People lately say to me:
You look like your dad but you have your mother's eyes.
I look at you; yes, I can see that.
You do have my eyes and look like your dad.
Deep inside them I can reach your soul,
the sweetness of the fruit of love.
They hide secrets one day to be told.
Guardians of our story.
Mirrors of purity that we once were all.
My dear boy, my perfect love.
You are so small, unaware of the horrors of this world.
I am your mum and you know that,
you feel so warm, you feel so wrapped.
I want to fight, I want to dream
about a lovely place for you and us to be.
I hold your hand, I hug you tight
because I know these times will soon go by.
You are my everything, the best of me.
And a time will come when you find yourself alone,
perhaps lost in this confusing world.
And the time will come when
we cannot be together as I long be gone.
Just remember: You have your mother's eyes.
When you feel so sad that you just want to cry.
When you tried your best and that is just not enough.
When the lights have turned dark,
and the beauty around cannot be found.
Close your eyes, look inside. With you I am.
In you I can always be found.
Tuesday 14 August 2012
Saturday 11 August 2012
Cuban or Dominican Cigars?
That is the question: Cuban or dominican?
Like everything else, with cigars it comes down to personal taste and opinion but these are the main difference between the two: taste & manufacture.
Cuban Cigars are the most renown and their rollers or "torcedores" are believed to be the best in the world and they are highly respected in their country and overseas when they travel sharing their art of rolling around the world.
In 1492 Christopher Colombus sailor's reported that in the island of Cuba found natives smoke a primitive form of cigar. From there, smoking cigars was spread to Spain and Portugal and later to France, Italy, America and Britain. The spanish took seeds to the Philippines and manufacturing houses were built first in Cuba then in Florida and other areas. From there the growing and manufauctiong of cigars grew and spread all through Europe, the States, South America, Asia & Oceana.
The main 2 markets are the United States and Europe with little sold in Asia, South Africa & Australia.
The taste will get affected by many things but one of them it's of course the weather so you will not get the same result even using the same seed when grown in Cuba than in the DR.
Cuban cigars are stronger with more peppery , spicy, earthy, woody and leathery flavours and with heats of cocoa & nutty flavours while the DR are milder and lighter.
Due to the embargo with Cuba the US cannot legally purchase these cigars so the DR caters mainly for this market while cuban targets the european market.
In my experience and my humble opinion I find dominican cigars to be generally of a better quality of manufacturing and more consistent today's day and also a better cigar for beginners due to its milder flavours.
I think DR cigars go through more strict manufacturing process resulting in a better and more consistent product. They are just more on top of presentation while cuba to me it's more about quantity. With cuban you risk finding plugged cigars, fakes, rolled too tight or too loose .... I mean this is also possible with dominican or any other origin but not as much.
I also like the fact that DR do a lot of their cigars in tubes wrapped on cedar strips which protects them and helps maintain better. Cuba does a few, mainly Romeo y Julieta but not as much.
If you look at a box of 25 dominican their wrapper colour seems to be the same all throughout the box, the filler with the same consistence while on a box of cuban it just differs so much.
I used to have a customer that made me go through boxes of Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas that came on cedar boxes of 50's and also the Cohiba Siglo Vi in cedar boxes of 25's and picked them to make a box just for him just because in the past he found that when purchasing a whole box so many of them where un-smokable for him.
With dominican this just doesn't happen. Look at the Davidoff Cigars. All so beautiful rolled & packed. Yes they are milder I will probably say that only the Millennium Blend will equal the strength of the cuban but to me I much prefer a milder cigar and my smoking experience it's better.
In saying this when you get a good cuban it's pretty hard to compete with that. Their wrappers are oily and just beautiful. I like the earthy, coffee tones like the Partagas D4 and it could be quiet mild for a cuban as well as the Romeo y Julieta Churchill because due to it's length and ring gauge the smoke it's quiet cool. To me the pepperiness of Montecristo's it's just too much but again this it's just a personal taste.
