Stories over a cup of coffee

Four nationalities met at a cosy café at 5:00pm. Conversation was good, as every person had a well of stories to tell. The teacher told stories and anecdotes from his teaching-experiences in exotic places, and concluded that he preferred teaching new-beginners, as they tended to smile more. The political science student told her tale about finding her way around Germany one late night without having any language in common with the taxi-driver, much to the amusement of the rest. Tito informed the crowd about the origins of the term "gringo", something nobody knew from before. The curly lady didn't as much tell stories as she was offering smiles and making everybody feel good. The smoking lady was upset because she had failed her exam for the second time, and was thus quietly smoking one cigarette after another. Willow enjoyed being in the company of her new acquaintances and found inspiration in them.

Recieving a postcard

Recieving mail is always a great pleasure. Today I found a postcard from my Mom in the mailbox - the first time anyone has used my new address!! Thank you, Mom!

For those of you knowing me, feel free to send me postcards and/or letters :-)

Formula 1 World Champion 2005

As the first Spaniard and the youngest driver ever, Fernando Alonso has won the Formula 1 World Championate 2005! It has been a nerve-wrecking experience seeing the race on Spanish TV, and the emotion transmitted by the reporters cannot be explained.

¡Felicidades Fernando!

Condor 64

Condor 64 takes her first step out of the cage. She looks out on unlimited freedom in an open, mountainous landscape. She takes a few more steps, as if testing the ground. Slowly, she opens her wings and starts to move them. Condor 64 is ready to take off. Then the wing-movements cease. She does not want to fly. Condor 64 returns to her cage, ready to be taken back to the zoo.

A Saturday Adventure

Willow had felt an urge to get out in Mother Nature for days (as she sometimes does), so Tito (as the most loving man in the world) was more than happy to help her planning. With the help of Willow's excellent Lonely Planet travel guide, they decided to go up to the Sierra Nevada. After a long bus ride on whiney, narrow roads up to 1,500 meters, they finally arrived in a small village called Capileira.




Capileira turned out to be a very nice little village clinging to the mountainside - being Spain's second highest village. It's "whitewashed stone houses seems to clamber over each other in an effort not to slide down into the gorge, while streets decked with flowery balconies wriggle between." (Lonely Planet : Spain, 2005)




The houses in the village have very special chimneys, which fascinated both Tito and Willow.

Setting out on their mountainous adventure, the young adventurers had only a very bad map to help them, so naturally, they never found the track they had planned to take. After some disappointment (and no time to turn back to find the right track), they ended up having a very nice lunch on an old tree-trunk under a lovely chestnut tree. The wind felt good, as the sun was burning. The landscape was beautiful: spectacular views of the villages along the whiney road, dry paths, thorn-bushes, cactuses, fruit-trees, tiny creeks, a river, horses, butterflies, tiny abandoned stone cottages...... The day was perfect and hiking was perfect. Tito and Willow did get lost a couple of times, as their map didn't serve for nothing and road marking was scarce. But they did find back to Capileira - and in time to take the last bus back home.




Adventures does not always turn out as one plans, but that's also what makes them adventures, right?

A night out

Cerveza, cerveza, tapas, cerveza, cerveza, tapas, cerveza, cerveza, tapas...

€ 9,00

An unusual sight

Last night Tito and Willow were walking through the park enjoying the chill air. All of a sudden, lots of noises could be heard from above. People in the park were looking up to detect the source of the noise, and were caught by surprise. A large flock of migratory storks! As the sun was setting, the birds settled down for the night on roofs and TV-antennas - apparently causing a bit of disturbance on some people's TV screens. (Good thing there was no soccer-game on!) Winter is setting in sooner than usual this year, resulting in earlier migratory flights. Quite a sight!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

This is without a doubt the best film I've seen in quite a while. Even the synchronised voices in Spanish sounded good! The film brought back so many nice memories. When I was a child, my mother read the book loud for me. I can still remember the taste I imagined the Willy Wonka chocolate to have. So sweet.... And how unfair it felt that those spoiled kids got the invitations to the chocolate factory, when all I wanted was for Charlie to get one. He did absolutely deserve one. Roald Dahl has always been one of my favourite authors due to his incredibly rich fantasy and his rare ability to tell a spellbinding story. This film did not spoil my good memories of the book, which to me is a compliment to the moviemakers.

Night in the neighbourhood

The world seems so peaceful at night. My neighbours' lights are out, their curtains drawn and everybody appears to be sleeping. Tito is sleeping. I ought to sleep. The air feels cool on the balcony, but not too cool. A dog is wandering restlessly on the street and the occasional car is passing by. I guess some people go to work this hour, while others are out there trying to cure their insomnia. If I wait long enough, I'll see the sunrise and a new day being born.

And now tomorrow's weather forecast

Spanish meteorologists must be a beloved group of professionals. Having been here for a week, the forecast is always the same - sun in every part of the country. Must be nice to bring good news to people every day. You never hear anybody complain about the weather. Well, apart from the heat, that is. The number of times I've heard people saying "¡Qué calor!" is probably higher than I can count. But I am very happy. I left the cold north to get some feeling of summer. The other day I was told I looked sun-kissed. Now that's not bad, is it.

Setting out on a new adventure

After having spent lots of amazing quality time with Tito in Titonia, Willow had to leave. She had decided to study abroad for one year, and the time had come to realize those planes. There were however no tearful good-byes as Tito decided to acompany his beloved Willow. And stay with her, at least for some time. So here they are, in a new country, embracing all the wonders life has to offer.

