Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Democrats in Madrid

AOG, Madrid

Today after work I attended a meeting by the Democrats Abroad group being held in a café in Madrid. I arrived, of course, late for the presentation (lucky me in fact, it was about taxes!) but in time for the social afterwards. Well, sort of social. Most people were gone by the time I got there. Nonetheless, I found a very small piece of America in a Spanish café where most of the clients were south american immigrants watching a Real Madrid-Barcelona soccer match on the wide screen tv.

I introduced myself to whom I thought were prone to be the American lot and struck lucky. Nervous presentations, obvious questions (where are you from? how long have you been in Spain? what do you do here? etc etc) and generally socialising.

A lady who, I think, had been in charge of the presentation, and who flew in with her husband on easyjet, God knows from where, managed to cajole me into buying the last book on her pouch. "Its for a good cause" she said, "and you'll be making a contribution to get the democrats elected". I was sold. Anything to make sure America gets a new ideology for the next 4 years of its history. Go Hilary! Go Obama!

The book is called "So far and yet so near" and it is published by ACA. It is a compendium of stories written by americans living abroad. The lady in question, who told me she had been in the editing staff, mentioned that the book had been commissioned to show politicians in Capitol Hill that not all Americans living abroad were bad citizens. That they are often accused of not paying taxes, of being unpatriotic, etc. Tewnty Euros later, said book was mine.

Perhaps what sold it to me was the fact that one of the writers was in front of me, and said lady mentioned the author could autograph it for me. She did. This actually proved to be a fortunate turn of events.

The writer in question is Sue Burke. This is her website. She mentioned that she attented a couple of writing groups in Madrid, one in English (fiction) and one in Spanish (Sc-Fi). The Spanish one (Terma) seems the more chaotic of the two (no surprises there) if only because the seem to meet at a coffee shop, only to make their way out again and go have dinner en masse. One year on, I have found a writing group. I can breathe a little more easily now.

I have to say, once again, a little contact with America seems to save my day. This often happens to me. I think it is probably psychological since, for it to be esoteric , would make no sense- a bit like the Chewbacca defense from South Park.

And yes, perhaps you think I worry too much about the US and think to yourself, "why don't you just move back there?" Well, a couple of years ago I almost did that. But then life threw this rope at me, the one that flew me toSpain, and I have not let go of it yet. I think that is because I had been looking for it for a long time. Almost without knowing it.

Through it, I managed to leave the UK, something which had become an obsession since 1990 when I first arrived there. I know, why didn't I just leave the UK? Too many reasons. Number one is that I couldn't. I was too young. Too many things happening. Not necessarily good things. Ok, more reasons than just one. But they are connected.

Sometimes you get stuck in a place, stuck in life, and you coast. My 20s were mostly that. Coasting. But I sure paddled a lot too, so as not to coast. The problem is that the coasting was not self inflicted, but the paddling was. And then, in 1995, I met someone who helped me to start making some changes in my life. A rope was thrown my way. I still have that rope, hanging about somewhere. Then a few more ropes were thrown my way. Some, I made myself. These ensured my life in the UK was palatable, and worthwhile. Some were British.

A lot of good things happened in my life in London between 1997 and 2004. And a lot of bad ones too. But somehow I survived, learned from them, and made myself a couple more ropes. And today I am here, in Madrid, because a rope was thrown my way. And today, in Madrid, another ropewas flung towards me. Granted, a literary rope, but I think that these days, I need to get writing. Or at least fool myself into thinking I am writing.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Step in the right direction for Israel

AOG, Madrid

The Israeli government has approved by a large margin the apointment of Raleb Majadele (aka Galeb Magadla) as Minister of Science, Culture and Sport. He is Israel's first Arab Muslim minister since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948. Majadele told Israeli Army Radio that the move would help Israel's Arab citizens identify more strongly with the Jewish state. "The first step has been taken and this has given Israeli Arabs a feeling of belonging", he said.

Needless to say, his appointment has caused more than just raised eyebrows in Jerusalem. MP Esterina Tartman, a member of the ultranationalist party Ysrael Beiteinu (Israel is our home), criticised Mr. Majadele´s appointment calling it a "lethal blow to Zionism" and saying it went against "the Jewish character of the State".

Her comments, thankfully, have been dismissed as a "
racist" declaration by Israel's parliament. Mr. Yoram Marciano, leader of Labour's parliamentary block, demanded of Israel's Prime Minister, Yehud Olmert, the expulsion of Ms. Tartman's party from his government coalition following her comments.

