2007 thus far...

Well, I have many starting points for this entry. Late June, whilst I was still in Madrid visiting family before going to Colombia in July, the news on the TV got me thinking about things that have happened this year so far. For me it's been an unusual year to say the least. So one night at the hotel, I sat down and simply wrote down notes of major things that have happened to me and other things that were occurring around the world. I did not jot these down in any particular order, so looking back on it now, if I want to base this entry on those notes then it's gonna be a bit messy in terms of how logical my thoughts may be expressed. Ok, here it goes...

The first thing on my list if my finishing the Foundation course in art and design...finally! Although it was only a 1 year course, it took me a year before that just to even get into a foundation course, so for me it feels more like 2 years; 2 years of working hard just to start my degree! My high school diploma of course wasn't enough, but I don't regret anything because these last 2 years, especially last year, have been extremely useful to help make the important decision of choosing the best degree course for me. I originally was intending towards Fine Art, because it seemed like the most logical thing for me to do, as I have been painting with oils since the age of 8, but then people got me thinking...where will that take me? I always knew I had a keen interest in animation, and for that you need to draw very well, which is a skill I naturally acquired, so it's decided, this September I shall begin my studies in animation at Bristol, and perhaps I'll add illustration modules in there too, just to keep my options open.

Next...and very shockingly so, my father's death in late April. What can I say except...nothing??? It was totally unexpected, it has turned my life into a weird direction, and I have to try and understand why the FUCK these things happen to good people. I was towards the end of my foundation course, on my last taught day when I heard the news from my sister on the phone (my family were living in Rome at the time) and as soon as I heard the most horrible words, my life stopped being important; nothing else mattered for that moment. It's been almost 3 months now since his death, and I still get angry and very frustrated to accept this fact, but I am trying more than ever to live my life better and to be positive. Thankfully I have a great family and a loving boyfriend for support, and friends who are always in me thoughts.

This year was also my grandfather's 80th birthday, my dad's father in fact. His birthday was on the 29th of June, so if you do the maths, it was after my dad's death, which was not much of a happy occassion this year really. Due to his death as well was the decision of my grandad to finally retire from his professional life. He launched the first internet radio for Jewish Spaniards, and he is still director, but won't work with them directly nor as often.

Speaking of birthdays, it will also be my younger sister's 18th birthday in August, which I suppose is a pretty significant number, and funnily enough in October it will be my 21st. Nuff said there.

I am currently writing from Colombia, my mum's birth country, and where my whole family from her side lives. It's normal for me to come here every summer as we have a house in the mountains we built and we even moved our pets from the USA to live here, so for me it's like the home I have never lived in. But I didn't go last summer, of 2006, due to the World Cup. So it's been 2 years since I've seen my family, my pets, my house, and it's very starnge to be here because it's different for my mum. My father's death has really turned my mum's and sister's life around completely. My mum is now planning to move back to Colombia after 25 years and my sister will be going to uni this year instead of taking the gap year in Rome, as it simply would be too complicated for her to have stayed. So yeah, my sis and I are both starting our degrees at the same time, I find that funny, in a good way of course.

Now, something that really has nothing to do with me nor my family directly, but I'd like to note Tony Blair's end as Prime Minister. It's been 10 years since he became PM and he's pretty much the only one I have ever been aware of, keeping in mind I have moved a lot myself within the past decade. It's funny to note however, that I did use to go to swimming lessons with his daughter before he even became PM, so my parents did do small talk with him every now and again. As a person, I like Mr. Blair, but I don't have much of a concrete opinion on him, just that I am against the decision to have gone to war with Bush.

This year the city of London revealed the official 2012 Olympic logo. Just one word...YUCK!

2007 also marks the 10th anniversary of Princess Diana's death, so this means my dad died 10 years after. Who would have thought? Life's strange.

Keeping with the death theme, not that it's any fun, here was a funny coincidence, not long before my dad passed away. Fortunately I saw him for the last time days before his death, because he made a last minute trip to London to do some business. Of course I always see him when he visits, and we had one of the most wonderful times together. We walked on the South Bank, had a lovely lunch, talked, laughed, and he went to see an old friend of his too, which I met as well. It was a Friday, and that weekend I was invited to a friend's 21st birthday bash, so my dad accompanied me to buy a card for her. In the shop, I spotted a cute tiny penguin toy in a bag, and I knew my sister would love it, so I insisted to my dad to buy it from my behalf, although he sais I should give to her in person when I next went to Rome (which I did do). He did buy it of course, and on the bag it said 'The Penguin of Death'. At the time, it was adorably cute, and it still is in a way, but it seems ironic now that I think about it, because that literally happened 5 days before my dad died.

On a slightly lighter note, this year has also been significant to me because I got back into contact with many old friends from the states. In fact, my parents arranged for my sister and I to visit our friends in New Jersey in April (same month my father died) for 10 days or so, as an early birthday gift to both my sister and I, since we were both turning 18 and 21, respectively. All I can say is a BIG THANK YOU to my mum and dad, and to Facebook as well.

Jumping around with things, I'd like to briefly note that apparently my paternal grandparents that have lived in Madrid for god knows how long are selling their flat and moving out for the first time I believe since they arrived in Madrid in the late 1960's. They're not moving to a new country nor city, just to a more accessible flat as they are both struggling with walking, but it's remarkable they're going through with this.

Terror hits the UK again this summer, unsurprisingly so, right when the new PM Gordon Brown took charge. Life can seem quite ugly through the lens of a news camera.

And last but certainly not least, after a wonderful day at the theme park in Madrid with my cousins, the exhausting day ended with my bag getting robbed. It was a careless mistake from my mum, because she forgot it on a bench as she got distracted watching us go on a crazy ride. The good news was that the bag was recovered with most things left untouched. However, very much expectedly they took my wallet, which had not much cash fortunately, and 4 mobile phones I was carrying. Silly of me to have brought so much, but no one expects these things when expecially my mum and I are very careful with our belongings. I cancelled my cards of course, and there was not much value in the phones, so overall it was not too bad, but highly frustrating nonetheless. All I have to say right now is that life has been quite literally a roller coaster of a ride so far this year, and I still got half of it left!