Football-Immune

Does not caring the slightest about the World Cup make me a traitor? I'm incapable of sitting through 90 minutes of football - equally incompetent of sitting through 5. I'm immune to this World Cup fever that has spread across the globe and currently has masses building their days around matches and even messing up with their sleep to make up for the time difference. 

My total indifference has made people question my patriotism, when the truth is that I couldn't love Spain more! I just think that support takes many forms and believe that holding a flag on one hand, a strong drink on the other whilst letting out of your mouth outrageous words, is not the best way of holding your country's back. Instead, I shop locally, I absorb the morning sun, I take public transport, I savour the juicy tomatoes... you get the idea...

It's just that I'm not into football. But not like those who say the same and then find themselves glued to the screen whenever a major match is on. I actually try my very very best to avoid any kind of streaming of this sport. I still remember the awkward conversations when Dublin taxi drivers learned where I came from:

"So do you support Madrid or Barcelona?"
"Hmmm... You see? I'm not very much into football"
"Oh, that Messi guy is good, isn't he?"
"Ehm.."
"He must damn be! With all that money he is paid.."
"Hmm"
"And that Ronaldo guy!" 

I can only imagine the kind of conversations I would be having now on the back of that taxi. Because, what happens when your team is no longer running for the World Cup? Who do you support? Are you still supposed to watch the matches? Do you feel embarrassed by your nationality? Do you stop liking your country?

All the suffering and disappointments I save myself from by completely ignoring anything related to football!

Flavours in Life

I've made up my mind: lemon is my favourite yogurt flavour. 

It has been a hard decision to make: too many options, all of which challenge the very best of my taste buds. Let's be honest, lemon yogurts taste very little of lemon (don't get me started on the banana ones which I only know are banana because of the picture on the pot...)

This absurd logic got me thinking about all the disappointment that the food industry has created in the short distance between the supermarket aisle and the comfort of my sofa - or dining table if there is someone with me and I actually have to eat my meals at a table (which by the way, according to every health article published, we all should.) 

We're humans; we're logical beings; our brain is programmed to do admirable things. Why then, do we so blindly fall into false beliefs? 

"I like peach. I like yogurt. Hmm, I must like peach-flavoured yogurt. I will buy peach-flavoured yogurt"

Right? Wrong! - there is nothing less peachy than a peach-flavoured yogurt, ice-cream, lollipop, [you name it!]

The issue is more dramatic when you try the flavoured food first. I can only imagine the pleasure I would have missed if I had had prawn-cocktail crisps before ever sinking a fork into a deliciously natural prawn cocktail - mouth is literally watering.

Take note my dear friends of this little piece of advice: do not set expectations when it comes to flavoured food - you'll live happily ever after!

Foreigner in Home City

Three days ago, I moved to Madrid after six years in Dublin. As I navigate through this confusing roller coaster of feeling a foreigner in my home city, I come shockingly aware of what I love from both cities.

What I knew I'd miss

Madrid  

• family (duh!)
• weather (double duh! - I'm writing this from a terrace and it's 28ºC)
• the taste (and size) of tomatoes

Dublin

• friends (you know who you are)
• everything being walking distance from everything else
• Irish politeness
• Irish accent

What I wouldn't have thought I'd miss

Madrid

• visible signs with street names (I know which street I am in!)
• pedestrians walking with bread on one hand and  the newspaper on the other
• the smell of coffee and toast every morning on the streets

Dublin

• looking right when crossing a street (it's a matter of life or death that I adapt!)
• Penney's (where will I buy cheap tights?)
• not getting weird looks when you pay €3 by card

I'll have more to add to the list as I learn to live in this new place which is now my home.

Old News = No News

One of the reasons why I read, almost exclusively, fiction is due to the easiness with which I get attached to characters. I cry, I get angry, I take sides and, in many cases, I finish books with a strong urge to know more about the characters' day to day lives beyond the final pages. I can't, I know, so I make peace with the fact that it's fiction, that anything can happen after I close the book. That they not always lived happily ever after.

I like that, I like fiction. I favour it over to real life events. In real life I find myself at a loss, unable follow a story from beginning to end.  Today's news is all that matters; which by default means that no one cares about what happened yesterday.

But what if we do? People of the media, don't you realise that you're playing with our feelings (and not in a good way)? Please, let me know! I do care!

Why and how did Jack The Ripper get away with all the murders?  

How's Schumacher and his family coping?

What's the deal with Woody Allen and his 'peculiar' family situation? Did he really do what he was accused of? 

What is Monica Lewinsky up to these days?

Is there a monster in Loch Ness? 

Are Michael Jackson's children ok? Will they be ever able to have a 'normal' life? 

Everyone knows about Will Smith and that poor James Avery (Uncle Phil) sadly passed away a few months back. But what about 'Geoffrey' the Butler? How is my favourite person in the the Fresh Price of Bel Air getting on? 

What's behind the Bermuda Triangle?  

Was the prostitute Hugh Grant was caught with ever able to build a better life?

What happened between Britney Spears deciding to shave her head not so long ago to her being back on stage again? Who's minding those poor kids of hers?

Did Neil Armstrong and the Apollo 11 really land on the moon in July 1969?

Please people, I need closure?

Things I Think

There are things I think when I shouldn't think them. 

After closing the front door:

do I have the keys - without which I am locked out, since there is no one else who has a copy - except for the landlord, whom I prefer not to disturb with my 
absentmindedness

At a minimum travelling distance from home of 45 mins by car:

did I unplug the iron that could cause my whole place to burn down?

did I blow out all the aromatic candles that give my home such an amazing fragrance and  at the same time can turn it to ashes in a matter of seconds?

did I close the window through which anyone can freely enter the house?

All tucked in and with the lights out:

did I send that extremely important email that had to go out today with no exception and that I have spent hours drafting?

after paying for that last thing, did I put my credit card back in my wallet? 

I have all of these things I need to do tomorrow [list starts here - sleep stops here] 

Let's go through every stupid decision I have made in life. 

And of course, my personal favourite and the one I keep experiencing:

At least 15 minutes after the actual event:

the most perfect thing to say that would have saved you from looking like an idiot comes up to your blank mind!