Mr. Majadele, who belongs to Israel's arab community- over one million strong (and 90% Muslim) in a country of only seven million people- was first put forward by Mr. Amir Peretz, leader of the Labour Party and Minister of Defense, to take up a place within Israel's Council of Ministers.

I can but congratulate Israel for having taken this great step forward. I hope it only serves as precedent and that Mr. Majadele's appointment will help the political situation between Israel and the Palestinians. Well done Israel! (for once!)

Friday, January 26, 2007

Dealing with cultures in a Blasé sort of way

AOG, Madrid

It is a difficult thing to live in a different country, something I have done all my life. So much so that I, in fact, belong to many places all at once, and to nowhere in particular.

I think that as my personality developed, it picked up pieces from here and there and fused them with whatever was there before. And this must have gone on always. In many ways it still goes on.

I am acutely aware of how different my sense of humor is becoming in Spain. My friends refer to it as being very "British". This is because I am the epitome of sarcasm, mockery and understated irony. And yet, I am aware that this sense of humor was already quite latent in high school back in Texas. If not sooner.

I find myself these days trying to learn the Spanish work etiquette. I find it hard to know when to make a joke, when to be serious. When to relax and when to worry about something. If there is a Spanish word for Blasé, I have not found it yet. And flippancy is sometimes frowned upon. And very often welcomed. I just never know.

And it is driving me mad. I find myself being either very serious, which is interpreted as being in a bad mood, angry, or something to do with my general well being oroutright irreverent (unfortunately I do this only too well!) and out of synch with everyone else. I think the people at the office are still trying to figure me out, although I believe that most think they have me figured out already- a very common Spanish thing to do, in my view.

When I arrived at the radio, I met with some of my ex-classmates on the elevator. As soon as they saw me they said "we were just talking about you, we were discussing how you should have been sent to the culture section at El País". I was flattered and amazed they thought this. I think I am better suited for an international newsdesk. And yet, this is how I am perceived.

I spent today updating the radio's website, as I have been doing since last week, with mostly international news. I think that they know it is what I like doing most, and so they oblige me. But of course, I do all sorts of news.

Today I wrote about sectarian mobs in Lebanon killing 4 people; about the arrest of a Spanish brigadier for talking to the press last year and criticising the Defense Ministry- big no no in this country it would appear. At least from within because it appears that everyone in Spain and their dog criticises the government whatever the reason.

I also wrote about the US Secretary of State's forthcoming visit to Spain next March.

And then I discover that "no mention was made [between Spain's Foreign Affairs Minister, M.A. Moratinos, and Ms. Rice] concerning president Zapatero's recent declarations concerning his willingness to follow the desires of the people of Spain and not meet up with President Bush ever". I was amazed to read this.

Amazed at how insular this country can be at times. I think Señor Zapatero must be the ONLY president or Prime Minister on earth who would say such a thing publicly.

And I don't think that this is either pragmatic nor helpful for Spain's foreign policy.

What country wants to deal with a state whose president may or may not meet with you depending on whether he likes you or not? I fully understand Señor Zapatero's principles in wishing not to meet with Mr. Bush. But when you are in politics, it is time to put your personal beliefs aside for the pursuit of a greater cause. In this case, Spain's foreign policy goals.

True, Mr. Bush is out of the White House in no time, but I think Mr. Zapatero fails to realise that by snubbing the American Head of State, he snubs an entire country. And if Mr. Zapatero is not aware of how much Spain's wellbeing depends on Americas's good will, he, or indeed Spain, may experience a rude awakening one day. This is, after all, the man who is pressing at the UN for his plan of an "Alliance of civilisations". Am I missing something here?

Unfortunately many in Spain (and the rest of Europe for that matter) prefer to live in the fiction that they are in the right, and America in the wrong. Not just today. Always.

Many people here are very anti-American. Not anti 'Americans' mind you, Americans they deal with well enough, and Spain is certainly very americanified these days, just like any other Western country. Two days ago they broadcasted Mr. Bush's State of the Union speech. Live!!! If that is not Americanified, I don't know what is!

Still, many here profess a deep dislike of American foreign policy. Old imperial rivalries? Perhaps. I have to say that I find the British behaving towards the US in much the same way. But whereas in Spain, as I stated before, Americans are mostly liked well enough, in Britain I would not be so sure. But of course, these are just generalisations. And I still have of lot of cultural catching up to do.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

The Empire Strikes Brokeback

AOG, Madrid

Found this clever little mock preview on YouTube (where else?). It seems there are a few of them but this one is quite clever. If you are a fan of either movie, enjoy.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Why I dislike easyjet

AOG, London


Nightmare journey from hell last night. Left my internship on smart Gran Vía in Madrid to head to the airport around 6 PM. 


