I want to be old one day - after plenty of years of living. Then again, that begs the question of what I am really doing right here. Am I living? I've been in Spain almost three months. My 85-odd days of being here are almost up. What have I done? Have I even been to Casa del Campo? No. The Thyussen-Bornemisza Museum? No. How many times have I been to the Prado or the Reina Sofia? Both just once. Then again, how many times have I been to Sol? I don't know, quite a few. How many times have I been walking around my apartment area, off to the park to the south? Once or twice. How many times have I been to Pio XII Alcampo, Lidl, the LDS Church? A lot.
What have I been doing with my time here? I know the answers - working, and unfortunately, blogging. Trying to get to know my Spanish-speaking ward, even though every time I go I'm almost glued to Magi's side because I hate being alone and not understanding what's going on around me. I haven't even learned how to speak Spanish, shame on me.
This was not meant to be a depressing post; none of my posts are. In fact, last night I went out with two of my co-workers for pizza at a real Italian restaurant just near Sol (and talked with the American-Peruvian-Caribbean waiter and the Italian owner), and then afterwards saw La Latina's street fair. The Spanish certainly know how to throw street festivals...
And now for pictures of old people. Yes, I did take them from Flicker without asking permission.
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| "Hamal" - Vedats |
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| "Navsari" - CrassCadence |
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| "Untitled" - Anatcefne |
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| "Waiting for the Bus" - Rosquillo |
It's interesting how photographs can make any life seem almost Romantic. Or enviable, anyway. Enviable for these people's simplicity, their wisdom, their compassion distilled through suffering. Yes, compassion distilled through suffering, not wisdom.
I want to spoil my grandkids and wear my hair in a long, white braid.
ReplyDeleteI already have a section of gray hair so I'm totally ahead of you guys ;)
ReplyDeletePS, Liz, you will be receiving a long message about the other subject of this post in a bit because it's amazing how much we think alike, and also amazing how it always sounds true in your head but irrational coming from someone else. I for one am so proud of the life you're living, in Madrid and everywhere else you go! But again, I totally understand those feelings and it makes me feel better to know I'm not alone.
When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple
ReplyDeletewith a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
and satin candles, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I am tired
and gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
and run my stick along the public railings
and make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
and pick the flowers in other people's gardens
and learn to spit.
You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
and eat three pounds of sausages at a go
or only bread and pickles for a week
and hoard pens and pencils and beer nuts and things in boxes.
But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
and pay our rent and not swear in the street
and set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.
But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.
--Jenny Joseph--
"and make up for the sobriety of my youth..."
ReplyDeletebeloved