INCREDIBLE WELCOME HOME TO THE RED SPANISH TEAM

Princesses Leonor and Sofia

I think it has been something amazing and to be remembered, the overwhelming reception of the people (more than a million people) to the Red team this afternoon in Madrid and as a witness and to keep memory of it, I leave here a few photos I have selected, after making a varied press review.

and a replica of the Cup

also for Paul, of course!

THE SIMPSONS ALSO SUPPORT LA ROJA

Since starting the World Cup and especially in the last two weeks, this country is different, as we have changed, suddenly everyone is happy and content, the whole world is united under one flag that is red and yellow and there are no crisis, unemployment, strikes and wage cuts. Is this good? Is it bad? Suddenly we are more concerned about what Paul says to the octopus to know if the deficit is reduced. And this fever (much more powerful than influenza A) has spread throughout the country.

Anyway, as I will not be any spoilers in my socio-economic reflections on this day, I will surrender to the contagious "happiness" of the day and will support the Red, even I have been persuaded by friends to go this afternoon to see the ambientillo that breathes through the Plaza de Colón (the celebrations headquarters) to the vuvuzelas and all the rest and I will tell you! And Paul, I hope you are right!

And here I leave to Shakira, who also

supports to La Roja

January 2011

A great amount of drawings have been made of La Roja since they won. And one of the funniest and most famous has been the one in which they are caricatured in a Sympson's style, as you can see here:

YOU CAN DO IT!

Usually I am not a football fan, but in this case, when my national football team (called La Roja) is playing in the World Cup 2010 South Africa Championship, I have to make an exception and in the end, even if you don't want to know about it, you finish knowing when, where and with whom your national team is playing.

Perhaps you'll be wondering why Spanish football team is called La Roja and the reason is that Luis Aragones (head coach of the national team) in the summer of 2004, thought that the fans would get more involved with their team if they could have a pet name and he thought the team could be called the red (as Uruguay is the light blue, or France the bleus or Italy the Azzurri, or England the pross, or Holland the orange) because of the red color of the team shirt.

And although I know that Spain started in the World Cup as one of the favorites, they played against Switzerland on Wednesday and lost (and to be honest, Switzerland is not a strong team, to be feared of).

Nevertheless, today the Red team plays its second game, this time against Honduras at 20:30 in Johannesburg at Ellis Park (let's hope it will be lucky for the Spanish team, the same as it was for Mandela and his national rugby team in 1995!) and at that time in my country we will all be encouraging our Red team. You can do it! ¡Animo!

RAFA NADAL WINS BACK IN PARIS

¡Bravo Rafa! You got it!

Rafa Nadal has won the 5th French Open after beating Sterling in 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. With this victory, Nadal will move to the top of the rankings on Monday, supplanting Federer.

By the age of 17, Nadal was ranked in the world's top 50 players and now, being 24 years old last 3rd of June, he has added another Prize in his brilliant rank that includes, among many others, several Wimbledon, Roland Garros, one Gold medal in the Beijing Olympics Games in 2008 or Prince of Asturias Prize of Sports.

This humble man born in Palma de Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain) has got to the top, humble and great Rafa, you deserve it!

Rafa featured in a video clip with

Shakira in her song “Gitana” (Gypsy)

(please, silence the Ipod first)

WE ARE HAPPY TO LIVE HERE

That is what nine out of ten expats living in Spain have said in a recent survey, according to the Olive Press magazine. They say that to achieve a better work-life balance with much more leisure time is much easier here.

Contrary to reports that the recession is driving Brits home, seven per cent fewer expatriates are planning to return to the UK then two years ago.

Official government figures confirm that Spain has registered a 19 per cent rise in the number of homes sold compared to this time last year. And the latest figures from the National Statistics institute revealed that the British resident population in Spain grew by 11,500 in 2009.

In spite of the crisis, in spite of unemployment, in spite of deficits…….. expats still are happy living here, it has merit indeed!

In this video some expats in Costa Blanca tell us
about their reasons to live here

And this is a video of  BBC TV program
"Little Britain" related to this ..........
Nice weekend for everyone with a smile!

(Please, remember to silence the Ipod first)

EDURNE PASABAN CLIMBED THE WORLD 14 HIGHEST PEAKS

Last May 17th, Edurne Pasaban climbed the Shisha Pangma (8.027 metres, in Tibet, China) and with that climb she got all fourteen eight-thousanders on earth. The Spanish climber has become the 2nd woman to conquer all fourteen eight-thousanders, after Korean Oh Eun-Sun. Pasaban has questioned Oh's claim to have reached the summit of Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest peak, in 2009. Oh says she has proofs.

Pasaban topped Shisha Pangma, the smallest of the 14 peaks, a month after climbing Annapurna. She began the 14 peaks with Everest in 2001. The 36-year-old Basque was accompanied by a three-man Spanish team.

When Edurne was a  child in Tolosa (Guipuzcoa) she didn’t dream of becoming a professional climber, she just practised climbing because in Tolosa people usually does climbing. She studied Industrial Engineering and later run her first business, a rural house lodging.

After she got her recent hazard and was resting at her campsite she wondered if those ten years spent climbing the highest mountains in the world have been useful but then she concluded that she has been very happy doing it and as happiness is definitely something valuable,  her message to people is to enjoy and to be happy, doing whatever makes you feel really happy...... Good advice!

Just in case you are interested in having a look at her webpage to see the beautiful photos and explanations of her hazards, you can just have a look at her link:    Edurne web page

01/09/2010 

I am dropping these lines today to tell that last weekend Edurne Pasabán was declared the first woman in the world to climb all 14 eight-thousanders after Miss Hawley, the world mountaineering judge sent to her a letter telling that she had not recognized Miss Oh Eun-Sun one of her peaks.

Edurne has said to the press that she really feels sorry for Miss Oh because she thinks the Korean climber has been under pressure from her environment which led her to distort evidences.

Very well done Edurne!!

GOT, THE LITTLE FIRST CLONED BULL IN SPAIN

Got

Last May 18th the first cloned fighting bull was born in a ranch in Palencia (Spain). The newborn calf is an exact replica of a muscular, horned specimen of the type matadors face in bullrings. It now weighs 53 pounds (25 kgs).

Its name, Got, means “a glass” in Valencian as his genetic predecessor was called Vasito (little glass), who was a pedigree stud from Andalucia and his surrogate mummy was a Swiss Holstein milk cow, called Angela (all of this is for all of you who feel curious to know….hahahaha). Unfortunately, the brother twin of Got didn’t survive, another cloned bull is expected to be born in mid-August.

Got was created using nuclear transfer, wherein DNA from the “father” bull was inserted into cow’s eggs that had been stripped on their nuclei. The process created embryos which were then implanted into a surrogate cow. The same process was used to create the world’s first cloned mammal: Dolly the sheep.

Dolly and mum

This scientific landmark was made possible by a project led by a team from the Valencia Veterinary Research Foundation. It took three years for the team to find a way to do it. The veterinarian hopes that this experiment is a first step towards the creation of a tissue bank and help preserve species that are endangered.