Got into Barajas around 7 PM only to be told that the flight was delayed by one hour. Oh well, I thought. Let's do some reading.

A little later I'm told that, in fact, my 20:55 to Gatwick is expected to land around half past midnight. So....more reading, perhaps buy the paper but in fact no, because the newsstands are closing and they are out of papers. What to do? Walk around the terminal like a lost soul until the plane arrives.

After a while, the plane arrives earlier than expected at around 22:10 and we are loaded on like cattle (did I mention I was flying easyjet?). As you board the plane, the stewardess loudly, rudely, and cattily tells you to SIT DOWN! as quickly as possible because we do have a window to make and the flight was delayed. She makes it sound like it is your fault. Funny that. Finally the plane takes off around 23:oo and we land in London just before midnight local time. It does not end there.

First the plane takes forever to taxi to the terminal (about 10 minutes). Then, because this "model does not come with steps", we have to wait for stairs to arrive, never mind that we are parked next to a finger which we are not using probably because it costs easyjet extra to use it. The pilot tells us that a lot of flights are coming in now and that they are all probably short of stairs. What? I'm sorry Mr. Captain of a cheap airline, those flights you mention are more than likely equipped with steps, and/or they are using the airport's finger. Unless what you meant is that a lot of easyjet flights are coming in, and none of them have steps. It does not end there.

We have to go to customs. The lines (queues) are enormous. And it is about 00:20. HM Customs has decided that 3 agents are enough to handle the inmense workload. 


After an eternity I make it to the desk. 

I hand her my passport. 

The agent (BBM with funky hair) in question yells out "smile!" in a not very friendly way.

-I don't think I have to.


-Are you having a bad day? (condescendingly, she obviously was not expecting a foreigner to talk back)


-No


-Are you unhappy because you are talking to me? (self-centered)


-No


-Are you not feeling well? (again, rather rudely and not in any way showing real concern)


-I feel fine


-Then what is the problem?


I turn and point out the, still, long lines waiting to get through customs.


-This is the problem. Do you think this is normal?


-Yes! (with some attitude)


-Yes, this is normal in a third world country.


-Oooh! (she says and gives me back my passport).

She looks at her colleague, Ooohing and ahhing, as if to say "look at him!", thinking, of course, that I am the one in the wrong, not them.

I walk away thinking how amazing it is that the UK can be so third world sometimes and not even realise it. 


If at least people here showed initiative, like in Germany, then, ok, nobody says you have to be perfect (and I am not holding Spain as any sort of example). 

It is just that, sometimes, you wonder why things never change. But it does not end there.

Now we have to wait about 30 minutes for our luggage to come out. Once it does we all rush to the trains. But it does not end there.

It was 00:55 by then. We [the passengers] had been in Gatwick over an hour by then. 


I thought I would take the Gatwick Express to Victoria. No Gatwick Express until 01:35 arriving at 02:20 in Victoria. 

So I take instead the 01:05 Southern train which got in at 10 to 2AM, 3AM in Spain. 

Getting out of Victoria station turns into a nightmare. Not everyone has a ticket (no ticket inspector on board) and there is only ONE agent at the gates selling tickets.

It has been 9 hours since I left the office. Nine hours in transit. 

I was beat by the time I got home around 2:30 AM.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Hurricanes in the North Sea

AOG, Madrid


Storms and hurricanes swept down from the Atlantic yesterday upon northern Europe. Many deaths. Damage, felled trees, cranes destroying nearby buildings. And cancelled flights.

I am flying out to London tonight. Will I get there? Will my flight be cancelled. Writing from Madrid, where the sun is shining (eventhough it is cold as heck!) I wonder.

I also wonder about Global Warming and the end of the planet. Last weekend for the first time, my partner and I discussed buying a property by the sea. We joked about how the seas will rise, the present coastline dissappear, and how Sant Pere de Ribes might be the new Sitges. And Seville the new Cadiz. Ha ha, he he. But who is to know for sure?

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Chiding Iraq, chiding the Republicans

AOG, Madrid
The world never ceases to amaze me.

First I read that 79 year old Virginia state legislator Frank D. Hargrove, Republican, said black people "should get over" slavery and questioned whether Jews should apologize "for killing Christ" in opposition to a measure that would apologize on the state's behalf to the descendants of slaves.

