Alejandro-Lady Gaga

I dont think Alex, Alejandro likes it when I sing Lady Gaga to him at all given opportunity. I cant help myself. The boys dont like Gaga much, they call her a man, and Beiber a girl. Which is a bit ironic in that I sometimes find European men a bit more feminine than their American counterparts.

I like Madrid very much, given I´ve not seen much of it yet. We did go to the market Sunday, the biggest flea market in Europe but found nothing worth its price. Home base is a north side flat opened to us by Iria's Godmother, Cruz' sister.

Pool by day and terrace by night, Madrid is a tempting life full of sunshine and horchata.

One of the biggest difference I've found in Spaniards in their inner clock. At home, bedtime is midnight, and I´m generally up by 8 or 9am. Midnight, on more than one occasion is when we sit down to dinner. And I adore these dinners! When we landed in Madrid, given, our flight was in at 11 but we sat on the penthouse terrace under a dark sky and bright moon eating multiple cheeses with bread, fruit, yogurt, aquarius ( do you remember 'Tang'? this is that!) and of course Horchata. We dont wake until 11 or later, lunch at 2, dinner usually at 9 but sometimes later.

Julio jokes, telling me he cuts the grass every morning, reffering to the astroturf. He shows me his grape vine, plethora of herbs and plants he has brought to life on the terrace, I´m happy to talk plants.

Last night after dinner I sat on the warm, breezy terrace talking to (Godmother) Marise. Someone had turned the lights out on us and I joked about closing time...she brought up Dublin pubs. Not me. She told me about her first job, researching new technologies where she would meet with a team of other Europeans in a different country each month and she had been to Dublin a number of times. She smiled as she told me how fun the times were, spent with other young university researchers in foreign cities, when funds were heavy and the workload light. But all that has changed now she says. She tells that she would still like to see the north, I agree and the subject comes round to the IRA, and then the interesting part, the terrorist group of Spain, the ETA or Euskadi Ta Askatasuna. Marise explains that the IRA and ETA and the given situations are very very similar (apart from the religious thing, that doesnt play into the ETA, as everyone is Catholic). Basque country Spain wishes to be a free nation, and it being very industrial and very rich, Spain doesnt want to let it go. Although there are many languages in Spain including Galician, Castilian, Catalan, and Valencian, they're all similar to Spanish and at the least latin based. Euskera, the language of Basque Country is nothing like any other language in Europe and Marise says its roots may be in the northern European countries, some Norwegian type. These two organizations are so so similar in fact that they're friends, they fraternize, fleeing to one country or the other when warrants for arrest are awarded. ETA members also take refuge in South American coutries life Venezuela where one worked under Chavez' in the Dept. of Agriculture. (I´ve not looked any of this up, this was just Marise and I talking.)

Interesting stuff.

Our adult talk was ended by Dani's urgent desire for he and I to read. I say this sarcastically because Dani really hates reading in Ingles. I often call it 'Story Time with Dani', and tell him how FUN reading is but he doesnt take the bait. He just stares at me strait faced and unentertained when he says 'Are you speaking seriously?'

Yesterday we found stick on tattoos in bags of Cheetos. Enough said.