When US place the embargo over Cuba and no body could purchase cuban cigars and the cuban houses couldn't sell to them all they did was start producing dominican cigars like Romeo y Julieta.
So how can I answer the question? What's best Cuban or Dominican? There is not best it's all down to personal taste and individual cases and products. I forgot to mention that some premium dominican's are also quiet expensive but so are a lot of cuban too let's say for example the whole range of Cohiba that I found so expensive.
So here are some of my suggestions:
Cubans:
Montecristo Edmundo, Montecristo N4, Vegas Robaina Unicos, Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure N2, Partagas D N4, Romeo y Julieta Churchill, Hoyo de Monterrey Double Corona in box of 50's, Partagas Lusitanias in box of 50's, Cohiba S VI, Punch Punch, Ramon Allones Specialy Selected, Juan Lopez Selection N2, if you like full body cigars and you get a nice box of Bolivar Belicoso Finos with its superb oily wrappers hmmmm!!
Dominican:
Davidoff Millennium Blend Robusto or Pyramid, Macanudo Ascot (either cafe or maduro), Macanudo Diplomat Maduro (Great little fatty one!), Davidoff Crand Cru Range is not too bad either with No 4,& 5 my favourites, front he Davidoff Mille Range the 2000's in Tubos are pretty good. The Macanudo Hyde Park a good coffee cigar
From the Arturo Fuente house the Opus X Range but prepare your wallet and for what it is I just wouldn't pay for it.
Zino Classic from Honduras has also a great range of cigars. If you enjoy a robusto Zino N 6 it's a medium body cigar with sweet nutty tones and toast finish. Their platinum series is just so elegant, a great nicaraguan, honduran & peruvian blend. Grand Master or Chubby it's up to you
From Nicaragua Padron 2000 Maduro not bad either, nutty and chocolaty.
Your choice of cigar will depend on the time of the day you choose to smoke, the food and the drink that will go together with it. generally speaking Dominican cigars are a very good coffee cigar while cuban or full body dominicans like the Millennium Blend of Davidoff are great with cognac, brandy or good medium to full red.
Like everything else, with cigars it comes down to personal taste and opinion but these are the main difference between the two: taste & manufacture.
Cuban Cigars are the most renown and their rollers or "torcedores" are believed to be the best in the world and they are highly respected in their country and overseas when they travel sharing their art of rolling around the world.
In 1492 Christopher Colombus sailor's reported that in the island of Cuba found natives smoke a primitive form of cigar. From there, smoking cigars was spread to Spain and Portugal and later to France, Italy, America and Britain. The spanish took seeds to the Philippines and manufacturing houses were built first in Cuba then in Florida and other areas. From there the growing and manufauctiong of cigars grew and spread all through Europe, the States, South America, Asia & Oceana.
The main 2 markets are the United States and Europe with little sold in Asia, South Africa & Australia.
The taste will get affected by many things but one of them it's of course the weather so you will not get the same result even using the same seed when grown in Cuba than in the DR.
Cuban cigars are stronger with more peppery , spicy, earthy, woody and leathery flavours and with heats of cocoa & nutty flavours while the DR are milder and lighter.
Due to the embargo with Cuba the US cannot legally purchase these cigars so the DR caters mainly for this market while cuban targets the european market.
In my experience and my humble opinion I find dominican cigars to be generally of a better quality of manufacturing and more consistent today's day and also a better cigar for beginners due to its milder flavours.
I think DR cigars go through more strict manufacturing process resulting in a better and more consistent product. They are just more on top of presentation while cuba to me it's more about quantity. With cuban you risk finding plugged cigars, fakes, rolled too tight or too loose .... I mean this is also possible with dominican or any other origin but not as much.
I also like the fact that DR do a lot of their cigars in tubes wrapped on cedar strips which protects them and helps maintain better. Cuba does a few, mainly Romeo y Julieta but not as much.
If you look at a box of 25 dominican their wrapper colour seems to be the same all throughout the box, the filler with the same consistence while on a box of cuban it just differs so much.
