.. New game brought by Hanna. This is the guilty/embarrassing addiction game. It's pretty simple, see the list below? Just fill it in and then  'tag' 5 people. Those 5 people copy and paste the table into their blog and fill it out, and then they tag 5 people (if they want to) and so on, so it spreads. Anyhow, the 5 people you tag don't have to play if they don't want to, it's not a problem. Here I go:


Culinary: Sunflower seeds & milk: Sunflower seeds are huge here and I love having them with milk. You put the peeled seeds in milk, wait for a couple of minutes and enjoy the feast! Yummy :D

Literary: Little Nicolas: I got those books when I was a little kid and I read them over and over again. I can't even estimate how many times. Nowadays I still cry out of laughter with them :lol:

Audiovisual: Dawson's Creek: I really like this show. I have all 6 seasons in dvd + extended series finale. I have laughed and cried like a baby when it ended, so I keep rewatching :)

Musical: Enrique Iglesias: It's not one of my favourite singers at all but still I've got some of his cds. There are some beautiful songs I really like, my favourite being "Cosas del amor" Sorry guys, it's in Spanish :wink:

Celebrity: Katie Holmes: I love her. I think she is really pretty. She is like this ordinary woman who doesn't have any striking feature but still looks gorgeous. And I keep liking her even after having married Tom Cruise weirdo :lol:

So, you guys, you don't have to play if you don't want to! But I tag:


1. Blu
2. Iheartcsi
3. Penny
4. Popstar
5. Saxa246

Thanks Hanna for pm-ing my letter :D

1. Abolish, I love the idea of putting and end to something that shouldn't have started.

2. Address, it's so good having somewhere to belong to.

3. Air, I love lying and feeling the air in my skin. It makes me feel alive, and no matter how hot it is, it always gives me the bumps. Plus, I'd love to fly.

4. Album, because I love taking pictures and sorting them out.

5. Alone, I really feel comfortable when I am alone and can talk aloud to myself without receiving funny looks.

6. Animals: I so love them, all of them although insects scare me to death.

7. Art, I love art in general: sculpture, architecture, painting, writing, music...

8. Atheist, because I don't like anyone telling me what I should believe in.

9. Atlas, I would love to be able to travel all around the world.

10. Attic, because it is so cool to browse and find little dusty beautiful treasures.

'Gracias' means THANKS! :D

I'd like to thank all of you who comforted me and felt for me after this *caughs* 'household-disaster-let's-kill-the-pissy-neighbour' affair *caughs*

Things aren't still any clear, I'll update you as soon as I have some answers from my insurance.

Anyway, THANK YOU guys for making me feel cared about, for making me laugh when I felt like crying, for being there when I needed you and in sum for being such great friends.

I know you shortly but still I love you loads :)

*Massivesuperhugehugs* for all of you.

Alright, this is the story: I bought this apartment and pulled everything down: ceilings, floors, windows, lamps, doors, kitchen, bathroom, furniture, glazed tiles, electricity circuits...well everything. It was this hollow grey concrete thing.

Much effort and $$$ spent, and now it's almost finished not being for the built-in wardrobes.

This afternoon I had this knock at my door. My downstairs neighbour. His plumber was fixing something and broke my pipe. Unintentionally of course.

Guess what? Now that everything is shiny clean I need to empty my bathroom and pull the wall down. They'll trash again all over the place. Plus I have to deal with insurance issues...Superb! :evil:

Today is the daddies' day in Spain. So I hugged mine tight, kissed him and told him how much I love him.

He is this huge man, tall and strong, but he had this emotion light dancing in his eyes when we broke the hug apart.

That keeps me thinking: why the hell don't we do that every day?

Tonight I was invited to this St. Paddy's party at some irish friend's place and it was sooooo cool. We talked and we drank, and we laughed and we drank and we danced and we drank. So I am wasted now. But I promised Penny I would post my irish toast and so I will:

"May you wish as long as you live and live as long as you wish"

And since I also promised Penny I'll have one for her, another for my kinky gang and then I had some others, I am going to write this song Michael Paul Griffin from Castleisland taught me once and told me I should sing whenever I was drunk:

"I'm a rambler I'm a gambler I'm a long way from home,
and if you don't like me then leave me alone.
I eat when I'm hungry and I drink when I'm dry
and if moonshine don't kill me I'll live 'till I die.
Oh moonshine oh moonshine don't shine down on me
you killed my poor father and now you want me"

I know it doesn't make much sense but a promise is a promise.

P.S. : Whoa Penny, we played The Pogues and it was soooo cool singing "Fiesta". "Fairytale of NY" made me cry though. Don't be surprised, it always does.

Sorry, it took longer than I thought :)

