Old Friends and New Friends

Apologies for my lack of Easter and visitors have kept me busy in the last while.

My apartment looks a lot better after a visit from the mother who has a good angle on the internal decoration and one is still finding things in different places but in general for the better.

Headed to London for Easter week to catch up with old friends from my stint in London, late eighties till mid-nineties.

We have all greyed and many have settled down with their life partners with many kids added to their numbers. Having worked in Lloyd´s of London from early till mid-nineties, I met with some of more former colleagues who are still in insurance with titles and high salaries but far more sober and worried about that their futures than this teacher of English as a foreign language.

The second part of the week involved rugby matches in Cardiff and London with the Super Blues winning out on both days and heading for the semis, Leinster have a date with their old enemies from the south of the island.

Staying in The Crown Hotel in Cricklewood was like going to Ireland without ever going there. The local pubs had rebel songs, Irish decor and RTE on the tv. We ended at three in the morning singing songs with a mixture of Clare people and the mananagement of the Kilkenny Gaelic football team, not as good as their hurlers with seven defeats from seven and bottom of the fourth division.

We have major theatre group in Madrid , The Bridge Project, with many famous film and theatre actors and actresses and Sam Mendes as director.
We went to see The Cherry Orchard on Sunday and after a questions and answers session with the actors in which yours truly made a valued contribution, we managed to catch the attention of the main actress due to our shared nationality.
We ended up having a drink with Sinead Cusack and her son Richard Boyd-Barrett who are very special people.

Frost and Nixon

Went to see the Frost Nixon flick which is worth a look with a great performance by Frank Langella as the late president. My one problem with the film is Michael Sheen who having played Tony Blair in The Queen is now Tony Blair as David Frost.

Leinster keep on winning and one is hopeful that the Grand Slam dream will continue after Saturday´s match against the Scots.

A recent experience with Aer Lingus would suggest to me that they are in a little trouble. Having booked a flight for my mother to travel to Madrid leaving Dublin at four o clock in the afternoon, I was advised a few weeks later that the time had been changed to six twenty in the morning. They have reduced there flights to one a day and when will they disappear completely?

A Homage to Jarama and Bob Doyle

Last Saturday we met up early near Atocha and boarded two coaches bound for the civil war battlefield of Jarama where many members of the Fifth International Brigade had fought against Franco and his nationalist army.

The last Irish member Bob Doyle died on the 22nd of January aged 92 and he had battled all his life from the strrets of Dublin to Jarama and beyond.
We were a motley crew of Spaniards with political affilitions to the cause, ex pats who were interested in the civil war but of the left bank and some whose family had fought for the Republican cause.

Even the olives were bleeding and as we made our way around the battlefield with trenches and bunkers still in place seventy years after the battle, one felt much emotion and hope that in these dark days, we might rediscover their ideals.

There were talks in Spanish and English about this major event in world history interspersed with poetry readings, songs and a lone piper played. We held minutes of silence for those who fell in thes stony hills and for Bob Doyle the last to fall.

We retired to Meson El Cid to dine on fine baby lamb and local wine before a visit to the museum which contained photos of O´Duffy and Ryan showing the Irish had taken both sides in that terrible bloodbath. Truth and love against the force of evil.

Viva la Quienta Brigada¡

Where is the wisdom?

Having spent the last 72 hours on a diet of painkillers, mashed vegetables and clamoxyl holed up in my flat - one wonders about the logic of paying good money to have pain inflicted on oneself.
I am of course speaking of a visit to the dentist where a wisdom tooth was despatched. Since the anastethic wore off , the discomfort has been constant and another two visits early next week promise more physical and financial pain.
It had been a number of years since my last visit to a dentist and I have been paying ever since. The name of the establishment in Torrelodones is Ratoncito Perez which is the name of the mouse which collects a child´s tooth from under the pillow after it has fallen out. This is quiet suitable as my behaviour is not very brave when i visit but would highly recommend the place if your teeth require a service.

On a happier front , Leinster have qualified for the Heineken quarters and we will travel to the cabbage patch in London on Easter Sunday. The previous day, we will be in the land of leeks to see Cardiff play Toulouse with my froggy friends. It promises to be quite a weekend and one is hopeful of a semi final in Dublin against the red jerseyed media darlings.

We have more snow.

Winter in Madrid

We have had the heaviest snow in decades with passengers stranded at the airport for two days.
It is quite normal to see snow-covered peaks in the sierras but downtown is normally spared. This afternoon I strolled around my pueblo and it was like a ghost town with the locals not big fans of the cold.
A great two weeks in Ireland over Christmas included trips to Kilkenny and Belfast where the weak sterling made everthing seem very good value. The locals were also very friendly so I would advise you all to take a trip up north. Visits to Ravenhill and the R.D.S. resulted in two victories for my beloved Leinster. It was with a mixture of sadness and happiness that I stepped on the plane for my return, happiness at the memories of my visit and sadness at the end of my holiday. I am now of Madrid and have been lucky enough to assemble a great bunch of friends.
On a more serious note, I took part in a protest last Saturday against the slaughter in Gaza and will rise earlt for tomorrow´s march in Madrid.
I did the poem Journey of the Magi with my students before Christmas in which the wise king wonders thy they bothered with their search as after two thousand years the hope has come to nothing.

Thanksgiving and all that

Spain is still a little bit old-fashioned in terms of political patronage and one must be wary of connections especially in a small town such as the one in which I live and work.
Having a strong belief in one´s principles is fine, however one should not forget the dangers of messing with the family. Unlike my birthplace where you are just as likely to live in another county or country to your blood relations, the Madrid clan tend to live in each other´s back garden or very close by.
A recent episode involving an excessivly pushy student´s mother caused yours truly to react in a belief that much had been done to accomodate and that a stand against the bully was required.
The situation eventually sorted itself out but one will be more careful in future dealings.

All Saints and All Souls

We (my Celtic cousins and I) came up with the idea of Halloween from the ancient festival of Samhain but thanks to Hollywood and Irish bars it has now been transported to central Spain. Donning a rubber mask and yellow witch´s hat, I entered into the spirit at a party hosted by one of my work colleagues last night. A little sceptical at the idea of dressing up, it turned out to be a pretty enjoyable night.

As the U.S. election heads towards the final hurdle, one hopes that those in the Land of Stars and Stripes give us something better than the previous eight years.