I used to have a customer that made me go through boxes of Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas that came on cedar boxes of 50's and also the Cohiba Siglo Vi in cedar boxes of 25's and picked them to make a box just for him just because in the past he found that when purchasing a whole box so many of them where un-smokable for him.
With dominican this just doesn't happen. Look at the Davidoff Cigars. All so beautiful rolled & packed. Yes they are milder I will probably say that only the Millennium Blend will equal the strength of the cuban but to me I much prefer a milder cigar and my smoking experience it's better.
In saying this when you get a good cuban it's pretty hard to compete with that. Their wrappers are oily and just beautiful. I like the earthy, coffee tones like the Partagas D4 and it could be quiet mild for a cuban as well as the Romeo y Julieta Churchill because due to it's length and ring gauge the smoke it's quiet cool. To me the pepperiness of Montecristo's it's just too much but again this it's just a personal taste.
When US place the embargo over Cuba and no body could purchase cuban cigars and the cuban houses couldn't sell to them all they did was start producing dominican cigars like Romeo y Julieta.
So how can I answer the question? What's best Cuban or Dominican? There is not best it's all down to personal taste and individual cases and products. I forgot to mention that some premium dominican's are also quiet expensive but so are a lot of cuban too let's say for example the whole range of Cohiba that I found so expensive.
So here are some of my suggestions:
Cubans:
Montecristo Edmundo, Montecristo N4, Vegas Robaina Unicos, Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure N2, Partagas D N4, Romeo y Julieta Churchill, Hoyo de Monterrey Double Corona in box of 50's, Partagas Lusitanias in box of 50's, Cohiba S VI, Punch Punch, Ramon Allones Specialy Selected, Juan Lopez Selection N2, if you like full body cigars and you get a nice box of Bolivar Belicoso Finos with its superb oily wrappers hmmmm!!
Dominican:
Davidoff Millennium Blend Robusto or Pyramid, Macanudo Ascot (either cafe or maduro), Macanudo Diplomat Maduro (Great little fatty one!), Davidoff Crand Cru Range is not too bad either with No 4,& 5 my favourites, front he Davidoff Mille Range the 2000's in Tubos are pretty good. The Macanudo Hyde Park a good coffee cigar
From the Arturo Fuente house the Opus X Range but prepare your wallet and for what it is I just wouldn't pay for it.
Zino Classic from Honduras has also a great range of cigars. If you enjoy a robusto Zino N 6 it's a medium body cigar with sweet nutty tones and toast finish. Their platinum series is just so elegant, a great nicaraguan, honduran & peruvian blend. Grand Master or Chubby it's up to you
From Nicaragua Padron 2000 Maduro not bad either, nutty and chocolaty.
Your choice of cigar will depend on the time of the day you choose to smoke, the food and the drink that will go together with it. generally speaking Dominican cigars are a very good coffee cigar while cuban or full body dominicans like the Millennium Blend of Davidoff are great with cognac, brandy or good medium to full red.
Tortilla Espanola: Spanish Potato & Egg Omelette
Ummm I remember coming home at 4am after partying and finding if I was lucky some tortilla left from lunch. Put it in the middle of some true spanish bread and that was heaven. Best hang over, party hunger fix ever!
Some of my best memories from childhood are those of summer days on the beach and the family lunches. Russian Salad, tortilla and a salad of lettuce, tomatoes & onions always on the menu.
It is my experience that this is not as popular in Australia, mainly because anything "eggy" here it is usually consider breakfast or brunch food but nevertheless it wouldn't be my blog if I didn't share with you my love, passion and the secret for my finger liking tortilla espanola.
Ingredients:
6 eggs
3 big or 5 medium potatoes
50ml milk or cream (optional)
1 Onion
Olive Oil
Method:
1. Peel the potatoes and slice them thin.
2. Fry the potatoes (You can do this on a pan but the potatoes need to be cover with oil so use plenty of it. Or you can fry quickly on a deep fryer). Do not fry too much.