1. Our Christmas time lasts until the 7th of January, which actually rocks. We don’t have Santa but in the Basque Country we have a coal collector called Olentzero. On the night of December 24th, he comes down from the mountains to leave presents to the children who were good the whole year, and he leaves coal to the ones who didn’t. He coal is eatable, it’s a black rock of sugar which leaves your teeth black for a while so everyone knows you were bad. :D And on the night of January 5th,the Three Wise Men come riding their camels to bring presents to everyone, as they did in the Bible with newborn Jesus. Children leave buckets of water for the camels to drink and all kind of Christmas food for the Wise Men before going to bed. Then it’s parents task to empty the buckets and hide the food. :wink: Everyone is supposed to send them a letter, so they know what presents you want. And the day before, there is actually this parade with the Wise Men, the camels and everything. They throw sweets and listen to the children’s wishes.
2. Our tooth fairy is a little mouse called Little Mouse Pérez. Children leave their teeth under their pillows and the mouse exchanges them for sweets and money.
3. The Canary Islands (in the west coast of Africa) and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea are Spanish. So are Ceuta and Melilla, two provinces in the north coast of Africa. And Gibraltar’s Rock in the south is UK. Three french provinces are also claimed to be part of the Basque Country.
4. We love table games, above all playing cards. It’s common afternoon practice that people meet either at home or in bars to play cards. Lottery and any kind of pools are also very big on a daily basis.
5. 6 bulls are actually tortured to death in each bullfight. Horses are also involved and sometimes they die either injured or by heart attack. :evil: If the bullfighter makes a very good job he is given the bull’s two ears and the tail right after he dies. If he makes a good job he is given the two ears. If he makes a decent job he is given one ear and if he is just ok, he is given nothing. If he makes a bad job, the audience throws him the cushions from their seats. Very few times, if a bull is brave enough and the audience wants so he is allowed to leave as a stud.
6. Among friends, we kiss twice in the cheeks to say hello and twice again to say goodbye. We do that also when you are introduced to someone. Each time you bump into someone you know you kiss him/her twice hello and goodbye. And if that person is with friends, you are introduced to them and again you kiss them all. So we spend most of our time kissing each other :D
7. Meeting points are always bars. We hang out loads and night life begins after 24’00pm, once everyone has had dinner. You can’t sit down in a bar and enjoy your drink. You stand up and dance. And flirt, of course. Music is loud so you can’t actually have much of a conversation.
8. We eat our breakfast early in the morning. Then we have lunch somewhere around 10’00am-11’00am. Then we have our main meal somewhere between 13’00pm-16’00pm. We have a snack by 17’00pm-19’00pm and we have dinner around 21’00pm-23’00pm. We spend half of our day eating, that’s why we need siesta :lol:
9. Babysitters are called kangaroos. Babysitting is not a big thing here. If you can’t count on your family to do that, you cancel your plans and stay at home.
10. The concept of family is very big. It goes not only from great grand parents to great grand children, it also includes neighbours, very good friends and even pets, who are completely spoiled. When you are invited to someone’s house you are likely to find your friend’s neighbours there and you are more than welcomed to bring your pets with you.

I'd like to comment further but it would be too long so:

1. Spain is not always hot, in fact it is only in summer :D Fall is mild and winter and spring are rather cold. We don't eat just tapas. In fact we eat loads and our meal schedule is different from the rest of Europe. We love having naps especially after lunch, and the lamb's nap is taken before lunch. We like sangria but we love kalimotxo (cheap wine + coke half and half). And we love fiesta, that's a big truth :D
2. We don't start dancing and clapping our hands without apparent reason. Not every male spanish knows how to play spanish guitar and not every female knows how to dance flamenco (I have no idea and hell if I care). That's only big in the very south. Plus, we don't say olé all the time (Have you read Asterix in Spain?) :lol: Not being for Hemingway, bullruns in Pamplona wouldn't be that big and the 6 bulls that run are actually tortured to death that afternoon in the bullfight. :( Hum, nobody mentioned Santiago's Way. Pilgrimage to Santiago is very big among foreigners. I am still amazed people knowing about the tomato throwing thing. And there's also a wine throwing celebration for that matter :wink:
3. I don't think there are many other well-known made in spain celebrities around the world.  I'd say Paco Rabanne, Victorio&Lucchino, Rafael Moneo and Manolo Blahnik. Zara and Mango emporiums are also spanish.
4. True but the best teams are full of foreign players (Beckham, Ronaldinho, Zidane and Ronaldo left recently)
5. Spain is a monarchy (Italian king Juan Carlos I a and greek Queen Sofia and a big bunch of lazy relatives). We do pay them all a rent out of our taxes so they can enjoy a luxury life :( We even sustain partially the greek royal family in their exile. Franco's dictatorship ended in 1975. And I agree, the flag is hideous :D
6. Well, I guess any language you don't know is always spoken too fast :lol: I agree, we are noisy, we speak aloud and we curse loads.
7. It's a sad reality.
8. Cheap my a**. Above all, since we changed the currency to the euro.
9. Spanish is the shared official  language but 5 other regional languages and 11 dialects are spoken on a daily basis.
10. Yeah right, let's say very hypocrites. The whole Easter is very big, above all in the south. Once it ends, we come back to break the 10 commandments :D

Tomorrow, things I'm sure you don't know :wink:

Alright, I'm having a lot of fun talking to people from all over the world and it makes me laugh what they seem to know about my country. :) Here is a list of the most recurrent things:

1. Topics: Sun, beach, siesta, tapas, sangria and fiesta.
2. Folklore: Bullruns in Pamplona, bullfights and flamenco dance.
3. People: Fernando Alonso (F1 driver), Pau Gasol (basketball player), Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz (actor/actress), Miguel de Cervantes (writer 'El Quijote'), Pablo Picasso (painter).
4. Football is very big here.
5. Spain is a republic with a hideous red, yellow and red stripped flag.
6. Spanish are noisy people speaking fast, aloud and cursing.
7. Terrorism: ETA
8. Spain is a cheap country.
9. Words: hola (hello), siesta (nap), olé (?), nada (nothing), amigo (friend), si (yes), fiesta (party), matador (bullfighter), tapa (snack/appetizer).
10. Spain is a very religious country.

Tomorrow I'll post my comments on these :D