Full circle...

Last night I moved house, having packed my entire life again into my rucksake and carrying it down the road closer to the lovely Placa Jaume 1 where I will start my new life. The living situation is slightly complicated by the coming and going of people, but they are so easy to get on with that I am sorry there will be any going at all.

For the first week we all live together, that is Nathalie, whom I work with and who is half-greek, half-dutch, Mauro her husband from Columbia, and Tato who is from Equador. When I climbed the 3 flights of stairs to the confusingly named first floor, I was all out of breath and feeling like a pack horse. So much so, that when Tato greeted me with a "Bienvenido", I had to ask 4 times what he was saying because I couldn´t hear him over my own breathing. Nathalie came home with beer, and we´d a lovely conversation about families and new lives until about 02.30am, when we went to bed. Of course I couldn´t sleep for more than 3 hours.

We got up early (Nathalie made fresh coffee) and went to clean the old flat and remove the last of her stuff before returning to the house. It was cold and dark. Hey presto, it was the eclipse! Woo-hoo! We begged the lend of polarised glasses to look for a few minutes, and then marvelled at the strange shadows falling on the wrong side of the square. Truly a new beginning, it seemed.
Dani called to offer to send me money cos I am completely broke, and then Mauro made a delicious lunch. Does life get better? Sadly, at this juncture, not, as I had to go to work. But in general I have again a bout of infectious "Life-is-great"ness upon me.

I had a look today at the web site of one Erik Refner, a photographer from Denmark. It is worth a look. Here is a man who photographs many of the human rights/humanitarian aid crisis I consider to be underrecognised, and seems to raise awareness and achieve something as well as take great photos. And he wants to go to Chechnya. I hope he does.

Ps, yes I borrowed this image from BBC. I hope they won´t mind.