More than a year later [1]

Now that we’ve all become aware of log scales I feel like I’m updating my posts logarithmically (sp?), the gap between posts is twice as long as the previous gap between posts. By accepting the reality of this I’m ready to congratulate myself I my next post is written before September 2022.

OK, where to begin. Last summer the highlight was our trip to Walla Walla to visit our friends Hannah & Christian who just moved back after a few years in Brooklyn. Whenever I know someone living somewhere I quickly go visit because the experience is going to be so different than just going alone. And it was great that Markus had a friend to hang out with - Hannah and I got to run around and have fun!

Not only did Markus get to hang out with Christian and his friends, but he got a little cooking lesson from Hannah and he got to teach a youth soccer practice. When the coach heard that Markus played soccer in Madrid there was a lot of excitement from the kids, and somehow playing “in Madrid” evolved into “for Real Madrid” and why correct this minor error? It was all in good fun.

We did some wine tastings and ate at her old restaurant (she’s a local rock star!), and we made cheese with Pierre Louis and had an amazing meal with Pierre Louis & Joan. What a great town Walla Walla is, made that much more special with Hannah & Christian.

We spent a few more days in California after our trip to Walla Walla, and then flew to Madrid on 16AUG to be ready for soccer season to start. Our first weekend we took the train to Barcelona where our great friends Karen & Harry were visiting from New York. We’re usually so busy with soccer that we don’t have time to go anywhere, but the timing was great for us, and it was fun to act like tourists being a little silly. We stayed at Casa Mathilda which was a healthy walk from the train station but we had a really nice time there and I always like staying places where there’s outdoor space.

Markus has a friend from New York, Luca, who plays soccer in Barcelona so he joined us as we toured Montjuïc. I think Luca was near trembling with happiness to see Markus and to let his inner New Yorker fly free. The boys were inseparable that weekend. Just two nights in Barcelona but it was great.

Back in Madrid and life started back in full swing quickly. Markus had lots of soccer practice and lots of “amistosos” (friendlies) with his new team in preparation for the season. Last year he played with CHAMARTIN-VERGARA but this year that team merged with another and he would be playing with ALCOBENDAS SPORT. Lots of driving out to the suburbs with the life-saving Respiro car-sharing service.

Markus started the season well, although he is in a new age group for kids born in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Because he’s December 2003, he’s by far the youngest player. Some of these guys look like they have kids at home. But Markus is holding his own.

The highlight of the fall was when Mathieu came to stay with us. A hundred years ago when I was in high school I spent a summer with the familie Giard in France. I spent a couple of weeks with them in Paris and the rest of the time with them in Ste Maxime which was really fabulous. The summer before their daughter Marie-Pierre spent a month with us, and the summer after their son Olivier spent a month with us, followed by a time in St Louis which sounded unbearably hot & humid but I have no recollection why he went to St Louis. Anywho, Mathieu - Olivier’s son - was studying in Madrid and for some reason needed a place to stay. With Andreas in Brooklyn we have a spare bedroom, and I enjoy having guests. Mathieu spent about a month with us and it was so great to have him here. We talked and talked and talked and it was great to have an adult to talk to. Kids are great but when I think of going out to dinner with Markus I worry that we’re just going to talk about the homework he didn’t do last night. I got to meet and hang out with his girlfriend Marion and really it was special having him stay with us. A new great friend.

Early October Markus had a game and the opposing side was full of giant men. One of them fell on top of Markus and Markus got his first injury. We drove to the hospital and thankfully Mathieu had been with us at the game and helped us navigate the hospital situation, I was a bit lost. Markus was out for 5 weeks but did a bit of physiotherapy and eventually got back into the swing of things. 15-year old boys are like rubber bands. I would have been out indefinitely.

That Saturday I decided to have a big dinner party. I hadn’t done that in a while and I really like having people over in a very casual setting. I bought a whole salmon, marinated it in vodka, sugar and miso, and roasted it in the oven (recipe from America’s Test Kitchen). I was a little ambitious with the guest list but I’ve never had too many people over. There were 27 of us in all, and we still had leftover salmon (I did ask some friends to bring starchy starters to fill people up!). A great evening. My friend Gely insisted that she help with the dishes and then she and her boyfriend took me out after the party ended, and that was really special. We went to Platea which just around the corner, a giant movie theater converted to a nightclub with lots of food options and music, which sounds great, but there’s a giant screen with ads for mobile phones and Iberia, and everyone is sitting at tables staring at their fones. Like a lot of things in Madrid, they almost have it perfect, but not quite.

The rest of the fall was work work work soccer soccer soccer. I took at trip to Addis for work mid-October and a trip to California to visit my dad end of October. I enjoy those trips to California, just living with my dad and cooking for my dad and eating with my dad and watching Jeopardy with my dad (not not Wheel of Fortune, which comes on right after).

There’s lots going on in Madrid culturally, but sometimes I feel like I’m living in another planet when I check websites to see what’s in the nightclubs and theaters. Hundreds of shows by people I’ve never heard of. I don’t know where to start. But end of November my celebrity crush Roberto Fonseca came to town and he was playing just across the street from my apartment. Like a New Yorker worried that things would sell out instantly I practically ran to box office but there wasn’t a crush of people wanting to buy tickets, just me. I got 5 tickets and brought Markus along with Ana, Tina (visiting from NYC) and Claire. We had a great time. I think he is an incredible musician. Easy on the eyes too. Doesn’t play on my team unfortunately.

We rounded out November with a visit from Andreas! This year his birthday fell on Thanksgiving, so we celebrated at Ana’s house a combined birthday/Thanksgiving. It was great to see him again, to hang out with him and hear about his exciting first few months at college.