Britain might have gone slip-sliding back to work today, but here in Spain we have another midweek holiday still to come for Los Reyes. In which delirious kids (and not just kids), already crazed with presents and excess calories from the imported 'American Christmas', get to do it all over again, while their exhausted parents look on with distracted smiles.
It's not that I'm feeling jaded about Christmas. I just kept waiting for the delirious kid feeling to kick in, and it never did.
I thought our journey to London would be fun. But after a five hour delay at Málaga airport, we ended up, not at Gatwick as we had expected, or Stansted, where we had been diverted before they closed that too, but at Bournemouth, where we spent 3.5 hours on the tarmac while the landing authorities tried to make us vanish but were ultimately unsuccessful. 1.00 am found us in bed at a Bournemouth hotel eating American Hot pizza and drinking Diet Coke, so not all bad. Meanwhile, we didn't miss the party my sister had organised for that night, as eleven guests rang to cancel anyway.
About 30 hours, two trains, two taxis and PDS250 after setting off, we did arrive at our destination. Next day, the 23rd December, I took my Mum shopping. As she is 80, blind and deaf, this was definitely a good way to foster Xmas spirit. Steering her round M&S with one arm, I managed to grab all the wrong sizes of whatever gifts were within reach out of what was left on the shelves. Later that night, I felt ill and spent the whole night being sick. Next day I managed a cracker and a slice of toast, so at least no weight gain to feel bad about. At the splendid 13-component Christmas Dinner organised by Maureen (my sister's partner's sister), I had everything but an appetite. Still, it was great to see the family - here's a rare gathering of the triplets!
London was icy when sunny, and wet the rest of the time, though Fred did capture this chillingly beautiful sunset on the river at Chiswick.
When we got back to Lanjarón (with a mini-evacuation of the terminal at Gatwick, and just the one lightning strike on the plane to keep us amused) everyone was depressed after days and nights of heavy rain. Tales of vans from the Cigarrones settlement swept downriver to Motril...roofs collapsing....leaks everywhere...people cut off...
But then the rain obligingly stopped to give us a sunny weekend that felt more like April or May. Yesterday Fred and I drove along the Sendero Sulayr, (see the link in a previous post here), far up enough into the Sierras to see some snow. A slight breeze carried the scent of rosemary, the sun was hot, it was peaceful. I remembered how lucky we are to live here, and what a great year 2010 promises to be, with some exciting changes coming soon.
New Year's Resolutions? We'd like to improve our Spanish language abilities, so I am going to get to as many 'intercambios' as I can in Lanjaron this year, and Fred is going to check out classes with Eduardo Lalanne. His courses are structured but conversational and fun. And the Notes in Spanish website will give me the incentive I need to get beyond talking about the weather. It's the best online course I know, with Anglo-Spanish couple Ben and Marina chatting about aspects of Spanish life and current affairs, complete with minor disagreements and language corrections!
Finally, in a burst of New Year energy, I am thinking about starting a new website. One that I can easily design, create and maintain with the help of the highly-enabling OKSO. They wear their expertise lightly and guide you through the website creation process in human-speak, using Wordpress as a base. If you want to take your business online in 2010, David and Michelle will inform, inspire and encourage you to make it happen.
What about you? How was your Xmas? And who and what is making your first days back at work a little brighter? I hope the list is a long one, and I wish you many 'delirious kid' moments in the year to come!