In an interview published Tuesday in The Daily Progress of Charlottesville, Virginia, Hargrove said slavery ended nearly 140 years ago with the Civil War and added that "our black citizens should get over it." Why is this man still in politics? And what exactly does he mean by "our"? Does that not imply ownership too? Freudian slip?

In a similarly cynical vein, President Bush said Tuesday that the execution of Saddam Hussein "looked like it was kind of a revenge killing" and then criticized the circumstances of Saddam's hanging last month, as well as Monday's execution of two top aides, including Saddam's half brother.

He goes on to say in an interview with PBS' Jim Lehrer that "
I was disapointed and felt like they fumbled the.... particularly the Saddam Hussein execution".

We all know the problem with the French is that, selon Bush, they dont have a word for entrepreneur....but does he have a word for hyppocrite? Or cynic?


As if that were not enough for one day, it would appear that commercial airliners will soon be fitted with anti-missile systems. To make the skies even safer. Something that El Al has been doing for a while now. Is this not some sort of mass hysteria?

So as to leave on a positive note, this is the website of the day. I love this guy's images. I find them very human in many ways.


Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Dying for Nintendo

AOG, Madrid

Sometimes you can't help but be amazed at how things turn out for the worse. A woman in California has died after ingesting too much water as part of a radio contest. It was called "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" The woman in question was a mother of 3 and according to the sources quoted in the media, she was doing it "for her kids". Her name was Jennifer Strange.

I think I will bypass the chance to make fun out of her last name. I feel sorry for her and her children.
I guess its true when they say that you learn something each day. I did not know one could die from water poisoning.

I think Ms. Strange's death is a good example of people getting in over their head without realising the tragic consequences. Many will rightly say, "Who knew?"

On a related topic, I have just been reading about Fidel Castro on the El Pais website. It appears that successive operations have left too much scar tissue which is having difficulty in healing. The story came with a small forum in which you can participate and leave your comments
.

In a lot of these comments, people whish Fidel were dead. Others are amazed at this reaction. I side with the latter ones. I don't for a minute support or believe in any of Castro's policies.

Nonetheless, that is not saying that I wish him dead. I wish he would step down from power and let the younger generations open Cuba up and let modernity in. But he too seems to think he can achieve something for nothing.

Ms. Strange died in an unfortunate accident trying to do something good for her children.

Castro will die without having achieved anything for his people that a democratic government wouldn't have. Surely Cuba's greatest tragedy.

I think in the beginning many thought he would do great things for Cuba. As before, "who knew?".

He, with massive economic aid from the Soviet Union, did achieve some things. But I think the price the people of Cuba have paid since 1959 is too high. Castro has never been a good economist, and his people have paid for it.

Funny how things turn out for the worse.

Fly Her

AOG, Madrid

Today I'm sharing with you, through the magic of the internet, the humor of Australian comedienne Pam Ann. She plays the part of a ditzy, bitchy, Air Hostess (emphasis on the Ho part). I have seen her a couple of times in London and I can't recommend her enough. Click here for her official website.


In other news, my internship begins today. I'll be updating content for SER radio's website in Madrid all year long. I am very excited.

Will keep thee posted.





Monday, January 15, 2007

Babel

AOG, Madrid

Last Saturday night I went to see Alejandro González Iñarritu's last film Babel in Barcelona. For those of you uninitiated to the author, he is also director of Amores Perros and 21 Grams.

Babel is a masterpiece of silence, brevity, despair, arrogance and hopelessness. Don't expect a happy anything. There is only one beautiful image in the whole film- beautiful because it was filmed to be visually impacting. One which at the same time proves to be bittersweet. It involves the two brothers, and it is towards the end of the film. It will leave you breathless, if agonizingly so.

The multinarrative drama of this film, according to him, completes Iñarritu's "Death trilogy" along with the aforementioned films.

As I watched the painful images being shown, I kept thinking that the only thing worse than dying, is staying alive. At least in this film.

The movie portrays death as an antidote to life. Life triumphant is given little airtime in Babel. No religious dogma, just nature, life, society, in their purest form.

Iñarritu's "glue" throughout the film is probably a constant feeling of alienation from beginning to end. The images of lives going catastrophically awry, amiss even, are traumatic and disconcerting to watch; needless to say, it is a difficult movie to watch.

This may be because, at some level, we see ourselves in similar situations with similar outcomes. Because we understand that our lives can go the way of the character's. Because we all understand tragedy all too well.