3. While the potatoes are frying which the eggs and milk or cream if you choose to use it.
4. Add the potatoes to the egg mixture with a pinch of salt and leave to rest for 10 min.
5. Pan on the stove and drizzle with oil. When it's hot add the onion and brown then to medium heat add the potato & egg mixture. With a fork mix the mixture so that it goes through it and use the base of the fork to them flatten the whole surface.
6. Get a round plate of the same size as the pan an turn over the tortilla into the plate and to the pan so it cooks on the other size.
7. You cook tortilla to personal taste. Some people like very runny eggs so cook it very little on medium heat. I like everything very well done so I cook mine longer. Serve it with a baby cos lettuce, tomatoes & spanish onion salad with extra virgin olive oil, salt & pepper. On a sandwich for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Cold, room temperature or hot. Add chorizo or braised beef. Drink it down with a Estrella Galicia Beer
Saturday 7 July 2012
Churros are served!
Churros are a type of fried long-shaped doughnut cover in sugar and with a ridge surface, traditional cooked for breakfast in Spain. They often also come accompanied of a thick chocolate to dip the doughnuts in and sold by street vendors or in churrerias. They are within doubt a great sugar fix!
Here in Australia even though is not accessible everywhere you can buy churros at http://www.sanchurro.com. It's nowhere near as good or cheap as an spanish churreria and not really design to have them take away but not a bad effort at all.
This delicious spanish delicacy can also be found on the dessert menus of most abroad spanish restaurants. Here are some:
If your rather have them on the comfort of your own home following my easy and quick recipe you now can!
There are many different of recipes for churros some containing milk, butter and more complex processes and some others as simple as just flour and water.
There are many different of recipes for churros some containing milk, butter and more complex processes and some others as simple as just flour and water.
I have come up with the recipe that I believe works best for the regular everyday cook and without the need for professional equipment. They don't look like exactly like those long fried strings found in Spain but their rustic looks make them even more irresistible and special and the reward of making them yourself priceless.
In the recipe below I have combined sweet and savoury ingredients to find what for me is the perfect balance. Not too sweet not to savoury just perfect to have churros as a dessert and dipped in chocolate.
CHURROS CON CHOCOLATE (4-5 serving each serving containing 4- 5 churros)
125gr Self Raising Flour
125gr Plain Flour
30 gr cornflour or 60gr for crunchy
430ml Water
430ml Water
20 ml Milk
1T Melted butter
1T EVO (Extra Virgin Oilive Oil)
1T Melted butter
1T EVO (Extra Virgin Oilive Oil)
1 Cup full cream milk
1T Vanilla essence
1t salt
1T sugar
1t cinnamon
1T sugar
1t cinnamon
Cinnamon sugar to cover the outside (Just mix white sugar with a bit of cinnamon)
For the chocolate:
1L Milk
200gr Spanish Chocolate the taza (Spanish drinking chocolate that comes in a block and contains a little bit of flour to thicken. You can use another good quality and high in cacao dark chocolate and add flour to thicken)
For the chocolate:
1L Milk
200gr Spanish Chocolate the taza (Spanish drinking chocolate that comes in a block and contains a little bit of flour to thicken. You can use another good quality and high in cacao dark chocolate and add flour to thicken)
Method
1. Combined dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, cornflour salt, sugar & cinnamon)
2. Boil water with oil and vanilla essence.
3. Add a little of boiled water with flour. Stir with wooden spoon.
4. Add melted butter & milk. Stir again.
5. Insert the mixture in a pipping bag with a start nozzle.
6. Pour the mixture in the deep fryer. Don't use the basket. The churros will float.
7. Melt the chocolate in hot milk while churros finish frying.
8. In a bowl place the cinnamon sugar and add churros so they cover well with the mixture.
9. Place the chocolate on a small bowl. I like add some fresh berries or a berry syrup to the plate to give it the freshness and sweetness of the fruit. Churros are now served!!!! Que aproveche!