Lovecats

Cuddling
Meowing
Purring

Tito & Willow
Reunited

Tomorrow

Addicted

Su doku is my new addiction. I love this Japanese game of numbers. I get up extra early in the morning to solve the daily su doku in the newspaper. Yesterday was a true disappointment. They had put in a level one su doku, resulting in me having completed it in 5 minutes. All of a sudden I had a lot of spare time in the morning. I barely knew what to do. Today was a whole lot better. The su doku was rated as a level four su doku. I finished it just in time to go to work. I have been addicted to this game ever since May. The day is not complete without solving a su doku. Is there a rehabilitation-centre anywhere for this kind of addiction?

A well of treasures

The key words are "picture books". Working at the local library I have had a fantastic opportunity getting to know picture books. I am truly amazed by everything there is, how much artwork is put into them and how wonderful the stories can be. At times I have lost sense of both time and place, being totally absorbed by the beauty and creativity I have discovered in those books. I loved reading about the man that painted zebra crossing all over town so that the old ladies shouldn't need to walk so far to cross the street. (Unfortunately he got in trouble with the traffic-police for doing so, but his idea was very noble.) Never have I seen anything sadder than a hedgehog only wishing to have a balloon, but due to his quills he would break them every time. The solution to this was found by the most inventive balloon-salesman, sticking corks to the hedgehogs quills. As from then, the hedgehog could happily run around without worrying about breaking his balloon. Another favourite of mine was the book about the gigantic turnip. I didn't even know what a turnip was before I read that one! My boss is absolutely right when she refers to picture books as a well of treasures.

Getting to know you

I'm so eager to get to know you. Learn about your life. Your country. See how you develop and grow up. I want to help you. I want to be there for you, although I cannot be in there in person. You are already in my heart. I think about you a lot. Wondering how you are. What you are doing. What you are thinking... Welcome into my life, little girl. Thank you for letting me be in yours.

Become sponsor of a child at SOS Children's Villages

Bringing back the past

It's a bit weird going through your old things. Some of them you didn't even know were there, while others you remember having kept for a specific reason. Things can trigger a whole series of memories, that up until that point, had been forgotten. In a way, they can bring back the past. Sometimes it's nice. Other times it's not. It's amazing how many things some people seem to collect, store or just keep in case they can come in handy. I guess most of them never will be used again. They will just remain dust-collectors, and so keep on reminding whoever will find them of their past. Until they eventually get thrown or given away.

Seeing it with your own eyes is not the same as watching it on photos or on TV

This weekend, my dad and I went on our annual summer trip to one of the country's famous mountains. My dad had walked there several decades ago, as for me, it was the first time. Taking the boat out to our starting-point with 98 other hikers, I already knew it would be a spectacular trip. Nature sure was at its most beautiful. The sun was shining, the flowers in the lowland were putting colour to an already fascinating landscape. As we kept walking uphill, the track slowly turned from dry mud to stones. The higher up we got, the vegetation got less and eventually there was nothing to be seen but rocks, sand and snow. The mountain had a desert-like look to it. With every step we took, the view got more and more amazing. High mountains covered with snow in every direction. Our mountain had little, but we were doing our best sliding down on the snow still present (while giggling). At one point, the mountain was so steep we had to use both arms and legs to climb up. I rewarded myself with chocolate along the trail, something I think is essential on every trip to the mountains. We walked 17 km before we were done. Having finished our traditional trip, we were both satisfied. Many photos had been taken, but better still, we will keep nice memories of all the natural beauty we have been so privileged to see with our own eyes.

Happiness can come as a message in a bottle

"Happiness" by Linda Frances

Willow had been wandering around for several months awaiting an important message regarding Tito's future. The waiting made her both irritable and nervous, as it's a common fact that patience is not a strong virtue of hers... Tito did his best to calm her down by telling her everything would be all right. All they could do was to wait, as the decisions were entirely up to other persons. Walking down the seashore to one of Willow's favourite places, she saw something green floating in the sea. Driven by an incurable curiosity, she approached the green item. It was a green bottle like the ones her mother used to put homemade blackberry juice in. The bottle had no label, but at a closer look, Willow noticed a piece of paper stuck inside of it. Pulling out the cork, she managed to get the paper out. Unfolding it, she saw that it was a letter. A letter written to her. Reading it three times over, she could no longer hold back a sensation of overwhelming happiness. Tito had finally got the long awaited news, and they were exactly as good as the young couple had hoped for. Having no one to share her joy with, Willow ran up to the lighthouse. There she used the light to send signals of happiness to Tito, so that he would see she had received his message.

Books in, books out...

Today was my first day in my second summer job. It was also my very first experience working in a public library, and if I should describe it in one word, it would have to be busy. Very busy. I had to learn how to handle a new database and remember the location of the different types of books in no time. All I had time for in between taking books in and giving them out was putting a fraction of the incoming ones back on the shelf so that the floor behind the counter would still be visible. I have never seen so many people in a small, public library before. And almost before I had started, the day was over and I could go home. If every day is like this, August will be right around the corner and I'll be in my number one favourite place. And that would be right in Tito's arms, if anyone was in doubt.

Willow's weekend-resolutions

It's 11:25 on a Friday night, and I'm still sitting in front of the PC. My eyes are sore. My brain apparently stopped working a couple of hours ago without me even noticing. I could do with some sleep. I envy the people having a life. Will try do better tomorrow.

Notes to self for the weekend:

Get out in the sun.

Take a long walk in the forest.

Get important paperwork over and done with.

Call up best friend to meet.

Don't turn on the computer.

Don't turn on the computer.

And remember: don't turn on the computer.