Alejandro shows us the imbecilic power which figures of authority have over anyone as a whole.
To get into trouble, you can be anybody, and any one of us is anybody. But he lets us into the little known secret that, to get really out of trouble, it is not enough to be innocent, that can no longer be just passers-by, that your life can only be calamity free if you are somebody.

And, yes, we are all somebody, but I mean to be someone at a powerful or influential level. Normal folk never do well. We must always pay a price for being normal.

He also shows the general tendency American's have to overreact to simple situations. I am not saying that the situations portrayed in the film are simple in any way, but at their core, drama aside, they call for a response different from that portrayed by the American characters. Not all Americans of course, but there is a recognisable "national" trait here.

As a piece of anthropological research, Iñarritu also succeeds, but not because of the obvious "ethnic" characters. Although the film takes place in Mexico, Morocco, Japan and the US, I think you need to see it before commenting on this observation further.

The film, which stars Brad Pitt, Kate Blanchett, Gael García Bernal, Koji Yakusho (seen too in Memoirs of a Geisha) and Adriana Barraza, has already won a few awards and it stands nominated for 7 Golden Globes.

It looks Oscar-bound to me. The themes touched upon are exhausting and painful. Nonetheless, it is a great film. One which teaches you something about yourself you did not know you did not know.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Fake-Nice

AOG, London

Back in London now. "Only in Miami is Cuba so far away" sings Bette Midler. Only in London is America so far away, says I. It is always nice to go to the US. It is easy to compare London and New York. They have similarities, But it is their differences which I like, and I hope neither is ever like the other. It would ruin both.

Everytime I go across the pond, I discover- or reinforce- another nagging little thing about the US which makes me want to slap somebody upside the head.

Picture it- Manhattan, 27th December 2006, we go out to eat in Greenwich. We find a restaurant which reminds me of Diurno in Madrid. Our friends say how it is a really nice place, and the food is good and this and than.

Problems- We have to wait for a table, The music is mega loud and annoying (like in those chinese buffets where the music is designed for you to eat and get out. Clever the Chinese...if demonic!). I won't go into the price of things.

We finally get a table by the door which we have to decline as the weather outside is approaching ice-age. We get-grudgingly- another table.

Our waitress arrived. She was the typical non-nice waitress masquerading as Miss Sympathy. None of us bought her niceness. "Where are you from?" She asked with fake niceness. "Spain and here" we replied. She looked at me. "So...are you enjoying your christmas or hannukah or whatever you celebrate over there?" She asked. No one at the table heard her. That nugget of ignorance was mine to savor. I could not believe it. Especially the condescending "or whatever" part. If you don't know, keep it shut dear.

As per usual, not only did she not have a clue where we were from, she committed the diplomatic faux pas equivalent of asking someone from Saudi Arabia if they are enjoying Diwali. I cannot expect americans to know where Spain is. But if, unfortunately, Spain is known on this earth for one thing, it is for being a Catholic country.

And I don't say that with pride, I say it with shame and sadness. I am not saying that there are no Jewish people in Spain. Increasingly there are more and more these days (this can only be a good thing). But 99% of the population of Spain no more celebrate Hannukah than the people of
Massachusetts hold bullfights on Martha's Vineyard.

The evening continued on with our fake-niceness waitress, no bread, no water at the table for ages, cutlery which arrived after the food did, no one to take our drinks orders until after we got the cutlery, and then, and this is what hurt me most of all, the $18.00 tip our friends agreed upon for bad service.

"They work for tips, their salary is really low", they said. I was totally against anything above $3.oo. The service had been atrocious. But one of our friends has worked as a waiter. "And I know how little we get paid, and what a difficult job it is!", said he. It was my first night in New York. I did not want to cause a scene. I complied and agreed to paid an undeserved tip.

Very unlike me to do such a thing. But I did not want to ruin everyone's evening. The fact that I just wrote that last sentence is testimony to my many years in the UK. Or perhaps I am getting older. Or both. Or neither. Maybe it was jetlag and fatigue...

I prefer the last option.

We all spoke about the waitress. We all wished she had been more herself and less fake-nice. Fake-nice is rather unpolite. I prefer real-evil. Or normal-sarcastic. Or even hormonal. But fake-nice is just insulting. It is like saying "I am being nice to you because I have to, not because I actually am. In reality, I could have you on toast for breakfast you idiot". I would prefer that. Evil. It works. You know where you stand with evil. Or sarcasm. You can open channels of communication. But with fake-nice, all you can do is wish for the evening to end soon so you don't have to bear the waitress any more than what you have to.