Notes:
a. The consistency of the dough must be lumpy so do not mix too much.
b. If you want your churros crunchy add more cornflour. This will make them also more hallow and less doughy.
c. If you want them sweeter add more butter, reduce the amount of water and increase amount of milk. I like this better for breakfast churros as the milk & butter with result in a very soft & sweet dough also harder to work with on a pipping bag and too milky for dessert.
1. Combined dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, cornflour salt, sugar & cinnamon)
2. Boil water with oil and vanilla essence.
3. Add a little of boiled water with flour. Stir with wooden spoon.
4. Add melted butter & milk. Stir again.
5. Insert the mixture in a pipping bag with a start nozzle.
6. Pour the mixture in the deep fryer. Don't use the basket. The churros will float.
7. Melt the chocolate in hot milk while churros finish frying.
8. In a bowl place the cinnamon sugar and add churros so they cover well with the mixture.
9. Place the chocolate on a small bowl. I like add some fresh berries or a berry syrup to the plate to give it the freshness and sweetness of the fruit. Churros are now served!!!! Que aproveche!
Notes:
a. The consistency of the dough must be lumpy so do not mix too much.
b. If you want your churros crunchy add more cornflour. This will make them also more hallow and less doughy.
c. If you want them sweeter add more butter, reduce the amount of water and increase amount of milk. I like this better for breakfast churros as the milk & butter with result in a very soft & sweet dough also harder to work with on a pipping bag and too milky for dessert.
d. You can have longer, shorter, thinner or thicker churros. It's up to you. The thicker the more dough you will taste. The thinner the crunchier will be.
e. When ready to fry I prefer to pipe them out in front of the fryer as if you place the churros on a tray they will stick and loose their start shape which gives them crunch. I do not use the basket of the fryer either as same thing happens and churros will come to the surface as the float in the oil.
f. You can also purchase a chorus gun for domestic use. You can purchase this over the internet or in Sydney you can find them at www.elmercado.com.au I personally prefer the pipping bag. It's easier to work with, holds more quantities, easier to store and to clean and you can buy nozzles of different sizes that might suits best the size of churro you wish to obtain. However with the gun as the dough is pushed out with more pressure the churros have a more star marked resulting in a more crunchier churro.
g. When you make the dough and place it inside the pipping bag you can store this just like that in a air tight container inside the fridge and it will last for at least 5 if not more.
h. You can freeze churros but I am not a big fan of freezing anything but if you must this can be done. The result if not the best but not bad. In fact a lot of spanish food suppliers sell frozen churros.
Ok amigos it's now time to seat down in front of the tv, watch a great movie and enjoy your churros con chocolate. Enjoy!
e. When ready to fry I prefer to pipe them out in front of the fryer as if you place the churros on a tray they will stick and loose their start shape which gives them crunch. I do not use the basket of the fryer either as same thing happens and churros will come to the surface as the float in the oil.
f. You can also purchase a chorus gun for domestic use. You can purchase this over the internet or in Sydney you can find them at www.elmercado.com.au I personally prefer the pipping bag. It's easier to work with, holds more quantities, easier to store and to clean and you can buy nozzles of different sizes that might suits best the size of churro you wish to obtain. However with the gun as the dough is pushed out with more pressure the churros have a more star marked resulting in a more crunchier churro.
g. When you make the dough and place it inside the pipping bag you can store this just like that in a air tight container inside the fridge and it will last for at least 5 if not more.
h. You can freeze churros but I am not a big fan of freezing anything but if you must this can be done. The result if not the best but not bad. In fact a lot of spanish food suppliers sell frozen churros.
Ok amigos it's now time to seat down in front of the tv, watch a great movie and enjoy your churros con chocolate. Enjoy!
Thursday 28 June 2012
Starting a Blog. Day One
Seating in my small flat with the computer on my lap wondering what to write. All the ideas were very clear at the beginning. I was very excited, lots of thoughts and experiences to share.
So how is it that I am now stuck?
Beginnings are always difficult; finding the right path to follow, it is the hardest thing. I should know.
I am starting this blog with the aim of sharing my life experiences so far and the ones that I will gain as we go, my passions, my thoughts, opinions and general information with the hope that this will come useful to you at some point.
