl, but being that it was folded, its like one of those paper snowflakes, you unfold it and there are many holes, she also decided to rip a big hole in the down pillow on the bed,, what a mess,, after 2 hours of cleaning there are still feathers flying everywhere, and before leaving the bed,, she chewed a hole though the blanket to the sheet.. at least she didn't hit the matress.

Downstairs, she worked on one of the chairs in the living room, she ripped a hole in the seat and pulled all the stuffing out, this is easier to clean up than feathers.

She and I had a chat about this, and we hope that it will never happen again. I promised never to leave her like that again, and in exchange she will try not to destroy the house. At least I think thats what her eyes said, when I pleaded with her while collecting chair stuffing, and using the ripped sheet to patch the pilow.

Mickey Mouse Conference






I am back from my best conference ever. I have no idea why it was the best, but it defintely was. My group was small only 9 participants, that was probably a lot of it. I threw my agenda out on the first day, and decided to just go with the flow. In the end I covered all of my agenda in any case, but in a natural way, as and when the issues came up in discussion. I think was so much better, especially for teachers,, reluctant learners at best. I know because I am one!

I do not know what gave me the confidence and serenty to do that. Maybe the week in the ashram to clear my head, or maybe I have just done enough of them now, that I feel normal about it, I don't know, but I really liked that feeling whatever it was.

As for Disneyland Paris, well Keith my former colleague from Hannover summed it up best,, he said, the hotel is fake, the lake is fake, the food is fake,, there is nothing in this place that is not artificial. AND its true, the hotel was surreal, Newport Bay,, made to look like a resort one would find in newport bay, USA. The food,, was all american, Planet Hollywood, McDonalds, weirdness, try being a vegetarian in that. I ate so much bread,, I lived on bread...

But on the plus side,,, and cousin John you will love this. I faced my fear. John and I were in line for more than 2 hours for Space Mountain (in Disney World- Miami) only to chicken out and run away, leaving my mom, and his sister to face the ride alone. The fear of getting lost in the crowds of touristers was less than whatever faced us at Space Mountain. But this time, almost 20 years later, I was roped in, by two other workshop leaders, with the promise of seeing the Mickey in the park, they dragged me in one evening,, only to shove me onto Space Mountain before I had time to think. AND WE WERE IN THE FIRST CAR... I didn't actually SEE the ride,, I had my eyes closed most of the time, with a few seconds of peeking here and there,, that was enough for me,, but I did it,, more than once. Of course with eyes closed, you don't actually know when you are going upsidedown, or how many times,, but I did, so thats got to count for something right?

I called upon my meditation lessons, from the previous week,, by the third go round,, I simply sat down, relaxed, closed my eyes and that was that... Roller coasters could be a good way to learn how to deal with stress,, perhaps I have hit on a new form of anger managment training...

In any case, I managed to convince the boys that there were OTHER worthwhile rides in the park, so I finally got to SEE some of the park, as we ran, literally, from ride to ride, we had only 3 hours until the park closed. I think, November is the best time to go really, that and late in the evening, we had virtually no ques, and probably rode more rides in those three hours than most children do on a full day in July. I missed the mouse man though, but it was not without incident.

Andy, not wanting to dissapoint me and break his promise of a picture with Mickey, asked the woman at security where in the park we could find Mickey. She told us, in all seriousness, that after the evening parade, Mickey always retires to cafe Mickey, where he chats with the patrons of his restaurant. I asked how long he stayed there, thinking that we might not get there straight away, and she replied, "Oh, usually until 11..." I said thanks, but we didn't get more than three steps away without all of us bursting into tears with laughter,, I couldn't believe Andy had asked where we could find Mickey for me an adult, and the reply in very serious tones, about Mickeys daily routine, and then our serious consideration of the issue.It seems Mickey at Disney is a serious issue. As serious as any issue can be where over 70% of the people there are wearing black ears or ballgowns. You can see just how serious we were...
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Monday, November 3, 2008

Om Week



I am back from Austria. Glad to be back but not at the same time. The weather was fantastic, and you can't ask for better scenery anywhere. But I didn't see much of either really. I went to study yoga. The first half of the week was a workshop on how to adapt yoga to your daily life, and the second half of the trip was for teachers, a workshop on how to teach yoga to pregnant women. Since most every female I know is pregnant, I thought this might be an interesting theme.



It was, and it was also a fantastic place to be in the fall.




So what did we do? That is the question everyone wants to know. We go up every morning at 5, then we went to meditate for two hours. At 8 am was the asana class, thats the typical thing you think about when you think about yoga. At 10 am breakfast, purely vegetarian, non spicy, and organic. Then we had an hour of work around the center. Different jobs to help make the place run more smoothly. At we were free and I usually managed to convince my roommate Stephanie to come with me to the sauna or go for a hike in the mountains depending on how cold it was we chose one or the other. At 2 pm we had a theory lecture, at 4 a second asana class, at 6 supper, and 8 pm evening satsang, which is mediation and singing...


Anyone who has heard me sing knows what a horror this is, but I sing anyway. The first part of the week, we were only 10 people (11 including Sawimji) in the center, of the 11 only 3 of us knew the words to the songs,, the swami (monk) and the two other trained yoga teachers. The other two could sing,, thankfully so they carried the tune,, while I belted out my own version of every song and the rest of the crowd,, just tried to hang on. The singing freaked some out,, and they kept silence. I don't blame them I felt like that at first too, we sing in sanskrit so you often don't know what you are saying or why. It is also really hard to tell when one word ends and another begins, so you can't really read along and sing, you have to know the tune somehow. I just like the chance to sing as loud as I like as bad as I like and no one cares. So thats what I did.




Stephanie, bless her, doesn't sing any better than I do, but she is the adventurous type. She sang anyway, not knowing words, tunes or how to carry one. We were sharing a song book on evening, and there was Stephanie and I in the first row,, singing badly as loudly as we could.. We threw off the entire song, so swamiji tried to pull it back by singing louder,,, but that sounded even worse. The whole group was out of harmony,, totally not the purpose of singing the songs, and it cracked me up completely and you know what happens with laughter,, Steph was gone three seconds later. Know you have to understand,, this is like having a laughing fit in church,, you just don't and neither one of us could get it under control. Every time I thought I had it,, i would start to sing again, but of course that made Stephanie break out again and vise versa, we were as mature as 12 year olds. Trying to hold in the laughter, totally shaking with it, while trying to be inconspicuous in the front row.




It was nice to be able to laugh like a child again.


But saying that was the highlight of the trip is really understating ashram life. I love the routine of the ashram, I love the satva of the place. I wish more places were like that, and I guess the real challenge is just that, to make more places like that, or at least my own place. So far I haven't been so successful, thats why I keep going back to try to capture that tranquility for awhile until I am able to make it myself. someday someday.. the hope of the aspirant...
On the other hand this is what I found in the fireplace when I got home. That, and a cupboard full of food, a car full of petrol and a dog with a waggy tail, which are also pretty nice things too.

What I am reading

  • The Ghosts of Spain by Giles Tremlett - this book is great for someone like me who knows nothing of history, I have only just started but have learned a lot about Franco and why the people in my village are the way they are.
  • The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - it was good but I cried, I have decided not to read anymore sad books. I used to love Booker Prize books, but they are all sort of sad, I need to find a new reading list.
  • Vedanta-voice of freedom by Swami Vivekananda - everytime I open this book I find something for me for the day, it is like the book knows what I need to get through the day, the chapters are short and each has a message about the universal human expereince and I suppose in my egocentric world I make believe that the messages are written for me. I know they are not, but it still amazes me everyday, that we all have the same problems even hundreds of years later.