Yesterday evening around 8.00 I was just hanging around watching some tv when someone came to the door downstairs. I almost didn’t answer it because I wasn’t expecting anybody, but I’m very glad I did as it turned out to be one of those ‘blast from my past’ moments.
It was Kristin at the door, an American historian who was my flatmate back in 2002 when I was still living in the apartment next door – what a lovely surprise that was! She’d just got into town and is only going to be here until Saturday doing research at the Archivos de Indios, but she was passing by my place and decided to take a chance and see if I was still here. Anyhow, she came up and we visited for awhile and today we’re going to meet for lunch. I told her I do better at staying vertical at midday than in the evening. In fact, we had to cut our visit a bit short yesterday because I was suddenly needing to lie down.
So it looks like it’s going to be a rather nice day. I have to leave in a few minutes to go to the hospital for my pre-op tests. Happily ‘La J’ is coming with me and we’re planning on taking the rental bikes through the park to get there and back, which will help make the experience more pleasant.
See y’all later! 🙂
casa azahar 
That’s great to hear! Surprises can be so sweet!
PS:
Goddamn, I wish I had a passport so I could surprise you, but you’d be all, “Who the hell are YOU?”
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you haven’t got a passport? how are you ever going to be able to visit me in australia?
hey, Az, I arrived home a couple of hours ago – the plane didn’t crash. I know I whinged about the heat in seville but it’s no fun coming home to a sydney winter, am now crouched over the heater and using the cat as a hot water bottle. how did the tests go?
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Hey, I’ve still got an almost full bottle of Absolut vodka in my freezer (from my trip to Gibraltar last December) if that’s any extra incentive to visit, Rain. Of course I’d recognise you – you’d be the one wearing a dead cat draped over your shoulders, right?
Anyhow, you’d be more than welcome and nursemyra can attest that the IKEA sofabed is quite comfy.
Glad you got home safe and sound, nm. Didn’t end up doing the tests today … more on that mañana. Give Pablo a snibble for me. 🙂
I just got home from having lunch with Kristin at Modesto. As today was her treat I’m going to make lunch for her tomorrow at casa az while she gets me addicted to a new tv series called Mad Men that she has downloaded on her laptop.
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Oh, Mad Men! We LOVE that show and can hardly wait for the second season to start. So glad that you are feeling better and strong enough to make lunch for two. Enjoy your afternoon.
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Aren’t old pals the very best? Looks like Someone Up There is sending you just what you need. Lots of wishes for happy times ahead.
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How nice to have a lovely surprise like that to buoy you along!
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Now I really want to see it, hmh. I can hardly believe that a week ago I was flat on my back and could barely leave my bed, and tomorrow I’ll be making a nice lunch for K and me (and cleaning the flat!). Heck, today I even changed the cat sand!
Hi Bridget and welcome. 🙂 I’m quite looking forward to lots of happy times ahead.
It really did perk me up a lot, WC.
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Well, lunch was great and I am now hooked on Mad Men. And I got K hooked on House (I can’t believe she’d never seen it). So I guess we’re even … somehow.
Turns out Kristin will be here until Sunday so we’re planning to hang out some more. She doesn’t have much to do after the archives close at 2.30 and goodness knows I’m not exactly busy.
So it’s nice having company for a few days and it’s also funny playing “remember the time…?” because quite often we don’t. 🙂
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I’m of two minds on surprise visitors — great in small doses, not so much when it’s Thanksgiving, you have a small turkey that you splurged on for dinner and leftovers over the next week — and a brother {the one you thought was still in Thailand!} shows up with his wife and three kids and the stores are closed for the hols!
We made a feast from some turkey, canned soup and saltines, and I had to explain to the family, that no Thanksgiving was a little fancier than this usually! LOL
I still haven’t caught Mad Men, only had satellite tv for a couple of months. Is good? Have a blast with K, az!
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Old (good) friends popping up unexpectedly is wonderful. And just when you need something to take your mind off the liver dramas for a while 🙂
Nursemyra – Sydney is sooooooo cold today, I still can’t believe that lots of houses here don’t have central heating!
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Sounds like it was a Thanksgiving to remember, SC. Yikes.
Yes, Kristin’s timing was perfect, truce. Today she’s having lunch with a colleague she ran into at the archives, who is staying at the Doña Maria hotel and has been mostlly hanging out in the rooftop swimming pool. I found out that K didn’t know there was a fabulous rooftop terrace/bar up there (the one with this view) so we’re planning on going there at sunset after having a couple of tapas somewhere.
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oh I love Mad Men – and the fashions are so cool!
have you watched Serenity yet?
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Not yet, nursemyra, I’m going to save it for when Nog gets back.
Yesterday I asked K if she wanted to do any laundry, since she’d been in Rome before she came here and will be going to London on Sunday, so she just stopped by now on her way to lunch to put in a load of washing. She also brought a bottle of cava!
There was a slightly awkward moment when she asked about coming over after lunch to hang out, but not if she’d be intruding,etc … and me saying that I’m happy with her hanging out as long as she doesn’t feel obliged to because I’m sick … and then when we realised we were both doing the same thing and laughed. 🙂
Oh, and this is a wonderful thing I discovered yesterday – I can now drink cold water!!! I’d given K a bottle of cold water at lunch time and kept swigging the ol’ room temperature stuff myself. Trust me, when the room is 35ºC this is not a refreshing beverage. So then I decided to try out a small sip of cold water … and it didn’t blow my face off! So then I took a big swig of it … fabulous!
I’m so happy I can drink cold stuff again! Quite looking forward to that cava now . . .
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Yesterday was Kristin’s last day and she told me she wanted to take some photos of the streets in the centre of town. So we met earlyish for brekky at the Horno San Buenaventura, then spent the next four hours walking and talking. Stopped at Eslava for a couple of tapas and then finally came back to my place to hang out (and K got to watch a few more episodes of House). Out again in the evening for a snack at Bodequita Romero and then it was time to say hasta luego … I really hate saying goodbye.
I’m so glad she looked me up – and also that I answered the door!
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