Born in a small town in Northwest Spain I have an undying passion for my country, my people, the many and diverse cultures and languages, the food, the wine .. you name it. My husband constantly tells me that I go on in life saying how "the food it's best in Spain, in Spain we have this, in Spain we have that , we do this and the other". Everything is best in Spain. Perhaps I couldn't have chosen a better timing to say that of course this is not entirely truth but, Spain is home, and there is no better place than home. It's a bit like having a child. Regardless of how ugly or stupid he or she might be, on mummy's eyes he/she is just perfect.
It was not always like that though, and it wasn't the country, my town, friends, family or anything specific really. It was me. I needed to go on and see things with my own eyes. I had this voice inside of me that was saying:
- "Hurry up there's no time to loose; you are not getting any younger, you are already 13, before you know it you will be 20, and by then the biggest decisions of your life such as career, studies, work etc .. must have already been taken. Then with a blink of an eye you turn 30 and according to current society that is it: If you haven't done it, it's too late. You can't say "oops I spend 12 years studying to become a doctor but I just don't see it working for me anymore so I am going to go on and do something else". You are old, it pays the bills, stick to what you know!!.
If you turn 40, unmarried, childless, perhaps even jobless and still confused in life it's Game Over, move to the looser team!! - It will soon be time for you to retired and you haven't even started to do anything with your life!!!! - I can picture in my head so many grandmas saying this and it just seem so wrong to me.
Then death it's just around the corner and it's only Heaven left after that. I just wasn't so sure about the After Life so I was trying to get things sorted for the life that I had with no doubts on that particular moment and decisions needed to be made, questions needed to be answer but I just didn't know.
Adults will ask you - What would you like to be when you grow up? They ask in school, at home, on the streets ... constantly the same question, again and again there is so much pressure on having this answers ready and I just didn't know. I liked many things and i showed interest for many things I just couldn't commit myself to only one thing that I will do for the rest of my life. It seem so final, so boring. What about if I choose wrong?
After a period of "messiness" and "cloudiness" confused about this whole "Life & Decision making situation" I ventured, without knowing at the time, on the beginning of a lifetime of travelling which it has brought me to Australia, where I met my husband and where almost a year ago I gave birth to my first and only son, Ulises.
We live a "On the edge" life style far away from perfect. More so that I would like. With it's ups and downs, lot's of them. Still trying to figure out even more things than when I was 13 years old. With a lot of fears (now that I am a mum I worry about everything!) and some regrets about things that given the choice i wouldn't do again and also things i'm not proud of. But it's all me, the good and the bad and i'm just thankful for the opportunity to do it all, to make those millions of mistakes and also those right choices, thankful to have been able to lived those experiences, to see Man Kind in it's many forms, to be part of this World and this Time.
Those regular and simple things of a normal day that, when you travel and you are in a new place surrounded by strangers seems so different, it opens up your eyes to this new dimesion, it makes you wiser, it helps you get closer and perhaps answer some questions or even arise some more! Travelling made me be more thankful for what i already had and made me value what I was going to gain. Those things that were always there, right in front of your face but you just had to travel 20 thousand kilometres away to be able to see them, to understand them better.
It's funny how the furthest away from family and friends the closer it brings you. Just like the saying "You don't know what you have until you loose it". Sometimes some of us we just don't know exaclty who we are, we just don't have those basic answers and we need to loose ourselves in order to then be found.
I am still on this journey. Still travelling. Loving some things and hating others.
Of course I don't do as much travelling as I would like to due money, time, obligations, responsibilities, bills, debts, mortgages, etc ... All that big pile that could be label the Anti-Freedom. And that just upsets me. I have seen, been and done quite a bit and perhaps that should be sufficient and perhaps you will think that i should just get on with it, settle into the job-house-family standard life that offers all comfort and safety net. While i respect that and the people that choose to go on that path, it's just not for me. The same voice inside of me tells me i have to rebel to that. I want to explore, i am curious of what else it's out there. So i refuse to let all those so call commodities created by the consumer and capitalism world we live in, to restrict my freedom, to stop me for seeing new places, meeting new people and most importantly to continue on the journey of meeting me.