Sometimes you get fake-nice in the UK. But not often. The English are quite good at barely-passing-for-polite. And that is much more bearable because it allows you to feel smug in your feeling of superiority as aclient, and it allows them to resent you and spit on your soup.

You no longer need to wonder about how the black plague spread on this continent.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Pissing perfume


AOG, London

As you may gather from reading this blog, I live in Spain. Although I have little time for tv, I do find that whenever I watch Spanish tv, I hanker for cable. Spanish tv is really awful. They are celeb-obsessed there. And in Spain, local celebs rule. Much like in the UK, people with no talent trip over themselves to appear on tv. Or as the Spanish like to say, they "piss perfume" for the opportunity to be on tv. Exaggerated but accurate.

Because of this state of affairs, today I found myself at HMV Picadilly. And there it was. Frasier. His series 1,3 and 4 on sale. Series 2 was not on sale. When I asked the sales guy he suggested ("I'm not supposed to say this but...") I tried Virgin across the road. I did. It worked. I now have Frasier series 1-4 on DVD. I wonder if I'll have much time in Madrid to watch it. I am almost 50% through Red Dwarf series 1-8. And I have yet to open Little Britain 3. I think I might be addicted to comedy. Or is it that Spanish tv is really that bad?

War Debts

AOG, London

According to an article on The Times, the UK paid off the last of its Wolrld War II debt to the US on the 31st of December, 2006. According to the article, the Treasury paid cheques totalling £43.5m — equivalent to 94p for every adult — in final settlement of a £1 billion loan taken out in 1945 and worth more than £50 billion today.

Another article on the BBC mentions that the UK still has outstanding debts going back to before the Napoleonic wars. These are called Consol bonds and they appear to hark as far back as 1751. It also mentions that the UK's WWI debt is still largely unpaid. It appears that the UK owed
£886 million which in today's money means £40,000 million pounds.

Though to be fair, loans owed to the UK from that war are still outstanding- something close to £2,300 million pounds at the end of the war. Of course the UK is not the only country which still has war debts.

Apparently, these debts, both owed and outstanding, have not been revised nor payed nor written off since 1934.

According to the Iraq Analysis Group, the UK is currently spending £3 billion per year on its iraqui war effort.

This money could have also been spent thus:

" £3.2 billion spent on education, for example, would be sufficient to fund the recruitment and retention of over 10,300 new teachers for ten years. In health, it would allow the building of around 44 new hospitals. The £6.44 billion Special Reserve represents the entire annual budget of the Department of International Development and would allow a five-fold increase in bilateral aid to Africa. According to UNICEF estimates, £5 billion would fund two years of full immunization for every child in the developing world "

Long term, I cant help but wonder if the UK government really believes that the UK will benefit more from its operations in Iraq than it would from 44 new hospitals or from the work and dedication of over ten thousand teachers.

As for the American war debt, this website is a real eye opener: www.costofwar.com

I wonder in what century will the UK (never mind the US) stop paying for Iraq and Afghanistan. And I don't just mean financially.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

New Year's Day in New York City

AOG, New York

Last day in New York. In a couple of hours I leave for London. I have just dropped Juan off at Penn Station and I'm alone for a few hours. The first alone hours of 2007. Alone, I walked around the streets of New York pretending to live here for a while afterwards. I amazed myself at doing so.

I was asking myself what it was that I would do if I lived here. What my life would be like. Then, I unsurprised myself. I walked a couple of blocks before being drawn to Borders to buy a book I'll never read. Or won't read for months to come. Or years. When I fly to Madrid this new book will sit on a shelf for months before I get to it. As do most of the books I own. Exactly as I would have done in London or Madrid. This proves that wherever you go, your life goes with you. And you go with you too.

I am a slow reader of books, though I am an avid buyer of them. When people ask me if I have read all the books I own (and there are hundreds) I always reply "not yet". I never find the time. I brought a book by Bioy Casares from Madrid to read on the plane. As of yet unopened since I bought it in Buenos Aires last year. I hope to get to it on the way back.

When I left Borders I walked around trying to inhale my last few hours in New York. I wanted to take an impression with me back to Europe. I think I have succeeded.

The heights of the buildings, the low flying clouds today, the lights, the fact that everything is open eventhough it is the first of January. I am no longer in doubt as to why this city is known as the capital of the world. It truly is. I think I was very lucky to be able to be here today. And lucky to have a place to go back to.