It is amazing that I can get emails on my phone here in Spain informing me that a bill is due in the United States and that I can pay that bill using my phone. What is equally amazing is when I get cranky because I think this takes too long. My appreciation for technological advances is short lived. I want more, faster advances.
I have been suffering from lack of sleep continuity. I believe I am getting enough total hours; it is just not deep sleep or continuous sleep. Why you ask? It is due to the La Guerra de las Cucurachas, the cockroach wars. Apparently big ( about two to three inches) brown cockroaches are common in this part of Spain. They come in from the gardens and patios. Apparently, these little fellows do not like to hang out in the kitchen or bathroom with the rubbish. They prefer my bedroom and more particularly my bed, or maybe I am just on their silk trade route from Mararkesh, Route 66 or some other route.
One of my first nights here, I awoke out of a sound sleep with some thing tickling my scalp. It could have been the beginning a fine erotic dream, but it was not. The tickling was a cockroach strolling through my hair. I would love to report that in my best Gandhi attitude I found a jar and moved the little fellow back outside. But, startled awake by the realization that a cockroach was crawling on my head, with heart pounding, barbarian that I am, I hunted the little bugger down and smushed him to death. Are they all male? Or do I just attribute the male gender to all things irritating? That’s a question for another day Dr Freud.
Since that night I have experienced three more middle of the night encounters with the little beasties, on my arms and legs and just scratching their way to my bed. I find you can sometimes hear them when their hard bodies and legs are traversing over or along hard surfaces. So I sleep with one ear open for the sound. And if I actually encounter one, or even think I hear one, I am fully awake and on the hunt. Then it takes a while to go back to sleep. All of this is not conducive to a deep continuous sleep. I have sprayed so much poison that I am probably going to be investigated by the El Departmento de Protección del Medio Ambiente (Environmental Protection Department.)
But these are luxury problems. Our days are spent eating, sleeping, lying in the sun, reading and watching TV. We actually found a channel we can get that has reruns of all the CSI’s, Mentalist, Numbers and the Unit. So it is grist for the evening mill. Wednesday nights we go for café con leche around six, then the internet cafe, a meeting at eight, then dinner out and a stroll along the paseo (boardwalk) and home.
Our friend Eileen lent us two large novels (War and Peace size) based on the Spanish Civil War. They were both very good reads and informative. One was based primarily in Madrid which we had just visited and one was based in Granada which we will be visiting at the end of the month. Their civil war was all part of the fascist versus communist struggle to control the European continent. And of course, this being Spain, the catholic church was involved. Surprisingly, or maybe not, they supported the fascists. But it is hard to imagine a country so completely torn apart from within, no one able to trust neighbors or even family members. It was similar to our civil war, but on a larger scale and fought with tanks, bombs, land mines and fighter planes. Apparently the La Guerra Civil was so traumatic and then followed by the ruthless reign of Franco that when it was over their was a pacto de olvido (an agreement to forget) which held through all of Franco’s reign until his death and continued until 2007 when a new Law of Historical Memory was passed which condemned Franco and his actions against his opponents. So now books are being written and they are very interesting and enjoyable to read. If you are interested in a good book, look for Winter in Madrid by CJ Sansom and The Return by Victoria Hislop. These books are both by British authors but they are very enjoyable reads. The British, as well as peoples from other countries were involved in or affected by the Spanish Civil War, as well as, WWII. Many citizens of other countries fought on one side or the other in the Spanish Civil War. I am on the look out for books written by Spanish authors about this time period. If any one is aware of any, please let me know.
So this is your humble reporter from Spain signing off for today.
No comments:
Post a Comment