We are constantly buying objects we don't need, things that just buries us more into debt. On top of the cost, they become an inconvenient and a burden to our freedom. Let's just mention as an example those thousands of dollars I spend on that beautiful furniture to go with my overpriced apartment that i couldn't afford and could't maintain but that i really wanted. In a matter of months I was not only into more debt due to that purchase but homeless and with the problem of what to do with all that staff. You need more money to move it, more money to store it, the time and energy that I didn't have because I was all depressed by the situation ... Pointless. I didn't needed any of that to start with!.
If your busy life style is attached to debt, credit cards, bills and others, then for whatever reason you loose all those material things or can't keep up with the payments, takes a while but after the pain and embarrassment and the period were you feel like a total failure and you just want to keep your head on the toilet bowl for as long as possible; then comes some sort of relief and suddenly you realise that all those things were a big weight on you, and you just couldn't breath and now you can stand up tall and feel so light, you feel you can dance, you can almost flight. And you start seeing your life on very different way. Maybe it's time to move, start fresh, to start again.
The feeling of being in a new place: Priceless.
A beer in a Medieval European city, seating outside on a terrace with cobblestone floor surrounded by history. Walking a long the many flea markets in the highly populated Asian cities looking at something that resembles food. Swimming and diving in the pristine waters of the Pacific Islands amazed by its beauty. The delicious and healthy mediterranean food with a glass, or a few bottles of wine in my case, the modern architecture in US cities, the magnificence of the dessert of the Middle East, the ancient cultures and the legacy left by them, the meaning of symbols that regardless time, distance and difference are understood world wide.
Us: The People who live on Earth for thousands of years. Me: A part of it.
Well there you have it. My first blog.
So how is it that I am now stuck?
Beginnings are always difficult; finding the right path to follow, it is the hardest thing. I should know.
I am starting this blog with the aim of sharing my life experiences so far and the ones that I will gain as we go, my passions, my thoughts, opinions and general information with the hope that this will come useful to you at some point.
Born in a small town in Northwest Spain I have an undying passion for my country, my people, the many and diverse cultures and languages, the food, the wine .. you name it. My husband constantly tells me that I go on in life saying how "the food it's best in Spain, in Spain we have this, in Spain we have that , we do this and the other". Everything is best in Spain. Perhaps I couldn't have chosen a better timing to say that of course this is not entirely truth but, Spain is home, and there is no better place than home. It's a bit like having a child. Regardless of how ugly or stupid he or she might be, on mummy's eyes he/she is just perfect.
It was not always like that though, and it wasn't the country, my town, friends, family or anything specific really. It was me. I needed to go on and see things with my own eyes. I had this voice inside of me that was saying:
- "Hurry up there's no time to loose; you are not getting any younger, you are already 13, before you know it you will be 20, and by then the biggest decisions of your life such as career, studies, work etc .. must have already been taken. Then with a blink of an eye you turn 30 and according to current society that is it: If you haven't done it, it's too late. You can't say "oops I spend 12 years studying to become a doctor but I just don't see it working for me anymore so I am going to go on and do something else". You are old, it pays the bills, stick to what you know!!.
If you turn 40, unmarried, childless, perhaps even jobless and still confused in life it's Game Over, move to the looser team!! - It will soon be time for you to retired and you haven't even started to do anything with your life!!!! - I can picture in my head so many grandmas saying this and it just seem so wrong to me.
Then death it's just around the corner and it's only Heaven left after that. I just wasn't so sure about the After Life so I was trying to get things sorted for the life that I had with no doubts on that particular moment and decisions needed to be made, questions needed to be answer but I just didn't know.
Adults will ask you - What would you like to be when you grow up? They ask in school, at home, on the streets ... constantly the same question, again and again there is so much pressure on having this answers ready and I just didn't know. I liked many things and i showed interest for many things I just couldn't commit myself to only one thing that I will do for the rest of my life. It seem so final, so boring. What about if I choose wrong?
After a period of "messiness" and "cloudiness" confused about this whole "Life & Decision making situation" I ventured, without knowing at the time, on the beginning of a lifetime of travelling which it has brought me to Australia, where I met my husband and where almost a year ago I gave birth to my first and only son, Ulises.
We live a "On the edge" life style far away from perfect. More so that I would like. With it's ups and downs, lot's of them. Still trying to figure out even more things than when I was 13 years old. With a lot of fears (now that I am a mum I worry about everything!) and some regrets about things that given the choice i wouldn't do again and also things i'm not proud of. But it's all me, the good and the bad and i'm just thankful for the opportunity to do it all, to make those millions of mistakes and also those right choices, thankful to have been able to lived those experiences, to see Man Kind in it's many forms, to be part of this World and this Time.
Those regular and simple things of a normal day that, when you travel and you are in a new place surrounded by strangers seems so different, it opens up your eyes to this new dimesion, it makes you wiser, it helps you get closer and perhaps answer some questions or even arise some more! Travelling made me be more thankful for what i already had and made me value what I was going to gain. Those things that were always there, right in front of your face but you just had to travel 20 thousand kilometres away to be able to see them, to understand them better.
It's funny how the furthest away from family and friends the closer it brings you. Just like the saying "You don't know what you have until you loose it". Sometimes some of us we just don't know exaclty who we are, we just don't have those basic answers and we need to loose ourselves in order to then be found.
I am still on this journey. Still travelling. Loving some things and hating others.
Of course I don't do as much travelling as I would like to due money, time, obligations, responsibilities, bills, debts, mortgages, etc ... All that big pile that could be label the Anti-Freedom. And that just upsets me. I have seen, been and done quite a bit and perhaps that should be sufficient and perhaps you will think that i should just get on with it, settle into the job-house-family standard life that offers all comfort and safety net. While i respect that and the people that choose to go on that path, it's just not for me. The same voice inside of me tells me i have to rebel to that. I want to explore, i am curious of what else it's out there. So i refuse to let all those so call commodities created by the consumer and capitalism world we live in, to restrict my freedom, to stop me for seeing new places, meeting new people and most importantly to continue on the journey of meeting me.
We are constantly buying objects we don't need, things that just buries us more into debt. On top of the cost, they become an inconvenient and a burden to our freedom. Let's just mention as an example those thousands of dollars I spend on that beautiful furniture to go with my overpriced apartment that i couldn't afford and could't maintain but that i really wanted. In a matter of months I was not only into more debt due to that purchase but homeless and with the problem of what to do with all that staff. You need more money to move it, more money to store it, the time and energy that I didn't have because I was all depressed by the situation ... Pointless. I didn't needed any of that to start with!.
If your busy life style is attached to debt, credit cards, bills and others, then for whatever reason you loose all those material things or can't keep up with the payments, takes a while but after the pain and embarrassment and the period were you feel like a total failure and you just want to keep your head on the toilet bowl for as long as possible; then comes some sort of relief and suddenly you realise that all those things were a big weight on you, and you just couldn't breath and now you can stand up tall and feel so light, you feel you can dance, you can almost flight. And you start seeing your life on very different way. Maybe it's time to move, start fresh, to start again.
The feeling of being in a new place: Priceless.
A beer in a Medieval European city, seating outside on a terrace with cobblestone floor surrounded by history. Walking a long the many flea markets in the highly populated Asian cities looking at something that resembles food. Swimming and diving in the pristine waters of the Pacific Islands amazed by its beauty. The delicious and healthy mediterranean food with a glass, or a few bottles of wine in my case, the modern architecture in US cities, the magnificence of the dessert of the Middle East, the ancient cultures and the legacy left by them, the meaning of symbols that regardless time, distance and difference are understood world wide.
Us: The People who live on Earth for thousands of years. Me: A part of it.
Well there you have it. My first blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)